Yearly Archives: 2017
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 19, 2017
wamc.org
I revealed my Hall of Fame ballot, made my predictions of how the vote would turn out and then looked at the class that will include Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell and finally Tim Raines.
Good things come to those who wait on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
To see my Ballot Post, click HERE
San Francisco Giants Payroll In 2017 + Contracts Going Forward

San Francisco has seen the LA Dodgers spend more than 1 Billion Dollars on player contracts over the last 4 years – all culminating into 4 straight Division titles in the process. Under the new Luxury Tax Yes the organization has handed out big money recently to Johnny Cueto (6 Years/$130 MIL) and both Hunter Pence and Jeff Samardzija are on 5 year pacts that call for $90 MIL. The only blip against the radar is the Matt Cain contract. Brian Sabean can actually stomach that abysmal deal because of the sweetheart pact he put forth in retaining Madison Bumgarner early for 6 Years and $35.9 MIL of total money, in which he is in the 6th year of currently. The team still holds two more Team Options for him additionally in 2018 & 2019 which they will surely activate. His deal paved the way for the team to add valuable players after.
We have been saying for years that the LA Dodgers were going to force the rest of the MLB into many changes as soon as they switched ownership group to the Guggenheim Consortium.
Since that proclamation, the Dodger Blue has spent over 1 Billion Dollars in players salaries over the last 4 years, and are on pace to whisk away $240 MIL more in 2017 (without adding any more players to their current salary structure.)
It has caused a chain reaction among the top clubs competing in the Senior Circuit. One of those said clubs is the San Francisco Giants. The team that has won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014 has seen a rapid escalation in the money they are doling out on an annual basis.
The major difference between the Giants and Dodgers is how many of the players are being paid that the club originally drafted.
During last year’s Trade Deadline, also threw heavy praise at the brass for picking up Matt Moore, who is listed as the clubs 4th Starting Pitcher, and has 3 separate Team Option for a total of $25 MIL over the next 3 campaigns if picked up.
Another team friendly option as they can decide each offseason whether it is worth it.
Moore also provides protection in case Cueto opts out of his contract after 2017.
Tyson Ross: Calculated Risk for Texas Rangers

Despite winning the AL West by 9 games and winning 95 games in 2016, the Texas Rangers finished 22 out of the 30 MLB clubs in overall pitching with a 4.37 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. The Ranger’s pitching staff allowed a .260 batting average against to opposing hitters and a .424 slugging percentage. Texas finished in the middle of the pack (16 out of 30) in starting pitching with a 4.38 ERA. The Rangers may have won a lot of games in 2016, but their run differential was only +7. They didn’t beat their competition by much throughout the season and below average pitching could be contributed as a big factor.
Let’s Give Away a Baseball Book!
PlateCoverage.com is giving away copies of “Baseball’s Most Baffling MVP Ballots,” by Jeremy Lehrman. Simply follow @plate_coverage on Twitter, and re-tweet the link below. They’ll hold a random drawing when they reach 500 followers, and again at 1000 followers. How easy is that?
Book giveaway! Follow @plate_coverage; retweet this link. Must do both. Random drawing at 500 and 1000 followers.https://t.co/nJWQi9zAM0
— Plate Coverage (@Plate_Coverage) January 15, 2017
Visit Plate Coverage.com for more.
Ranking the 2017 National League Managers
It has become an annual tradition around these parts for me to offer up my thoughts on each and every manager in the MLB. First, this started as a ranking and became one of our most popular posts. Since then, the manager reporting has morphed into a grading system on an A-F scale, with A reserved for only the cream of the managerial crop and F standing in for ‘Should be Fired.’
As usual with my mid-winter grades, I won’t offer any score for first time managers, but if a guy has managed elsewhere in the majors he’s fair game, even if this will be his first season with his current team.
Let’s get to it!
National League East
Dusty Baker, Washington Nationals: The first yer of the Dusty Baker era in DC went pretty well all things considered. Dusty did some Dusty things when it came to bullpen management and managing his pitchers’ workload but he handled that Trea Turner situation well. The Nats won 95 games and walked to the AL East crown but the team still couldn’t get over that NLDS hump. Until Baker does that, his job in Washington is incomplete. Grade: B
To continue reading Our ranking of baseball managers, check out offthebenchbaseball.com!
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 18, 2017

