Odds To Win The 2017 World Series: Nats/Giants/Astros Great Value – Bounce On KC/NYY

For a second straight week we love the Nationals with the best odd value of the week. They have some financial flexibility to bring in a few more ALL – Star Caliber players and also possess the prospects in order to get it done. If you believe (like I do) that the Nats are serious about trading for guys like Andrew McCutchen and Chris Sale, than it is imperative you get this club at their odd this week.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner)
Follow @stokes_Hunter21 @mlbreports
The Nationals are really making noise about trying to land Andrew McCutchen and Chris Sale. Even if they don’t fulfill the need, I still think they will add more depth via trade for another good Starting Pitcher and also add an impressive CF, and reliever.
We shall wait and see whether or not that could be the likes of Dexter Fowler or a reunion with Ian Desmond to play CF, Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen to be added to for late inning work. At +1200 the Nats are full value for the best odd of the week.
The NL East may be easier to win than the NL West and NL Central if you think the way that most good handicappers are right now. The Mets are dreaming if they think they can contend with 3 Infield Starters with bad backs, and a declining metrics Shortstop, added to not a true CF, and a horrible Catcher offensive situation.
I am trying not to bag on the Mets too much here, as I think they could still rally to win 85 – 90 wins again next year based on the strength of the rest of the Division, it is just the health concerns that would frighten me to pieces. Read the rest of this entry
The Unluckiest Pitching Staff Ever Assembled

“Big Ed” Walsh, HOF right-hander for the Chicago White Sox, was an ornery sort. He wasn’t the type of guy who went in for small talk. If he had a problem with you, you knew it – and you didn’t want a problem with Big Ed. He intimidated opponents and teammates alike (he once threatened to kill his third baseman for misplaying a bunt – and his third baseman didn’t think Walsh was speaking figuratively).
He was also tougher than glove leather. Joe McGinnity, a stalwart contemporary, might have been known as the “Iron Man” – but Walsh was at least his equal in terms of endurance. In 1908, Walsh started a third of Chicago’s games, winning 40 and pitching 464 innings.
Big Ed was even better in 1910, leading the league in ERA (1.27), adjusted ERA (189), WHIP (0.820), SO/W (4.23), and saves (only five, but still). He fashioned seven shutouts, racked up 369.2 innings and generated 10.9 pWAR. For his efforts, he was rewarded with an 18-20 record, leading the league in losses (and, one assumes, withering glares at one’s teammates).
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 5, 2016

Mike McGinnis/Getty Images North America
Well… Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame. And with his election, my reverence for the honor Hall of Famers get has been a little diminished.
Let’s not do TOO much revisionist history on episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Ernie Fazio’s Meteoric Rise to a Major League Baseball Career
In baseball, young players are rushed to the majors all the time for a variety of reasons. This can be especially true for expansion teams, who are attempting to stock their rosters with any semblance of big league talent. Sometimes it ends up working out for the player and other times, like in the case of infielder Ernie Fazio, things just don’t up clicking and leading to a lengthy career.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 4, 2016

Ed Zurga/Getty Images North America
It is Sunday and time for the Sunday Request.
@sullybaseball Should Bud Selig make the Hall of Fame?
— Wesley Hofmann (@wesjoke) December 2, 2016
No way. No f—ing way. Yeah, I know good things happened on his watch. But he also was involved with one of the most shameful episode in the history of baseball.
I am not talking about steroids or the strike.
One word: Collusion.
I am thinking about the good of the game on episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 3, 2016

