Blog Archives
HR Streaks Of 2 Or More In MLB – 2014: A-Gon, Miggy + Anthony Recker With Active Steaks
Through Sept 7, 2014
All Streaks Of 2 or more in 2014.
*** Denotes Active Streak
5 Games
Jose Bautista – Blue Jays – Aug 26 – Aug 31`
3rd HR streak for Joey Bats!
Devin Mesoraco, Reds, June 18 – June 24
2nd HR Steak For Mesoraco Read the rest of this entry
HR Streaks Of 2 Or More In MLB – 2014:
Through Sept 7, 2014
All Streaks Of 2 or more in 2014.
*** Denotes Active Streak
5 Games
Jose Bautista – Blue Jays – Aug 26 – Aug 31`
3rd HR streak for Joey Bats!
Devin Mesoraco, Reds, June 18 – June 24
2nd HR Steak For Mesoraco Read the rest of this entry
HR Streaks Of 2 Or More In MLB – 2014: (Ike Davis + Joey Bats Only Guys With Active Ones)

Chris Carter is bashing his way to the top of all HR charts again in 2014 – after a sub par start to the campaign. He has 6 streaks of 2 or more HRs, and has added 6 multiple HR affairs to his resume – and all done in the last 100 days or so. Carter sits tied for 2nd in the AL with 33 HRs on the year, but don’t be surprised if he takes a run at the lead by years end. Carter, 27, belted 29 HRs last campaign – and could well surpass with 40 is he keep his pace up.
Through Aug 28, 2014
All Streaks Of 2 or more in 2014.
*** Denotes Active Streak
5 Games
Devin Mesoraco, Reds, June 18 – June 24
2nd HR Steak For Mesoraco Read the rest of this entry
HR Streaks Of 2 Or More 2014 In The MLB

Rizzo leads the MLB with 7 Home Run Streaks on the year. The Cubs 1B is also 2nf in the NL with 29 big fly’s on the campaign.
Through Aug 23, 2014
All Streaks Of 2 or more in 2014.
*** Denotes Active Streak
5 Games
Devin Mesoraco, Reds, June 18 – June 24
2nd HR Steak For Mesoraco Read the rest of this entry
All Streaks Of 2 Or More Straight Games With Home Runs In 2014 MLB: Stanton Setting Pace Since ASG

Stanton with 4 different HR streaks since the ALL – Star Break already. He has the NL lead, and is tied with Nelson Cruz and Jose Abreu fro the Major League Lead in 2014 bombs, Stanton also fared well in this year’s HR derby. May I remind everyone that this guys is still only 24.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Through Aug 18, 2014
All Streaks Of 2 or more in 2014.
*** Denotes Active Streak
5 Games
Devin Mesoraco, Reds, June 18 – June 24
2nd HR Steak For Mesoraco Read the rest of this entry
HR Streaks Of 2 Games Or More – 2014 MLB: Joseph’s Historic HRs, Davis On Track, Carter Underrated!

