Monthly Archives: February 2016
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 29, 2016
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
I promised to do another episode on Leap Year. I am a man of my word. Here I talk about Ian Desmond and a little bit about the Oscars.
It’s a once in every four years episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
2016 MLB Preseason Power Rankings
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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With just 5 weeks to the regular season – and all of the important Free Agents finally being locked up with Ian Desmond signing with the Rangers, it is time to see where all 30 MLB clubs stack up.
We are going to be running weekly power rankings once the year starts on Apr.3, 2016.
The way I compile the Power Rankings is best on confidence to win the World Series. Some clubs may be more talented (or playing better) than a squad they are behind in the rankings, but the Division (and strength of opponents) plays a massive factor.
It is the reason why teams like the Royals or Astros will be selected above a team like the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Pittsburgh Pirates might win 90 games (which may only see one AL club join them), but because they have to contend with the Cards and Cubs in the NL Central, it will be tough for them to receive a great ranking (at least until games are played). Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB Divisions
Best Division odd value on the board this week.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
As the season approaches we are seeing more and more gambling entities finally display and update their Division odds on a daily basis.
Over the course of the year we will be doing a weekly post on both the World Series and the MLB Divisions for best value.
I have selected one good value pick and one bad value pick for each Division. Next to a good pick, or a bad one, there will be an assigned parenthesis number for the degree I love the wager compared to the other Division picks.
The Chicago Cubs are the biggest favorite to win their own Division which is not surprising. In the American League, the KC Royals have the lowest odd.
I like how this establishment has the Royals as their favorite lock to make the postseason, yet still have the Red Sox and Blue Jays favored over them for the World Series odds.
This goes the same for the Giants in the National League. San Francisco is +900 to win the ‘Fall Classic’, yet the Mets and Nationals are more of a favorite to win the NL East, then they are the NL West. Read the rest of this entry
The Selling Of The Babe From Boston To New York: A Review
Andrew Martin (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – baseballhistorian.blogspot.ca) Follow @historianandrew
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Roger Kahn, Donald Honig and David Halberstam are some of the names on the short list for of the greatest baseball authors.
Someone who is making a serious run at that distinction is Glenn Stout, who is submitting another entry to his resume with The Selling of the Babe: The Deal that Changed Baseball and Created a Legend—an outstanding take on the Bambino’s famous sale from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees.
A’s Constant Competitive Ambition Is Admirable
Jen Rainwater (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – www.bbstmlb.com) Follow @OakAsSockGrl
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Alright, you may have to bear with me a little bit here, as I am not 100% sure how I want to present this except to say this is what I say about the A’s A LOT of the time and ESPN’s Buster Olney said it in his “Insiders Only” piece on Saturday called,
“The Athletics drive to contend is admirable in today’s times.“
It IS admirable and using both Olney’s statistics and my own, I intend to show you exactly why their drive to contend has not only been successful but beyond that, that most team’s in their situation would not or choose not to try to compete. Instead they tank and have a long stretch of terrible years – only to reemerge with a lot of high draft picks who are ready for the big leagues.
It reminded me a lot of a similar piece that I wrote for Today’s Knuckleball that talked about how the A’s had their own unique way of “rebuilding.” It went on to explore how they’ve been able to maintain a high level of competitiveness despite having one of the league’s lowest payrolls and having to be creative in creating platoons that will put up similar numbers to those exhibited by the big name free agents that they cannot afford.
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 28, 2016
New York Times
It is Sunday and time for The Sunday Request.
@sullybaseball The @Yankees won’t accept print-at-home tickets anymore. Smart decision? #SundayRequest
— cubsfan (@cu8sfan) February 20, 2016
I am more than willing to talk about the Yankee ticket crisis, but I am bringing in help. Lisa Swan, co creator of Subway Squawkers and frequent guest of the podcast, wrote about the ticket fiasco and has been quoted in WFAN and the New York Post.
Why not get her thoughts here?
It’s a print from home edition of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Follow Subway Squawkers by clicking HERE.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 27, 2016
Today I talk about Dan Shaughnessy, the Red Sox, past GMs, the Oscars, the American League pennant and why Mad Max Fury Road should win the Best Picture.
