What better time then to sit down with Chris for The Pirates Breakdown Podcast? Without further ado, here’s the full interview with the Bucs’ backstop:
Monthly Archives: January 2016
The Dodgers Make The Right Move To Re-Sign Kendrick
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Dodgers are running pretty good today with the status quo on the offensive side of the ball anyway.
Since it was agreed on that Howie Kendrick would sign a 2 year deal for $20 MIL – this is an economic win.
1st off, the Dodgers avoided the $15.8 MIL Qualifying Offer they extended their 2015 2B, then only had to pad $4.2 MIL to the total for a 2nd season.
This is a loss financially for Kendrick, who must have thought a multi-year offer of 3 – 4 campaigns must have been out there for the same kind of money that Daniel Murphy signed for (3 years at $12 MIL per AAV).
Not only did the Dodgers brass finally reel in their Starting Second Baseman, they were able to add Chase Utley as a backup/quality bench hitter for $7 MIL. If you combined Kendrick and Utley salaries, it is just $1.2 MIL over what would have happened had Kendrick accepted the QO.
Love Kendrick as a professional hitter. The man is a .293/.333/.423 career hitter – and his 2015 season closely resembled this at .295/.336/.409 in 2015 for the Dodger Blue.
It shows that the Dodgers management/ownership is also willing to fork out the necessary dollars to keep up their NL West Division prowess.
As the 3 time defending Division Champs, they are in prime position to challenge the Giants for a 4th year in a row in 2016.
This contract vaults the Dodgers up to around $245 MIL in total team salary in 2016, yet it was a necessary move.
Los Angeles is also staring at a 50% penalty for going over the Luxury Tax Threshold for a 4th straight year. They will pay around $28 MIL with cash situated as it is now.
For the fans that wanted the organization to dole up for the bigger Free Agents, it is hard to fathom paying that 50% penalty for years upon years at the present rate.
This approach has had the super management team of Andrew Friedman, Farhan Zaidi, Josh Byrnes and newly appointed Alex Anthopoulos under heavy scrutiny, but may work out better in the long run.
Had the club inked Zack Greinke to his $34.42 MIL AAV, that would have put them so far in committed $ over the Luxury Tax, that they would never be able to get under for a reset.
With the 2016 season concluding without a CBA after, it is also wise not to be so far over the Luxury Tax mark when they don’t know what the new deal between the MLBPA and the owners will look like.
2017 has them over $203 MIL in contracts guaranteed to 12 guys already, but 8 players will become Free Agents after the 2016 season, and after 2017’s end comes the best news for Dodger fans. Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford will finally be off the books!
The Dodgers have a ton of young talent coming into the fold here. Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Corey Seager, Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda are under team control for a long period of time here. You still have Julio Urias just coming up to the Major Leagues for service time as well.
The Infield is definitely going to be clogged up with Utley, Enrique Hernandez and Alex Guerrero on the depth chart. Guerrero is out of options and will need to be kept on the Major League Roster (or be released, waived or DFA’d).
Of course Justin Turner is listed as the Starter at 3B for now. Micah Johnson and Utley may join Hernandez as guys that could spell him at the hot corner.
Guerrero could also play the OF, but I am sure that Dave Roberts would love to use Scott Van Slyke as 1st on the taxi squad.
Los Angeles has also strengthened its bench with this move. The one thing they could still use it Relief help. That may be obtained by signing more Free Agents, or perhaps this may clear the deck for another trade to happen.
The Dodgers were 10th in the NL during 2015 – with a .250 Batting Average, and losing a .293 hitter last year would have been tough for this years lineup.
With Corey Seager for a full year, and a return to prominence for Yasiel Puig, this squad could really put up some runs and improve all facets of the offense.
While the club wasn’t so great at Batting Average, they were 3rd in the Senior Circuit in Slugging Percentage at .413.
One has to also think that Chase Utley will be a lot better in reserve role – compared to his .202/.291/.363 3 Slash Line with the team last year. I would say he could be 80% like his worst year (prior to 2015), where he hit .259/.344/.425 in 2012.