While sitting listening to 1970’s songs at the airport, I honor Curt Flood, who basically sacrificed his career to usher in the Free Agency era.
Waiting at the gate on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Who Will Win The 2017 National League Divisions Polls? Your Chance As A Reader To Vote

The National League is a very top heavy league with the Nats, Dodgers, Cubs Mets, Giants and Cardinals and having the best odds to qualify for the postseason in 2016. With 6 teams possibly challenging the 100 loss barrier in the Senior Circuit (Padres, Reds, Brewers, Braves and Phillies),
Since it is the middle part of January, we will offer these polls for all teams in all of the Divisions.
Blue Jays Top Prospect Interviews
Jays From the Couch sits down with two of the Toronto Blue Jays’ top prospects, Conner Greene and Rowdy Tellez

This past weekend the Toronto Blue Jays organization put together a wonderful treat for their fans in Buffalo, NY. In a joint effort with the Buffalo Bisons the event on January 24th, was held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in downtown Buffalo. Luckily, we here at Jays From the Couch were granted access to the event, and able to secure some excellent interviews with a few players.
Our first interview features a conversation with pitching stud, Conner Greene. With Greene finishing each of the last two seasons with Double-A New Hampshire, it is not unreasonable to determine he could start the 2017 season with the Fisher Cats. Should his progression remain steady a trip to Triple-A Buffalo, and perhaps a Toronto September call-up could be warranted. Greene discussed his progress and his new mentor.
CHECK OUT FULL INTERVIEW at Jays From the Couch
In our second interview, Rowdy Tellez talks to our Catherine Stem about his approach to hitting, coaching and much more! The addition of Rowdy Tellez to the Buffalo Bisons roster has some Blue Jays fans celebrating the talent coming up through the minor league system. Shaun Doyle wrote about his impressive season in New Hampshire with the AA Fisher Cats and The Toronto Blue Jays have certainly been keeping an eye on him. That has bred the hope that he could, sometime in the future, be a replacement of sorts for the power bat of Edwin Encarnacion, a point made by Ryan Mueller HERE.
CHECK OUT FULL INTERVIEW at Jays From the Couch
Robinson Cano’s 2016 Season Was a Flashback to His Yankee Days
Handing out a lucrative, multi-year contract to a player is always risky for an MLB organization, no matter how much of a no-brainer it appears to be. That risk factor goes through the roof when it’s a 10-year, $240 million deal, like the one Robinson Cano signed prior to the 2014 season.
Outside of a dip in power, his first season in Seattle was a success. He hit .314/.382/.454 with 14 home runs and 82 RBI, producing a wRC+ of 137 and a 5.2 fWAR – the fifth consecutive year he surpassed 5.0.
It was the first half of 2015 when people likely started to freak out, to a degree.
He limped into the All-Star break with a lackluster triple slash of .251/.290/.370, accompanied by just 6 home runs, 30 RBI and an wRC+ of 86. Providing power as a second baseman had always been one of his best attributes, but a .118 first-half ISO showed that the only thing his power was doing was continuing to deteriorate.
Cano did start to look like himself again following the midsummer classic — he hit .331/.387/.540 with 15 home runs, 40 RBI, a wRC+ of 157, and most importantly, his ISO jumped back up to .209.
That second-half performance ended up being a sign of what was to come.
Were there any similarities between 2016 and his prime years in the Bronx from 2010-12 when Cano’s ISO never dipped below .214 while posting a .311/.370/.539 line with a combined 90 homers and 321 RBI?
Yes, but there are also some interesting differences showing how his game has transformed over the years.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives Jan 1, 2017 – Jan 31, 2017 (Episodes 1531 – 1561)
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 1530 days consecutively heading into Jan of 2017!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 1531 – 1561 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.
Washington Nationals Payroll In 2017 + Contracts Going Forward

