Monthly Archives: February 2014
Bold Predictions For MLB Players/Teams In 2014
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
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It is time for bold predictions for players in 2014. I personally think it is going to be the most exciting season ever in the MLB.
My enthusiasm is tempered a little by the high payroll teams starting to flex their muscles around.
When will the MLB wake up and realize they should have a more equal playing field for the teams?
Anyways that is a different blog for another time. Read the rest of this entry
Top 5 HR Hitters In The MLB For 2014
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
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You may be surprised at who I am going to pick to lead the Majors in tater – trots this upcoming campaign. The names may not be foreign, yet I am betting on a couple of comebacks.
This is all really a crapshoot with injuries, lineups, whether or not a guy has protection in the lineup.
I also think this will be another season without a 50+ HR mark. God I would love to be wrong. Nothing would make me happier than someone approaching 60 RoundTrippers.
While it is a sham that Roger Maris‘s 61 HR year of 1961 has been dwarfed by the ‘PED’ use era, a lot of purists would still look favorably at somebody passing this mark clean for a change.
If a batter does it in the American League, then it would break the former Yankees Slugger’s AL record.
Just falling short of this list will be Pedro Alvarez, Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan Braun and Bryce Harper. I believe those gentlemen may hit in the high 30’s for HRs. Read the rest of this entry
30 MLB Team Power Rankings FEB 2014
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
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Not withstanding the last few signings in the MLB, noteworthy is Bronson Arroyo to the Diamondbacks, and Paul Maholm to the Los Angeles Dodgers, these will not effect the grand scheme for the rankings of all clubs.
Nelson Cruz is still available, and I would be very surprised if he doesn’t ink a deal with the Mariners. This would put them slightly ahead of the Angels if done, as oppose to a dead heat right now.
There are no real surprises to be had here.
The Orioles, Blue Jays and Pirates have had the worst offseasons, while the Rangers, Royals, Rays, Giants, Yankees, Cardinals and Dodgers have helped out their causes for the upcoming campaign.
Oakland Athletics Payroll In 2014 + Contracts Going Forward
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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Billy Beane is a master tactician when it comes to freeing up some cash in order to acquire more players.
Oakland ended last year with a payroll of about $70 MIL. So far this offseason, the A’s GM has picked up several relief pitchers and also signed Scott Kazmir to a 2 YR deal worth $22 MIL.
The team also said goodbye to Bartolo Colon,(who signed with the Mets for a 2 YRs/$20 MIL deal).
Beane has held a fantastic track record of assessing talent, so don’t be surprised if the stocky 40 year old breaks down in the Mets uniform – and not under the A’s watch. Read the rest of this entry
Just How Good Is The Washington Nationals Rotation?
By David Huzzard (Nationals Correspondent via Citizens of Natstown.com – view website here): Follow @davidhuzzard
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Around this time of year for the past three seasons this column has been written.
It was first sparked in 2012 when Davey Johnson said that the Nationals rotation was every bit as talented as the Phillies.
Then again in 2013, because Gio Gonzalez was coming off a third place Cy Young finish, Stephen Strasburg wasn’t being shut down, and the Nationals had signed Dan Haren.
This year it is time to once again explore the great question of how good is the Nats rotation because newly acquired Doug Fister says he believes them to be better than the Tigers.
This sounds a lot like Doug Fister believing in Doug Fister and that he was the key difference in making the Tigers’ rotation the best in baseball. Read the rest of this entry
MLB Odds To Win Both Of The AL And NL Pennants In 2014
The Rays have one of the 2 best Starting Pitcher staffs in the American league, and have averaged over 90 wins for the last 6 years. Having them to win the American league at +1200 (8th favorite among the clubs) is still a steal. With an ace like David Price, the emergence of Wil Myers and Chris Archer for a full year, plus the acquisition of Grant Balfour, gives the team more depth and a stronger club than even last year.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I have scoured this list and have come up with some deep recommendations. If you are picking an AL team to go to the World Series, you are better off just picking the AL odds, and not going for a World Series win.