Caleb Joseph is putting up a historic HR run this week, setting a new franchise mark for hitting a long ball in his last 5 straight games, and is throwing out over 50% of the baserunners on the basepaths as a defensive Catcher. The 28 Year Old RHB is giving the management a lot to think about for the future, with the Catchers, First Base and Designated Hitters positions all featuring players who will become Free Agents in the next 1 – 2 years.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
There Is 1 active streak of 5 Games: Caleb Joseph, who is the 2nd player this year to carry a 5 consecutive tilts with a HR ( the other was Devin Mesoraco.
The only other current streak is Adrian Gonzalez ( who is in his 4th streak right now, with the other 3 being at least 3 games, and one of them a 4 games.
Several Catcher flexed their muscles during this particular week.
1 for one, would love to see Joseph tie the club record set by Chris Davis (who was the last MLB to crank HRs in 6 straight (last week of 2012).
Speaking of the Home Run Ball, the Orioles have been obliterating baseball into orbit versus the Cardinals the last few nights. Baltimore has outscored St. Louis 22 – 5, with hammering 9 jacks over the wall. Read the rest of this entry
HR Streaks Of 2 Or More 2014
Harrison may very well have not deserved his NL ALL – Star selection last month, but he is totally on fire now – playing awesome baseball. The Utility man for the Bucs is the latest MLB’er to hit Home Runs in 4 straight contests this year. Harrison also went yard again last night, after a brief 2 game hiatus from smacking a long ball. The Pirates have rode his tear into a tie for the Wild Card spot.
Through Aug 2, 2014
HRs Streaks (Games Consecutive in MLB)
0 active streaks of HRs more than 1
All Streaks Of 2 or more in 2014.
5 Games
Devin Mesoraco, Reds, June 18 – June 24
2nd HR Steak For Mesoraco Read the rest of this entry
HR Streaks Of 2 Or More In 2014
Through July 19, 2014
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
HRs Streaks (Games Consecutive in MLB)
2 Active 2 Game HR streaks: Paul Goldschmidt (3rd Steak) Giancarlo Stanton (1st streak), Last player with 3 HRs (Conor Gillaspie), 4 HRs (George Springer), 5 HRs (Devin Mesoraco). Streaks not of this year: Last 6 HR streak (Chris Davis – 2012), 7 HR streak (Kevin Mench – 2006) and last 8 HR streak (Ken Griffey JR. in 1993)
8 Games (Last Done in 1993)
Ken Griffey JR, Mariners, July.20 – July.28
7 Games (Last Done in 2006)
Kevin Mench, Rangers , April.21 – Apr.28
6 Games (Last Done in 2012)
Chris Davis, Sept.25 – Oct.3, 2012 Read the rest of this entry
2014 Home Run Leaderboards + HR Streaks Of 2 Or More In 2014
THE LONG BALL In 2014
TOP 5 HRs AL/NL @ The ASG Break
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
For Games Played Through July 13, 2014
Top 5 HR Leaders AL
Jose Abreu, White Sox – 29 (Last Homered July 12)
Nelson Cruz, Orioles – 28 (Last Homered July 7th)
Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays – 26 – Injury Report: (15-day disabled list (July 6, strained right quadriceps.)
Mike Trout, Angels – 22 (Last Homered July 11)
Brandon Moss, A’s – 21 (Last Homered July 13)
Victor Martinez, Tigers – 21 – Injury Report – Day to Day. (Last Homered July 3)
Top 5 HR Leaders NL
Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins – 21
Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies – 21 (Last Homered July.11)
Anthony Rizzo, Cubs – 20 (Last Homered July.9)
Todd Frazier, Reds – 19 (Last Homered July.13)
Marlon Byrd, Phillies – 18 (Last Homered July.6) Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The Texas Rangers Hitters Were Acquired (2014 Roster Tree)

The Rangers had back to back World Series Appearances in 2010 and 2011 – and have 4 straight seasons of collecting 90+ Wins – with 370 victories overall. 2014 has been an injury plagued season, robbing the club perhaps of putting forth a 5th consecutive 90 win campaign. Despite this, the organization has done spade work to be mentioned as a top franchise over the last 5 years. This Roster Tree proves a little of this.
How All Of The Rangers Hitters Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Rangers set up their franchise for years to come in 2007, when they pulled off a trade of ALL – Star Mark Teixeira – to acquire several players in the franchise that they are still seeing solid returns.
My absolute favorite transaction tree is finding out the Michael Choice branch of trades.
It dates back to the team signing Todd Van Poppel as a Free Agent before the 1998 season.
Out of all of the players the team currently has, only Leonys Martin, Mitch Moreland and Rougned Odor and Jurickson Profar are composed of team draft picks – with the latter being hurt right now,
The rest of them were picked up via another route. Read the rest of this entry
2014 Multi Home Run Efforts + HR Streaks Of 2 Or More In the MLB
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For Games Played Through June 16, 2014
Multi HR Games in MLB 2014
For Games Played Through June 16, 2014 Donnie Murphy Last 2 HR effort – June 16)
Lonnie Chisenhall (3 HR Game) June 9th
Chris Davis, Orioles (3 HR Game) May 20th
Ryan Braun – Brewers (3 HR Game) – April.8th Read the rest of this entry
The Long Ball, HR Leaders, Multi HR Gms, Consecutive Streaks MLB 2014
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
For Games Played Through June 9, 2014
Top 5 HR Leaders AL
Nelson Cruz, Orioles – 21
Edwin Encarnacion. Blue Jays – 20 (Homered June 9th)
Jose Abreu, White Sox – 18 (Homered June 9th)
Josh Donaldson, A’s – 17
Brandon Moss, A’s – 16 Read the rest of this entry
Rangers Losing Fielder For The Year May Be A Fatal Short Term Blow: But Maybe Not For The Long Term