It is all connected for me.
What a day… what a lovely day for The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast
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Mark Ellis And Mark Kotsay Together Again At A’s camp
Ellis, still a fan favorite to this day, came up with the team as a rookie in 2002 and was a big part of the Athletics 2002 20-game win streak, which set an AL record. He was the A’s second baseman from 2002 until 2011 when he was traded to the Colorado Rockies. During his tenure with Oakland, Ellis hit .266/.331/.337. He was most impressive on defense however and he has been brought in to work with the middle infielders. Photo courtesy of GETTY IMAGES
Jen Rainwater (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – www.bbstmlb.com) Follow @OakAsSockGrl
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This is exciting news! My favorite Marks are back together again, for spring training at least, and that is good enough for me because it means I will likely be able to catch a glimpse or two or more of both Mark Kotsay the A’s new bench coach and Mark Ellis who will be a guest instructor for the team during the spring.
Ellis and Kotsay’s careers with the Athletics overlapped from 2004 (although Ellis was injured for the entire season) to 2007.
They were part of the team that defeated the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series in 2006, taking the A’s to the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers.
They lost of course as almost everyone knows the A’s can’t seem to get past the Tigers in the postseason. Yet that 2006 team broke the curse of the first round and took the A’s farther than they had been in the postseason since 1992.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives June 1, 2013 – June 30, 2013 (Episodes 221 – 250)
Paul Francis Sullivan (please call him Sully) does a podcast 365 days a year – unless it is a leap year – then he will do another 1. He has done a show everyday since Oct.24/2012. This to date represents a streak of 1219 days consecutively!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 221 – 250 of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
We will also archive all of his podcasts to date (in coming weeks) so they are easily accessible for all his fans. Check out all his Archived info here.
Our website followers have grown larger each year for his podcast.
Follow Sully Baseball On Twitter Follow @sullybaseball
To subscribe on iTunes, click HERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 26, 2016
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The Orioles took their time with medical exams, which they should. So Dexter Fowler stunned us all and gave the Cubs a very crowded outfield.
It is a look this way and now that edition of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Get Ready For The ‘Zombie Cardinals’ Version 11.0 In 2016: Cubs Are Favored In Division – But Gap Isn’t Huge
St. Louis has been an elite team in the National League for the last 15 years. While Chicago deserves to be favorite in the NL Central – and to win the World Series, never sleep on the St. Louis Cardinals. This team has 9 LCS Appearances since 2000, and did win 100 win games last campaign. Throw in a championship pedigree – and a brilliant youth movement, aided by a few cagey veterans, and the gap is just not that great compared with the Cubs. A huge effort by Adam Wainwright, with less than perfect years from Arrieta and Lester may be all it takes for the RedBirds to remain the kings of the NL Central.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Cubs have signed Dexter Fowler and traded away Chris Coghlan yesterday, and the Cards will have another week this winter where they are not the focus of the NL Central. It probably suits them just fine.
On the heels of a 100 win campaign during 2015, the gambling websites, PECOTA and FanGraphs are all projecting a massive regression for St. Louis in 2016. I am not one of those people.
I, for one, think the Cardinals are still to be reckoned with.
Switch out a potentially healthy Matt Holliday, coupled with full years from Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk – for the departed Jason Heyward to the Cubs, and I like that.
Throw in Adam Wainwright and Mike Leake, for the loss of Lance Lynn and John Lackey, and I still like that almost as even.
No doubt that Ben Zobrist was a good singing for the Chicago Cubs this offseason, but lets not throw St. Louis over the cliff just yet. Read the rest of this entry
3 Lessons We Learned During The First Week Of MLB Spring Training
Jen Rainwater (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – www.bbstmlb.com) Follow @OakAsSockGrl
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With one week of spring training in the books, here are the top three things we learned.
It’s’ the beginning of a new season. Spring Training began as pitchers and catchers reported late last week and position players started to arrive early on this week.
Of course there are going to be at least a few interesting situations that will go down in this first week or two of Spring Training.