Virtually every team has better odds in the AL just to win the American League – as opposed to the World Series. The Tigers are +500 to win the AL, yet are +900 to capture the World Series.
Based on the top three teams of LAD, WSH and STL likely countering the AL, the World Series is more up in the air.
For the National League teams, it is a much better wager to just pick the World Series outright. On these numbers, every time you pick favors the World Series odds compared to just the NL win. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 7, 2014
Boston Globe/WOR TV
Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I pay tribute to two men.
Curt Schilling played the role of the villain in baseball perfectly.
Ralph Kiner lived a full baseball life and was my connection to many facets of the past that are now gone.
To subscribe to The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast on iTunes, click HERE.
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Odds To Win The MLB 2014 World Series As Of Right Now
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Odds To Win The 2014 World Series
1. LA Dodgers +700
2. Washington Nationals +800
3. Detroit Tigers +900
T4. St. Louis Cardinals +1000
T4. Boston Red Sox +1000
6. Texas Rangers +1100
7. New York Yankees +1200
T8. Oakland Athletics +1400
T8. Atlanta Braves +1400
10. Cincinnati Reds +1500 Read the rest of this entry
Master Schedule For All MLB Doubleheader Attempts In June 2014
All 2430 games in the 2014 MLB schedule are now posted at MLB reports, and we will also have schedules for interleague, doable doubleheaders attempts at parks, weekly, monthly and a running page with all games on 1 page post. All at http://www.mlbreports.com
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Over the last few years the MLB has made doubleheaders more capable – by scheduling so many matinees in the month of April.
While these games are subject to many weather delays because of how early it is in the year, the most amount of action for doubleheader attempts will be this month.
Now a lot of people think this is a crazy way to witness contests in the Majors, as some would prefer to soak up all of the sights in the park – and not rush in veering off to another ballpark.
For this, I understand, I am just crafting out another way to do this. Read the rest of this entry
Master Schedule For All MLB Doubleheader Attempts In May 2014
All 2430 games in the 2014 MLB schedule are now posted at MLB reports, and we will also have schedules for interleague, doable doubleheaders attempts at parks, weekly, monthly and a running page with all games on 1 page post. All at http://www.mlbreports.com
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Over the last few years the MLB has made doubleheaders more capable – by scheduling so many matinees in the month of April.
While these games are subject to many weather delays because of how early it is in the year, the most amount of action for doubleheader attempts will be this month.
Now a lot of people think this is a crazy way to witness contests in the Majors, as some would prefer to soak up all of the sights in the park – and not rush in veering off to another ballpark.
For this, I understand, I am just crafting out another way to do this. Read the rest of this entry
The Lighter Side Of The MLB: Memories, Characters And Things That Make Me Laugh
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Okay, the MLB has has had their fair share of characters and memories that illustrate how funny some things are. We all like to blow these up on social media circles.
In this article, I just wanted to share some of these occurrences I have found amusing – also some of things that have cracked up some of our writers at this website.
Of course, we also have Paul Sullivan (AKA Sully) who usually makes people laugh once a podcast because he is a former comedian.
Some of his things that make us laugh are: “Did you know that Mariano Rivera is retiring?” diatribes and explaining WAR to novice baseball people is also classic.
Sully likes to emphasize that he understands sabermetrics, but several other of our listeners have cracked up at his pronunciation of BABIP. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 5, 2014
Montreal Expos
Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I am joined by former big league pitcher Rudy May.
Rudy pitched for 16 seasons in the big leagues along side many future Hall of Famers and for some of the best managers in baseball history.
In part one of our conversation, we discuss his days with the Montreal Expos and the Baltimore Orioles. He relays stories about pitching for the great Earl Weaver and knocking down Lou Brock on “Lou Brock Day” in St. Louis.
Rudy’s official website is found HERE.
Follow Rudy on Twitter by clicking HERE.
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To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE.
