Officlal Bets For The MLB Reports In 2017
At the MLB Reports, we put our money where our mouth is. We have won over $2100 in the last 3 years from all bets. We have made several wagers to begin the season in 2017.
Keep in mind these are not official predictions in any regard, however they are best value picks, and we often hedge bets later on with position of strength projected wins.
Do yourself a favor and go to betdsi.com and find some props to play for yourself, along with several future bets and over/under win season totals for the campaign.
Pittsburgh Pirates Top 25 Prospects
Catching prospect Reese McGuire was sent to Toronto along with promising outfielder Harold Ramirez in the Drew Hutchison deal. With sending away both Polo and Ramirez at the deadline, the Bucs were clearly happy with their strength in the outfield, giving them the ability to shore up a rotation that’s lacked quality back-end starters for awhile now. By shipping Mark Melancon to Washington, the Pirates picked up flame-throwing lefty Taylor Hearn. He was a popular name to surge up prospect lists last year, making our list at #12.
Currently the farm system has good depth, but beyond the top 2 prospects Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow there aren’t many standouts. With 13 pitchers and 12 hitters in the top 25, the Pirates system is relatively well-balanced. Josh Bell should make some major league contributions in 2017, and former first-round infielder Kevin Newman may see some time with the big club as well.
Pittsburgh Pirates Top Prospects
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 31, 2017
Harry How/Getty Images North America
ESPN evidently came up with the same line I have been saying for years. I chalk it up to parallel thinking. Meanwhile Nationals pitcher Blake Treinen is the closer and hopes to do what no Washington pitcher has ever done.
Slamming the door on this episode of Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 30, 2017
Prolific and wonderful baseball writer Stacey Gotsulias returns to the podcast.
We talked about Red Sox and Yankee memories and she explains why she wanted Dave Roberts to break his leg.
The rivalry is alive on this episode of Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Follow Stacey on Twitter by clicking HERE.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 29, 2017
The first base coach should always be a place for a fan favorite. I make my suggestions for each team.
I yell BACK on this episode of Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives Mar 1, 2017 – Mar 31, 2017 (Episodes 1590 – 1620)
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 1589 days consecutively heading into Match of 2017!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 1590 – 1620 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.
The Baseball-Bowling Connection
Peas and carrots. Burt and Ernie. Beer and sportswriters. Baseball and bowling.
Baseball and bowling?
Baseball and bowling!
According to Major League Baseball, approximately 73 million people attended a game in 2016. The Bowlers Journal estimates 67 million knocked down a few pins last year. Coincidence? Ok, almost certainly. But one can’t deny the long, strong, proud historical connection between these two most American of leisure activities. READ MORE AT PLATE COVERAGE
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 28, 2017
Matt Roberts/Getty Images AsiaPac
A few years ago, Jurickson Profar was the consensus best prospect in baseball.
Now he is a man without a position with the Rangers.
Jurickson Profar could still be a star shortstop… maybe not in Texas but in San Diego
Proposing moves on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Largest Contract in Franchise History for Each MLB Team
While there is unfortunately no baseball being played during the winter months, we normally have the Hot Stove to keep us warm with endless rumors and huge contracts being handed out by teams who will inevitably regret it. Until this past winter, that is.
The free agent market just wasn’t any good, and Yoenis Cespedes was the only player on the open market to secure a guarantee above $100 million (four years, $110 million, to be exact). Heck, we saw Chris Carter and Mark Trumbo, who led their respective leagues in homers last year, bring home a collective guarantee of just $41 million despite launching a total of 88 bombs.
This past winter was the first time since 2009 any team didn’t break a franchise record by rewarding a player with a monumental mound of cash. However, there’s been plenty of damage done in this category since the turn of the century.
Here are the players who have signed the richest contracts for each MLB team.
Detroit Tigers Spring Standouts 2017
As you may have read already, we’ve looked at 2017 spring standouts from around the league, as well as how the Top 100 Prospects were faring. Now, with the Tigers being a week away from opening up the season in Chicago, I thought we’d give the team a look and see who has stood out so far.
As you know, the Tigers had the most players of any MLB club on World Baseball Classic rosters this season, so the normal standouts such as Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, and so on were on rosters, so their counting stats may not look great. The positive to this situation though is that more players got looks during games than normal, so you’ll see some names that you may not be familiar with here.
Standings don’t matter at all during spring training, but as a reference, Detroit is currently 12-17 in the Grapefruit League. Also stats matter very little, however there are certain indicators that I look at such as average, OPS, homers, hits, and strike outs for hitters, and for pitchers I look at WHIP, average against, strike outs, that can show a path of what is working vs. what isn’t. Again, you can’t read too much in these numbers though.
