Phillies Trying to Dump Big Salaries?

Craig Calcaterra, writing for hardballtalk.com, has posted a tweet by Howard Eskin, Sports Director for WTFX in Philadelphia, in which Eskin calls Marlon Byrd, Jonathan papalbin and Cliff Lee bad locker room guys. Eskin opines that for this reason, the Phillies want to get rid of these, and other players. Calcaterra's contention is that the Phillies are really about setting low expectations for the fans when Philly gets low return on any deals.

I agree with Craig. the Phillies are old, overpaid and under performing. Ruben Amaro Jr. has not used a forward thinking mindset when signing players to long term deals or trading for older players. The result is that Philadelphia has given up young talent for a projected short term gain that has not materialized.

Read Calcaterra's short article here.

Baseball Free Agency 2015

There are 165 official free agents following the 2014 major league baseball year.

Yahoo Sports writer, Jeff Passan has them ranked from #1 Max Scherzer, the Tigers ace, who reportedly wants a long term contract worth 200 Million Dollars to #165 Hiroyuki Nakajimi, of the A's, who hit .266 last year in Double A ball.

Some interesting players entering free agancy on Passan's list are, #134, Dan Uggla who will get $13 million from the Braves this year and possibly a World Series ring from the Giants. #120 Daisuke Matsuzaka...how fast does a shooting star fade? Ichiro Suzuki, in at #80. With two or so more good hitting years, Ichiro could reach 3,000 hits. Some team will need a 4th outfielder who can hit and still steal bases.

Read Jeff Passan's article here.

MLB Players Choose Their Best

The players of major league baseball have chosen their top players in several categories. The voting was done on the 16th of September, according to the MLB Players Union.

Clayton Kershaw, of the Dodgers, was picked in 3 categories.
  Player of the Year
  Marvin Miller Man of the Year
  NL Outstanding Pitcher
Giancarlo Stanton, Miami, was chosen as the NL Outstanding Player
Mike Trout, LA Angels, AL Outstanding Player
Seattle's Felix Hernandez was picked as the AL Outstanding Pitcher
Jose Abreu, White Sox, AL Outstanding Rookie
Jacob deGrom, Mets, NL Outstanding Rookie
Miami's Casey Magehee (NL) and Seattle's Chris Young (AL) were chosen as their league's Comeback Players.

Worst Fielders In MLB for 2014 Season

Ryan Fagan, writing for The Sporting News online has a list of the worst fielders for this past season in major league baseball. He uses sabermetric terms such as UZR/150 and even DRS as a tie breaker. To be honest I don't have a clue as to what they really mean, nor do most of my readers I presume, but his article/slideshow is good.

Only three of the 10 fielders came from playoff teams with two of those from the Tigers. Torii Hunter made the list. Some of us remember Torii as the best fielding outfielder not too long ago.

Here's the list:

1B - Ike Davis, Pirates
2B - Jose Altuve, Astros
SS - Yunel Escobar, Rays
3B - Nick Castellanos, Tigers
LF - Domonic Brown Phillies
CF - Dexter Fowler, Astros
RF - Torii Hunter, Tigers
C - Travis d'Arnaud, Mets
SP - Phil Hughes, Twins
RP - Sam Dyson, Marlins

Be sure to check out Fagan's article/slideshow here.

Kansas City Declines 2015 Option on Billy Butler

The Kansas City Royals have decided to pay Billy Butler a 1 Million dollar buyout of his contract rather than pay him 12.5 million dollars for the 2015 season.

"Obviously when you're on a team that won the American League, it would be tough to leave that team," Butler said. "It's the only organization I've ever been in. That plays a factor."

Read the ESPN article to see the business side of baseball. Butler had an off year but was an All-Star two years ago.

ESPN.com Stats and Info for 2014 Home Runs

If you're a stat junkie like I am you will like the information below.

The following is from the ESPN.com page for the info. "The Stats & Info blog gives you the same information that the ESPN Stats & Information Group provides to its production teams around the company. Stats & Info's content is a must-read for everyone at ESPN. On-camera talent, producers, bloggers, columnists and editors use Stats & Info insight on a daily basis. Now we're making all this knowledge available with timely, quick-hitting posts. Check this blog around the clock for notes, stats and trends, using a blend of traditional statistics and the advanced metrics we call "Next Level.""

