Blog Archives
2 And A Hook Podcast Ep #3: Wil Myers, Mets + Baseball’s Importance To The World
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MLB reports and The Benchwarmers Show present 2 and A Hook Podcast
People in this Podcast:
Chuck Booth – Guest (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
By James Acevedo – Host (Podcast Veteran) Follow @yankeeman1973
In the Clutch Guys from 90.3 FM Tuesday Show In Long Island NY
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On today’s show, brought to you by MLB Reports (www.mlbreports.com )& yours truly (The Bench Warmers Show), I talk about the horrible bombings that happened in the Boston Marathon & how sports especially baseball unites us in this great country! Also I told to Chuck Booth who is the lead analyst and owner of MLB Reports on the world of baseball! Read the rest of this entry
The Rays Need To Call Up Wil Myers Pronto!
2 And A Hook Podcast Talks About Calling UP Wil Myers – 25 Minute Mark
download the episode here
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Myers ascended onto the PCL scene last year and ripped out 24 HRs in just 99 Games at Omaha. The Rays will be counting on him for their offensive future for many years to come. The club has featured a futile attack with the bats – hitting for a 3 Slash Line of .204//284/.588. They have scored only 39 Runs – while allowing 59 Runs through 13 Games.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
First off, I wanted to say that I completely respect the Tampa Bay Rays – and especially am an avid supporter of the head office – including GM Andrew Freidman. I will get to all of this in this article.
It is time to call up Wil Myers to the big club!
The club is mired in a slow start at 4 – 9 and are already 5 Games Behind the AL East Division Leaders ‘Boston Red Sox.
The team traded away Veteran Pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City in order to acquire the top hitting prospect.
Here is why the time makes sense.
Service time for Super 2 Arbitration Status and Free Agency Year aside, this clubs current offense is abysmal despite having great pitching ability.
Wil Myers Highlight Reel:
Can The Blue Jays Weather The Jose Reyes Injury?
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Anthopoulos is about as prudent a man as you will find. He is all smiles in this press conference, but he knows what is at stake. He has deemed that the “time is now” for the Blue Jays to go for it all, and convinced his bosses to risk hundreds of millions of dollars. If the team he has assembled does not compete, for any reason, he may be out of a job. The team has had a mediocre start at 6 – 7 in the tough AL East – and have lost their prime Leadoff Man for 3 months. Going the extra mile to add depth in the franchise may enable the club to stay in contention until Jose Reyes comes back in July.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Jose Reyes was the best player acquired over the winter by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was supposed to be the Leadoff Hitter, provide speed and flash the glove at the Short Stop position.
The 30 Year Old was doing just that before going down in a heap at Second Base over the weekend stealing a bag.
Incredibly, the guy almost was injured even weeks doing the very same thing just a few weeks back.
Brett Lawrie was activated from the Disabled List last night. The initial plan was to maybe play him at Second Base, with Jose Bautista moving back to Third Base. This would put Maicer Izturis at Shortstop, with relegating Emilio Bonifacio to Right Field.
Jose Reyes Injury:
MLB (R) Weekly Power Rankings – Week 2
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Billy Beane has seen his club roar out of the gates – leading in most offensive and defensive categories so far. This year’s team is 9 – 4 (Leading the AL West) – and have put up a 81 – 40 Record since starting last year 23 – 32. The Tigers seem to be the only toxic for the franchise. The Athletics at least played in front of decent crows at 0.co Coliseum on Saturday drawing 35K – with the team trying to go for a 10th straight win. Justin Verlander stopped the streak.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Well, the Atlanta Braves are the toast of the MLB right now, Prince Fielder is the hottest hitter on the planet, John Buck is doing his best Johnny Bench impersonation – while Chris Davis is giving new definition to the nickname ‘Crash’.
The Mets and Rockies have had the biggest ‘Cupcake Schedules’ thus far in the Major Leagues – and I am still not buying stock in these teams.
The Angels pulled out a couple of wins versus the Houston Astros to end the week 5 – 8 (You guys are supposed to beat Houston whenever you play them this year!
The Yankees rode a 4 – 1 week among a schedule that was blown apart by weather induced cancellations in Cleveland, to climb the standings.
To quote Joe Pesci in (‘ My Cousin Vinny” when Fred Gwynne tells him he is in contempt of court) in response to Jose Reyes being injured. ”There is a f—— surprise!
Athletics 8 Game Win Streak Is Nothing New To Pattern Formed Since Last Year
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Oakland Athletics’ Jed Lowrie has made Billy Beane look like a genius once again – with clubbing 16 hits, (8 of the Extra Base Variety), Scoring 10 Runs and Walking 6 times so far in the teams 8 – 2 start. He has an OPS of 1.258. He was acquired from the Houston Astros in a February trade which sent Chris Carter the other way. The man can play several defensive positions well. He is due for Arbitration at the end of this season, before becoming a Free Agent in 2015. Beane doesn’t seem to make a bad move these days.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Hands up.. How many people would have thought that the Oakland Athletics would start the 2013 season with the best record in the Major Leagues so far?