Re – Aligning To 4 Divisions May Help The MLB
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Since the MLB doth refuses to address their salary discrepancies among teams in the league, how about we take another radical approach?
How about eliminate the 6 Divisions – and come back with 4 new divisions!
We can also go back to 14 teams in the AL and 16 in the NL.
I have long since agreed with this websites philosophy on re-aligning the Divisions for payroll and geography reasons. Read the rest of this entry
The Top 50 Contracts Of ALL – Time IN MLB: Freddie Freeman Is 29th With His New Deal – But It Makes Sense
Freddie Freeman Highlights 2013 – Mature Content – Parental Guidance is Advised
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Freddie Freeman is worth the money he just signed for when it comes to his talent level, age and production thus far.
Yesterday, the 24 Year Old First Baseman inked a 8 YR deal worth $135 MIL with the Tomahawk Choppers. As someone who was just entering the 1st year of Arbitration Eligibility, he was bought out of that negotiation.
The Braves will pay more money in the short – term, but will make up for it in the long run – by not having to dole out 200+ MIL bucks for the guy once he could have hit Free Agency. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 4, 2014
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Don Mattingly might be batting Yasiel Puig in the leadoff spot. I think it is a great idea and could mean a change in attitude that I completely embrace.
Talking lead off hitting on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 3, 2014
Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
It is the Post Super Bowl edition of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Seattle fans have a lot to cheer about and the Mariners are off the hook. Denver fans won’t get much hope from the Rockies
To subscribe to The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast on iTunes, click HERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE.
Master Schedule For All MLB Doubleheader Attempts In April 2014
All 2430 games in the 2014 MLB schedule are now posted at MLB reports, and we will also have schedules for interleague, doable doubleheaders attempts at parks, weekly, monthly and a running page with all games on 1 page post. All at http://www.mlbreports.com
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Over the last few years the MLB has made doubleheaders more capable – by scheduling so many matinees in the month of April.
While these games are subject to many weather delays because of how early it is in the year, the most amount of action for doubleheader attempts will be this month.
Now a lot of people think this is a crazy way to witness contests in the Majors, as some would prefer to soak up all of the sights in the park – and not rush in veering off to another ballpark.
For this, I understand, I am just crafting out another way to do this. Read the rest of this entry
The Modern Day Doubleheader For Baseball Fans Of The MLB
Breaking the World Record for “Fastest To See all 30 MLB Parks” (every pitch): caused me to study every scenario for all Doubleheader Attempts humanly possible for all MLB Teams. Over the course of the next week – I will dissecting the 2014 MLB schedule – in order to list every 2 games in one day maneuver this year. I will list them by month blogs first, and then have a dedicated page at this website – that has the whole year on one page post!
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Gone are the days when baseball teams deliberately schedule two games in one stadium like teams used to do in past generations.
If there is not a postponed game for the duration of your team’s schedule, you will not even have this occurrence. I am here to tell that modern-day traveling has opened up possibilities for two games in one day for separate cities like never before.
For the extreme ballpark chasers, nothing is more exciting for a baseball fan when Major League Baseball posts the new season’s calendar. Usually the brass does this in mid-September.
Across the world, ballpark goers mark their favorite teams mapped out schedule.
A lot of fans check off what new or old baseball parks they want to visit in the next season. Plans formulate with a heavy thought to their own planned vacation time. ‘
For the most hard-core baseball fan, their whole lives revolve around this process.
Posting the schedule mind you, is only part one of itinerary.
The Toronto Blue Jays Could Be Facing Yet Another Challenge For Payroll
Toronto is the only team in the MLB not in the USA. With that comes foreign currency. For the years of 1990 – 2007, the Canadian Dollar was hovering around the 70 cents mark for the duration. The last economic crash in the USA – had the dollar at near par for the better part of the last 7 years, including once reaching $1.10 over every George Washington bill in America. The average for the exchange rate has been in the mid 90 cents range since 2008. The loonie has been in a nosedive since 2014 kicked in – and now it is around 90 cents for every US Dollar. If it goes down much more, it will be just another challenge the Jays will face in a vaunted AL East Division.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
It was a big reason the Montreal Expos are no longer in the MLB anymore. It also affected the only Canadian franchise left for that same stretch.