For the record, baseballreference.com has Utley hitting .247/.315/.398 in 2016. I am sure the club would take that.
Whether the implementation of a lot of players on the roster – as opposed to having a limited bench and depth if they would have signed Greinke projects well to the upcoming season is yet to be determined. 4
No doubt they are not as strong in the Rotation at the top. But perhaps the addition of Scott Kazmir, the return of Hyun-jin Ryu, Alex Wood for a full year, and a surprise comeback from Brandon McCarthy could pick up the slack.
Signing Kendrick was the right move all day long. This is one less position with the team having questions for.
*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their other partners.***
A big thanks goes out to our ‘Chief Writer/Part Owner’ Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s featured post.
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Connie Mack: The Grand Old Man of Baseball- In His Final Years, 1932-1956: A Review
There have been more famous figures in baseball than Connie Mack over the years but few are still as recognizable as the tall thin man who spent over 60 years as a major league player, manager and team owner.
A true pioneer of the game, the taciturn Hall-of-Famer had as much impact as anyone affiliated with America’s Pastime. With such a lengthy and noted career, he is a worthy subject for research and writing.
You’ll find no better work on his life than Norman L. Macht’s Connie Mack: The Grand Old Man of Baseball- In His Final Years, 1932-1956 (University of Nebraska Press).
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 31, 2016
It is Sunday and time for the Sunday Request.
@sullybaseball what is the topic of the book you are writing? Looking forward to hearing progress. Mention updates on pod once in a while.
— Ken Gura (@Ken51InNO) January 24, 2016
1972 is the topic of the book I am writing. With all the topics to hit, it practically writes itself.
It episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 30, 2016
Anthony Rapp, actor and the original Mark Cohen in Rent, joined the podcast to talk about his beloved Chicago Cubs and his faith in Joe Maddon.
It is an episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast that is far shorter than 525,600 minutes
Follow Anthony Rapp on Twitter by clicking HERE.
Subscribe to Anthony’s podcast, The Clubhouse Podcast, by clicking HERE.
Part 2 of my conversion with Anthony Rapp
Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 29, 2016
New Spring Training Hats are out and guess what? Some of them are great!
Tip your cap to this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
2016 Baseball Spring Training Guide
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer) Follow @Dynasty_Digest
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I’ve had the opportunity to go to Spring Training almost every year for the last 10 years, so I’d love to share some suggestions to those who want to attend in 2016. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!
Most of my experiences have happened in Kissimmee, Florida, which is the home of the Houston Astros Spring Training. I will try to keep my suggestions on a broad basis to help fans who want to visit many different Spring Training locations. I have never been to Arizona for Spring Training, but I hope to go in the next 2 years.
Keep in mind if you are traveling to Arizona, these suggestions could vary a little bit based on your location. Please see suggestions below:
3 Questions Facing The 2016 Boston Red Sox
Mere weeks remain until players for the Boston Red Sox report to spring training in Florida as the kick off to the 2016 season.
A flurry of high-profile offseason moves have the team presumably sitting in a much better space than last year, when they finished in the basement of the American League East.
However, they are far from a finished product and still have some uncertainty facing them as they prepare for another season on the diamond.
Here are three of the most looming questions:
Why The Giants’ 2016 Season Looks A Lot Like 2002
Following the 2001 baseball season the San Francisco Giants faced a challenging problem: how to retool a 25 man roster that had a solid core of talented players but still lacked a number of critical pieces.
That Giants team also had a recent history of success, making the post season twice in the previous five years. In 1997 the Giants lost the League Division Series 3-0 to the Florida Marlins, and in 2000 they again lost the LDS, this time 3-1 to the New York Mets.
That’s when General Manager Brian Sabean did something the San Francisco Giants rarely ever do: he acknowledged the team’s needs and signed several free agents (along with making several trades), going all in with the goal of playing in the 2002 World Series.
