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For Whatever League Wins The 2016 ALL – Star Game: Chances Are Home Field Wont Matter In The World Series Because Of The Dumb 2 – 3 – 2 Format

Chances are that whichever League wins this game tonight will actually plays less games at home in the World Series is more likely to happen, than a 7 game set in the World Series.

Chances are that whichever League wins this game tonight will actually plays less games at home in the World Series, as a 5 games Fall Classic  is more likely to happen, than a 7 game set in the World Series.

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) 

Yeah I said it… and fully mean it.  This is my annual gripe of how the ALL – Star Game winner will likely not play more games at their home park because of the 2 – 3 – 2 format.  I am sure that a lot of people hate the fact the Midsummer Classic even determines home field advantage.

I actually don’t think the game meaning something is a bad idea.  I guess no one remembers that drab games we suffered from about 1995 – 2002 – where more players would exit the game and hop on a pending flight, than actually stayed?

For the most part,  the MLB has made nice changes to the ALL – Star Game.  Having the fans only vote on the starters, the players on the reserves, with the managers picking their pitchers.  I also like that Catchers can reenter the contest. 

As for the league winner of this game and home field advantage for the Fall Classic. You are way more likely to a series go 5 games as opposed to 7.  It also baffles me how the team with a home field advantage for a series ever trails in games played at their venue.  There will be another follow up article near the playoffs in pertaining to this article.

The MLB should use a 3 – 3 – 1 format instead of the 2 – 3 – 2 as a counter, for this would be ideal to clone what clubs go through in the regular season.  Series of 3 are perfect.  I understand it is too hard with travel, to use the best series setup of 2 – 2 – 1 – 1 – 1. Read the rest of this entry

Odds To Win The MLB 2014 World Series As Of Right Now

With spending $503 MIL on contracts this winter, the Bronx Bombers have gone from an odd of +1500 to +1200.  They are still behind Detroit, Boston and Texas in the odds.

With spending $503 MIL on contracts this winter, the Bronx Bombers have gone from an odd of +1500 to +1200. They are still behind Detroit, Boston and Texas in the odds and are 7th overall in the MLB.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

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Right on cue with the Masahiro Tanaka signing, the Yankees jumped from +1400 to +1200 to win the World Series.  if you heeded my advice, you received them at the 1st odd.

it was the 2nd recommendation that came in really nicely.  I also said the Mariners were great value at +4000, and once they signed Robinson Cano, they vaulted to +3300.

So who is a bigger longshot to win the World Series now.  The Gambling Pundits, dropped the Rays to +2000 now.  It is now one of the best value picks on the board.

I finally decided to put my money where my mouth is with a wager.  After the Superbowl, I will likely throw down so more cash.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers Players In All Organizational Affiliates, Prospects + Depth Charts (MLB + MiLB) 2014

Puig slowed down a shade from his torrid 1st month pace - however still slashed .319/.392/.925 - with 19 HRs, 42 RBI. 66  Runs Scored and 122 Hits in just 434 AB.  He has in the 2nd YR of a 7 YR/$42 MIL contract in his pocket, and that may be the bargain of ALL - Time if he continues these type of numbers all the way throughout his length of the deal.  Puig finished in 2nd for NL Rookie of The Year Voting, and placed 15th in NL MVP balloting as well.

Puig slowed down a shade from his torrid 1st month pace – however still slashed .319/.392/.925 – with 19 HRs, 42 RBI. 66 Runs Scored and 122 Hits in just 434 AB for the 2013 year. He has now in the 2nd YR of a 7 YR/$42 MIL contract in his pocket, and that may be the bargain of ALL – Time if he continues these type of numbers all the way throughout his length of the deal. Puig, 23,  finished in 2nd for NL Rookie of The Year Voting, and placed 15th in NL MVP balloting as well.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): & Jeff Kleiner (Org. Depth Chart Expert)

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The Los Angeles Dodgers had a rollercoaster 2013 campaign.  After a late season 2012 trade, the club went on a spending bonanza to enter the 2013 year.