Read the ESPN article hee.

Cubs Fire Rick Renteria - Prelude to Hiring Joe Maddon

The Chicago Cubs have fired their current manager, Rick Renteria, to hire the ex-manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, Joe Maddon.

Just 2 weeks ago, Renteria was given a vote of confidence by GM Theo Epstein who saw no reason that Renteria would not be back on the Northside for 2015.

Here is a quote from ESPN writer Jesse Rogers's article on ESPN, by Theo Epstein today.

"Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon -- who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us -- had become a free agent," Epstein said. "We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization. In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe."

The Cubs, as usual, handled this very poorly. Renteria did no worse than the 52 managers before him that failed to get the Cubs to the World Series. He was given 1 year to turn around a Cub team that has underperformed as long as the current generation of Cub fans can remember.

In my opinion, Renteria was given the bum's rush and I am sure he will land a managerial position elsewhere.

But read the ESPN article here and decide for yourself.

Joe Maddon To Cubs?

So the free agent manager, Joe Maddon, appears to be ready to sign a contract to manage the Cubs for 2015. This signing will be the Cubs third manager in the three years that Theo Epstein has been the General Manager.

Unfortunately, Rick Renteria, the current manager of the Cubs hasn't been fired yet.

Assuming the paperwork gets signed, the unfortunate casualty is Renteria, the baseball soul who’d been hired not even a year ago, and who in the absence of public support from Cubs management was compelled this week to release a statement of his own.

It was so sad. Humiliating, you’d imagine. So humiliating, were the final negotiations with Maddon to go sideways Epstein would have had to fire Renteria anyway, because you can’t have an employee kicked to the curb and then dragged back into the clubhouse and reinstalled as team leader and organizational conscience.

Tim Brown of yahoo Sports has a good article here. I think the timing was poor and Renteria should have been fired or at least reassigned before any leak of negotiations, but baseball is a business and a team must act in their best interests.

Kansas City Shuts Out Giants 10-0 Force Game 7

The Kansas City Royals broke open game 6 of the 2014 World Series in the bottom of the 2nd inning as they went on to shut out the Giants 10-0 and force a game 7 tomorrow night.

Yordano Ventura was the benificiary of the scoring outburst as he picked up the win while Jake Peavy took the loss for the Giants. Peavy lasted just 1 1/3 innings and gave up 5 runs on 6 hits. Yusmeiro Petit didn't fare much better against the Royals bats lasting just 2/3 of an inning and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits. Hunter Strickland went 2 innings and gave up a solo home run to Mike Moustakas.

The 7, 8 and 9 hitters in the Royals lineup, Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas and Omar Infante went 6 for 12 on the night with 2 RBIs and 5 runs scored.

Check out the ESPN wrap up here and get ready for a game 7 tomorrow night. The first game 7 since 2011.

The Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in a 7 game World Series in 1985, the Royal's last appearance in the playoffs.

Post World Series Teams Free Agent Market

As the 2014 World Series comes to a conclusion, what would baseball be if we didn't start looking at who might change teams after it's over. MLB hasn't even handed out the award let alone given the shine time to fade.

The Giants seem to have the most to lose with Pablo Sandoval, Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong, Sergio Romo and Michael Morse all eligible for free agency. Without knowing the intent of management it can be assumed that the Giants would most like to have Sandoval and Romo back along with Vogelsong...at the right price.

The Royals, on the other hand, have James Shields, Josh Willingham, Norichika Aoki, Raul Ibanez and possibly Billy Butler, who may be too rich for the Royals to pick up his option for 2015. Willingham and Ibanez were in season pickups that haven't contributed much to the postseason and with the play of Jarrod Dyson in center and Lorenzo Cain's outstanding play in right, Aoki may very well not be offered a contract.

That leaves James Shields. Shields is a very valuable piece of the Royals team that made the playoffs this season, but there are a number of teams that need pitching and have deep pockets. The Royals may not be able to afford Shields either.