Justin McGuire, former MLB Editor of the Sporting News and creator of the new podcast Baseball By The Book, is my guest today.
We talked about which teams should have the greatest sense of urgency going into 2017 and some Hall of Fame thoughts.
The clock is ticking on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Follow Justin on Twitter by clicking HERE.
Atlanta Braves Deal for Jaime Garcia Puzzling
The Atlanta Braves completed a swap for St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia last night, sending a package of 3 fringe Major League prospects to Missouri. The deal is an interesting one, but not the type of franchise-altering swap of which Braves fans have become accustomed. If you’re a casual fan, you probably aren’t entirely sure who this Garcia guy is and that is the most puzzling part of the deal for me. The Braves just clogged up their rotation with another #4 starter.
Off the Bench once ribbed the Red Sox for fielding a rotation full of #2 starters. There is likely not verb strong enough to adequately condemn a rotation full of #4 starters, but here we are. Atlanta just added their third veteran starter of the offseason, planning to pay these old guys $36 million in 2017. For a rebuilding team still treading water and waiting on the full calvary of prospect talent to arrive, this is the type of deal that can disrupt the years-long plan.
But let’s get into this deal for a moment before I talk Braves fans back off the cliff.
Just one year ago, Garcia posted a 2.43 ERA across 130 innings but he’s always been injury prone, a result of a delivery that stresses his arm more than one might like.
To continue reading about the Atlanta Braves Puzzling Deal for Jaime Garcia, please click on over to Off The Bench.
6 MLB Teams That Will Benefit The Most By The New CBA

The Toronto Blue Jays have had to contend with the overspending in the last 25 years by the Yankees and Red Sox. With stiffer penalties now imposed on the higher payroll clubs. coupled with their recent back to back ALCS Appearances, the franchise draws enough to spend more money on total team salary in the next few years. It will come down to the management’s ability on player personnel that should determine their success for the next 5 years and not sheer finances.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Tomorrow we will point out the clubs that were hurt most in the short term. today we talk about the winners of the new deal.
I am calling the Nationals, Mariners, Astros, Jays, Cardinals and Giants the immediate victors under the new format.
When i was thinking about more the past two days, the new structure seems to favor mid level payroll teams more than the lower or higher payroll clubs.
With the new penalties for spending way more money than the Luxury Tax Threshold, the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Tigers are going to find that the impact will run pretty steep on their roster decisions for the next 5 years.
Being that that all of those franchises are still going to dole out the kind of money on player contracts they are, I am not calling them losers for the new CBA either. Read the rest of this entry
Royals Acquire RHP Jared Ruxer From Angels For RHP Brooks Pounders

The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Jared Ruxer from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brooks Pounders.
Ruxer, 24, split the 2016 season between Burlington [Iowa] (A) and Inland Empire (A), posting a combined 3.08 ERA in 29 appearances and 19 starts and a 4-8 record. He opened the season with the Bees, going 3-2 with a 1.44 ERA (10 ER in 62.1 IP) in his first 18 outings, before being promoted to the 66ers on July 8, where he was 1-6 with a 5.18 ERA in his final 11 outings (all starts). Last season marked Ruxer’s second year in professional baseball after being selected by the Angels in the 12th round the of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft.
These 6 MLB Hitters Have a lot To Prove in 2017
Now that it’s been about a month since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series and we’re assured there won’t be a work stoppage related to Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, baseball’s full focus can officially shift to 2017.
With MLB’s Winter Meetings on the horizon, we’ll soon be engulfed in countless rumors as front office executives attempt to improve for next season.
While that’s all taking place, players — who are obviously the subject of these impending rumors — are likely at home watching it all happen as they mentally and physically prepare for 2017 themselves. Some are feeling confident after a solid showing over the past several months, but others are looking to regain their old form.
Just as we recently pointed out a handful of starting pitchers who are entering next season with a lot to prove, we’ve chosen six hitters also feeling that same kind of pressure. However, unlike those hurlers, not all of the below hitters are coming off disappointing campaigns.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 2, 2016

I couldn’t find my car. I had no idea where I parked it. So as I wondered around a parking lot late at night, I tried to remember the 1987 Twins and 1988 Dodgers and praised the powers that be for signing a new CBA.
I remembered all the 87 Twins and 88 Dodgers except for George Frazier on 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 Follow @sullybaseball
To subscribe on iTunes, click HERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE.
Is it Time for the Joey Gallo Era for the Texas Rangers?