Stats through (3/26/17)
2017 All-Value Team: Baseball’s Top Pre-Arb Players at Each Position
When it comes to the baseball diamond, we hear a ton about the ballplayers who are taking home the most money — whether it’s over the life of a certain contract or a singular season. After all, if we put together a lineup with the highest-paid players at each position, it’d be pretty expensive.
But with the youth movement that’s happening throughout baseball, there are a bunch of players providing top-tier production for just a fraction of the price.
Some teams have already locked up their young talent to extensions — Rougned Odor‘s deal with the Texas Rangers is the latest example — yet there are still plenty stuck in between while waiting to become eligible for arbitration. Until that happens, organizations can get an incredible deal when a player’s salary is compared to their actual on-field production.
With that in mind, we set out to find the game’s best pre-arbitration players at each position. The only criteria: they can’t be eligible for arbitration yet or be signed to a long-term extension. So, is this list somewhat subjective? Yes, it is.
Some 2017 contract figures haven’t been released yet, but we can at least make some rough estimates on what they will be.
Without further adieu, here is the 2017 All-Value Team.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 27, 2017
Recording on a day that was a lot windier than I realized, I honored the late Todd Frohwirth. He might not be a name you remember, but he will be remembered by those that he affected.
Showing worth on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 26, 2017
It is Sunday and time for The Sunday Request.
@sullybaseball I disagree with your take on the WBC you said “no American” cares about the WBC did you watch the game last night? #StroShow
— Rob Gunter (@southpaw1849) March 23, 2017
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I have no doubt the WBC final was exciting and for fans of the WBC, I am sure it was a huge highlight.
Now comes the hard part: Building on it.
Let’s start the season already on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Milwaukee Brewers Follow-up: Ray Peters
I feel fortunate to have made some connections with ex-Brewers in the past two years. Not everyone wants to talk of course, and some guys say the number games they played combined with the passage of time make their memories not reliable enough to share. Others have been very giving with their time and memories. One such connection I made is with 1970 cup of coffee pitcher Ray Peters.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 25, 2017
Columbia Pictures
In the latest episode of The Teams That Should Have Won, I cover the Oakland A’s.
There are a lot of A’s teams that frustrated their fan base over the years. But only the 2002 A’s could have given their fans a Hollywood Ending… literally!
Cue “The Show” on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
2017 Pennant Race Predictions (with the Coolest, Strangest Stats and Facts)
For better or worse, statistics are the lingua franca of baseball, the language (and lifeblood) of the game.
We say “better or worse,” because as we all know, statistics can be misinterpreted or manipulated to support specious arguments (“Juan Gonzalez deserved the 1996 MVP because…RBI”), create divisions amongst fans (“old school” vs “sabermetrics”), confound or clarify (WAR and its components, particularly defensive metrics prior to the StatCast era).
But stats are also something else: A way to keep score, of course. A way to rate and rank our favorite players and teams. A favorite diversion (one that transcends mediums, from baseball cards to baseball-reference.com).
And, as Kevin Reavy and Ryan Spaeder, authors of “Incredible Baseball Stats: The Coolest, Strangest Stats and Facts in Baseball History” know, stats are just plain fun. So fun, in fact, that they can make the annual fool’s errand known as predicting the division races for the coming year a worthwhile exercise.
Here then, a list of cool, strange, illuminating and just plain fun statistical nuggets discovered or uncovered by Reavy and Spaeder – one per team, in predicted order of 2017 finish. For much, much more you’ll want to check out their book (really, the best ones are still there to be discovered by the reader). As they write in their introduction, “there’s a monstrous pile of data and satiating sabermetric goodies in this book…. But also, there are some really incredible stories.”
Finally…The USA Wins A World Baseball Classic, But Does Anyone Care?
It’s taken four World Baseball Classics, but the US has finally won and did so in convincing fashion last night, with an 8-0 victory over runner-up from the 2013 Classic, Puerto Rico. Marcus Stroman was dominant, Ian Kinsler was clutch in starting the scoring for the US with a two-run homer, and the defense and relief pitching held up nicely!
That said, outside of my baseball friends, no one is talking about the Classic what-so-ever. Yes, the WBC is growing with over 1 million fans attending games this season (previous best was 800k in 2009), but are we really seeing favorability towards the tournament in this country? When you boil it down, it still seems like the major issue here in the US is two-fold. First, the lack of star player participation I think is the biggest issue which leads to second, overall performance. Maybe with the US winning, that changes things. The one thing I don’t want to hear from people is that the players just don’t care with it being an exhibition. Check the video out of the US not caring about winning…
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 24, 2017
I lost a podcast and ALL my Text Messages today.
