Frayed Knot

Forbes recently valued the Marlins at $675 million, the second least valuable franchise in MLB so that alone raises eyebrows at the reported $1.6-$1.7 billion dollar figure being floated. On the other hand Steve Ballmer's (2015?) purchase of the LA Clippers for [u:24p083tn]$2 Billion[/u:24p083tn] seemed to be the kind of 'vanity' purchase by the former Microsoft CEO where ego gets in the way of smart valuation.

Phillips also vetoed a deal to the Braves just a few months back even though he's an Atlanta area native. Not sure what's different this time but the deal is now official with two minor league pitchers* heading to Cincy and with the Reds picking up "nearly all" of the remaining money on Phillips's contract. * LHP Andrew McKirahan & RHP Carlos Portuondo McKirahan, 27, pitched briefly (27 innings) for the Braves in 2015 but has since been hit with a PED suspension and TJ surgery Portuondo is a 29 y/o Cuban who split 2016 pitching between A+ and AAA ball during his one season of minor league ball in the U.S.

Yeah it now seems that Sean Rodriguez came out worse from his traffic accident [posted above] than first indicated, that it turns out he's looking at 3 to 5 months of recovery from a shoulder injury as a result. The Braves tried to acquire Phillips late last year but he invoked his no-trade clause to block it just like he had the previous year to a potential deal to Washington. I suppose he still could again and scuttle this deal but I'm not sure what he thinks he can get be threatening to do so, shirley the Braves would walk away from the trade before they'd agree to extend his contract which is what N-T guys usually try to negotiate out of these situations.

[table:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]30[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]NOAH SYNDERGAARD[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]29[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]YOENIS CESPEDES[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]28[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]ASDRUBAL CABRERA[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]27[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JACOB deGROM[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]26[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]BARTOLO COLON[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]25[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]CURTIS GRANDERSON[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]24[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]NEIL WALKER[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]23[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]STEVEN MATZ[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]22[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]ADDISON REED[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]21[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JEURYS FAMILIA[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]20[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]WILMER FLORES[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx] [tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]19[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JOSE REYES[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]18[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]ROBERT GSELLMAN[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]17[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]SETH LUGO[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]16[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]MICHAEL CONFORTO[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]15[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]HANSEL ROBLES[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]14[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JERRY BLEVINS[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]13[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]KELLY JOHNSON[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]12[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JAMES LONEY[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]11[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]T.J. RIVERA[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]10[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]RENE RIVERA[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]9[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]LUCAS DUDA[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]8[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JUAN LAGARES[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]7[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]DAVID WRIGHT[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]6[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]MATT HARVEY[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]5[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]TRAVIS d’ARNAUD[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]4[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]ALEJANDRO DE AZA[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]3[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JAY BRUCE[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]2[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]JIM HENDERSON[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][tr:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]1[/td:1gx1fwzx][td:1gx1fwzx]BRANDON NIMMO[/td:1gx1fwzx][/tr:1gx1fwzx][/table:1gx1fwzx]

Baseball America: Rosario = #8 Dom Smith = #71 Justin Dunn = #100

Tigers owner Mike Ilitch - 87 Detroit native, owner of 'Little Caesar's Pizza', also owner of the NHL Red Wings, has owned the Tigers since 1992

Mostly I think baseball needs an attitude adjustment rather than a whole new set of rules and gimmicks. Over the last several decades the game has slowly morphed from one where the ball was considered ‘Live’ unless stated otherwise to one where pretty much the opposite is true, where time is assumed to be ‘out’ as its default setting. Go back, for instance, to Murphy’s “steal” of 3rd base during a walk against the Dodgers in the 2015 playoffs. The reason he was able to pull that off is that when ball four was issued (to Duda?) the shifted Dodgers infield, and specifically 3B Justin Turner stationed temporarily out in short RF, simply began strolling back towards their positions with heads down as if thinking that the previous play is now over and nothing else can happen until the first pitch of the next batter. There was also that kerfuffle with Hansel Robles and the Phils batter (Rupp - or maybe Ruf, the two are pretty much interchangeable) where the Phils dugout erupted at Robles throwing the pitch when Rupp wasn’t ready even though he was in the box at the time! It’s like, ‘yeah, it might be Legal for him to throw the pitch now but we don't consider it kosher cuz you didn’t ask "Mother May I?" ahead of time’. There was also that incident the same week as the Murphy play when Toronto catcher Russell Martiin’s throw back to his pitcher hit the bat of the Ranger batter. In that one even the ump’s first reaction was to call back the play (a runner scored from 3rd on the deflection) because apparently now nothing is allowed to happen between pitches. After a discussion the call was reversed and the run allowed to score but the fact that it took a five minute conference to come to that conclusion suggest that the attitude of the game has changed to one where it's being treated as a series of disconnected events rather than one with ongoing action. And if the players and even umps feel this way it should be no surprise that fans — and maybe more importantly, potential fans — pick up on this attitude too. Baseball didn’t use to be considered a ‘slow’ game but now it seems like that’s one of the first labels stuck on it, and not just from those baseball haters who have been saying some version of that for half a century or more.