Dave Skretta of the AP, writing for Yahoo Sports has an interesting take on both team's free agency woes with this article.

Giants Take 3-2 Series Lead On Bumgarner's Shutout

The San Francisco Giants head to Kansas City with a 3-2 lead in the World Series. Madison Bumgarner threw a beauty of a game, a complete game 4 hit shutout.

This was the first World Series complete game shutout since Josh Beckett, pitching for the Florida Marlins in 2003, shutout the NY Yankees in the series clinching 6th game.

Hunter Pence got things going for the Giants in the bottom of the 2nd with a lead off single. Brandon Belt's sacrifice bunt got past James Shields for an infield single that put runners at first and second with no outs. Travis Ishakawa flew out to center to move the runners up a base. Brandon Crawford grounded out to second as Pence scored. The Giants had all the runs they would need with Bumgarner on the mound, a 1-0 lead.

With Shields still pitching for the Royals in the 4th, Pablo Sandoval singled to lead off the inning. Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt both struck out, but Travis Ishakawa singled to get Sandoval to second and Brandon Crawford singled to drive in Sandoval for the 2-0 Giants lead.

The Giants broke the game open in the bottom of the 8th. Kelvin Herrera, on in relief, gave up consecutive singles to Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence. Wade Davis relieved Herrera. Juan Perez greeted Davis with a full count double that scored Sandoval and Pence. Perez went to third on a throwing error by Alcides Escobar. Brandon Crawford's single plated Perez and the Giants' lead grew to 5-0.

Bumgarner set the Royals down in order in the top of the 9th to pick up his second win of this World Series. In his last 4 World Series starts, Bumgarner is 4-0 with a 0.29 ERA.

The number 7 and 8 hitters in the San Francisco lineup went 5 for 8 with 5 RBIs and a run scored last night.

Game 6 of the 2014 will be in Kansas City on Tuesday night.

Giants Take Game 4, 11-4 Even Series at 2

The Kansas City relievers failed Ned Yost last night as the San Francisco Giants evened the series at 2 games apiece with an 11-4 victory over the Royals.

Read the ESPN recap here.

Royals Up 2-1 in World Series

Without the benefit of the DH at the National League park, Ned Yost was forced to make some fielding and lineup changes. Those changes worked as the Royals beat the Giants 3-2 to take a 2 games to 1 lead in the World Series.

Yost moved Lorenzo Cain from center field to right field and inserted Jarrod Dyson in center. Cain made two very good plays on sinking line drives and appeared comfortable in his new position. Yost also moved Alex Gordon from 6th to 2nd in the lineup and Gordon responded with a clutch RBI double in the 6th.

Kansas City jumped on top in the 1st when Alcides Escobar doubled to lead off the inning. Alex Gordon grounded out to move Escobar to third and Escobar scored when Lorenzo Cain grounded out to short. KC had the early lead 1-0.

The Royals added to their lead in the top of the 6th. With one out, Alcides Escobar singled to center. Alex Gordon then doubled off the wall in right to score Escobar. After Lorenzo Cain grounded out to third, Javier Lopez relieved Tim Hudson for the Giants. Eric Hosmer had what is called a quality at bat against Lopez. Hosmer singled on the 11th pitch of the at bat to score Gordon and the Royals had built a 3-0 lead.

San Francisco rallied in their half of the 6th. Brandon Crawford singled to lead off. Mike Morse, pinch hitting for Javier Lopez, doubled to left to score Crawford. Kelvin Herrera relieved Royals' starter, Jeremy Guthrie and promptly walked Gregor Blanco. Joe Panik sent a high chopper to the mound to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Buster Posey then grounded to second to score Morse and the Giants had cut the lead to 3-2.

Neither team scored again and Greg Holland pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the Royals to preserve the win for Guthrie and pick up his 1st save of the World Series and 7th save of this postseason, an MLB record. The Royals bullpen became the first bullpen in MLB history to have 7 wins and 7 saves in a single postseason.

World Series Game 1 Least Watched

The NY Times has an article today by Jonathan Mahler and Bill Carter explaining that Major League Baseball is no longer the center of attention in US Television Sports.