It happens every year beginning with almost every player declaring “I’m in the best shape of my life” to there being so many new faces on some of the teams that the players literally need to meet one another for the first time.
That was the case for the Oakland Athletics last year after many offseason trades and it appears to be the case in Seattle this season with the Mariners.
New GM Jerry Dipoto turned over more than 40% of the Mariners roster in hopes to improve the team enough that they can compete in what is going to be a very competitive race to win the AL West or at least slide in as one of the two AL Wild Card teams.
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series
The Cardinals continued their great play in the MLB since the turn of the millennium – with an MLB best 100 wins in 2015. The organization has transitioned to the next core of a young nucleus, while still holding on to a couple of capable veterans. Considering they have plenty of depth, and lots of payroll flexibility coming forth, the franchise could orchestrate a blockbuster trade soon. While I would favor Chicago over them slightly for the NL Central, the RedBirds, Mets, Dodgers Tigers and Mariners have the best value, while the Angels, Giants, Padres, Red Sox and D’Backs have the worst on the board this week.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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I was all set to pounce on my 1st American League bet for the Fall Classic in 2016 earlier this week – when the O’s were at +5000, and presumably bringing both Dexter Fowler and Yovani Gallardo into the stable.
With Fowler opting back to Chicago, the odd also dropped to +4500 in the meantime (also following the Gallardo wait time for the physical fiasco), and the value is no longer there.
Baltimore is a low 80 wins team in my view, and will not have enough for the postseason. Fowler would have added a few W’s for sure.
Of course with the chaos that has ensued, the Cubs have gone from +700 to +650 prohibitive best odd. There is no doubt in my mind they should be the consensus favorite.
One of these years the #1 seed will capitalize and win. I am still not plunking down cabbage at that clip though.
If I were to do my year end picks right now, I would still have Chicago ending their World Series 108 seasons drought – but I can’t place them as twice the favorite as the St. Louis Cardinals.
Still not sold on the Cubs Bullpen either, and I think Jon Lester can be had in the postseason. The Mets also line up favorably versus Chicago based on pitching matchups. New York has the better odds to wager with.
I am currently writing a faceoff piece between the Cubbies and Cards that I will post over the weekend. The difference is not a whopping 8 or 10 games like ‘FanGraphs’ and ‘PECOTA’ say. St. Louis should still be in the mid 90’s for victories on the campaign.
I have them as one of my best bets again this week.
New York Yankees have been taken off the best odds list with their injury to Brett Gardner. It is absolutely paramount that he and Jacoby Ellsbury set the table this campaign – and stay healthy.
All of the incoming help with Starlin Castro, and internal improvement from Didi Gregorius will be for not.
Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran and Alex Rodriguez also will not hit a combined 79 dongs this year like in 2015. The club is also substantially thinner in the Starting Rotation.
They are a 85 win club as presently constituted, which should have them in the race for a Wild Card, but it is not worth betting at the +1600 odd. Read the rest of this entry
Zack Wheeler Loves Big Sexy And NY Mets Fans
Freddy Vasquez (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – metshotcorner.com) Follow @metshotcorner
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Zack Wheeler gave MLB Network Radio’s Round Trip a few moments talking about his rehab back from Tommy John surgery,Bartolo Colon and NY Mets Fans.
The young starter also had a few choice words about recently banned player Jenrry Mejia, playing for Terry Collins, and watching his peers in the rotation during the World Series.
BBBA Members Video/Audio Shows + Links For The Week That Was
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
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Domestic violence is finally going to be dealt with in baseball.
I am not sure what commissioner Manfred should do about Jose Reyes, Yasiel Puig and Aroldis Chapman. But I DO know that saying things like David Ortiz said does not help.
Players are role models. If you don’t like that, quit and join a beer league.
It is a do the right thing NOW edition of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 25, 2016
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Week Archives
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 25, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives May.1, 2013 – May.31, 2013 (Episodes 190 – 220)
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 24, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 23, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 22, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 21, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 20, 2016
Twitter And The MLB: Better The Team, More Followers? It’s Much More Than That.
BY (Featured BBBA Website – bucsraiseit.com) Follow @bucsraiseit
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
With Spring Training finally getting underway, it’s refreshing to have actual baseball news to talk and write about it after a long winter, which continues to drag on.