All 30 MLB Park Home Openers With Local Start Times For 2016
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The 2015 season is over and it is time to start planning for attending games in the 2016 year. This is our third straight year of posting all of the Season Openers for all of the parks.
I have been fortunate enough to see home openers in 8 different parks already in the last 4 years.
We have updated the previous article on this because all of the home start times have been posted.
We have also provided 30 links to all of the best chaser guides for the stadiums. This will aid you in making your travel plans for the 2016 season.
MLB Interleague 2016 Master Schedule With ALL Starting Times
MLB Scheduling 2016
Day + Date Away and Home, Times Start In EST
APR
WEEK 1 (Includes Season Opener Sunday Apr.3, 2016)
Sunday, Apr 3 (1 Game)
Mets @ Royals 8:37
Monday, Apr 4 (1 Game)
Cubs @ Angels 10:05 (Angel Stadium Season Opener)
Tuesday Apr 5 (3 Games)
Mets @ Royals 4:15
Tigers @ Marlins 7:10 (Marlins Park Season Opener)
Cubs @ Angels 10:05
Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 28, 2016
Baseball is going to see more and more teams starting to tank seasons. Here is the question: Is that a bad thing?
It is a pay now collect later episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 27, 2016
Cleveland might dip into the remaining free agent hitters in order to fix a problem earlier rather than later.
It is a no time like the present episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
PiratesBreakdown.com Interview – With Pittsburgh Pirates Catcher Chris Stewart
Pittsburgh Pirates fans will want to hear this episode of The Pirates Breakdown Podcast as we welcome in Chris Stewart for an interview.
Chris Stewart recently signed an extension to remain a Pirate for the foreseeable future.
What better time then to sit down with Chris for The Pirates Breakdown Podcast?
Interview – Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Chris Stewart
All 30 MLB Parks in 25 Days All By Ground
Chuck Booth (BBBA President/Owner mlbreports.com) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
For the last several years my buddy Josh Robbins and I have come up with ways to beat our individual world records for ballpark chasing.
My record is all 30 MLB Parks (every pitch) in just 23 Calendar Days. I accomplished this feat in 2012. You can read about that trip here. After scouring the MLB Schedule for 2016, there is not even an attempt to try for the record this season.
Unless it changes, it will be another campaign I will sip (Gas Monkey Cinnamon Tequilla) as the world record holder for another year.
Dynasty Leagues: MLB Fantasy Rankings Links By Position
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer) Follow @Dynasty_Digest
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The following rankings are for dynasty leagues. Dynasty leagues keep the same roster every year following the initial draft. These leagues place significantly more value on younger players, which is why my rankings may look different from a lot of other fantasy baseball rankings online.
All of my rankings are based on positional eligibility of 10 games or more at the specified position. I will state if a player has multi-positional eligibility based on these requirements in the bios of each player. If you have any questions, tweet me
Make It Or Break It Year For The New York Yankees
The Yankees have yet to sign one big-league player this offseason. This is very unlike the New York Yankees, who are known as big spenders every offseason.
While they haven’t signed anyone, they have traded for Starlin Castro and Aroldis Chapman. Both of these additions will be very influential to the Yankees success in 2016, but many people are still wondering what is going on during this odd offseason.
I believe the Yankees realize they are getting older and they are trying to rely on their minor league developmental process.
They should start to see some of their young studs make the move to the show soon, so there is no need to delay that process by overspending on a free agent this offseason.
The New York Yankees finished the 2015 season with a 87-75 record. This earned them a wildcard playoff spot, but they lost to the Houston Astros in the first round
. While the Yankees have plenty of talent on their roster, there is no denying that the average age of their lineup is a problem for the future.
They had the 6th highest average age out of all Major League Baseball teams in 2015 at 29.6 years old.
This doesn’t seem significantly high, but their core group of talent is much older than the average. See below for the age of each player, games played in 2015, and when they are a free agent:
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 26, 2016
Rob Manfred gave an interview where some of the slow decisions by baseball made me happy, others did not.
Plus I seem to always be in danger of erasing my apps.
