Top Posts
-
Terry Collins’ contract was widely reported as a two-year deal, but Andy Martino reports that there is a team option for 2013. This likely doesn’t change the equation we discussed yesterday — the team still has him on a relatively short leash compared to other managers — but it’s not quite as short as, say,…
-
Dodgers hoping new first base coach Davey Lopes can work his magic on Matt Kemp
Nov 23, 2010, 10:47 AM EDT
In hiring Davey Lopes as their new first base coach the Dodgers are adding one of the game’s most successful base-stealers and base-stealing coaches to the staff, but there’s also an added bonus: Lopes is longtime friends with Dave Stewart, the former All-Star pitcher-turned-agent who represents center fielder Matt Kemp. Kemp clashed with the previous…
-
A report from Ignacio Serrano of ESPN Deportes has the Tigers on the verge of signing Victor Martinez for four-years, $50 million. Serrano says that it’s all but done and is pending a physical. Ken Rosenthal is confirming the report. Rosenthal adds that the Tigers outbid the Red Sox (which we discussed the other day),…
-
Here’s Joey Votto, talking yesterday about how he stacked up against Albert Pujols after beating him out for the MVP award: “I said, ‘Holy cow. He beat me in a lot of them.’ He beat me in runs, RBIs and home runs and a couple others. I had a better batting average, but we all…
-
Teams have until midnight tonight in order to offer arbitration to free agents. If they do, and the players accept, the player will stay with the team and there will be a fun arbitration. If they do and the player declines, the team will get draft picks from whatever team eventually signs the free agent.…
-
Here’s Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall, talking to MLB.com yesterday about Justin Upton: “I think he’ll probably be here on Opening Day” Kevin Towers added, “If we are overwhelmed in a deal, great. If not, the fallback is we still have Justin Upton on our team, and that’s a good thing.” Based on the extremely high…
-
There’s a story in the New York Times today about some of the things the judge in the Texas Rangers’ bankruptcy said during meetings with counsel in his chambers regarding the contentiousness of the case. The comments, which were tape recorded, were all great fun. My favorite: “I don’t like what’s been done to it,…
-
Scott Boras allegedly loaned Dominican players money. Is this a problem?
Nov 23, 2010, 7:26 AM EDT
The New York Times is reporting that Scott Boras, possibly in violation of MLBPA rules, made loans to Dominican prospects “raising questions” about whether his company “exploited the prospects.” A spokesman for Major League Baseball said that “this is a serious issue that raises concerns about the business practices of agents who have played a…
-
Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Yankees, already in a public free agent battle with shortstop Derek Jeter, are now at odds with Mariano Rivera about a contract for next season. Rivera wants a two-year deal worth around $18 million per season but the Yanks only want to give him a one-year…
-
Dana Eveland posted a 4.34 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 29 starts for the A’s in 2008 as a 24-year-old. He wasn’t dominant, striking out only 118 batters in 168 innings while walking 77, but he looked like a youngster with a promising future as a No. 4 or No. 5 starter. That changed in…
-
This isn’t terribly surprising, but Jon Miller — the play-by-play voice of Sunday Night Baseball for 20 years — has rejected ESPN’s offer to stay on and do the Sunday night games on the radio, reports Richard Sandomir. As you recall, he and Joe Morgan were not invited back to do TV. This decision isn’t…
-
Because you can never have too much intensity on a coaching staff, there is word floating around that there is a “strong possibility” that Larry Bowa will become Terry Collins’ bench coach on the Mets. Bowa, however, says that he hasn’t been contacted. His quote ended with “in all honesty.” I always found that anyone…
-
We’ve either heard rumors or actual reported news about most of these guys, but the Dodgers have officially announced their coaching staff for 2011. Joining Don Mattingly will be Davey Lopes at first base, Tim Wallach at third and former Royals’ manager Trey Hillman as the bench coach. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and hitting coach…
-
Mookie Wilson — possible Mets first base coach — provides me with an excuse to mock my own child
Nov 22, 2010, 5:00 PM EDT
Andy Martino of the Daily News does his best to comfort sad Wally Backman fans by passing along word that the team may be considering another 1986 Met for the coaching staff: Mookie Wilson, who could become the team’s first base coach. First base coaches don’t really matter, but I link this for three reasons:…
-
Dontrelle Willis hasn’t been healthy and effective since 2006, but Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports that the 29-year-old left-hander will make his latest comeback attempt with the Reds after agreeing to a minor-league contract today. Willis was let go by the Tigers, Diamondbacks, and Giants last season while posting a 5.62 ERA with more walks…
-
Chipper Jones — who I would have bet a good deal had his career ended with that torn ACL last summer — appears to be healing just fine: he’s been cleared to swing a bat and will likely be ready to go full speed once spring training begins. We’re certainly in the twilight of the…
-
Once upon a time Brandon McCarthy was considered a top pitching prospect and in December of 2006 the White Sox traded him to the Rangers for John Danks and Nick Masset. That trade didn’t exactly work out well for Texas, in part because of Danks’ emergence as one of the league’s best southpaws and in…
-
UPDATE: Justin Upton’s no-trade list includes the Mariners; not the Indians
Nov 22, 2010, 3:30 PM EDT
An update to Friday’s post about the teams on Justin Upton’s no-trade list. Turns out that the Indians are not one of the no-nos. But the Mariners are. That means that Cleveland fans, instead of Seattle fans, can sit uneasily and wonder why the Diamondbacks are trading Upton while fearing that their own GM may…
-
Ryan Howard got a second place MVP vote. That actually happened.
Nov 22, 2010, 2:40 PM EDT
It has become ritual for we blogger-types to scan the awards ballots to find the oddities, outliers and outrages of the BBWAA vote, so I dutifully do so now. No real outrages here. Any reasonable person figured that Votto, Pujols and maybe — maybe — Carlos Gonzalez were your huckleberries, and they finished 1-2-3. So…
-
Leading the league in OPS and leading the Reds to the playoffs for the first time since 1995 has earned Joey Votto the National League MVP award, as the 26-year-old first baseman easily topped Albert Pujols and Carlos Gonzalez by receiving 31 of the 32 first-place votes cast by Baseball Writers Association of America members.…