But even with workouts beginning in Florida and Arizona, this is still a pretty quiet period for another week or so- when games actually begin.
With the down time, and while bracing for the madness of the regular season to being, it’s sort of refreshing to have some time available to look into subject matter, that otherwise, I may not give a second thought about when the thick of the season is underway.
Several days ago, I noticed on twitter that the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens were celebrating hitting the 1 million follower mark for their official twitter page.
I thought to myself, “ok, that’s pretty impressive”. So, I decided to see where the baseball teams in the Majors ranked in terms of their following on the social media network. At first, I really didn’t have a purpose, but then I thought that it would be interesting to take a look from top to bottom and see if anything sticks out.
Then, the project evolved a bit to look into whether there were any correlations between market size (which I heavily assumed), or perhaps the weight that winning has on increasing followers.
Seemed logical to me that teams that were successful, most likely had a following that was greater than perennial “losers” And finally I figured I would take a look at the data from a geographical perspective.
First, let’s take a look at the data (twitter followers tab is in thousands- for instance 1,570= 1.57 million), and pick out a few things that stick out:
Orioles Setting A Dangerous Precedent With Physicals (Circa Gallardo): Fowler Leaves To The Cubs
Dexter Fowler re-signed with the Cubs for a minimum 1 year deal of $15 MIL in 2016 (with a mutual option for 2017) if he or Chicago don’t want to opt out after the upcoming season. Fowler had been said to have a 3 YR/$33 MIL in place with the Orioles before this happened. Maybe Fowler didn’t act 100% in good faith with Baltimore – however the O’s don’t exactly have a great track record with treating players in regards to physicals anyway.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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Wow, didn’t see that coming did you Orioles brass? Dexter Fowler leaves his deal with you guys and re-signs with his old team in Chicago.
I have to wonder if the way things went down with Yovani Gallardo didn’t weigh on Dexter Fowler’s mind. The track record for Free Agent’s having deals going south is about a 50/50 proposition with the O’s.
In one way I am disappointed that Baltimore didn’t land Fowler, because I think that deal would have definitely narrowed the gap in the AL East. Read the rest of this entry
Is Matt Joyce The Answer To The Pirates’ 4th Outfielder Spot?
Matt Joyce had a down year in 2015, but his history as a starter in the outfield could make him the Pirates’ best fourth outfielder option come Opening Day.
Jason Rollison (Featured Baseball Website Writer – piratesbreakdown.com) Follow @pbcbreakdown
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The final signing of the Pirates’ off-season might have happened last week when the team signed outfielder Matt Joyce to a minor league contract.
The move wasn’t a major one, but it may have filled one final need the Pirates had before heading into spring training: the fourth outfielder position.
He’ll be competing with Sean Rodriguez, Jason Rogers, Mike Morse, and Jake Goebbert for playing time, and to be the primary outfielder off the bench come Opening Day. Out of the available choices, is Joyce the best option the Pirates have for that role?
I’d argue yes. As a fourth outfielder, a player is the first option off the bench to give either Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, or Gregory Polanco a day off, and would also be used as a pinch-hitter and possibly a late game defensive replacement.
Joyce has by far the most major league experience in the outfield (5163.0 innings) compared to the next closest in Morse (3061.2) and Rodriguez (662.1).
He also has a higher career WAR at 9.0, the next closest being Rodriguez at 7.3. He’s the only one of the group to be an All-Star may be arguably the best overall offensive player of the group (Morse has more power, but has fallen off since his career 2012 campaign).
Carl Yastrzemski And The Boston Red Sox: Did You Know?
Carl Yastremski was the last major league baseball player to ever win the triple crown before Miguel Cabrera in 1967 – a span of 46 years.
Andrew Martin (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – baseballhistorian.blogspot.ca) Follow @historianandrew
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Every major league baseball team has their own Mount Rushmore; their most iconic players from respective franchise histories.
The Boston Red Sox are no exception, and having been in existence for more than a century, have as impressive a group as anyone. This includes Hall-of-Fame outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, better known to fans simply as “Yaz.”