It is a dragging your feet episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
ALL – Time Detroit Tigers Pitching Wins
Moving on from our all-time offensive stat category leaders for the Tigers, today we look at the all-time pitching leaders in Detroit franchise history.
There’s sure to be some surprises I’m guess and interesting to see how JV is comparing…
Detroit Tigers Top 10 Career Wins
- Hooks Dauss – 223
- George Mullin – 209
- Mickey Lolich – 207
- Hal Newhouser – 200
- Jack Morris – 198
Mike Piazza’s Number Will Be Retired In July
This has been a very good month for Mets fans.
Mike Piazza was finally elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 6th, Yoenis Cespedes agreed to a three year contract with the Mets on Saturday, and today it was announced that Mike Piazza will have his number retired by the NY Mets on July 30th.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 25, 2016
Never make decisions while in a spiteful mood. Why? Because it can cost you a Hall of Famer and potentially a pennant or two.
Just ask the Cardinals of the 1970s.
It is a clearing the head episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 24, 2016
It is Sunday and time for The Sunday Request.
@sullybaseball You don’t understand why they think so, or don’t think it is? Because I get the latter, I don’t the former.
— whig apologist (@Crpls) January 22, 2016
I am not a traditionalist. I like fun and I like variety. And eliminating pitchers batting takes fun and variety out of baseball.
BUT I offer a compromise!
It is an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 23, 2016
Yoenis Cespedes is coming back to the Mets, at least for 2016. The goodwill that will buy for the Mets is worth every penny.
Plus I beat the hell out of a spider in Burbank.
Good times in Flushing for this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 22, 2016
Still in the parking lot of a CVS, I discuss ethics and why Pete Rose‘s number SHOULD be retired.
It is a crazy person talking outside to himself episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
NL To Eliminate The DH Or Not? Fan Voting Poll
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I have to admit Rob Manfred is at least taking charge at the helm of the MLB. Uniformity of both the American League and the National League may be implemented as early at 2017 – following the CBA talks after the 2016 season.
That is right, The Designated Hitter may be introduced in the NL as early as next year.
If Manfred calls for an equalization schedule of all 30 MLB teams playing a level amount of games against their own league and divisions next – I will anoint him the best “Commissioner ever. Hopefully this would be the next step.
Since the progressive leader has made some radical changes in his infancy at the top, like fast play, blackout removals, one fee for individualized teams on MLB.TV – I am hoping he can eradicate team fatigue next.
One of the best cases to made for both the Senior and Junior Circuits to both have the same rules is the recent destruction the AL has done to the National League. They have a 12 year winning streak in Interleague play – with a whopping .550 win percentage in that time from 2004 – 2015. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 21, 2016
Yoenis Cespedes needs to find a home. The Angels and Nats are the logical landing spot. But can the Mets afford to lose him?
I pulled off the road and into a parking lot to record this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Bold Predictions For The 2016 MLB Year
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Every year we do an article called “Bold Predictions”. I love this concept as most of these ideas are so preposterous that none of them will actually happen. I liken it to the “Riverboat Gambler Theory” where you can really get rich quick if it were to come to fruition.
There may not be too many secrets in the National League where the clubs seems to be either really good or really bad. The American League has a lot more parity.
I suppose I could start off by saying that the NL would win the Interleague series versus the AL, but that it is probably not going to happen based on a 12 year losing streak. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 20, 2016
What teams can lay claim to “Team of the Decade” for the 2010’s?
What team can enter the conversation with a 2016 World Series win?
It is a long term legacy episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
The Padres Should Definitely Not Pursue Yoenis Cespedes: But The Angels Should
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
With Yoenis Cespedes still on the open market a lot of speculation is running rampant on which squads should be in the running for his services.
While I am not sure I buy the theory at all, the Padres have been said to be checking in on the big Cuban star.
This type of signing would be a monumental mistake in my view.
I would hope that A.J. Preller would have learned his lesson by acquiring high strikeout, low OBP players that have power that may not translate to their home park in Petco Park. Read the rest of this entry
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