Losing Prince Fielder for the year is somewhat catastrophic to the team, but it doesn’t have to be a death sentence to the 2014 year. The big 1B was not part of the 15 – 9 start the team put forth, before a rough 8 – 15 slide since then. Pitching will save the day, and the organization may look to add some players that don’t require a ton of assets to ascertain. If the club has bad next month,, it could also be time to sell some players off and retool for 2015. Fielder will have neck surgery, and when you are talking about possible spinal fusing, it is not an injury to be recovered from quickly
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Rangers have quite likely lost Prince Fielder for the year – with pending neck surgery. He joins a long list of players currently on the ‘MASH’ unit.
Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Leonys Martin, Donnie Murphy, Joseph Ortiz, Martin Perez, Joe Saunders, Tanner Scheppers, Geovany Soto, Dan Robertson Jurickson Profar, Engel Beltre, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Josh Wilson, James Adduci, Pedro Figueroa are all on the sick bay right now.
About half of them are not coming back this year potentially.
Adrian Beltre and Yu Darvish have also spent time on the DL this campaign.
The 16 players currently on the list above could virtually make up 2/3rds of the team. Read the rest of this entry
Texas Rangers Roster For 2014: State Of The Union

Prince Fielder’s 2013 – 3 Slash Line (.279/.362/.457) is far below his Career Mark of .286/.389/.527. The man has not hit a HR in his last 74 AB in the playoffs either. Fielder at least had 5 HRs in 1st 70 AB for his playoff Career. Maybe that will change in Texas, after he clubs his way to be an AL MVP Candidate for the Rangers in 2014. I expect him to return to the 40+ HR plateau, drive in well over 100+ RBI – and lead his team to a World Series Appearance this year. Fielder will be in Texas for the next 7 years, and the Rangers only have to pay $20 MIL per year, with Detroit eating $4 MIL each season as part of the trade that saw Ian Kinsler go to Motown.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Stay Alive Until Re-Inforcements Arrive
The Texas Rangers bolstered their 2014 offensive lineup with 2 new .400+ OBP Players.
Shin-Soo Choo (.423 OBP in 2013, and a Career .389 OBP), and Prince Fielder (.362 OBP, but was .400 OBP+ in 4 out of the last 5 years and .389 OBP for his lifetime) – will be front and center into the Rangers new lineup.
These gentlemen will be surrounded by Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Alex Rios as guys to help offset their walk totals.
This is not an indictment of the 3 right handed hitters either though, Beltre is a .312 hitter for Texas during his 3 campaigns, while Alex Rios and Andrus should hit anywhere from .280 to .290 this year.
You add Andrus’s speed with Leonys Martin – and these two guys could swipe 40+ bags each. Even Alex Rios thieved 16 Bags in 2013 – and Choo had 20 SB yet again. Read the rest of this entry
Texas Rangers Payroll in 2014 + Contracts Going Forward Part 1