In late May. it looked bleak. The franchise wanted to fire Don Mattingly, Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez were battling various injuries, and the club was 23 – 32.

Enter Yasiel Puig with his historic 1st month, and the team then went on a torrid pace at that hadn’t been done in nearly 60 years.

The crux of this crestwave, was a 42 – 8 stretch that saw the club bypass all 4 Division foes, putting a stranglehold on the NL West once and for all.

Dodgers own the West

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Aug.31 Trade Deadline Maneuvers Part 1

 had his best year in 2011 with the Nationals, where he hit .303, with 31 HRs and 95 RBI during his 515 AB.  The Orioles would love that kind of production to aid their DH core of hitters.  The club however, would simply settle for his Career 3 Slash Line of .284/.338/.816 in parts of 9 seasons and 1827 At-Bats.  Morse makes $6.75 MIL this year, and will be a Free Agent after the campaign is finished.

Mike Morse had his best year in 2011 with the Nationals, where he hit .303, with 31 HRs and 95 RBI during his 515 AB. The Orioles would love that kind of production to aid their DH core of hitters. The club however, would simply settle for his Career 3 Slash Line of .284/.338/.816 in parts of 9 seasons and 1827 At-Bats. Morse makes $6.75 MIL this year, and will be a Free Agent after the campaign is finished.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst and Website Owner)

The Orioles picking up Mike Morse is a good move.  The  guy is familiar with Region, is a nice contrast to Chris Davis – and cost the club a minimal amount to bring over.

I think the big 6 FT 5 players is just the kind of guy the Baltimore team has missed over the year.

The Designated Hitters slot has been abysmal – and if Morse can to the back of his bubblegum card, this move will pan out.

The team’s lineup will now feature  Manny Machado 3B, , Nick Markakis RF, Chris Davis 1B, Adam Jones CF, Matt Wieters C, J.J. Hardy SS, Mike Morse DH, Nate McLouth LF and Brian Roberts 2B.

Morse joins Scott Feldman, Francisco Rodriguez and Bud Norris as late season acquisitions.  All of them have contributed to the franchise.

All of a sudden having a 7 – 9, with a 25 – 30 HR powers in Morse, added with veteran Brian Roberts (if healthy) and Nate McLouth, could add a speed element when the team swings around back to the top of the lineup.

It is good for depth and when consider the team is only 5 games out of the 2nd Wild Card Spot, this is plausible with 3o games left.

Chris Tillman has asserted himself an up and coming #2 Pitcher on the team. I must say, him doing this 2 years in a row, has made a believer out of me now.

The man is 24 – 7 over his last 31 decisions – and has a mid tier 3 ERA – competing in a donnybrook of a Division.  Yesterday’s win over Boston was just another example of how much the 25 year old has bailed the club out of a losing streak.

You know Buck Showalter will have his guys ‘game ready’ for the challenge.

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The Seattle Mariners Payroll In 2014, Organizational Affiliates, Prospects, Depth Charts, (MLB + MiLB)

The Mariners have one of the gem stadiums in all of baseball right now.  It is too bad the team on the field has not been that great - in what has been a brutal decade.  Jack Z.. was just extended for one more year.  While it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement, the club's youth has finally shown some promise.  The team has a promising amount of young pitchers, good Starting Pitching already in the Majors, and a few positional players that look like they will stay in the bigs.  Of concern is the fact they will lose several veterans in Mike Morse, Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez after this year.  That is, unless they decide to trade any of them in the next week.

The Mariners have one of the gem stadiums in all of baseball right now. It is too bad the team on the field has not been that great – in what has been a brutal decade. Jack Z.. was just extended for one more year. While it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, the club’s youth has finally shown some promise. The team has a promising amount of young pitchers, good Starting Pitching already in the Majors, and a few positional players that look like they will stay in the bigs. Of concern is the fact they will lose several veterans in Mike Morse, Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez after this year. That is, unless they decide to trade any of them in the next week.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): and welcome Jeff Kleiner (Salary, Roster and Depth Chart Expert for the MLB) – visit his website  here  

The Mariners were one of the best teams in the Major Leagues when they moved into Safeco Field.