Of course this website is not surprised at all. Jonathan Hacohen (Website Founder and current Oakland A’s Correspondent) wrote a brilliant piece in the 1st week of July/2012 – breaking down Billy Beane‘s new MoneyBall Philosophy here.
I have to admit something right now.. I had not seen the movie “MoneyBall” even by this time. Yes…brutal and I was kicking myself for not seeing it before hand.
After the movie, I did some digging and was extremely flabbergasted with what I found about Beane’s magic. I wrote a Roster Tree for the Hitters and Pitchers in the organization. I studied every single transaction to back track how each of the current member of the team had arrived in an Oakland uniform. You can find that 2 part series here.
Can the Oakland A’s Do it Again in 2013 Preview:
MLB Weekly Rankings Week 1: MLB Reports
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The Nationals won a Major League leading 98 Games Last Year. They have the best roster in the Major Leagues in 2013 – and have started the year 4 – 2. The team receives a narrow edge for me over the Reds for the #1 Spot in the MLB reports 1st installment of the MLB Rankings. Check back weekly for updated rankings!
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
This is the first installment of my weekly Rankings for all MLB Teams. There are no real surprises here, I picked the Nationals just slightly over the Reds from top to bottom based on their current roster depth.
Really, the Reds may have an easier path to the playoffs playing in the NL Central -as opposed to the NL East lineup the Nationals would face.
I am not sold on the Rockies quick start because they beat up the Padres and Brewers. The DiamondBacks also look great, so look for them to possibly keep climbing the ranks
The AL East is already beating each other up.
The Braves might charge up the ranks again next week.
The White Sox have looked great so far with their pitching.
Oakland and Texas have ended the week on a hotstreak each by way of fattening up on the Houston Astros.
Washington Nationals On Opening Day:
LA Dodgers Organizational Depth Charts, Rosters And Salaries (Majors And Minors)
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When Magic Johnson and his ownership group spent 2 Billion Dollars on acquiring the Franchise, that should have been a red-flag that they were going to outspend every club when it came to payroll. Get ready for it baseball world! With the MLB not having a Salary Cap – and a whimsy penalty for 1st time offenders for the 1st violation of the Luxury Tax Threshold – how high will the LA club go?
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 and welcome Jeff Kleiner (Salary, Roster and Depth Chart Expert for the MLB – visit his website here Follow @prosportsroster
You guys are all in for a treat. Jeff Kleiner recently contacted me about a partnership merge for the website. He has developed a site (prosportsrosters.com) that covers all organizational affiliates in the Minors for all of the Major League Baseball Clubs. We are going to combine efforts to bring you the best look at salaries, current 25 Man Player Rosters and Depth Charts for all 30 teams.
Jeff is going to provide the documents in form of spreadsheets and I am going to accompany the posts with deep analysis of what the numbers tell us from my perspective. If you can’t wait for all of my assessments for each club, go and visit Jeff’s website over at http://www.prosportsrosters.com.
In Speaking with Jeff, he is one of the more passionate fans I have come across towards the game of baseball. He spends enough time in updating his MLB Facts for it to be a Full-Time Job. So after the usual Video Clip and READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY button, you will find some serious &*!@?!#!
For a Full 3 year Salary Outlook plus last years Stats for every player in the Dodgers Organization click here
LA Dodgers Great Moments:
Oakland A’s Player Roster in 2013: State Of The Union Part 2: The Pitchers
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A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look for the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013. The former University of San Diego Pitcher yielded a 1.13 WHIP during his time last year. As the teams #4 Starting Pitcher on the depth chart, Griffin should be able to see some favorable matchups in 2013. If he throws like 2012 again in 2013, he might very pole vault to being the ace of the rotation. We may have another 3 – 4 staff that contend for the AL Cy Young like the days of Hudson, Mulder and Zito.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Billy Beane has always recycled his great starting pitchers once they hit the experience level that he could not pay them for. His new crop of pitchers include Jarrod Parker, Brett Anderson, Tommy Milone and new Starter A.J. Griffin.
They also are bringing back Bartolo Colon for the 2013 season, despite taking a 50 game suspension for PED use last year. Billy Beane is a master tactician on assessing a players worth and especially pitchers. Just like the hitters, the pitchers are all mostly in the 25-30 Age bracket. He has a quality set of controllable relief pitchers in the barn to close out games too.