Darvish has provided Texas with ace-like material ever since coming over from Japan. At his current $10 MIL a year salary, this gives the club a bunch of financial freedom to sign other long term deals. Darvish finished 2nd in AL CY Young Voting with a 13 – 9 record, a 2.83 ERA and a league leading 277 SO in his 209.2 IP worth of work in 2013. Darvish’s high posting bid was not part of his salary prior to 2012, or converted towards the total team payroll. Texas is lucky his yearly hit is so low – as the team already has $116 MIL towards the Luxury Tax Threshold before Arbitration Players are paid in the next couple of weeks. The Rangers could still potentially sign more guys to raise this figure even more.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 & Jeff Kleiner (Org. Depth Chart/Payroll Expert) Follow @prosportsroster
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
This is part 1 of our 2 part payroll piece we will do for each club. The Rangers are entering with the heavy payroll clubs in the game of MLB.
Their salaries after Arbitration Eligibles are paid, could range anywhere from $125 – $140 MIL, and even higher if they are able to land another Free Agent Pitcher or hitter.
They have spoken loud with the checkbook. With 370 wins over the last 4 seasons, and 4 straight 90+ win campaigns, the Rangers are hoping to cash in with the 2014 squad.
For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries Posts that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.
Yu Darvish Highlights Mature Lyrics So parental guidance is advised

By the time this offseason ends, the Rangers may have acquired the two best players for it. Placing Choo at the top of the lineup – as the OBP machine that he ends, followed by Adrian Beltre hitting 3rd – and Prince Fielder 4th, all of a sudden the Texas Rangers are looking like their vintage “offensive” selves. Based on this, go and pick up their World Series ODD win at +1100 (3rd favorite in the AL) anywhere you can as they should be the favorite. Choo signed for a 7 Year Deal worth $130 MIL this winter. It is an annual average contract of $18.43 MIL, but the man will only pocket $14 MIL for his services in 2014 and 2015 as well..
Texas Rangers Payroll in 2014 – 2016
POS | Name | LG | XP | AGE | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
SP1- | Yu Darvish | ML | 0 | x | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 |
SP2- | Derek Holland | ML | 3 | 27 | $5,400,000 | $7,400,000 | $10,000,000 |
SP3- | Matt Garza | ML | 3 | 30 | FA | ||
SP4- | Martin Perez | ML | 3 | 22 | $750,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,900,000 |
SP5- | Matt Harrison | ML | 6 | 28 | $8,000,000 | $13,000,000 | $13,200,000 |
SP6- | Nicholas Tepesch | ML | 0 | 25 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 |
SPS- | Alexi Ogando | ML | 6 | 30 | ARB1 | ARB2 | ARB3 |
RHMR- | |||||||
LHMR- | Michael Kirkman | ML | 5 | 27 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 | ARB2 |
RHSU- | Jason Frasor | ML | 5 | 36 | $1,750,000 | FA | |
RHSU- | Tanner Scheppers | ML | 1 | 26 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 |
RHSU- | Chaz Roe | ML | 6 | 27 | NON-ARB1 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 |
RHSU- | Shawn Tolleson | ML | 1 | 25 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 | ARB2 |
LHSU- | Robert Ross | ML | 2 | 24 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 | ARB2 |
LHSU- | Joseph Ortiz | ML | 3 | 23 | NON-ARB1 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 |
CL- | Cory Burns | ML | 2 | 26 | NON-ARB1 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 |
CL- | Joakim Soria | ML | 3 | 30 | $5,500,000 | $7,000,000 | |
CL- | Neftali Feliz | ML | 5 | 25 | ARB2 | ARB3 | FA |
13 | $21,400,000 | $28,400,000 | $26,100,000 | ||||
POSITION PLAYERS | LEV | MiL | AGE | 2014 SALARY | 2015 SALARY | 2016 SALARY | |
C- | Geovany Soto | ML | 7 | 30 | $3,050,000 | FA | |
1B- | Prince Fielder | ML | 3 | 29 | $24,000,000 | $24,000,000 | $24,000,000 |
2B- | Jurickson Profar | ML | 1 | 20 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 |
SS- | Elvis Andrus | ML | 4 | 25 | $6,750,000 | $15,250,000 | $15,250,000 |
3B- | Adrian Beltre | ML | 4 | 34 | $17,000,000 | $18,000,000 | $16,000,000 |
LF- | Mitchell Moreland | ML | 4 | 28 | ARB1 | ARB2 | ARB3 |
CF- | Shin-Soo Choo | ML | 7 | 31 | $14,000,000 | $14,000,000 | $20,000,000 |
RF- | Alex Rios | ML | 5 | 32 | $13,000,000 | $13,500,000 | |
DH- | Lance Berkman | ML | 4 | 37 | FA | ||
C- | J.P. Arencibia | ML | 4 | 27 | $1,800,000 | ARB2 | ARB3 |
C- | Robinson Chirinos | ML | 10 | 29 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 |
1B- | |||||||
3B- | |||||||
UTL- | |||||||
UTL- | |||||||
OF- | Leonys Martin | ML | 0 | 25 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 | ARB1 |
OF- | Engel Beltre | ML | 4 | 24 | NON-ARB1 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 |
OF- | Nelson Cruz | ML | 11 | 33 | FA | ||
OF- | Michael Choice | ML | 1 | 24 | NON-ARB1 | NON-ARB2 | NON-ARB3 |
10 | $79,600,000 | $84,750,000 | $75,250,000 |