Despite losing Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson and Ken GriffeyJR. in successive seasons, the team matched a Major League Record with 116 Wins during the 2001 year.

Ichiro Suzuki admirably took over the reigns as the team leader, and carried the club on his shoulders for the next years.

Lou Pinella was there until 2003 – and was having his team in perennial contention since the 1995 year.

After 2003, the club has been abysmal in the next decade.

The team has had several face lifts, rotation managers – and the attendance has come down for over 3 Million fans per year, and now the can barely draw about 1.5 MIL people.

Seattle is one of the biggest markets in North America, and can totally put forth a winning team – and a high payroll.

For the team to even sign some Free Agents, the young players of the organization have to start playing well and to potential.

Any team with Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma is not that far off from competing.

For a Full 3 year Salary Outlook plus last years Stats for every player in the Mariners Organization click here.

For all 30 teams Organization Lists from the MLB Reports, plus any related Payrolls, Depth Charts, Roster Trees, State Of The Unions click here.

Felix Hernandez Perfect Game Highlights 2012

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AL Wins The 2013 ALL – Star Game: Chances Are Home Field Wont Matter In The World Series Anyway

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Wednesday July.17/2013

It was the Mariano Rivera show last night.  Not only does this man have a sparkling 0.70 ERA in 142 IP in the Post Season for his Career - you can now add 9 Scoreless Innings, 4 Saves and a Hold (courtesy of last night).  The last man to wear #42 also won the MVP for the ALL - Star Game in his last Appearance ever at the Mid Summers'Classic

It was the Mariano Rivera show last night. Not only does this man have a sparkling 0.70 ERA in 142 IP in the Post Season for his Career – you can now add 9 Scoreless Innings, 4 Saves and a Hold (courtesy of last night) to his ALL – Star Resume. The last man to wear #42 –  also won the MVP for the ALL – Star Game in his last Appearance ever at the Mid Summers’Classic.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

Talking with my better half yesterday (and she is not a hardcore but casual baseball fan), she asked me a little bit more about the ALL – Star Game.  I eventually went onto telling her about how the winning team receives home field advantage in the World Series.

I have done some digging.  The results are in.

I may make an argument that winning the ALL – Star Game might actually be a bad thing.  Not so much for hosting Game #7, because there has only been one Game #7 since its implementation, however that the fans of the winning club in the ALL – Star Game – have actually seen less home games in the last 10 years.  The odds actually point to the winning team playing less games in the Series.

Since the implementation of the “This Game Will mean something again?” there have been 10 World Series played.

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2 And A Hook Podcast Ep #3: Wil Myers, Mets + Baseball’s Importance To The World

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Thursday, April.18/2013

MLB reports and The Benchwarmers Show present 2 and A Hook Podcast

MLB reports and The Benchwarmers Show present 2 and A Hook Podcast

People in this Podcast:

Chuck Booth – Guest (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

By James Acevedo – Host (Podcast Veteran) 

In the Clutch Guys from 90.3 FM Tuesday Show In Long Island NY  

On today’s show, brought to you by MLB Reports (www.mlbreports.com )& yours truly (The Bench Warmers Show), I talk about the horrible bombings that happened in the Boston Marathon & how sports especially baseball unites us in this great country! Also I told to Chuck Booth who is the lead analyst and owner of MLB Reports on the world of baseball! Read the rest of this entry

The Rays Need To Call Up Wil Myers Pronto!

2 And A Hook Podcast Talks About Calling UP Wil Myers – 25 Minute Mark

download the episode here

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Thursday Apr.18/2013

Myers ascended onto the PCL scene last year and ripped out 24 HRs in just 99 Games at Omaha. The Rays will be counting on him for their offensive future for many years to come. The club has featured a futile attack with the bats - hitting for a 3 Slash Line of .204//284/.588. They have scored only 39 Runs - while allowing 59 Runs through 13 Games.