Although his career has been much discussed, here are some things that you may not know.
Why Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto Won The 2015-16 MLB Offseason
Matt Musico (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – chinmusicbaseball.com) Follow @mmusico8
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Heading into 2015, the Seattle Mariners not only had playoff aspirations, but some analysts even tabbed them as a World Series team. Upon eventually crossing the finish line with a disappointing 76-86 record, change at the top was bound to happen.
Once it did, plenty of other changes took place, too.
Former general manager Jack Zduriencik was out of a job before the calendar flipped to September, followed by Jerry Dipoto being tabbed as his successor by the end of that month.
From that point on, the Mariners went through as close to a complete makeover as one organization possibly could in one offseason. We knew Dipoto had a clear vision as to what kind of team he wanted to field on Opening Day since the changes were coming fast and furious within his first few months on the job.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 25, 2016
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
Domestic violence is finally going to be dealt with in baseball.
I am not sure what commissioner Manfred should do about Jose Reyes, Yasiel Puig and Aroldis Chapman. But I DO know that saying things like David Ortiz said does not help.
Players are role models. If you don’t like that, quit and join a beer league.
It is a do the right thing NOW edition of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives May.1, 2013 – May.31, 2013 (Episodes 190 – 220)
Paul Francis Sullivan (please call him Sully) does a podcast 365 days a year – unless it is a leap year – then he will do another 1. He has done a show everyday since Oct.24/2012. This to date represents a streak of 1219 days consecutively!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 190 – 220 of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
We will also archive all of his podcasts to date (in coming weeks) so they are easily accessible for all his fans. Check out all his Archived info here.
Our website followers have grown larger each year for his podcast.
Follow Sully Baseball On Twitter Follow @sullybaseball
To subscribe on iTunes, click HERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE.
Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 24, 2016
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Jose Bautista wants to be paid. Can you blame him?
The Blue Jays have 3 real choices to make. The Indians can push them to make one choice.
It is a Joey Bats edition of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
BBBA Members Presence On The MLB Reports: Lots Of Content Heading To Our Site!
Chuck Booth (BBBA President/Majority Owner mlbreports.com) Follow @chuckbooth3024
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As some of you have probably already surmised, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance has infiltrated the mlbreports.com big time over the last few months.
These are talented writers that love the game as much as we do, and we have the pleasure of sharing some of their work on our place of the web. I hope you embrace their work, and click the links over to their home sites.
I was named the President of the BBBA back in August and since I returned from my year-long MLB journey in October – I have been working with a lot of pro bloggers.
In 2011, I was lucky enough to have been tutored on baseball writing by our ‘website founder’ Jonathan Hacohen. It is my wish to help out as many other independent bloggers as humanly possible as a ‘pay it forward’ maneuver.
MLB Reports is happy to give our social media power to the cause.
Chuck Booth – Current Majority Owner (Left) and Jonathan Hacohen MLB Reports Founder and former Owner (Right) – MLB Reports Brass at the Rogers Center during 2012. This website has grown into Millions of views and established a great record of prediction on Gambling 101 topics.
The MLB Reports will still stick to its core of content – and this additional material will act as supplemental. We may reach over 2000 posts for the 2016 calendar season.
We have Sully’s Baseball Podcast for 366 episodes this year, and he runs a daily MVP segment during the regular season and playoffs called ‘Who Owned Baseball’.
We are still going to be hardcore when it comes to Gambling on baseball. Hunter Stokes will run a weekly blog on all MLB Futures, and will have MLB Power Rankings during the regular season.
I will be helping Hunter write all of the 2016 MLB Team Payroll articles – and we are going to be going heavy on this aspect going forward – as it is one of our biggest strengths. The plan is to update them a hell of a lot more.
We also have MLB Shutout Survivor and MLB Runs Scored Survivor coming back for 2016.
We also update the website every time there is a no-hitter, cycle or top 50 contract handed out. There are widgets on our sidebar window of the home page. Of course, we also have a Tommy John Surgery ALL – Time List page we keep here at the site too.
I also will be updating the Interleague Results every day – and keep a running total of the records.