Over at Off the Bench we’ve written a lot about where this offseason’s free agents might end up. Some of the bigger names that generate all sorts of buzz are the likes of Aroldis Chapman (who threw an incredible pitch), Kenley Jansen, and Yoenis Cespedes, whom we think might end up back with the New York Mets, we were right. We even pondered about the final destination of lower profile players like Michael Saunders, but we never got so deep in the weeds as to discuss the fate of free agent first basemen Mitch Moreland.
Moreland has spent the last few seasons manning first base for the Texas Rangers, taking his place as the lowest profile position player on a team full of offensive studs. With Prince Fielder’s tragic forced retirement this summer, Moreland became the answer to the oft-posed question ‘So who’s the Texas Rangers’ first basemen these days anyway?’
Why The Philadelphia Phillies Should Be Aggressive This Offseason (Their Infield Is Good)
The Philadelphia Phillies are coming off of a year in which they went 71-91. They performed better than most pundits thought they would, but they are still a few pieces away from truly competing. Those pieces are likely in the outfield where the team managed a 0.6 WAR all told. They could use help at all three outfield positions, even as Odubel Herrera does his best 3-hitter impression. I expect the Phillies to make a push for a big time bat (Andrew McCutchen, anyone?) and a complimentary bat to add to a young roster that could suddenly look pretty good. Why am I so optimistic about the Phillies 2017 chances? Well, it starts with a surprisingly strong infield that is ready to be among the game’s best in short order.
Consider:
Second Base
Cesar Hernandez posted a 4.4 fWAR in 2016 that was buoyed by an all-around game that was nearly unmatched in baseball last year. The advanced stats simply loved this guy. According to fangraphs, he earned the Phillies a run on the basepaths, 7.1 at the plate, and 16.1 in the field. Those totals seem pretty good, but are definitely abstract. For context,the only players to match those numbers last year were Corey Seager, my boy Adam Eaton, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Crawford.
To continue reading about why @OTBB_Sean thinks the Phillies offseason plan should be aggressive, please click on over to offthebenchbaseball.com.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 1, 2016
One Thousand Five Hundred straight days of podcasting.
Today, along with the audio that as always can be found on Soundcloud and iTunes, I did a video podcast to mark the occasion.
I looked at the concept of baseball nostalgia and realized that everything is trying to celebrate the late 1940’s. Why should post WWII monopolize traditional baseball?
Celebrating 1500 shows in the can and many more to follow on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Corey Seager’s 2017 STEAMER Projections

Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Corey Seager stormed on the scene in 2016, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award (unanimously), and finishing third in the league’s Most Valuable Player ballot. Seager sported an OPS of .877 and played a Gold Glove quality shortstop all season. He was the best player – even including Clayton Kershaw – on baseball’s second best team in 2016. This was evidenced by his 7.5 fWAR. When the 2016 season began, the player I couldn’t wait to see the most was Carlos Correa. By the time the season ended, I emphatically decided that the player I couldn’t wait to see the most in 2017 was Seager.
New York Yankees State Of The Union For 2017: Stemming The Tide For Upcoming Seasons

