Category Archives: The Rest: Everything Baseball
From Cuba to Japan, Opening Day to the World Series and the WBC
Base Running, Not Leadoff Should Be The Blue Jays Focus
Shaun Doyle (Featured Baseball Writer – Owner jaysfromthecouch.com) Follow @jaysfromthecouch
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For a lot of the winter, there has been a great deal of attention paid to just who will lead off for the Blue Jays in 2016. With the exit of Ben Revere in the trade that brought in Drew Storen, the debate has gone in several different directions.
Some are firmly in the camp that Kevin Pillar be given a chance to put his contact skills to use. Others feel that the club should go with giving their best hitters the most at bats, thus slotting Troy Tulowitzki in the 1st spot.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 6, 2016
It is Sunday and time for The Sunday Request
@sullybaseball Sunday is Willie Stargell’s birthday…how about a Bucs-centric podcast? Thoughts on McCutcheon’s gripe about the 1 game WC?
— Jim Vilk (@JimVilk) March 3, 2016
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My love for the Pirates runs deep and long. And I do think they are going to be a post season player again.
It is a we are family episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
The Future Of The Philadelphia Phillies Could Be Bright
The Phillies have not had a winning season since 2011 after putting forth a decade straight of them. A promising second half to the year – coupled with full seasons by Aaron Nola and Maikel Franco could have them inch closer back to achieving that mark in the next few years.
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer/Owner – dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) Follow @dynasty_digest
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The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t had a winning season since 2011. While it has been a tough stretch of seasons for the team and their fans, they are in the midst of a rebuild that could bring the organization great success in the near future.
I would expect the Phillies to start competing around 2018-2019 seasons. In this article, I will highlight some of the Phillies prospects and players that will be instrumental to the success of the Phillies.
These players will include: Maikel Franco, Aaron Nola, Vincent Velazquez, J.P. Crawford, Mark Appel, Jake Thompson, and Nick Williams.
To read the analysis on the Phillies and the players listed above, please click the link below:
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2016 MLB Preview: One Burning Question for Every National League Team
Top heavy league in 2016.
Matt Musico (Featured BBBA Writer/Owner – chinmusicbaseball.com) Follow @mmusico8
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MLB teams have been working out at their respective Spring Training complexes for almost a month, but this week, it really feels like baseball is back.
Grapefruit and Cactus League schedules have kicked off, and Opening Day is now less than a month away.
A lot of people say Spring Training is way too long, but it gives teams the appropriate amount of time to sort out position battles and see if they have enough depth on their rosters.
Each organization is dealing with a different set of expectations in 2016. No matter how high or low these expectations are, there’s pressure to live up to them.
Here’s one burning question each National League team must answer once games start counting in April:
2016 NL MVP Candidates
Ground Rule Triple Blog (Featured BBBA Website – groundruletriple.com)
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Time for the Senior Circuit’s MVP candidates! Let’s begin with past MVP winners and see if they have a realistic chance of securing another MVP in 2016:
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast March 5, 2016
My son’s are celebrating a birthday. They are great brothers to each other. I brought my own brother, Ted, to talk about some more baseball memories.
It is an all in family episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
The Chicago Cubs Offense Will Lead To Many World Series Titles
It has been 108 years since the Cubs last won a World Series
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer/Owner – dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) Follow @dynasty_digest
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Could this be the year that the Chicago Cubs break their curse of not winning a World Series title since 1908?
Many baseball fans and critics believe they have the best shot out of all teams in Major League Baseball.
The Chicago Cubs organization has done an amazing job at developing homegrown talent over the past 4 to 5 years and this young talent is starting to make a massive impact in the big leagues.
Not only are the Cubs producing homegrown talent, but they made a huge splash in the free agency market this Spring.
This team has so much talent that there are multiple very talented players who currently don’t have a spot in the lineup.
In this article I will highlight each position and share the key organizational depth that could possibly bring home a World Series title in 2016.
Each position will list players who are projected to start and prospects that could have an impact within the next 2-4 years.
Players with multi-positional eligibility will have this listed in their bio. Prospects will be listed at positions that they are projected to play when they arrive in the big leagues.
Please click the link below to see my analysis on Miguel Montero, Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, Dan Vogelbach, Ben Zobrist, Javier Baez, Addison Russell, Gleyber Torres, Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler, Ian Happ, Albert Almora, and more:
Nationals Are Banking On A Trio Of Players To Have Comeback Seasons In 2016
The Nationals have made the playoffs in 2 of the last 4 years with 2012 and 2014 being sandwiched between poor 2013 and 2015 campaigns of failed expectations. With 2 .300 hitters fleeing the club this past winter, coupled with the loss of Ian Desmond to Free Agency, this club needs Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth and Anthony Rendon healthy and on the field in 2016. If they struggle in production or health, the efforts of reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper will not matter.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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Bryce Harper fashioned one of the greatest years we have ever seen by a 22 year old, and the Washington Nationals still only finished with a 83 – 79 record – and plenty of victories behind the NL Playoff Bar.