Prince Fielder was signed to a 9 YR/$214 MIL contract before the start of the 2012 season. He is not Slugging as much as his Brewers days, however his OBP is just slightly lower in the regular season. Fielder has a chance to have a Hall of Fame Career. If he can bring a World Series to Texas, he will enhance his chances. The Big man has to step up in 2014, or the team may fail to capitalize on the World Series Caliber team they have built over the last half a dozen years. After a few years with Detroit, that club will be on the hook to the big man for $76 MIL out of the deal, leaving Texas to pay $138 MIL over the 7 seasons he is signed with the club.
Note From Chuck Booth:
You guys are all in for a treat. Jeff Kleiner 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.
Jeff updates this page below on a daily basis. After you click on it….Bookmark it. There is a 3 year salary forecast and stats not listed here on this page. Jeff updates these pages daily and these changes include any Roster moves!
Authors for this post:
Jeff Kleiner: “I have been a sports fan since the first Baseball game I went to at Comisky Park in Chicago in 1959, when baseball for me turned from black and white to color.
I have attended or watched thousands of games, always paying attention to statistics, rosters and salaries of all professional sports.
Luckily I had the advantage of watching WGN TV and seeing hundreds of games in the 60’s. Collecting Baseball Cards and then later dealing them gave me an extra sense of the sport, both good and bad.”
For all of your Salaries, Roster and Depth Charts for all 4 Major Sports (entire organization – Minors and Majors) click here or Follow Me on twitter Follow @prosportsroster
Chuck Booth – Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames: To learn more about my “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here .
You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days – click here.
I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB.
You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports
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The A’s Pickup Another Quality Bullpen Arm In Gregerson

Luke Gregerson has authored 5 brilliant seasons coming out of the Padres Bullpen. He has a 2.78 ERA and 1.092 WHIP in his 347 IP worth of work. The 29 Year Old from Park Ridge, IL originally, has averaged appearing in 68 games a year. The A’s will use him as a late inning arm with Jim Johnson, Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle also being capable inning’s eater to nail down shut victories. Gregerson is in his 3rd Year (made $3.2 MIL) of Arbitration before he hits the Free Agent Market in 2015.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Billy Beane ended his whirlwind day on Tuesday. by flipping just signed OF/DH/PH Seth Smith to the San Diego Padres for Relief Pitcher Luke Gregerson.
In what can only be described as shock, I can’t believe the Padres could be this brutal in talent evaluation.
Beane has continued his pillaging from all other franchises.
The result was that he never touched any of the 9 Starting Players from his offense, zero from his Rotation, and only 2 Minor League Players from last season, to acquire 2 potential Closers/late inning relievers, a premiere CF defender, and a nice #5 Starter in return.
Luke Gregerson Interview from 2012
Billy Beane Adds 4 Pitchers To The A’s Flock, Plus Gentry – Only Surrenders Weeks. Choice + Smith