The Yankees shocked the baseball world by contending for the last 2 months in 2016 after dealing away Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran at the Deadline. With a the young ‘”Baby Bombers” on the way, tt will take a few good veterans to compliment the talent in order for the Yankees to become extremely dangerous once again. It all starts with the GM Brian Cashman.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I will be the first one to give credit to Brian Cashman for arranging the July Trade Deadline deal moves to free up a rebuild on the fly. The Yankees rewarded their longterm GM by continuing their season streak of over .500 to 22 years.
The management has also been fortunate that Gary Sanchez fared so incredibly well – so they could sell Brian McCann to the Astros, and effectively free up another $10 MIL into their couch cushions.
As it sits right now the clubs projected roster is looking to be in the $167 MIL range for total team salary. Unfortunately they are still on the hook to CC Sabathia for $25 MIL and Alex Rodriguez for $21 MIL in 2017. even though latter is not even on the roster anymore.
So what do the Yanks do this winter? They are perennial abusers of the Salary Tax Threshold, and have been paying 50% of their dollars spent beyond the limit for the last several years.
With the news of talks proceeding on that number potentially reaching $200 MIL or under the new CBA, the Pinstripers should definitely dole out some bread for Free Agents this offseason.
I would say that for the Bronx Bombers to be competitive for the AL East, they need to add at least $50 MIL in players salaries this winter in order to fight the Jays and Red Sox for the Division.
Curious Case of Jake Arrieta’s 2016 Pitching Mechanics
Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs went through some rough patches in 2016. A loss of command to batters in the middle of pitching sequences led to a noticeable uptick in walks. This issue compounded itself and lead to a potential shift in confidence that correlated with overcompensation. Let’s dive into the numbers over his career to see if 2016 was a return to prior form, leaving 2014 and 2015 as the best we will ever see of Jake Arrieta.
This is a guest post from friend of the blog Ricky Mears, who writes over at Innings Pitched. Their website will be launching in January 2017. Follow @InningsPitched on Twitter to stay up to date before the launch and sign up for the Newsletter. Tickets to a MLB or MiILB will be given away to a follower once they reach the 200 threshold.
By The Numbers
Jake Arrieta was lauded as having pinpoint control in 2014 and 2015. His 2.08 walks per nine innings placed him as number 24 out of 84 qualifying starting pitchers over the two year stretch. In 2014, Arrieta had 8.2% walk rate against lefties and a 5.4% walk rate against righties. Similarly, in 2015 he had a 6.6% walk rate against lefties versus a 4.6% versus righties.
To continue reading the original post on Jake Arrieta’s 2016 pitching mechanics, please visit Off The Bench Baseball
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – November 30, 2016
The universe and our concept of reality is a vast web of connections and reactions to events. And the connections are not always obvious.
Connie Mack not retiring from baseball in the 1940’s affected the existence of the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners.
Trust me, it makes sense on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
The Oakland Athletics Should Trade Sonny Gray
Conventional wisdom is wrong.
Gray came into last season with 491 career major league innings, a 2.88 career ERA, a 1.13 WHIP and a strikeout to walk ration of nearly 4 to 1. He’d thrown more than 200 innings in each of the preceding 2 seasons and despite being only 5’10”, the then-26 year old was making a name for himself as one of the best young starters in baseball.
Then 2016 happened. Now, there are a lot of people out there saying 2016 has been a pretty bad year. But no matter your political leanings, taste in music, or whatever else, your year probably wasn’t as bad as Sonny Gray’s.
To Continue reading about why the Oakland A’s should Trade Sonny Gray, Please visit offthebenchbaseball.com
Mets Resign Yoenis Cespedes
BREAKING:
The New York Mets have inked their prize LF Yoenis Cespedes to a 4 Year Deal worth $110 MIL or $27.5 MIL per year.
The deal comes with a full no Trade Clause.
Cespedes, now 30, will see his pact take him through age 34.
If you factor in last year’s one year deal, the big slugger will still take home $135 MIL on his years of full service with New York.
For the Mets, this is a sure fire sign they will spend the money to contend as this puts them to a projected $150 MIL for 2017, although they will likely trade Jay Bruce away to save his $13 MIL in 2017.
Our own Hunter Stokes said earlier today that New York should not pay more than $27 MIL AAV and more than 4 years to the Cuban star and it turns out they did just about that.
Cespedes clubbed 31 HRS and added 86, with a .864 OPS RBI in 2016 despite missing almost a month of injury time..
The Mets And White Sox Should Workout A Mega Blockbuster Trade For Chris Sale