Myers ascended onto the PCL scene last year and ripped out 24 HRs in just 99 Games at Omaha. The Rays will be counting on him for their offensive future for many years to come. The club has featured a futile attack with the bats – hitting for a 3 Slash Line of .204//284/.588. They have scored only 39 Runs – while allowing 59 Runs through 13 Games.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

First off, I wanted to say that I completely respect the Tampa Bay Rays – and especially am an avid supporter of the head office – including GM Andrew Freidman.  I will get to all of this in this article.

It is time to call up Wil Myers to the big club! 

The club is mired in a slow start at 4 – 9 and are already 5 Games Behind the AL East Division Leaders ‘Boston Red Sox.

The team traded away Veteran Pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City in order to acquire the top hitting prospect.

Here is why the time makes sense.

Service time for Super 2 Arbitration Status and Free Agency Year aside, this clubs current offense is abysmal despite having great pitching ability.

Wil Myers Highlight Reel:

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Can The Blue Jays Weather The Jose Reyes Injury?

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Wednesday Apr.17/2013

Anthopoulos is about as prudent a man as you will find.  He is all smiles in this press conference, but he knows what is at stake.  He has deemed that the "time is now" for the Blue Jays to go for it all, and convinced his bosses to risk hundreds of millions of dollars.  If the team he has assembled does not compete, for any reason, he may be out of a job.  He is not the kind of guy who puts his feet up and becomes content.  His focus right now is on eliminating any causes for concern from the 2013 Blue Jays as possible, because they do still exist, despite the recent mania.

Anthopoulos is about as prudent a man as you will find. He is all smiles in this press conference, but he knows what is at stake. He has deemed that the “time is now” for the Blue Jays to go for it all, and convinced his bosses to risk hundreds of millions of dollars. If the team he has assembled does not compete, for any reason, he may be out of a job. The team has had a mediocre start at 6 – 7 in the tough AL East – and have lost their prime Leadoff Man for 3 months.  Going the extra mile to add depth in the franchise may enable the club to stay in contention until Jose Reyes comes back in July.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

Jose Reyes was the best player acquired over the winter by the Toronto Blue Jays.  He was supposed to be the Leadoff Hitter, provide speed and flash the glove at the Short Stop position.

The 30 Year Old was doing just that before going down in a heap at Second Base over the weekend stealing a bag.

Incredibly, the guy almost was injured even weeks doing the very same thing just a few weeks back.

Brett Lawrie was activated from the Disabled List last night.  The initial plan was to maybe play him at Second Base, with Jose Bautista moving back to Third Base.  This would put Maicer Izturis at Shortstop, with relegating Emilio Bonifacio to Right Field.

Jose Reyes Injury:

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MLB (R) Weekly Power Rankings – Week 2

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Monday Apr.15/2013

Billy Beane has pick- pocketed some of the best power hitting prospcects from other clubs that may just need a chance to prove their metal with some big league At - Bats.  His club has roared out of the gates - leading in most offensive and defensive categories so far.  The team has put up a 80 - 40 Record since starting last year 23 - 32.

Billy Beane has seen his club roar out of the gates – leading in most offensive and defensive categories so far. This year’s team is 9 – 4 (Leading the AL West) – and have put up a 81 – 40 Record since starting last year 23 – 32.  The Tigers seem to be the only toxic for the franchise.  The Athletics at least played in front of decent crows at 0.co Coliseum  on Saturday drawing 35K – with the team trying to go for a 10th straight win.  Justin Verlander stopped the streak.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

Well, the Atlanta Braves are the toast of the MLB right now, Prince Fielder is the hottest hitter on the planet, John Buck is doing his best  Johnny Bench impersonation – while Chris Davis is giving new definition to the nickname   ‘Crash’.

The Mets and Rockies have had the biggest ‘Cupcake Schedules’ thus far in the Major Leagues – and I am still not buying stock in these teams.

The Angels pulled out a couple of wins versus the Houston Astros to end the week 5 – 8 (You guys are supposed to beat Houston whenever  you play them this year!