Does anyone know how frequently a runner scores when he's on second base with nobody out? the average team scores 1.0932 runs with runner on second in 2016, no outs. Of course, that's skewed slightly be that runner actually GETTING there, if you think a pitcher that has given up a double is MORE likely to give up a run than an average pitcher in any moment. Yeah, you're basically looking at an average of 1.1 runs scored when starting from a runner-on-2nd/none-out vs 0.5 runs when starting from the standard none-on/none-out situation. But those are averages which combine a bunch of zeros plus that occasional 8 run inning and everything in between. The more telling numbers here are the odds of a team scoring at least one run in their half-inning which will jump to around 63% from the 27% of the time when starting with bases empty. And Grimm is right about this all not necessarily shortening the game, especially when you consider that the go-to move for a lot of managers will often be to play for exactly one run by immediately bunting the runner over to 3rd then hoping for a Sac Fly/infielder grounder that would get him in, only to see that strategy matched in the bottom half of the inning*. Bunting the runner over slightly increases the chances of scoring a minimum of one run (63% to 67%) but decreases the overall average of runs a team is likely to score that inning (1.13 to 0.96) based on the time honored axiom known in scientific circles as 'BiFL'. I heard an argument yesterday that this will be good training for teaching both hitters and pitchers situational ball at the lower levels to which I reply: Fine, just keep it there. * that the home manager gets to match still makes this better than the NFL method where we just saw a Super Bowl end even though one team never got a chance to touch the ball in overtime, but that's a whole 'nother subject

The world started to go to hell when the ice cream companies, seemingly all at once as if in collusion, started repacking their products in 48 oz containers while slyly keeping the carton in the same shape and proportion as their old 64 oz standard hoping that we wouldn't notice. It's been all downhill since then. More stats on extra-inning games: - in 2016, 43% of all XI games ended in the 10th inning, and less than 1 in 6 (16%) went longer than 12

Good Lord, John Harper is on board with this nonsense I mean he does say that this runner-on-2nd ploy shouldn't be MLB's priority #1, but also adds that he at least isn't opposed to it on a limited basis (only after reaching the 12th inning and not in post-season) and sees merit in the potential "instant drama" it would create even while admitting that it's both "gimmicky" and "artificial". Gee, ya think?!? I'm starting to smell that maybe some of these scribes (and there have been several in addition to Harper) are rallying behind any idea won't lengthen their working day. But what I really wish is that those cozying up to this idea while citing emptying stands during extra innings games as part of their ammo would point out the fact that these games frequently being past the three hour mark before ever getting to extras just might be the bigger problem. 20 years ago ('96 season) the Mets played 1/4 of their games (40) in under 2:30 By 2006 that figure was just about halved to 21. This past year there were six! (< 4.0%) Yeah, not enough contrived "drama" in extras, that's the problem!

Why is Trump trying to buy the Marlins and is that legal? Not too far off it turns out as further reports identify Jared Kushner's father as the potential buyer (or at least A potential buyer). There are, however, several things which might make that a bit problematic. Bloomberg News: Charles Kushner has a criminal record -- in 2005 he was convicted of witness tampering, illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion -- which would probably keep him from being approved as a principal owner of a Major League Baseball team. Jared’s position in the White House would likely keep him from buying the team as well. Of course that whole campaign contribution illegalities -- and the subsequent pressuring of witnesses to lie about it -- never seemed to affect Steinbrenner's ownership although it was the cause of the first of his several suspensions.