A.J. Griffin at University of San Diego:
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers And Analyzing Mulder, Hudson and Zito Post Oakland
Sunday, Dec.02/2012
A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look to the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Yesterday we talked about the hitters of the Oakland Athletics current roster and today we will talk about their pitching. This has been an organization that has thrived on brilliant drafting of young arms. In the early 2000′s, the team featured three ace pitchers in Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. Billy Beane had to let each of them leave Oakland because they couldn’t pay them the kind of dollars needed to secure them long term. With the exception of this year, Barry Zito has not lived up to his 7 Years and 126 Million Dollar contract he signed with the San Francisco Giants since leaving the Athletics. Despite a 15-8 year for the SF club this past year, he holds a 58-69 (.447) record for San Francisco lifetime with a 4.47 ERA. He was 102-63 (.618) and a 3.55 ERA with the A’s before leaving at the age of 29. The guy made 18.25 Million in his Oakland days and has already pocketed 99 Million with SF.
Mark Mulder never was the same pitcher in the NL and was out of baseball four years after being traded to St. Louis. His A’s career had netted him an 81-42 (.659) record with a 3.92 ERA. He was only 22-18 (.550) and a 5.04 ERA with the Cardinals before retiring. As you will read in this article below, the franchise made a worthy trade in returns for this man. Mulder made 25.3 Million in his contract with the Cardinals after making only 8.4 Million with the A’s.
Tim Hudson on the other hand, has been one of the better pitchers in the NL for the last decade, still towing the hill for the Braves at the age of 38. He was 92-39 (.702) with a 3.30 ERA for the A’s. He has since gone 105-65 with a 3.52 ERA for the Braves in in 8 years. He definitely has been worth the $ invested (84.5 Million plus another 9.0 Million in 2013.) He only made 4.5 Million in his 6 years with Oakland. The sandwich pick they landed for Hudson’s Free Agent signing was Travis Buck. Unfortunately Buck only played 170 games for the franchise, hitting .250 with 18 HRs and 71 RBI in 571 AB.
Total Record for 3 other teams is 185-152 (.549) and they have made 208.8 Million away from Oakland, whereas they were 275-144 (.656) and made a total 33.15 Million Dollars with the Athletics. I would say, Beane made the right decision in not signing them.
The Future of the Oakland A’s: The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers: Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.
For The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 1: The Hitters Click Here
MLB Should Distribute More Games Against All Teams For Every Club
Thursday, Nov.29/2012
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Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
I wrote an article about 6 months ago that investigated a solution to a Payroll/Geographical Alignment that the MLB should consider in going forward for the next CBA discussions in 2016 here. Let’s be real and this will never happen. The idea of running any drastic re-alignment is probably too much for the folks at MLB to fathom. However, there is a growing trend that is starting to rear its ugly head in MLB Baseball. It is the bigger market teams really starting to throw down some serious dollars, while the lesser revenue teams can’t keep up with same kind of salary influx. Of course I have fought this fight on Twitter, Facebook and any other social media platform I have found. Sooner or later these big salaried teams will reel off a bunch of World Series Titles amongst themselves and it will leave the MLB having as much competitive balance as the NBA. Read the rest of this entry
The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise Pitchers Part 4 Of A 7 Part Series
Monday, November 26th, 2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5.The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of my archived articles section here.
Roy Halladay won 148 out of his 199 career wins under the years he played for the Blue Jays. After struggling with his mechanics early in his career, he was one of the best pitchers in the AL for the years of 2002-2009.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Toronto Blue Jays have had some incredible pitchers in their 35 years in the MLB. From Dave Stieb being one of the top 2 pitchers in the 1980′s, to the dominant closers like Tom Henke and Duane Ward be part of their playoff runs, to Pat Hentgen and Juan Guzman firing out of their career like a sprinter making a mad dash for the finish line, to David Wells, Jimmy Key and Roger Clemens tasting success, awards and leading the league in many categories. Finally, you had the premier pitcher in the American League with Roy Halladay in the 2002-2009 time frame. Yes there may be some competition from C.C. Sabathia for that last claim, however no one will argue that Halladay is not one of the best pitchers of this ERA. His being the Career Leader in winning percentage attests to that with 199 Wins versus 100 Losses (.666). So let us take a journey through the franchise and recognize all of the best hurlers that have towed the hill for the Toronto club. (Scroll Down Past the Links or Click the READ MORE OF THIS ENTRY ICON.)
Franchise Series Links:
Franchise History Part 1 1977-1993: http://mlbreports.com/2012/11/09/jays1/
Franchise History Part 2 1994-2012: http://mlbreports.com/2012/11/28/jay/
The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise Hitters: Part 3 Of A 7 Part Article Series: http://mlbreports.com/2012/11/16/torhitter/
Skydome Part 5 of 7 : An Interview with ‘Rogers Centre Expert’ and “MLB reports Founder” Jonathan Hacohen
2013 Team Payroll Part 6 of 7 : http://mlbreports.com/2012/09/10/tor/
Special Bonus Fan Blog Of 2013 Team Payroll Part 7 of 7: http://mlbreports.com/2012/09/12/torfanalex/