The Yankees rode a 4 – 1 week among a schedule that was blown apart by weather induced cancellations in Cleveland, to climb the standings.

To quote Joe Pesci in (‘ My Cousin Vinny” when Fred Gwynne tells him he is in contempt of court) in response to Jose Reyes being injured.  “There is a f—— surprise!

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Athletics 8 Game Win Streak Is Nothing New To Pattern Formed Since Last Year

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Friday, Apr.12/2013

Oakland Athletics' Jed Lowrie has made Billy Beane look like a genius once again - with clubbing 16 hits, (8 of the Extra Base Variety), Scoring 10 Runs and Walking 6 times so far in the teams 8 - 2 start.  He has an OPS of 1.258 thus far.

Oakland Athletics’ Jed Lowrie has made Billy Beane look like a genius once again – with clubbing 16 hits, (8 of the Extra Base Variety), Scoring 10 Runs and Walking 6 times so far in the teams 8 – 2 start. He has an OPS of 1.258.  He was acquired from the Houston Astros in a February trade which sent Chris Carter the other way.  The man can play several defensive positions well.  He is due for Arbitration at the end of this season, before becoming a Free Agent in 2015.  Beane doesn’t seem to make a bad move these days.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

Hands up.. How many people would have thought that the Oakland Athletics would start the 2013 season with the best record in the Major Leagues so far?

Of course this website is not surprised at all.  Jonathan Hacohen (Website Founder and current Oakland A’s Correspondent) wrote a brilliant piece in the 1st week of July/2012 – breaking down Billy Beane‘s new MoneyBall Philosophy here.

I have to admit something right now..  I had not seen the movie “MoneyBall” even by this time.  Yes…brutal and I was kicking myself for not seeing it before hand.

After the movie, I did some digging and was extremely flabbergasted with what I found about Beane’s magic.  I wrote a Roster Tree for the Hitters and Pitchers in the organization.  I studied every single transaction to back track how each of the current member of the team had arrived in an Oakland uniform.  You can find that 2 part series here.

Can the Oakland A’s Do it Again in 2013 Preview:

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MLB Weekly Rankings Week 1: MLB Reports

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Monday Apr.08/2013

The Nationals won a Major League leading 98 Games Last Year.  They have the best roster in the Major Leagues - and have started the year 4 - 2.  The team receives a narrow edge for me over the Reds for the #1 Spot in the MLB reports 1st installment of the MLB Rankings.

The Nationals won a Major League leading 98 Games Last Year. They have the best roster in the Major Leagues in 2013 – and have started the year 4 – 2. The team receives a narrow edge for me over the Reds for the #1 Spot in the MLB reports 1st installment of the MLB Rankings.  Check back weekly for updated rankings!

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

This is the first installment of my weekly Rankings for all MLB Teams.  There are no real surprises here,  I picked the Nationals just slightly over the Reds from top to bottom based on their current roster depth.

Really, the Reds may have an easier path to the playoffs playing in the NL Central -as opposed to the NL East lineup the Nationals would face. 

I am not sold on the Rockies quick start because they beat up the Padres and Brewers.  The DiamondBacks also look great, so look for them to possibly keep climbing the ranks

The AL East is already beating each other up. 

The Braves might charge up the ranks again next week.

The White Sox have looked great so far with their pitching.

Oakland and Texas have ended the week on a hotstreak each by way of fattening up on the Houston Astros.

Washington Nationals On Opening Day:

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LA Dodgers Organizational Depth Charts, Rosters And Salaries (Majors And Minors)

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Thursday, Mar.28/2013

When Magic Johnson and his ownership group spent 2 Billion Dollars on acquiring the Franchise, that should have been a red-flag that they were going to outspend every club when it came to payroll.  Get ready for it baseball world!  With the MLB not having a Salary Cap - and a whimsy penalty for 1st time offenders for the 1st violation of the Luxury Tax Threshold

When Magic Johnson and his ownership group spent 2 Billion Dollars on acquiring the Franchise, that should have been a red-flag that they were going to outspend every club when it came to payroll. Get ready for it baseball world! With the MLB not having a Salary Cap – and a whimsy penalty for 1st time offenders for the 1st violation of the Luxury Tax Threshold – how high will the LA club go?