People can throw stones on Mike Rizzo all they want- but the GM has never lost a trade ever, and he ensured the club received a Starting CF in Adam Eaton to the tune of only $38.4 MIL over the nxxt 5 years – even if it cost a boatload of prospects. This is part to compensate balloon payments on the horizon that are due to both Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. The club is projected to spend around $154 MIL on salary in 2015, but that is without a proven closer. The real question is how far the club will go in money to win in the next 2 seasons before Bryce Harper is a Free Agent?
With the rest of the MLB landscape just obliterating Mike Rizzo for the Adam Eaton trade i will defend him on the caveat that he spends the full amount of available funds saved – in order to take a run at the World Series for the next 2 years while Bryce Harper is still on the club.
At this point. it is a long shot that the DC franchise will be able to retain the 2015 NL MVP’s services as the Nationals already have Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg to historical contracts (both top 20).
Washington sees Jayson Werth finally come off the books after this next year. While he will have earned $126 MIL from 2011 – 2017 in his total contract, the club can’t point to this as the worst deal on the club currently.
Ryan Zimmerman is still owed at least $47 MIL over the next 3 years – and has seen his production slip for the last few years.
The Max Scherzer contract does pay him $210 MIL over 7 years (in which he is now in year 3) – however this is deferred over 14 years, so the club can conduct more flexibility in their contracts for the next few years.
An Inside Look At Brent Honeywell
Drafted in the second round of the 2014 draft, Honeywell didn’t come with the eye-catching fastball-curve or fastball-slider combo of other top pitching prospects. Instead, he comes with a well-rounded game; a four pitch mix, of which three project above average to plus, and quality command in an athletic delivery. And, of course, a screwball. Who doesn’t like screwballs?
Brent Honeywell Scouting Report
The Chicago Cubs Visit The White House: A Firsthand Account
The official moment for the country to pinch itself came today, as the Chicago Cubs visited the White House. The Cubs arrived at the personal request of President Obama, the Chicagoan at the end of his presidency.

In fact, Obama today said to the team, “It took you long enough. I mean, I only have four days left. You’re just making it under the wire.”
The Cubs may have waited 108 years to win the World Series, but it was a rush to visit the White House. Major League Baseball champions typically wait until the subsequent regular season to go to the White House, but this time was unique.
Unlike Game 7 of the World Series, there was no rain delay in today’s event, as it was held inside the historic East Room. The chandelier-adorned room was originally designed by George Washington and James Hoban as a “public audience room” and it has been home to historic events such as the signing of the Civil Rights Act. The tradition of baseball champions visiting the White House can be traced back as far as the 1860s.
To continue reading about yesterday’s Cubs visit to the White House, please visit our mostly baseball blog at Offthebenchbaseball.com.
Bearing the Glory: Jackie Robinson’s 1949 MVP Award

Jackie Robinson was just named National League Most Valuable PLayer for 1949. Asked how he felt about the honor, how he felt on this, the greatest day of his professional life, Robinson said: “The sooner I can get out of baseball, the better.”
Imagine having the best day of your life taken from you like that. (READ THE FULL STORY ON PLATE COVERAGE)
The Greatest Detroit Tiger By Position: Left Field