Their argument is that only 12.2 million viewers tuned in to Game 1 of the World Series. Sunday Night Football, they say, drew 24 million. They called that game a regular season game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos. What they failed to mention is that the game was between last year's Super Bowl team, with Peyton Manning about to break Brett Favre's career touchdown record, and a team that was one play away from making the Super Bowl last year.

Even the Florida State against Notre Dame matchup drew more viewers they note, again failing to mention that #2 FSU, with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and all his personal problems, was facing it's toughest challange to an undefeated season and possible back-to-back National Championships, against #5 Notre Dame with it's own TV Network and legion of fans nationwide.

There are reasons why the NFL and college football draw more viewers than baseball in the regular season. Every loss could mean elimination from the playoffs.

NFL football, and this year college football, playoffs are a single elimination format - lose and go home. Baseball playoffs are either best of 5 or best of 7 formats. There is no feeling of win now or wait til next year. In 2011, 25 million viewers tuned in watch the 7th game of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers, the first series to go 7 games since 2002 and, in essence, a single elimination game.

You have compound problems with the 2014 World Series. Small markets, no "household names" and literally not the "best" teams playing in the series.

Kansas City is the smallest TV market in major league baseball while the Giants rank 14th of the 32 markets.

Cable TV hypes players all year, from April through September, usually from the big markets. (ie. NY, Boston, LA and Detroit) Think Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Miguel Cabrerra, Giancarlo Stanton, Big Papi, Derek Jeter. These players are highlighted every day for 6 months. There are no "big names" on either of this years teams.

Then you have the perception that the teams playing are not the "best" team of either league. The Kansas City Royals were the 4th best team in the American League while the San Francisco Giants were the 5th best team in the National League. Throughout the early playoffs, neither team was picked to win a series they were in. The saying that perception is reality holds true in the 2014 World Series.

Lastly, the late starts do effect viewership. An 8 o'clock start on the East Coast costs viewers. Without an East Coast team, games during the week and on Sunday, fans won't stay up that late to watch the whole game. They can always check in on the internet to find out the score. In fact, most adults under the age of 40 do not watch TV and get their news and sports from the 'net.

If all baseball wanted was to improve World Series TV ratings, here is what Major League Baseball should do.

Go back to 2 leagues, American League and National League. Play 146 games during the season to determine the top 4 teams. Have those 4 teams play a 1 game playoff. (#1 v #4 and #2 v #3) The winners to play another 1 game playoff. That gives you 6 single elimination games. The League winners would then meet in a best of 5 game World Series to determine a Champion. With the shorter schedule and a shorter playoff, the season could be over by the middle of October instead in dragging on until the end of October or early November.

Interest would be sky high for every game. I know this won't happen but if Major League Baseball calls I'll fill them in on the details...One can dream!

Joe Maddon Opts Out of Rays Contract

Joe Maddon, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays for the last 9 seasons has invoked the opt out clause in his contract and will not manage the Rays in 2015.

In and interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Maddon said this.

"I have been doing this for a long time," Maddon told the newspaper. "I have never had this opportunity to research my employment on my terms. Never, never, never. And I think anybody given the same set of circumstances would do the same thing."

Maddon led the Rays to 4 playoff appearances in his time managing the team.

Read the complete ESPN article here.

Sporting News Names Kershaw MLB "Player of the Year"

Sporting News has named Clayton Kershaw of the LA Dodgers their Player of the Year for 2014.

What I like about Sporting News' selection is that their panel is made up of 244 major league players. These players vote on what they see day in and day out. The panel is not given a list to choose from, they choose their own candidate.

This year, Kershaw narrowly beat LA Angels outfielder, Mike Trout by three votes, 76-73. Giancarlo Stanton, of the Miami Marlins, finished a distant third with 32 votes.

Jesse Spector of The Sporting News has an article here with the facts about Kershaw's 2014 season. A season where he missed the month of April due to injury.

Royals Down Giants 7-2 in Game 2

The Kansas City Royals answered the Giants' offensive outburst in game 1 of the World Series with one of their own in game 2.