Harper took home the MVP efforts, and has to be wondering if his supporting cast has his back for the 2016 campaign – if he can make it safely to base at least 300 times again like he did in 2015.
Perhaps the biggest factor Washington struggled down the stretch was injury. Ryan Zimmerman couldn’t stay on the field – despite racking up a productive 74 RBI on 346 PA.
Denard Span missed 101 games, which is definitely too bad considering the squad was 36 – 25 in games he was featured in.
Jayson Werth never got on track after injuries plagued him early and often – and had his worst year in a decade – after finishing with top 18 votes for MVP in the previous two seasons.
2014 stalwart Anthony Rendon only mustered a half a season of injury riddled play at a .707 OPS after putting forth a Silver Slugger campaign – with a top 5 MVP vote the previous year.
Ian Desmond also had added a horrible 1st half of the year, before he corrected his problems at the plate, and stopped booting the ball around in the second half. Read the rest of this entry
Cardinals Extend Kolten Wong
Jen Rainwater (Featured BBBA Writer/Owner – www.bbstmlb.com) Follow @OakAsSockGrl
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In an offseason where the St. Louis Cardinals tried to sell their city to every free agent out there – including outfielder Jason Heyward.
Heyward spurned the Cardinals, who acquired him before the 2015 season from the Atlanta Braves.
The team and its players immediately began talking the team, the city and the fans up to Heyward in hopes that the soon to be free agent would want to re-sign with the team.
In the end Heyward decided to take less money to go to the Chicago Cubs. A lot of MLB free agents did the same this year including super utility man Ben Zobrist and most recently outfielder Dexter Fowler.
Perhaps it’s the Cubs’ young talented core and their good chance to finally win a World Series or two after a century-long drought. Perhaps it is that they like manager Joe Maddon‘s style.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 2, 2016
Today is a grab bag episode.
Lonnie Smith talks about his time with the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies…
And Subway Squawkers‘ Lisa Swan shares her thoughts on farewell tours.
It is a spring cleaning episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Follow Subway Squawkers on Twitter by clicking HERE.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 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.
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:
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Youngsters Making An Impact In 2016; National League Central
Shane Kay (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – sonsof84tigers.mlblogs.com Follow @sonsof84tigers
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Spring training camps are up and running with games just around the corner and we’re taking a look at a couple of young players for each team that I think will have a larger impact in 2016.
We started with the American League East, moved to the AL Central, hit the AL West, swung it to the National League East and today we touch on the NL Central. Keep on reading as we go division by division!
Chicago Cubs
Kyle Schwarber, OF – I’ve got Schwarber on this list for numerous reasons. The first of course is his power potential and seeing that over the length of a season (played 69 games in 2015).
Second, we’re going to see a more disciplined hitter I think. Schwarber as a minor leaguer carried a .333 batting average in his two seasons, but only hit .246 with the Cubs, and struck out 28% of time in the Majors compared to 20% in the Minors, so adjustments will be made.
Additionally, Schwarber had a very good .842 OPS for Chicago last year, but his Minor Leaguer career shows room for improvement as well where he had a 1.042 OPS.
The main focus for Kyle this year though, will have to be working on hitting lefties much better, as he hit just .143 off of them, with just a .481 OPS in 61 plate appearances. This is one guy I am seriously excited to watch grow this year.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 22, 2016
Today is part 2 of my conversation with Ted Sullivan, TV writer and producer who also happens to be my brother.
It is an all in the family episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
For Part 1 of my conversation with Ted, click here
Alex George: The Teen Baseball Phenom
Photo courtesy of http://www.kansascitybaseballhistoricalsociety.com
Andrew Martin (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – baseballhistorian.blogspot.ca) Follow @historianandrew
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What would be tougher? Being good enough to play major league baseball but only get in to five games? Or having all of those five games come before your 17th birthday?
Only one person knows that answer for sure, and its former shortstop Alex George, who reached the pinnacle of his baseball career as a teenager in the autumn of 1955.
Reed And Flores Happy To Still Be Mets In 2016
If things had played out differently – perhaps to Mets on the club wouldn’t be. But Wilmer Flores and Addison Reed are – plus are looking forward to a 2016 season in Flushing Meadows, NY.
Freddy Vasquez (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – metshotcorner.com) Follow @metshotcorner
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Addison Reed spent only a mere two months with the New York Mets, but within that time frame he went from playing for Arizona with no hopes of making the postseason, to making an appearance in the 2015 World Series.
Wilmer Flores says his ankle is 100% since the injury and that 2015 will be a season he will never forget thanks to the fans.