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): and welcome Jeff Kleiner (Salary, Roster and Depth Chart Expert for the MLB – visit his website  here 

You guys are all in for a treat.  Jeff Kleiner recently contacted me about a partnership merge for the website.  He has developed a site (prosportsrosters.com) that covers all organizational affiliates in the Minors for all of the Major League Baseball Clubs.  We are going to combine efforts to bring you the best look at salaries, current 25 Man Player Rosters and Depth Charts for all 30 teams.

Jeff is going to provide the documents in form of spreadsheets and I am going to accompany the posts with deep analysis of what the numbers tell us from my perspective.  If you can’t wait for all of my assessments for each club, go and visit Jeff’s website over at http://www.prosportsrosters.com.

In Speaking with Jeff, he is one of the more passionate fans I have come across towards the game of baseball.  He spends enough time in updating his MLB Facts for it to be a Full-Time Job.  So after the usual Video Clip and READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY button, you will find some serious &*!@?!#!

For a Full 3 year Salary Outlook plus last years Stats for every player in the Dodgers Organization click here

LA Dodgers Great Moments:

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Oakland A’s Player Roster in 2013: State Of The Union Part 2: The Pitchers

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Sunday, Mar.24/2013

A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A's in his 2012 Rookie Season.  The A's will look for the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013

A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look for the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013.  The  former University of San Diego Pitcher yielded a 1.13 WHIP during his time last year.  As the teams #4 Starting Pitcher on the depth chart, Griffin should be able to see some favorable matchups in 2013.  If he throws like 2012 again in 2013, he might very pole vault to being the ace of the rotation.  We may have another 3 – 4 staff that contend for the AL Cy Young like the days of Hudson, Mulder and Zito.

Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

Billy Beane has always recycled his great starting pitchers once they hit the experience level that he could not pay them for.  His new crop of pitchers include Jarrod Parker, Brett Anderson, Tommy Milone and new Starter A.J. Griffin

They also are bringing back Bartolo Colon for the 2013 season, despite taking a 50 game suspension for PED use last year. Billy Beane is a master tactician on assessing  a players worth and especially pitchers.  Just like the hitters, the pitchers are all mostly in the 25-30 Age bracket.  He has a quality set of controllable relief pitchers in the barn to close out games too.

A.J. Griffin at University of San Diego:

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The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers And Analyzing Mulder, Hudson and Zito Post Oakland

Sunday, Dec.02/2012

A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A's in his 2012 Rookie Season.  The A's will look for the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013

A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look to the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013.

Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner):

Yesterday we talked about the hitters of the Oakland Athletics current roster and today we will talk about their pitching.  This has been an organization that has thrived on brilliant drafting of young arms.  In the early 2000’s, the team featured three ace pitchers in Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark MulderBilly Beane had to let each of them leave Oakland because they couldn’t pay them the kind of dollars needed to secure them long term.  With the exception of this year, Barry Zito has not lived up to his 7 Years and 126 Million Dollar contract he signed with the San Francisco Giants since leaving the Athletics. Despite a 15-8 year for the SF club this past year, he holds a 58-69 (.447) record for San Francisco lifetime with a 4.47 ERA.  He was 102-63 (.618)  and a 3.55 ERA with the A’s before leaving at the age of 29.   The guy made 18.25 Million in his Oakland days and has already pocketed 99 Million with SF.

Mark Mulder never was the same pitcher in the NL and was out of baseball four years after being traded to St. Louis.  His A’s career had netted him an 81-42 (.659) record with a 3.92 ERA.  He was only 22-18 (.550) and a 5.04 ERA with the Cardinals before retiring. As you will read in this article below, the franchise made a worthy trade in returns for this man.  Mulder made 25.3 Million in his contract with the Cardinals after making only 8.4 Million with the A’s.