Billy Beane is the perfect ‘Baseball Rounder’. We all see that the moves the A’s GM made yesterday and today – where another way to gain assets in the short term – without losing much in the long run. With the A’s usually operating at around the $65 MIL mark the last few years, and now being somewhere in the $75 MIL range, look for Beane to stay active in the transactions throughout this winter to shed payroll – and to receive team controllable players. The Athletics gain 4 players in these acquisitions that all saw significant playing time in the MLB, where the outgoing guys spent the majority of (if not all) their time in the Minors last year
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I said it last week in a Cards article that there were 3 teams that have perfected ‘baseball rounding’, and these teams were the Cardinals, A’s and Tampa Bay.
While the Oakland and Tampa Bay teams don’t have the wherewithal to do this as extensively as the St. Louis franchise, they have the master of the trade in Billy Beane.
“Baseball Rounding” is defined by organizations who always roundup Free Agents, Waiver Wire Deals, Rule 5 guys, or sell high when they know a player is past his projections, in order to obtain assets coming back.
The purpose of these deals is that the organization never touches the main core, meaning the franchise will be in awesome shape if you know how to groom players in your Minor League System after you draft them.
Scott Kazmir 2013 Highlights – Mature Lyrics so Parental Guidance Is Advised
Yoenis Cespedes: While Cuba Misses Their Star in the 2013 WBC – the A’s Slugger Looks to be an A.L. MVP Candidate
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Follow @mlbreportsFriday March 8th, 2013