Pushing forward, we move out to the outfield where I believe there will be some challenging calls at each position. To recap however, we had an easy decision at shortstop, an ugly decision at third, and some very intriguing calls at second, first, and catcher.
If you’re reading one of these entries for the first time, the only stipulation that I look at is that the player be in a Tiger uniform for a minimum of 5 years and play a majority of his games at that position during that timeframe. I will make a slight change however and evaluate all of a players outfield stats, as they are a little more likely to move to another position to cover an injury, etc. Qualifying for consideration in left is Willie Horton, Bobby Veach, Matty McIntyre, Charlie Maxwell, Larry Herndon, Bobby Higginson, Steve Kemp, and Dick Wakefield. To keep this readable, I am going to cut Dick Wakefield, Steve Kemp, Larry Herndon, and Matty McIntyre.
Moving on…
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 17, 2017
The Rangers need to shore up their team to win a title this decade. But forget hitters. You can get hitters any time. They need to make offers to EVERY available free agent pitcher.
It is a lo this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives Dec 1, 2016 – Dec 31, 2016 (Episodes 1500 – 1530)
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 1499 days consecutively heading into Dec of 2016!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 1500 – 1530 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
To subscribe on iTunes, clickHERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE.
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New York Yankees Payroll In 2017 + Contracts Going Forward

Brian Cashman can finally see some relief from some exorbitant contracts plaguing him from the last several years.Alex Rodriguez is still on the book for this years salary of $21 MIL. What is worse is that his Annual Average Salary of $27.5 MIL per year for the duration of his 2008 – 2017 contract still counts towards the $195 MIL Luxury Tax Threshold limit this season. Will the Yankees spend beyond that mark, or will they finally get under the limit and reset their penalties?
The Bronx Bombers have a projected payroll of $195 MIL already – and are perennial abusers of the Luxury Tax Threshold – so they are at a 50% penalty for any money spent between $195 – $215 MIL.
Don’t look for them to add much – unless they can orchestrate a trade of one of their salaried players already.
The brass is playing this smart. The young players will make or break this current roster of players, however if the season gets away from New York, they will assuredly deal a few players away to get under the Luxury Tax Threshold once and for all.
By doing such that, they will reset the penalty to a 1st time user.
Royals Get Great Value in Danny Duffy Extension, Probably
The Kansas City Royals announced a contract extension today with their young left-handed starting pitcher, Danny Duffy, that ensures Duffy will wear the Royal blue for another 5 years. Duffy is coming off of a fantastic campaign, in which he finally displayed the results that matched his talent. He was worth about 4 WAR and solidified his role as a starting pitcher. The Royals signed him for 5 years and $65Million in what should be a decidedly team-friendly deal.
He’s been something of a favorite of mine for the last 12 months. I did a deep dive on his success back in June, but the basic key to success for Duffy, as with most other pitchers, was his ability to locate his fastball and cut down on his walks. He also made an appearance in my Golden Age of the Lefty Fastball piece as guy who averages 95 on his fastball. That deep dive piece published just as I was moving and shaking in my fantasy league, with the goal to pick Duffy off of the waiver wire. A certain OTBB editor saw that piece and pounced on Duffy, leaving my squad a starting pitcher short and all I could do was follow his summertime dominance longingly. The Royals, having likely learned from my fantasy squad, will not be watching Duffy dominate for another squad. They know how good he is.
To continue reading about the Danny Duffy contract extension, please click on over to our mostly baseball blog.
Top 5 Projected Save Leaders For The MLB In 2017