Tim Hudson on the other hand, has been one of the better pitchers in the NL for the last decade, still towing the hill for the Braves at the age of 38.  He was 92-39 (.702) with a 3.30 ERA for the A’s.  He has since gone 105-65 with a 3.52 ERA for the Braves in in 8 years.  He definitely has been worth the $ invested (84.5 Million plus another 9.0 Million in 2013.) He only made 4.5 Million in his 6 years with Oakland.  The sandwich pick they landed for Hudson’s Free Agent signing was Travis Buck.  Unfortunately Buck only played 170 games for the franchise, hitting .250 with 18 HRs and 71 RBI in 571 AB.

Total Record for 3 other teams is 185-152 (.549) and they have made 208.8 Million away from Oakland, whereas they were 275-144 (.656) and made a total 33.15 Million Dollars with the Athletics.  I would say, Beane made the right decision in not signing them.

The Future of the Oakland A’s:  The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers:  Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.

For The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 1:  The Hitters  Click Here

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MLB Should Distribute More Games Against All Teams For Every Club

Thursday, Nov.29/2012

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Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner):

I wrote an article about 6 months ago that investigated a solution to a Payroll/Geographical Alignment that the MLB should consider in going forward for the next CBA discussions in 2016 here.  Let’s be real and this will never happen.  The idea of running any drastic re-alignment is probably too much for the folks at MLB to fathom.  However, there is a growing trend that is starting to rear its ugly head in MLB Baseball.  It is the bigger market teams really starting to throw down some serious dollars, while the lesser revenue teams can’t keep up with same kind of salary influx.  Of course I have fought this fight on Twitter, Facebook and any other social media platform I have found.  Sooner or later these big salaried teams will reel off a bunch of World Series Titles amongst themselves and it will leave the MLB having as much competitive balance as the NBA. Read the rest of this entry

The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise Pitchers Part 4 Of A 7 Part Series

Monday, November 26th, 2012

Note from Chuck Booth:  I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history.  2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5.The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.)  Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of  my archived articles section here.

 

Roy Halladay won 148 out of his 199 career wins under the years he played for the Blue Jays. After struggling with his mechanics early in his career, he was one of the best pitchers in the AL for the years of 2002-2009.

Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner):

The Toronto Blue Jays have had some incredible pitchers in their 35 years in the MLB.  From Dave Stieb being one of the top 2 pitchers in the 1980’s, to the dominant closers like Tom Henke and Duane Ward be part of their playoff runs, to Pat Hentgen and Juan Guzman firing out of their career like a sprinter making a mad dash for the finish line, to David Wells, Jimmy Key and Roger Clemens tasting success, awards and leading the league in many categories.  Finally, you had the premier pitcher in the American League with Roy Halladay in the 2002-2009 time frame.  Yes there may be some competition from C.C. Sabathia for that last claim, however no one will argue that Halladay is not one of the best pitchers of this ERA.  His being the Career Leader in winning percentage attests to that with 199 Wins versus 100 Losses (.666).  So let us take a journey through the franchise and recognize all of the best hurlers that have towed the hill for the Toronto club.  (Scroll Down Past the Links or Click the READ MORE OF THIS ENTRY ICON.)

Franchise Series Links:

Franchise History Part 1 1977-1993:  https://mlbreports.com/2012/11/09/jays1/

Franchise History Part 2 1994-2012: https://mlbreports.com/2012/11/28/jay/

The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise Hitters: Part 3 Of A 7 Part Article Series:  https://mlbreports.com/2012/11/16/torhitter/

Skydome Part 5 of 7 :  An Interview with ‘Rogers Centre Expert’ and “MLB reports Founder” Jonathan Hacohen

2013 Team Payroll  Part 6 of 7 :  https://mlbreports.com/2012/09/10/tor/

Special Bonus Fan Blog Of 2013 Team Payroll Part 7 of 7:   https://mlbreports.com/2012/09/12/torfanalex/

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