I have taken the MLB Scheduling off the site because it is to time intensive to maintain. i still hate the fact that no MLB Website offers monthly and yearly running pages for their schedule like the nhl.com does, but there are not enough hours in the day to keep it true.
Look for more posts, and more coverage for all of your favorite teams and players in 2016!
If you haven’t had enough of your baseball fix, I am also operating the BBBA’s website over at bbba.work
Thanks for reading and for your time,
Chuck Booth
BBBA President/Majority Owner of mlbreports.com
mlbreports@gmail.com
Home Of Sully Baseball 20 minute Daily Podcast + #WOB, #SullyMetrics, Baseball Analysis (Audio + Written, Salaries, Tommy John Surgery) BBBA coverage, Gambling 101, Interleague, Cycle and No – Hitter History + Wicked Daily Content,) We are not your average “Cookie Cutter” Website. Also our motto is “THE TRUTH STINGS LIKE A CATCUS!”
Blue Jays Vs. Jose Bautista: The Art Of Negotiations
Jose Bautista must stay on the field the entire season if the Canadian franchise has any hopes of playoffs. Joey Bats should be capable of clubbing between 35 – 40 HRs like he did in 2015. Whether the skipper bats him 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the lineup still remains to be seen. Bautista features a 3 Slash of .264/.384/.538 during his 8 seasons tenure with Toronto – clubbing 243 HRs and adding 632 RBI. At Age 36 next winter, he is said to be seeking 5 Years and $150 MIL from the team. That may not work.
Shaun Doyle (Featured Baseball Writer – Owner jaysfromthecouch.com) Follow @jaysfromthecouch
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THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS AND JOSE BAUTISTA ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GAME OF CHICKEN. WITH NO NEGOTIATIONS, WHO WILL BLINK FIRST?
Have you ever seen a cartoon where people get into a fight and dirt is flying around like a tornado, legs and arms flail about and then the dust settles and one of the participants is left by themselves?
In those cases, one of the fighters ends up just fighting with themselves and then looks around to find nothing but quiet.
That’s kind of what happened Tuesday with Jose Bautista and the Toronto Blue Jays. In the span of 24 hours, we’d heard that Bautista was not going to negotiate for his potential extension.
What ensued was a tornado of speculation and nonsense that resulted a whole lot of nothing…except an interesting staring contest.
What To Expect From The Dutchies This Year? Jurickson Profar
(AP Photo/Jim Cowsert)
Chris Kabout (Featured Baseball Writer – Owner www.yankeebiscuitfansdutchblog.mlblogs.com/) Follow @dutch_ball
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With Spring Training at full swing now, it is time to see how the players from the Kingdom of the Netherlands will do in the upcoming season.
Of course there is no crystal ball and it is still up in the air, but in general you can make a decent prediction based on the performance of previous years.
Jurickson Profar is finally on the way back from a very long stint on the DL.
Jurickson Profar started the 2014 season on the 60-day DL and was expected to return to the Rangers mid June. But somewhere in May 2014 the Rangers announced that Jurickson had re-injured his shoulder again. He opted for rest instead of surgery.
But as Profar becmae injured again in February 2015, it was decided that he would get surgery. This would cost him almost the entire season.
In August he started his rehab stint with several MiLB teams of the Rangers and he was added to the Arizona Fall League to get ready in time for the 2016 campaign. In both cases he served as a DH.
Other Dutch Profiles:
What To Expect From The Dutchies This Year? Andrelton Simmons
Spring Training: Indicator for Regular Season Results?
Ground Rule Triple Blog (Featured Baseball Website – groundruletriple.com)
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Spring Training has finally gotten underway, and the first games will be next week. With that in mind, Spring Training is where the managers make sure everyone is having consistent at-bats and innings and just making sure everyone has playing time before the season begins.
This got me thinking of whether good records during Spring Training for teams was a sign of things to come in the regular season or was it completely irrelevant?