Yeah, there's nothing like selling an idea by exaggerating the symptom it's meant to cure. 18-inning games average right around two per year, or 0.08% of all games. [fimg=500]http://www.baseballprospectus.com/u/images/extradragon1.png[/fimg] And, yes, the number of extra-inning games in general is at a low point recently although that could be mere random variation rather than trend. From Baseball Prospectus (as is the above graph): Since 1998, an average of 8.5 percent of all games have gone into extra innings. In 2016, only 7.6 percent did [approx 1 game in 13] tying it with 2005 for the lowest in the 30-team era. And since 1998, there have been an average of 446 total extra innings played per season. In 2016, there were 426. Since 1998, there have been only four seasons with fewer than 425. All told, baseball is coming off a season with the fewest extra-inning games and fewest extra innings in general in years.

Forbes says "Two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Miami Marlins president David Samson has said that there is a $1.6 billion "handshake agreement" for the MLB team." The buyer is reportedly an unnamed "New York real estate developer" but is one whose assets are mostly tied up in his holdings and therefore might not meet the debt/liquidity requirements that MLB wants to see. Jeffrey Loria purchased the team in 2002 for $158 million. The team generates a small income from both local media and paying attendance (dead last in the NL four years running), but the new, publicly financed stadium has to be an attraction for any potential buyers.

My guess would be that the designated runner is the last out of the previous inning. I mean if we're going to go all sunday morning softball rules here we might as well go all the way. Keg on the side of the field is optional if for no other reason that most of the guys playing at that level are still under 21. The thing with the Rookie League and AFL games is that the "fans" in the stands are essentially the friends and family set; no one else really goes to those games (aside from the ones Tim Tebow is in) other than scouts. So, even if implemented, I don't think it's in any danger of moving higher than those games whose attendance is usually measured in the dozens.

In all seriousness (not that subterranean mounds and smoke bombs don't merit consideration) but the idea that a warmed-up pitcher then needs to throw an additional eight warm-up pitches after being summoned from the pen dates from a time when bullpen mounds (particularly for the visiting team) were either substandard or nonexistent, but that's hardly the case these days. And if they do claim to to need additional pitches so as to get used to the "real" mound, do they really need as many as eight? I'm sure the reliever's chapter of the union is going to swear that this is a non-negotiable perk they can't do without but that would be the first place I'd start. Well that and teleporting them in from the bullpen. I mean, sure you'd run the risk of rearranging some of their DNA, but that's a small price to be paid for the 20 seconds or so you'd save by not having them walk. Plus, if Todd Coffey ever makes it back to a ML roster it would save us all the sight of watching a fat man sprinting. btw, making the IW automatic would shave something like 10-12 seconds off the time of an average game. Cutting out, or at least down, the warmups following the warmups would be more like several minutes per.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: You know how you could increase the action when you've got a "record low rate" of balls-in-play? How about, um, finding ways to put more balls in play? Hence their proposed strike-zone shrinking idea. Not sure it'll work out how they intend, but that's the idea behind it anyway. As far as this runner-on-second in extra innings thing, there's no indication that it's ever going to advance beyond the rookie and Arizona Fall leagues, but the disappointing part about all this is that they seem to be attacking this pace of play issue in all the wrong ways. Stay in the box!; Throw the damn pitch!; Make quicker pitching changes!; and Cut back on the plague of committee meetings on the mound!.

WBC updates as apparently the rosters are now set. Mets have the second most players in the tourney (13) and the most (9) from their 40-man roster. Dom Rep: Jose Reyes, Hansel Robles, Jeurys Familia Israel: Ty Kelly Italy: Nimmo & Cecchini Peurto Rico: Seth Lugo, Rene Rivera, TJ Rivera Colombia: Nabil Crismatt*, Exequiel Zabaleta* Netherlands: Nelmerson Angela* Mexico: Xorge Carrillo* * non 40-man roster guys

Unsigned players are attempting to grab the merry-go-round on its last spins prior to ST. So in addition to the Chris Carter signing noted in the Yanqui thread, former NYM Joe Smith becomes a Blue Jay, and two-time Texas Ranger Mike Napoli [2011-2012, 2015] becomes a three-time Ranger. All on one-year deals.

What kind of royalties are you getting?