I am talking of course about the Canadian Dollar.
Luckily for Toronto, the last 6 years have been decent for the exchange rate.
The mark has fluctuated predominantly between .94 -.99 cents per US Dollar from 2008 – 2014.
This is even more crucial for the Blue Jays considering they reside in a tough AL East with payroll powerhouses Boston and New York. Read the rest of this entry
2014 Prognostications As Of Right Now In The MLB
The Royals may be the benefactors of a vaunted AL East Division – and a massively improved AL West this year. I think Cleveland, Minnesota and Chicago will struggle to nail down 70 wins, and Detroit may also regress a couple of wins. This could help Kansas City break a 29 year playoff drought – via a Wild Card Berth..
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Okay, yes these may very well change in the next two months, however I must report on the early front runners to how things are shaping up from where teams stand today.
It is important when you are looking over people’s predictions that the sum of all wins equals 2430 wins. The reason is because that is the number of games played in the Majors each year.
The ‘MLB Fancave’ in New York may have been the first ones to make that mainstream knowledge, yet smart baseball handicappers have been figuring this out for years. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 2, 2014
AP Photo/Ezra Shaw
It is The Sunday Request on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Why is it that post-season success & championships are much greater factors when evaluating NFL players vs MLB players?
— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) February 2, 2014
It is harder to use stats to evaluate the worth of an NFL player compared to a baseball player. Perhaps “counting the rings” is more relevant for that reason.
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For Those Thinking The Yankees Are So Much Older Than The Red Sox, Think Again
With spending $503 MIL on contracts this winter, however they are not as old of a club as they were last year. That doesn’t mean the problem won’t come back in future years, it just means this is their best year to compete for some time.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I am not a Yankees fan, and am definitely not a Red Sox fan either, however it is funny how this rivalry has captivated most baseball followers.
After this winter signings have occurred, I finally decided to do some investigating, because of all the venom fired towards the Bronx Bombers.
Immediately after Carlos Beltran signed, you saw, ‘hey, the Yankees are signing old fogies again.’
I also watched as Boston Red Sox Nation piled on the New York franchise for this.
So after reviewing both rosters, guess what….Both teams have similarly aged players. It is almost dead on. Read the rest of this entry
MLB Reports ‘Junior Reporter’ Haley Smilow Interviews Marlins Slugger Giancarlo Stanton
The Marlins have one of the most prolific young power hitters in the game of baseball in Giancarlo Stanton. After this recent campaign, the 24 Year Old has a 3 Slash Line of .265/.354/.899 – with 117 HRs and 294 RBI in 1792 Career AB. The toughest challenge the ownership has – will be to lock up this Slugger long – term, as he has frequently commented on the direction of the franchise in a negative light. Stanton has 3 years left of Arbitration – before he will be eligible for Free Agency heading into the 2017 season.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @chuckbooth3024
Haley Smilow is a lucky baseball fan/writer/reporter. Recently last summer, she was able to interview Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins.
Interviewing MLB Athletes is nothing new for our Junior Reporter. Over the last few years, Haley has interviewed Curtis Granderson, A.J. Pierzynski, Cody Ross, Barry Enright, Justin Turner, Casey Janssen and 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen.
The MLB Reports is very happy with the hard work and dedication Haley puts forth for her interviews. She has a great future in the business!
The MLB’ers like Haley because she doesn’t act cookie cutter questions. She asks them to delve into their own personal lives, and for this, she is able to crack up these guys from their usual monotanous answers. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 1, 2014
Today’s episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast was recorded at San Jose Minetta Airport. Always an ideal place for podcast sound.
I bought the Sporting News Baseball Preview and came to the conclusion that the White Sox might have a trick or two up their sleeves.
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