I could probably make three articles from this, but I’ll run through the condensed version of each finding here instead, for concision’s sake: -Late last week, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs wrote a quick post about the… Read more »
In late August 1993, police responded to a 911 call from the home of Barry Bonds. It was Bonds’s wife, Sun, who had called, and she told the responding officers that, among other things, Bonds… Read more »
Regular readers (all four of you) will be familiar with this exercise. I began it last week. These are power rankings, my best estimate of true, relative team quality, listed from last to first, with… Read more »
With some terrible teams, it’s fascinating to go through all the varied and excruciating ways in which they lose games. The 2014 Arizona Diamondbacks are not such a team. Unlike, say, the most recent Houston… Read more »
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ season is essentially over. The sooner they recognize that, the better off they will be. On Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs thumped Arizona 9-2, pushing the Diamondbacks to 5-18 on the season…. Read more »
I’m a guest on Tuesday’s edition of Effectively Wild, the daily podcast from Baseball Prospectus. It was a thrill for me, as one who has listened to all 430-plus episodes of the podcast thus far. Co-hosts Ben Lindbergh… Read more »
Believe it or not, I don’t spend all of my time expanding a meager idea into a 2,500-word blah-fest. I learn plenty of new things about baseball every day, so once a week, I’m going… Read more »
Look, MLB power rankings are stupid. I could broaden that and say that all power rankings are stupid, but: At least in football, one can take the time to smartly build a list, without having… Read more »
The Houston Astros completed a senseless development process for a top prospect Tuesday, announcing that they will promote George Springer to the Major Leagues Wednesday. Springer, 24, was their first-round pick in 2011, and hasn’t stopped… Read more »
Heroism is in short supply, anymore. In fact, since the end of World War II, the number of people American society has called ‘hero’ has been in steady, steep, inexorable decline. Politicians used to be… Read more »
Just a few quick things this morning, issues that have my attention right now: Stop the Bellyaching About Replay: I can’t believe the number of people complaining about the expanded instant-replay system in the early… Read more »
Michael Pineda had pine tar on his hand for the first half of the New York Yankees’ tilt with the Boston Red Sox Thursday night. Baseball Twitter noticed, flooding everyone with screenshots pulled from the… Read more »
I don’t get to a great many live baseball games. I live in the Twin Cities area, which means any affiliate minor-league ball is a five-hour drive away, and the cost of going to MLB… Read more »
You’re the Commissioner of Baseball, and there’s a gun to your head. The masked man forces you to make a substantial change to baseball’s rules governing games tied at the end of nine innings. In… Read more »
Didi Gregorius is playing second base for the Triple-A Reno Aces right now, waiting for an injury or some massive failure to open a spot for him on the Arizona Diamondbacks’ roster. Gregorius was Arizona’s… Read more »
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (we have to do something about that) thumped the Houston Astros 9-1 on Monday afternoon. Mike Trout didn’t have a sensational game, and there was no singular standout performance… Read more »
Just the tables. Commentary to come, as time permits: American League East Central West Tampa Bay – 94-68 Cleveland – 89-73 Anaheim – 90-72 New York – 89-73 Detroit – 85-77 Texas – 88-74 Boston… Read more »
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Gerardo Parra got famous for his defensive highlight reel last season, and some defensive measurement systems credited him with 40 or so runs of value added with the glove. You should always… Read more »
An exercise in summary, inspired by Bill James: The 2014 Cubs in 25 words: The climax of the season will be the trade deadline. A young team, they’re still a year away. Yet, their talent… Read more »
Last week, Derek Jeter announced that he will retire at the end of the 2014 season. The news was a surprise to virtually no one—Jeter was hobbled and ineffective during a stunningly short stint in… Read more »
After the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus rated Josh Vitters as the Chicago Cubs’ top prospect. After the 2010 and 2011 campaigns, he bestowed that honor on Brett Jackson. Vitters was… Read more »
The Chicago Cubs’ bullpen was a mess in 2013. The collective 4.04 ERA posted by the relief corps ranked 25th in the Major Leagues, and only three teams fared worse in save opportunities than did… Read more »
Fifteen years ago, there were still MLB teams using 10-man pitching staffs for significant stretches of the season. A decade ago, just about everyone was using 11. Five years ago, 12 became the norm, and… Read more »
The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced its 2014 induction class Wednesday, with the Baseball Writers Association of America voting in Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. There were many deserving names missing from the list… Read more »
We’re going to have to start calling this an Arizona three-way. Arizona Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers is making too much a habit of it. He keeps wading into complex three-party transactions, and while the motivation… Read more »
Jacoby Ellsbury and Robinson Cano are going to get the headlines. Treachery, real or imagined, wears well on a tabloid cover. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees brought back some key players last… Read more »
A well-loved son of the Second City, Curtis Granderson chose something that felt like home over actually coming home. He signed a four-year deal with the New York Mets Friday, one that will pay him… Read more »
Since the Veteran’s Committee doesn’t often elect new members to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Tommy John and Dave Parker aren’t causing the same sort of controversy among baseball people today as, say, Jack Morris… Read more »
The Seattle Mariners agreed to a 10-year, $240-million contract with free-agent second baseman Robinson Cano Friday, opting for an exclamation point, not a period, at the end of baseball’s most frantic week of off-season activity in… Read more »
The second half of this week hasn’t lived up to the hype of Super Tuesday, but has still seen a number of moves, including a run of reliever contracts I’ll break down here. They include:… Read more »