Youngsters Making An Impact In 2016; National League East
Shane Kay (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – sonsof84tigers.mlblogs.com Follow @sonsof84tigers
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Spring training camps are opening up and we’re taking a look at a couple of young players for each team that I think will have a larger impact in 2016. We started with the American League East, moved to the AL Central, hit the AL West and swung it around today to the National League East. Keep on reading as we go division by division!
Atlanta Braves
Matt Wisler, RHP – The 22-year old Wisler was a highly thought of prospect in the Padres organization before being part of the Craig Kimbrel trade.
Wisler entering his age 23 season already has 19 starts (20 games) under his belt with mixed results.
Regardless, he’s young, has much to learn, but will also be a building block as Atlanta tries to return to relevancy in the NL East over the next few years.
Wisler impressed in his debut, as he went 8 innings giving up 6 hits and an earned run against the Mets for his first career win.
He was then properly hit hard in his next start against Washington where he last just 4 innings. His ERA remained a respectable 3.43 through his first 7 starts until he was shelled in for 12 combined runs his next two starts. Wisler did finish …
BBBA Audio Podcasts For The Week That Was
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Follow @sullybaseball
(Sully has a Streak of 20 minute shows everyday since Oct.24/2012 – archives for the week listed below) |
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 19, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 18, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 17, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 16, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 15, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 14, 2016
- Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 13, 2016
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 18, 2016
Lionsgate – Millenium Films
Lots of players are still available as free agents.
Maybe they should team up and create a renegade team like The Expendables.
It is a “Loner Gun For Hire” episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
6 MLB Teams Facing The Most Pressure To Win In 2016
Matt Musico (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner – chinmusicbaseball.com) Follow @mmusico8
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
With Spring Training officially starting this week at MLB team complexes around Arizona and Florida, optimism for the upcoming season is high. However, optimism also brings expectations – both realistic and not so realistic.
Whether it’s fueled by last year’s performance or the moves made (or not made) this winter, the pressure to win is higher than normal for a handful of teams.
Here’s one team from each division that needs to see results once September rolls around.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 15, 2016
For today, Episode 1210, I FINALLY got my brother Ted on the show.
Ted is a successful TV writer (Supergirl, Revenge, Rissoli and Isles). We grew up together watching baseball and reading comic books.
We talked about whiffle ball, buying hats and making terrible signs for Larry Bird.
It is a brotherly love episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Follow my brother on Twitter by clicking HERE.
For Part 2 of my conversation with Ted – click HERE.
The MLB Reports + BBBA Are Actively Seeking Bloggers To Join Staffs
Interested in Joining the Baseball Bloggers Alliance? Email Us, BaseballBloggersAlliance@Gmail.com
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was founded in 2009 with the purpose of encouraging collaboration and communication among bloggers from across baseball. As a secondary goal, the Alliance also votes on various awards at different times in the year.
Why becoming a member of the BBBA can help?
You get a instant follow plus always are able to tweet to Follow @mlbreports (13.9 K followers) and the BBBA also has (2.7 K Followers) for guaranteed RT’s. Follow @baseballblogs
Each member can also use the @baseballblogs twitter feed to send out their own links at anytime by using tweetdeck.com If you are approved for the BBBA, you will receive an invite for this.
Your BBBA membership has never had more people working to help enhance your site. Take advantage. Use our social media platforms. Several of our members (new and old) have done this and it has grown their sites views.
If you are serious, please read the requirements in our constitution here.
If you are interested in the BBBA, and feel you meet the criteria please e-mail the president of the organization Chuck Booth – baseballbloggersalliance@gmail.com, or at his personal email, at mlbreports@gmail.com.
The BBBA can also be found on Twitter at @baseballblogs (official hashtag is #BBBA) and Facebook.
Playoff Bound Teams Spend Smart
Ground Rule Triple Blog (Featured Baseball Website/groundruletriple.com)
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The teams that make the biggest moves in the offseason, giving out huge amounts of money for an aging star or deal three prospects from your future of the franchise for a “proven” star, almost never are the teams that make it to the playoffs.
Rather the teams that do make it are the ones that make smaller under-the-radar moves that are cost-effective options that turn out to pay huge dividends.
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Gavvy Cravath: From Slugger To Hard Hitting Judge
Andrew Martin (Featured Baseball Writer/Owner baseballhistorian.blogspot.ca)
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Before Babe Ruth, perhaps the most feared power hitter in baseball history was outfielder Gavvy Cravath. Leading his league in home runs in six of his nine full major league seasons during the Dead Ball Era, the right-handed hitter struck fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers across baseball.
Despite his near-Hall of Fame career, it turned out to be his work as a judge after his playing days were over that ended up most defining the intimidating slugger.
MLB Reports 
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