Aroldis Chapman appeared in 31 Games for the Yankees in 2016, holding 20 Saves and a crisp 2l01 ERA and WHIP of .867. This was done in just over 3 months. With the Yankees kickstarting him up from Spring Training, and without the aid of Andrew Miller as a fallback option, I expect the flamethrowing southpaw to have one of his best seasons ever out of the pen in 2017.
What a scene it will be at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW in he District today where Aroldis Chapman and Joe Maddon will reunite to celebrate their 2016 World Series Championship.
The big Lefty Cuban should be the favorite to win the 2017 Saves Title for the entire MLB. It is not that the Yankees will lead the league in wins – heck they may finish 4th in the AL East. I just believe that with the pop gun offense (say for Gary Sanchez) that the victories will all be closely contested.
I highly thought of Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel for this honor as well, however I like their managers to give them the odd day off ans Save Opportunities.
As of today, we have the Cubs nearing the 100 in plateau again, but just like the aforementioned players above, I think Maddon will use several guys to register Saves for Chicago in 2017 – like Wade Davis, Hector Rondon and Carl Edwards JR.
The reigning World Series Champs are also a lot more prone to blow out teams in a weakened National League where 6 clubs may lose 90 Games or more.
For the sake of preserving arms and fatigue, I would also not be surprised to see a few more SVO’s going to Andrew Miller in lieu of Cody Allen for the AL Pennant winners Cleveland.
(RELATED – Top 5 Home Runs Hitters Projected For The MLB in 2017) Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 16, 2017

It is Dr. King Day. And on this day, I am saluting Hamtramck Stadium, one of the last remaining former Negro League parks and a monument for what is good and what is wrong with our country.
Remembering and learning from the past on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
2017 Mock Draft
This year’s class is notable for the dearth of college pitching, which serves as a direct contrast to the relative scarcity of college position players. As far as the high school talent goes, there seem to be more position players than there are pitchers. However, this particular class is notable for its dearth of two-way players.
The Minnesota Twins “earned” the first overall selection after a miserable 2016 season, one that saw their pitching staff and offense underperform under renewed expectations. Minnesota hadn’t occupied the top spot in the draft since 2001 when they took an in-state product and current first baseman Joe Mauer out of Cretin-Durham Hall High School. In a year that has no consensus top prospect, much like 2016, anything is possible. The Twins could go after a prep product, like San Diego prepster Hunter Greene or they could go for a major league ready collegian, like Jeren Kendall or Kyle Wright.
2017 MLB Mock Draft – January Edition
I’m Fascinated By Sacrifice Flies: A Review
Baseball has an ability like no other to provide infinite anecdotes and recollections. Tim Kurkjian’s I’m Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies: Inside the Game We All Love (2016; St. Martin’s Press) captures that unique proclivity. The renowned ESPN personality/journalist has accumulated some of the best stories and oddities that he has collected during his decades of close involvement and observation of the game and turned them over to the fans for their own enjoyment.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 15, 2017
It is time for The SUNDAY REQUEST.
@sullybaseball I do love your podcast but the Bay Area is not a small market. It has supported 2 NFL teams for decades. Size not the issue
— Thischarmingham (@Thischarminham) January 10, 2017
It is hard to make the argument that the region is giving great support to two teams when one of them is always threatening to move because of lack of support!
Besides, supporting two franchises is hard for any city not named New York.
Recorded as I finished giving a friend a movie location tour for this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 14, 2017

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images North America
Wil Myers looks like he is sticking around in San Diego. The Padres might play in a pitchers park but some hitters found their mojo in Petco Park.
Hit it off the warehouse on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS FANS HAVE A RIGHT TO BE UPSET
FANS OF THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS HAVE A RIGHT TO BE UPSET ABOUT 2017 AFTER THE WAY THIS OFFSEASON HAS PLAYED OUT

It has been a rather emotional offseason for many fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. As of right now, we seem to have lost out on Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, Brett Cecil and not landed Dexter Fowler and others. People are livid. Earlier today, our James Dailey wrote that everyone really needs to calm down and take a step back for a second. James did a good job of using numbers to show how the Blue Jays actually aren’t as bad as we might think. It was a refreshing piece, honestly.
But, the problem is that fans DO have a right to be upset about how this offseason has gone and how management has gone about setting themselves up to repeat the success of the last two seasons…
READ FULL POST at Jays From the Couch
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 13, 2017

It is Friday the 13th, a day that brings up issues of luck and good fortune. Some players had horrible luck. Others had obscenely good luck.
Avoid guys in hockey masks on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.






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