Archives › Bill Baer
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Phillies third base coach Ryne Sandberg is expected to be the next Phillies manager if and when the Charlie Manuel era ends. Sandberg started his playing career with the Phillies but went to the Cubs in the infamous Ivan de Jesus trade in 1982, arguably one of the worst trades in baseball history. With the…
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Recently, Padres third baseman Chase Headley said he won’t negotiate a contract extension with the team during the season. Headley is eligible for his fourth year of arbitration going into 2014, after which he would become eligible for free agency. Headley has, for a while, been one of the most bandied-about names in trade rumors,…
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At the end of March, the Diamondbacks unceremoniously signed first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to a five-year, $32 million contract extension. Just seven weeks later, that contract is looking like a steal. The 25-year-old entered tonight’s game with ten home runs and a 1.013 OPS, marks that not only put him near the top among first…
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Derek Albin at Pinstriped Bible looked at the numbers and concluded that Yankees right fielder Ichiro Suzuki isn’t likely to be much more productive than he has been thus far in 2013. The 39-year-old has a .239/.280/.328 line in 145 trips to the plate, putting him on pace for the worst season of his career…
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The Pirates aren’t known as one of the more Sabermetrically-savvy teams like the Rays and Athletics, but they do have Dan Fox (formerly of Baseball Prospectus) as the director of baseball systems development. Thanks to Fox and others, the Pirates are able to use stat reports to prepare lineups and pitching match-ups with greater specificity. SB…
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Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times says that although the Rays haven’t announced anything officially, prospect Jake Odorizzi is likely to replace the injured David Price in the starting rotation. The Rays placed their defending AL Cy Young award winner on the disabled list yesterday with a strained left triceps muscle, an injury they…
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Athletics starter Brett Anderson has not pitched in a game since his April 29 start against the Angels due to ongoing problems with his right foot. In the time since, the A’s have had the lefty run and throw side sessions, and they even had him make a rehab start, but the injury never seemed…
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Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram has an interesting article up in which Derek Lowe expounds on the increasing prevalence of statistical analysis in baseball. The Rangers signed Lowe to a Minor League contract in March and was eventually added to the bullpen. Lowe, who turns 40 years old on June 1, posted a 5.52 ERA…
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Mike Adams allowed a run in his most recent appearance on May 10 against the Diamondbacks. He had the day off on Saturday, but was unavailable today in the series finale in Arizona due to back spasms. The 34-year-old’s absence forced Jonathan Papelbon to be used a day after converting a five-out save, a fact…
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The Cubs have agreed to a seven-year, $41 million contract extension with first baseman Anthony Rizzo. The deal runs from 2013-19, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rizzo, 23 years old, has been his club’s most reliable hitter, entering this afternoon’s game against the Nationals with a .288/.361/.554 line, including nine home runs. Rizzo was…
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The Brewers signed veteran reliever Francisco Rodriguez as a free agent on April 17. In the time since, “K-Rod” has been working his way back with Single-A Brevard County, with whom he made two appearances, striking out four and walking one in two innings. The right-hander was just promoted to Triple-A Nashville, per Adam McCalvy.…
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Martin Prado went into today’s series finale against the Phillies hitting .230 with a .639 OPS, which is about 33 percent below the league average according to Baseball Reference. The Diamondbacks acquired Prado in January in the trade that sent Justin Upton to Atlanta. The D-Backs’ return on the trade hasn’t been so good at…
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Mets outfielder Juan Lagares hasn’t hit much in his limited playing time — he has a .419 OPS in 33 trips to the plate — but opened some eyes and dropped some balls with a catch in the third inning of this afternoon’s game against the Pirates. Opposing pitcher Jeanmar Gomez led off the inning…
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On the heels of a historically-great 2012 season in which he finished as a runner-up to Miguel Cabrera in the AL MVP race, Angels outfielder Mike Trout started off 2013 very slowly. Through the first ten games, he was hitting .227 with 12 strikeouts in 47 plate appearances. He would proceed to have multi-hit games…
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Cardinals outfield prospect Oscar Taveras left today’s game against the Fresno Grizzlies with an ankle injury, tweets Joe Strauss. He suffered the injury attempting to steal a base in the ninth inning. As of yet, there are no details on the severity of the injury. Taveras was rated the #3 overall prospect by both Baseball…
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Angels reliever Ryan Madson may join the team soon as he gets ready to make a rehab start with Single-A Inland Empire tomorrow. Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times reports Madson hit 94 MPH with his fastball during an extended spring training game yesterday and may only need to make one rehab start before rejoining…
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Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen left today’s start against the Twins with an apparent oblique strain. After getting the final out of the fifth inning, he was seen grabbing his right side and was replaced in the sixth inning by Tommy Hunter. Over five innings, Chen held the Twins scoreless on five hits and no walks…
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First baseman James Loney had two hits this afternoon, including a solo home run in the eighth inning, as his Rays went on to defeat the Padres in the series finale 4-2. Loney entered the day as one of the best hitters in the American League with a .371/.426/.533 line, a welcome sight for the…
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Vernon Wells hit a two-run home run off of James Shields in the fifth inning of tonight’s contest against the Royals, a key component of the Yankees’ 3-2 victory. It was the eighth homer of the year for the Yankees left fielder, who entered the night with a .282/.333/.484 line. The Yankees acquired Wells from…
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First baseman Ryan Howard, 33 years old and still suffering lingering effects of an Achilles injury suffered in Game Five of the 2011 NLDS, should be on the trading block according to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. The lefty slugger entered tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks with a .262/.299/.476 line and is in…
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Reports from the Dominican Republic earlier had reported that free agent Carlos Zambrano had been signed by the Philadelphia Phillies, but those reports have been squashed. GM Ruben Amaro called the reports “ridiculously premature” per CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury. Amaro had indicated recently that he was searching for pitching help from outside of the organization…
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The Brewers have placed lefty Tom Gorzelanny on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. They have recalled right-hander Mike Fiers. Gorzelanny posted a 2.30 ERA in 15.2 innings out of the bullpen. Fiers, meanwhile, allowed six runs in five innings in his only start on April 6 and allowed one run…
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As D.J. Short noted today, Adam Wainwright brought a no-hitter into the eighth inning this afternoon against the Rockies. Nolan Arenado singled to center with one out to end the bid. Wainwright went on to shut the Rockies out on two hits as the Cardinals won 3-0. It was one night after Shelby Miller retired…
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On Thursday, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy accused Red Sox slugger David Ortiz of using performance-enhancing drugs. Ortiz responded with a staunch denial, claiming that Shaughnessy’s accusations were discriminatory in nature. The drama continued this afternoon after the Red Sox lost to the Blue Jays 3-2. Ortiz was about to leave the clubhouse when he…
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Francisco Liriano was involved in a weird play while in Triple-A
May 11, 2013, 7:50 PM EDT
Working his way back to the Majors, Pirates lefty Francisco Liriano was involved in one of the strangest plays you’ll see all year. On April 30, Liriano’s Indianapolis Indians played host to the Gwinnett Braves. The score was 6-0 in the bottom of the third as Liriano came to bat with a runner on third…