Maybe that is a lesson… maybe I need to shed things and move on.
Live for today on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin Really Need to Have Strong Starts
Fresh off two consecutive postseason appearances, the Toronto Blue Jays are primed to compete for a spot in October once again in 2017. They’ll be doing it with some fresh faces, though.
Edwin Encarnacion and his powerful bat were a huge part of those two playoffs runs, but he plays for the Cleveland Indians now. The Blue Jays re-signed Jose Bautista, but have also brought in Kendrys Morales and Steve Pearce to make up for the void Edwing has left in the lineup.
His absence will put some pressure on other parts of the offense, like Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin, who Roster Resource projects to hit fifth and sixth in the order, respectively.
While the starting rotation was surprisingly great last year, the offense collectively struggled over the first two months, posting a 90 wRC+ in April and 97 wRC+ in May before finishing with a mark of 102 for the entire season. The offense has to get off on the right foot this year to prevent another slow start (12-14 record on May 1 last year, 29-26 on June 1).
Tulowitzki and Martin will need to be a big part of that.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 23, 2017
AP
Dallas Green died today. He may not have been cute and cuddly, but he woke up two dormant fan bases and gave them something to cheer about in the 1980’s.
Paying respects on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
How The MLB’s Top Prospects Are Faring This Spring
Spring is always a fun time as we see a lot of prospects getting time on the field with current Major Leaguers and probably more so this year with players missing on teams for the World Baseball Classic. Some of these prospects may just be up for an at bat or two to get a look at the bigs, others may be getting some unexpected extra time due to surprising performance, while a few prospects will be fighting for a spot on the roster when heading north for the start of the season. Here’s a peak at how the prospects from my Top 100 Prospects For 2017 are doing so far this spring (as of 3/21)…
- Andrew Benintendi, OF/BOS – 15 game, 43 AB, 13 H, 6 doubles, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 K, .302 avg, .961 OPS
- Dansby Swanson, SS/ATL – 8 games, hitting .333, with a double, HR, 4 RBI and 8 K’s, .940 OPS
- Alex Reyes, RHP/STL/9 – Injured, has not pitched
- Yoan Moncada, 2B/CWS – 17 games, 41 AB, 13 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 14 K, .317 avg, 1.074 OPS
- Gleyber Torres, SS/NYY – 19 games, 29 AB, 13 H, 6 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, .448 avg, 1.400 OPS
- J.P. Crawford, SS/PHI – 12 games, 29 AB, 6 H, 2B, .207 avg, .523 OPS
- Amed Rosario, SS/NYM/74 – 14 games, 30 AB, 8 H, 2B, 3 RBI, 7 K, .267 avg, .567 OPS
- Victor Robles, OF/WAS – 3 games, 4 AB, BB
- Austin Meadows, OF/PIT – 16 G, 32 AB, 10 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 12K, .313 avg, .936 OPS
- Lucas Giolito, RHP/CWS – 4 starts, 9.2 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 6 K, .297 avga, 1.55 WHIP
Which MLB Teams Have Been in the Playoffs the Most This Century?
The 2017 MLB regular season is on the brink of getting underway, which means it’s another chance for team’s to re-write their history by making a deep run into October. Spring Training and Opening Day are the best times to be optimistic about that possibility — no matter how unrealistic it may seem for certain clubs.
But who could really use a fruitful playoff appearance the most?
A lot had been made throughout 2016 about the Chicago Cubs and the 108-year championship drought they finally ended against the Cleveland Indians last November. No professional sports team can come close to that kind of postseason misery, and we’re not going to try and compare anything to it.
We already know that teams like the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals rule their respective leagues when it comes to all-time World Series titles, and even just playoff appearances in general. But since we’re well into this century, it’s a perfect time to take a quick look back at recent postseason history.
Below is a table ranked by a team’s number of postseason appearances. It also shows the year of their most recent postseason appearance, along with their number of trips to the World Series and whether or not they’ve brought home any titles.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 22, 2017
Joseph Garnett Jr./Getty Images North America
Some teams pick badly in the MLB Draft.
But two teams whiffed on picks where they could have put a star in a pennant winning situation.
Essentially they are the Darko Milicics of baseball.
It is a crapshoot on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 21, 2017
MLB and their on line production can learn from how Disney and Indiana Jones handled home video .
Hi Ho Hi Ho It is Off To Work We Go in this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Miami Marlins Minor League System
Braxton Garrett and Tyler Kolek stand 1-2 at the top of the Marlins’ prospect rankings as potential starting arms in a few years. Unfortunately for the team, the search for a new ace would have been facilitated by the fact that they had both Josh Naylor and Chris Paddack within the system last year. However, the two pitchers were traded away in separate deals with the Padres. The organization is now left with one of the thinnest farm systems in all of baseball.