From Cuba to A.L. MVP? Despite not being able to represent his native country in the WBC, Cespedes is a year older and wiser. The more he adjusts to North America life and baseball, opposing pitchers will shudder even more each time Cespedes comes to the plate.
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
It’s pretty ironic if you ask me. The 2013 World Baseball Classic is here and Cuba is off to a huge start. I had to pick a winner and went with Cuba as my pre-tournament favorite. Considering that Japan has won both editions of the WBC, Cuba was definitely going to be in tough. To top it all off, they are starting off the first two rounds in Japan. Why is it ironic? For Cuba is missing its biggest star for the tournament. Yoenis Cespedes, the Oakland A’s star outfielder is in Arizona for Spring Training.
Far away from the bright lights of Japan, where Cuba finally beat its nemesis this week in WBC play after several failed attempts in the past. With that monkey off their back, Cuba has made the statement that they are ready to win it all. But yet without their biggest star. For when one defects from Cuba, they are forever banished from representing their country again in any baseball capacity.
I couldn’t help but think watching Cuba play in Japan this week that in fact Cespedes and the A’s opened their season last year in Japan. Cespedes actually started off his season with a bang out there and never looked back. On March 29th last year, Cespedes had a home run in the 2nd game of the A’s young season. That bomb in Japan was the start of the legend. Who knew that Cespedes would actually be in Japan a year too early? For all the success that Cuba has enjoyed thus far in the 2013 WBC, imagine if they had Cespedes anchoring that lineup?
Cuba may very still win the 2013 WBC. My money is on that happening. But if Cuba falls short yet again, the what if scenarios will endlessly get bounced around. What if the team had Aroldis Chapman? Alexei Ramirez? And most of all, Yoenis Cespedes? Until Cuba allows its defectors to come home again, the talent drain will continue to affect the country in international tournaments.
Yoenis Cespedes 2012 Highlights Mature Lyrics so Parental Guidance is Advised:
The Future of the Oakland A’s: The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers – Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan
Saturday July 7th, 2012
Jonathan Hacohen: Baseball is a funny sport for many reasons. One particular reason is opinions. One minute a person can be a hero, the next a goat. A genius can turn into an idiot, seemingly overnight. In the world of Major League Baseball, we love building up our heroes. The next minute, we are cutting them down to the knees. An example of this the swing in popular opinion comes from out west. Famed baseball General Manager, the one and only Billy Beane. I have been thinking about Billy for some time. Ever since Moneyball the movie was due to be released, I couldn’t help but notice the reports that were coming out on the A’s GM. The man once hailed as a baseball genius, was now being mocked in many circles. Here he was, being immortalized on the silver screen by none other than Brad Pitt. Yet in real life, the 2011 MLB season was about to end and Beane’s team was near the bottom of its division, finishing a whopping 22 games out of first place. Had Billy Beane lost touch with the modern game? Did other teams catch up finally to his systems and tricks? Could a competitive team be impossible in the modern game on a shoestring budget? When Billy Beane should have been recognized in one of his finest professional moments, more questions than answers circled around. But in typical Billy Beane fashion, the A’s GM kept a low profile and stuck to his guns. He had a plan. This man always has a plan. He just wasn’t ready to share it yet with the baseball world.
If you read and/or watched Moneyball and followed recent Oakland A’s teams, you might think that you have the Billy Beane equation down. Great pitching and patching together a lineup/offense. But as the salaries climbed with the big pitchers, turnover and replenishing of the farm system became the norm. In recent years though, all those supposed great pitchers did not always pan out. Combine that with a line of prospects that were not panning out, and Oakland A’s fans started to cry out for relief. Attendance at the Coliseum has reached embarrassing levels in recent years. The stadium is considered aged and obsolete. The A’s have been trying to move to San Jose and without a new stadium, declared that they could no longer keep a viable team running past their designated salary structure. So seemingly until the new stadium would get approved, the star players would get moved out quicker and the A’s would become a glorified farm system for the rest of baseball. Remember the Montreal Expos? Good…so does Billy Beane.
The Expos in their competitive days, the peak coming in 1994, had a strong and balanced lineup and pitching staff. All of its young players came up at once and developed together into a dynamic superstar team. Moises Alou. Larry Walker. Ken Hill. Wil Cordero. Pedro Martinez. The team was stacked to say the least. If not for the cancellation of the playoffs that year, some people believe that Major League Baseball would still be in Montreal. Yes, that Expos team had a great pitching staff. But it also had an unbelievable young and powerful lineup. Somewhere in his mind, Billy Beane has kept a memory alive of that Montreal Expos team and the system that developed its players. Billy knows it because he is re-creating it right now in Oakland. Right under our noses and many of us are not even feeling it. Read the rest of this entry
Michael Choice Has Tremendous Power: A’s Prospect is On the Verge
Sunday May 27th, 2012
Sam Evans: Oakland Athletics prospect Michael Choice was drafted by the A’s 10th overall in the 2010 MLB Amateur draft. Looking back at the pick, most of the players drafted before Choice have risen quicker through their respective systems, but Choice still looks like a nice selection by Billy Beane and his scouting department. Michael Choice has 70 grade power, so even though his tools are raw, it’s hard not to like a future All-Star.
Michael Choice was born in 1989 in Forth Worth, Texas. Being a young Texan outfielder with power projection, it must be pretty difficult to go unnoticed out high school. Nonetheless, Choice was under the radar coming out of high school and he eventually ended up at the University of Texas-Arlington. At Texas-Arlington, Choice began to turn some heads. In three college seasons, or 175 games, Choice hit thirty-four homers and had a batting average over .375 in all three years. His junior year at Texas-Arlington, in 2010, Choice drew seventy-six walks and he only struck out fifty-four times.
Coming into the draft, Choice was considered by most as a top fifteen prospect, so the A’s selecting him at #10 didn’t surprise many. The player that went before Choice, Karsten Whitson did not sign. The player that went after Choice, Deck McGuire, is a little overrated in my opinion, but he has reached Double-A already in the Toronto organization. Read the rest of this entry
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