I guess he'll compete for a platoon spot at 1B with LH-hitting Greg Bird whom the Yanx are trying to break into that spot after he missed all of 2016 with an injury. They already signed Matt Holliday with the intention of making him pretty much their everyday DH and are trying to work Aaron Judge into their OF. Both Holliday and Judge, like Carter, hit RH I had heard that Carter was looking towards Japan who usually seem to give chances to his type of slugger, but the fact that he took a relatively low deal with no guarantees of a spot or playing time means either the JPL offers weren't there or that he really dislikes sushi. If nothing else, the Yanqui are going to have a bunch of beefy guys in their corner OF/1B/DH spots Holliday = 6' 4" / 240 Carter = 6' 4" / 245 Judge = 6' 7" / 275 Bird = 6' 4" / 220 I may not want to fight any of those guys but I'd bet I could beat one or maybe all of them in a foot race despite the fact that most are around half my age.

For reducing game time, I'd rather they just reduced the number of commercials between innings. But of course, that will never happen! You're right and you're right, but yet you're not totally right. You're right about the commercial time being a big factor and about the fact that that's not changing. But I remember noting during the 2013 post-season two very similar post-season games that were played forty years (and one day) apart. Oct 6, 1973: Red 2 - Mets 1 3 combined runs, 9 hits, 4 walks, 19 Ks, 4 pitchers, 65 total batters Playing time = 2:00 Oct 5, 2013: A's 1 - Tigers 0 1 combined run, 12 hits, 5 walks, 22 Ks, 6 pitchers, 67 total batters Playing time = 3:23 Both games ended in bottom 9th 'walk-off' wins (the '73 game with 1 out, the other with none) and the more recent game had 2 extra batters come to the plate plus two in-innning pitching changes as opposed to only one in the '73 game. Other than that they're essentially identical games as far as the amount of "action" involved. But even if the commercial time between innings were as little as 60 seconds back in '73 -- I don't know what it was but I can't imagine it was any less than that -- the increased commercial time could only explain maybe 1/3 of that 83 minute time gap. The game today is simply being played at a slower pace at that comes at the cost of later nights, fewer viewers (particularly for those whose team isn't involved) and no reward for the fan except for more dead time.

Ashie62 wrote: Miguel Cabrera singled on a free pass in 2013. Arod has also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6YzVvtxoaY Jeter has 4 home-runs, 6 doubles, 1 triple, and once saved a baby in the stands from choking on a piece of Cracker-Jack, all during intentional walks.

and even a famous strikeout of a future Hall-of-Famer during a World Series game. I don't think I know about this. When did it happen? Who was the Hall-of-Famer? Rollie Fingers (on orders from Dick Williams) faked out Johnny Bench in the '72 Series. On a 3-2 count, Gene Tenace set up for an intentional ball 4, then jumped back behind the plate as Fingers painted the outside corner. Game Five of the '72 WS. Oakland was up 3 games to 1 but Catfish Hunter had just given up his 4th run of the game on a 2-out walk and a hit in the 5th so Williams brought in Fingers to pitch to Bench (on no, the closer coming in in the 5th inning ... the Humanity!!!!!) and try to close out the inning. But once Bobby Tolan stole 2nd and took 3rd on a wild pitch during Bench's AB the A's "decided" to issue the intentional walk. The key here is that there was a full count on Bench by this point - obviously that ploy isn't going to work if there aren't already two strikes (well, you might steal A strike but it isn't going to work two or three times in a row). Bench always maintained that he wasn't fooled by the ruse, merely that Fingers had thrown him a "bastard pitch" which made him look as though he was. Cincy won that game anyway with Fingers pitching 3-2/3 innings. In all he threw 10-1/3 while appearing in every game of that series except for Game 6 which was the only one of the seven that was not a one-run game.

Ceetar wrote: I'd prefer they change this rule so that catchers cannot leave the box except to chase a pitch. But isn't that what the catcher is doing now during an IW, chasing a wide pitch?

Edgy MD wrote: I'm not sure about 85, but at least 60, yeah. It's just so uncreative. And I'd argue that automating it would detract from drama. It's not common but IWs don't always turn out the way they're designed as we've seen hits during them, wild pitches, and even a famous strikeout of a future Hall-of-Famer during a World Series game. Plus the savings are minuscule. There were 932 intentional walks in MLB last season, or less than one for every 2.5 games. And this'll save, what?, maybe 20 seconds per, even less if the IW isn't decided upon until after a particular count.