The Mets have enough young Starting Pitching talent to acquire Chris Sale. I have gone one step further in propoisng them to add Adam Eaton, Todd Frazier and David Robertson as well. The Mets would not be signing Yoenis Cespedes under this potential deal.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The New York Mets could use a healthy ace pitcher, natural CF, 3B to move David Wright over to 1B, while the White Sox could stand to replenish their squad with a nice lift of young Starting Pitchers.
The Proposed Idea for a Trade:
To the Mets:
SP – Chris Sale
OF – Adam Eaton
3B – Todd Frazier
RP – David Robertson
To the White Sox
SP – Steven Matz
SP – Robert Gsellman
SP – Seth Lugo
INF – Wilmer Flores
1B – Dominic Smith (Minors)
1B – Lucas Duda
CF – Juan Lagares
MIlwaukee Is Making A Boneheaded Move If Non-Tendering Chris Carter: Should Have Learned From Houston Last Year

Chris Carter would be the perfect ‘cheap’ addition to compete on a lot of American League Rosters. This man has been criminally underrated for the power and walks he has put forth over the last 4 campaigns. With the ability to DH/play 1B or LF, with Milwaukee having 2 years left of team control in Arbitration, the club has DFA’d him, and likely will be forced to release him outright as A Free Agent. The management also signed an unproven MLB’er (Eric Thames) to a guaranteed $15 MIL over 3 years. Pretty bad on all front in my opinion!
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Last year at this time I made the point that the Houston Astros made a big mistake in non-tendering Chris Carter. At that juncture, the man has clubbed 90 HRS over the previous 3 campaigns with the Astros.
Houston struggled at the First Base Position all year in 2016 – with a collection of Tyler White, Marwin Gonzalez, Luis Valbuena and Yulieski Gurriel. With just bringing forth 84 wins. with the cutoff for the playoffs at 89 victories, one could say the franchise could have used the slugger ( and his .821 OPS, 41 HRs and 94 RBI).
The ‘Stros’ finished with production of .232/.299/.381 – 19 HRs, 62 RBI out of the position – which had a huge factor in them not reaching the playoffs, having the 2nd worst offensive output for the American League (Yankees – the worst).
Carter is a powerful dude who is a kind of the new Adam Dunn of the Majors. If he qualified for HR/PER AB ALL – Time with 3000 PA (he has 2645 his 14.97 AB per homer would rank him 13th in Major League Baseball History. So where is the love? Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – November 29, 2016
Chuck Booth, the creator of MLB Reports, and a partner with your pal Sully, joins the podcast.
He has seen 30 games in 30 stadiums in 30 days and has thoughts on his many pilgrimages.
It is a globe trotting episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Milwaukee Brewers Holiday Shopping List
With the Hot Stove League heating up and baseball’s winter meetings happening soon, Milwaukee Brewers fans are wondering what could possibly be on General Manager David Stearns’ holiday shopping list. To take a look at what Stearns might do during the remainder of the offseason, first let’s recap what roster moves have happened so far and what holes need to be plugged.
Top Detroit Tigers Prospects For 2017 & How They Fared In 2016
Baseball America and numerous other baseball prospect sites are moving through the process of naming each team’s top prospects for next season and BA just released Detroit’s last week. The list is based on potential and Baseball America is considered the go to when it comes to prospects.
Here’s the list and how that player fared in 2016…
- Matt Manning, RHP – Manning was the 9thoverall pick in the 2016 draft and I guarantee one of the first things you will read about him is about his athleticism and his father Rich who played in the NBA. What I like is the kid is 6’6” at 18-years old and could grow another inch. What I am afraid of, is that from all reports, he may remain lanky and unable to add weight to his frame for durability purposes. After being drafted, Manning went to rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League, where he made 10 starts, was 0-2, with a 3.99 ERA, a 1.159 WHIP, 2.1 BB/9 rate, and 14.1 K/9 rate. Expect Manning to move up to West Michigan to start the 2017 season.
Colby Jack and the Luckiest Staff of All Time

“Colby Jack” Coombs was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 1910.
He was the luckiest pitcher in baseball in 1911. Maybe the luckiest of all-time.





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