The upper half of these rankings is luckily filled with arms that may be able to contribute. Garrett and Kolek are the clear favorites, but both are a minimum three seasons away from breaking into the Major League rotation. Players like Dillon Peters, Jarlin Garcia, and Drew Steckenrider will all pitch at the top level this season, but they lack the talent to be long term solutions. Further down in the charts are limited pitching prospects, many of whom have already begun the transition to relief.
Miami’s strength comes in the position players they are currently able to field. However, a number of those players may see their way out of the organization in the next couple of years and the Marlins lack the replacements within their system. Brian Anderson and Isael Soto lead the positional rankings, but there remains a glaring hole in each of their games. Fans looking forward to this season will certainly see Tomas Telis and Yefri Perez work at the Major League level this season. Telis sees a limited ceiling behind J.T. Realmuto, but Giancarlo Stanton’s seasonal injury will likely result in Perez seeing greater opportunity in comparison to previous years.
Miami Marlins Top 25 Prospects in 2017
Spring Training Standouts 2017
I can’t say I put a lot of faith in spring training numbers; however there can be indicators for breakouts (Nick Castellanos a year ago), and hell it’s baseball, their fun to take a peak at. The stats that I tend to focus on for hitting is batting average, hits, home runs, RBI, and strike outs. For pitchers, I look at strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP for pitchers. Both WHIP and ERA are questionable to look at, however it can at least be looked at directionally, unless you’re Mike Pelfrey, who had a 1.17 ERA last spring. Here are the leaders and Tigers notables for games through 3.20.17…
Hitters
Batting Average (Minimum 35 At Bats)
Adam Frazier/PIT – .450
Jose Osuna/PIT – .417
Guillermo Heredia/SEA, Marco Hernandez/BOS – .415
Jose Martinez/STL – .400
Tiger Notables: Andrew Romine .347, Justin Upton .292
Hits
Mitch Haniger/SEA – 19
Adam Frazier/PIT – 18
C.J. Cron/LAA, Corey Dickerson/TB, Brandon Drury/ARZ, Guillermo Heredia/SEA, Marco Hernandez/BOS, Andrew Romine/DET, Bradley Zimmer/CLE – 17
Nick Castellanos’ Improved Speed Could Lead to a Breakout Season
It appeared as though the Detroit Tigers were going to strip their squad down as much as possible this past winter. And after shipping Cameron Maybin to the Los Angeles Angels at nearly the first chance they could, he seemed to just be the first domino to fall.
Until he wasn’t. More or less, he was the only domino to fall.
Despite general manager Al Avila’s strong words and tons of trade rumors, they couldn’t even find someone willing to pay the price for J.D. Martinez, which shouldn’t have been shocking.
Now that Maybin is gone, it leaves a void in the second spot of manager Brad Ausmus’ order. That’s always an important spot, but it’s even more important when it’s followed by hitters like Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez.
J.D. Martinez was reportedly the early favorite to take that spot, but he’d rather hit lower in the lineup. One person who does want to hit second, though, is Nick Castellanos. He’s not a prototypical no. 2 hitter, but he’s the perfect fit for this club.
Team USA Takes Down Team Dominican Republic
The elimination game between the United States and the Dominican Republic was filled with thrilling highlights and historic moments. It ended with Team USA defeating the Dominican club by a 6-3 score in the final game of the second round of the World Baseball Classic on Saturday night at Petco Park in San Diego. With the victory Team USA advances to the Championship round for the first time since 2009. They’ll play Team Japan in the semifinals on Tuesday evening.
Team USA had to overcome an early 2-0 deficit, as the Dominican plated twice in the first frame. The Americans tied the score in the third inning thanks to a scoring grounder from Ian Kinsler, and an RBI double from Christian Yelich. The Americans took the lead in the next inning thanks to a monster two-run home run into the second deck Western Metal Supply Co from Marlin’s slugger Giancarlo Stanton. The Americans added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-run double from Andrew McCutchen that broke open what was a one-run game.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – March 20, 2017
Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images North America
MLB blackout rules are insane.
But MLB blacking out all of Canada? That is insane.
The great white north is honored in this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast -March 19, 2017
It is Sunday and time for The Sunday Request.
@sullybaseball @70sBaseball The good ol’ days, when I was a kid…and knew who was on every team, year after year.
— C Peters (@bfler67) March 16, 2017
I totally get why these would be considered the Good Old Days.
It is funny when you considered at the time it was consider the End of Days.
Enjoy this nostalgic look on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
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