I’ll be taking a look at how the best and worst teams during the past five Spring Training’s fared during the regular season. Let’s take a look:
READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY 1,109 more words
Yoenis Cespedes Looks Good On And Off the Field For The Mets In Their 2016 World Series Quest
Yoenis Cespedes led all LF for HRs with 35 on the campaign in 2015. He picked a contract year for his best season to date out of the 4 years he has been in the Major Leagues. Cespedes hit 17 HRs with the Mets in 2 months, after smacking out just 18 in the first four months with Detroit. Cespedes finished in the top 40 for both leagues in respective big fly’s, and was tied for 13th overall with Manny Machado and David Ortiz. Expect more of the same in 2016. Mets are the best bet of for the ‘Fall Classic’ value wise in a lot of gambling sites based on his re-signing right now. His Fantasy stock should also be high.
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer/Owner – dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) Follow @Dynasty_Digest
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Yoenis Cespedes had a monster 2015 season after hitting .291 with 35 home runs, 101 runs, 105 RBI’s, and a .328 on base percentage. This was his best season yet and he is only 30 years old.
I would expect more of the same in 2016 after resigning with the New York Mets, who all of a sudden, has a very hitter-friendly stadium at least for him.
Although, if Cespedes, for any reason finds himself out of baseball, he could probably take over batman’s role. He already has the cannon arm to protect mankind, but he now officially owns the closest thing to the batmobile.
Yoenis Cespedes could be the superhero that society needs, but for now, he will be the hero the New York Mets need to make a run at a World Series title in 2016.
To read the rest of the article and to see his new car, click the link below:
Justin Verlander Will Return To His Cy Young Form In 2016
Justin Verlander was once the best pitcher in the American League over the last 5 years. Verlander was 137 – 77 (.640) with a 3.41 ERA in the 1st 9 years of his career. The Detroit Tigers are certainly lucky the San Diego Padres took Matt Bush with the 1st overall pick in 2004. Verlander was 137 – 77 (.640) with a 3.41 ERA in the 1st 9 years of his career, before going just 20 – 20 in the last 2 years. The 2011 AL Cy Young Winner and 2012 Cy Young runner up is signed with the club until at least 2019, and it could be 2020 with a Vesting Option. Verlander had thrown over 200+ IP each year since 2007 prior to 2015’s 133. frames thrown. The 33 Year old has added a 7 – 5 record in 15 Career Post Season Games and a 3.28 ERA – among 0 – 3 with a 7.20 in 3 World Series Starts.
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer/Owner – dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) Follow @Dynasty_Digest
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher, Justin Verlander, has had a tough go of it over the past two seasons. In 2014 he threw 206 innings with 15 wins, a 4.54 ERA, and 159 strikeouts.
Last year he threw only 133.1 innings with 5 wins, a 3.38 ERA, and 113 strikeouts. Many fantasy baseball owners and fans have overlooked this 33 year old veteran heading into the 2016 season, but I think he could be a steal in many drafts.
While he probably won’t have another season like his 2011 MVP and Cy Young campaign (he threw 251 innings with 24 wins, 2.40 ERA, and 250 strikeouts in 2011), I expect him to return to his ace-like capabilities that he showed from 2009-2013. To read the rest of the article, click the link below:
‘BBA Live’ Podcast Enters Season #2: MLB Reports Welcomes Them To Our Site
Ricky Keeler and AC Wayne host the flagship podcast of the BBBA!
Ricky Keeler Follow @rickinator555
& AC Wayne Follow @publicrecord
Follow The BBBA On Twitter Follow @baseballblogs
Note from Chuck Booth: Welcome to the BBBA flagship podcast. As the President of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, I am bringing you quality audio and written work from our members to the MLB Reports.
‘BBA Live’ will be posted on our site on a regular basis. I encourage you to listen to this show.
Download This Episode Here
BBA Live! is entering its second season. Listen in as AC Wayne is again joined by Ricky Keeler of Yanks Go Yard and District On Deck (Nats).
Tonight, we’ll showcase the AL East as well as all the latest news and headlines throughout the league. Tentatively scheduled, special guest: Rich Rivera of Mets Public Record.
Follow and subscribe to the podcast http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mets-public-record
A casual look at Major League Baseball and The New York Mets. Call-in When we are live! #347-326-9300
MLB Reports 
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