Game 2 looked as though it might be a continuation of game 1 when Gregor Blanco sent a 3-2 pitch from Yorlando Ventura over the wall in right to lead off the game and give the Giants a quick 1-0 lead. Ventura settled down and got the next three outs to get out of the inning.

The Royals responded in their half of the 1st inning. Alcides Escobar reached on a ball hit deep in the hole to short. Norichika Aoki flied out to center. Escobar was caught trying to steal second for the second out. Lorenzo Cain then doubled to left center and Eric Hosmer walked. Billy Butler followed with a single to score Cain and the Royals had tied the game at 1.

Kansas City scored another run in the 2nd on doubles by Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar that gave the Royals a 2-1 lead.

The Giants would tie the score in the top of the 4th on a double by Pablo Sandoval to lead off the inning, and a double by Brandon Belt one out later that scored Sandoval.

Jake Peavy started the bottom of the 6th for the Giants and gave up a single to Lorenzo Cain and walked Eric Hosmer. Jean Machi relieved Peavy and gave up a 2-0 single to Billy Butler that scored Cain with Hosmer stopping at second. Kansas City had retaken the lead 3-2. Terrance Gore ran for Butler. Javier Lopez relieved Machi and got Alex Gordon to fly out to left for the first out. Hunter Strickland relieved Lopez and threw a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position. Hosmer and Gore scored on a double by Salvador Perez. Perez came around to score on a 2 run home run by Omar Infante and the Royals led 7-2. Neither team would score again and the Royals had taken game 2.

Billy Butler was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs for the Royals while Omar Infante went 2 for 3 with the home run, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Lorenzo Cain was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

Gregor Blanco was 1 for 4 with the home run and a run scored for the Giants and Brandon Belt was 1 for 4 with the other RBI.

Jake Peavy was saddled with the loss allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits with 2 walks while striking out 1 in 5 innings of work. Kelvin Herrera picked up the win in relief of Yorlando Ventura.

The series now shifts to San Francisco on Friday with games 3, 4 and 5 to be played at AT&T Park. Games 6 and 7, if necessary will be played in Kansas City.

Giants Take Game 1 of World Series 7-1

Madison Bumgarner held the Kansas City Royals to 3 hits and 1 run over 7 innings as the Giants overpowered the Royals 7-1 to take game one of the 2014 World Series.

Hunter Pence was 2 for 3 with a home run, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored while Pablo Sandoval went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs for the Giants.

Read the ESPN recap here.

Pick 'em in 2014 World Series

Jayson Stark, writing for ESPN.com, has a very good article about the similarities and the differences between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants. Read the article and you can takes yer chances.

The Royals were 89-73 in 2014 while the Giants were 88-74. This the first time that neither team in the World Series had at least 90 wins.

The Giants won the World Series in 2010 and 2014 and hope to keep up their even year magic. The Royals on the other hand, haven't been in the playoffs, let alone the World Series, since 1985. When you count the last three games of that series and the first seven games of this round of playoffs, the Royals have won 10 playoff games in a row.

The American League won the All-Star game in July that gave the Royals the first two games in KC with games 3, 4 and 5 in San Francisco. That sounds good but the Royals were 42-39 at home while the Giants were 47-34 on the road. Maybe that advantage isn't so great.

Neither team had a Kershaw or Scherzer as a starting pitcher but both team's starters give quality innings. The Royals have a 7th and 8th inning pitcher with a very good closer. The Giants setup men and closer are also good.

The similarities of these two teams make this series too close to call.

Anthony Riccobond of ibtimes.com has this about the series with his prediction of Royals in 7 games.

Although evenly matched my pick is also Kansas City but they win in 6 games.

Buster Posey the New Jeter?

Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey has compiled some very interesting statistics in his first 5 full seasons with the Giants. Remember that Posey, a catcher, missed most of the 2011 season after fracturing his leg in a collision at home plate with Scott Cousins.

Is he as good as Derek Jeter was in his first 5 seasons?

Jayson Stark, of ESPN.com, has an indepth article on how good Posey has been and how he compares to Jeter at the same point in their careers. Read Jayson's article here.