MLBTR's own Charlie Wilmoth has just released a new book. Titled "Dry Land," the volume traces the Pirates and their fans through the club's historic losing streak and recent renaissance. Be sure to check out this post for more details and how you can order a copy. On to the links:
- In two expected moves out of the NL West, Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks underwent Tommy John surgery today, MLB.com's Steve Gilbert tweets, while the Dodgers optioned Alex Guerrero to Triple-A, as MLB.com's Ken Gurnick tweets.
- The Nationals have received trade interest from three or four clubs in starter Chris Young, who has an opt-out in his contract this coming Thursday, reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The 33-year-old has had an impressive spring, but seems unlikely to crack the Nats' rotation.
- The Pirates have no interest in signing Juan Francisco if he clears waivers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. We learned earlier today that the team had chosen to go with Travis Ishikawa over Andrew Lambo as its left-handed bat at first.
- For the Mets, giving Daisuke Matsuzaka a $100K bonus is in large part a strategic effort to protect the club in the event that Jon Niese is unable to make his first start, explains ESPN.com's Adam Rubin. This way, the team can rely on both Matsuzaka and Jenrry Mejia if the need arises, or can simply pick between them for the fifth starter slot.
- The Rockies are better off without center fielder Dexter Fowler because he "isn't tough enough," opines Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. (Fowler, of course was dealt to the Astros. As presented in my offseason review for the club, I have a different take on the subject of Fowler's departure from Colorado.) Though Kiszla initially credited Fowler with having "the determination to grind through pain" in mid-August of last year, he apparently adjusted his analysis after the 28-year-old missed twenty games late in the season with ongoing hand and wrist injuries. Manager Walt Weiss effectively pushed Fowler out of town, says Kiszla, because the latter "was not the kind of player Weiss needs on a team that must grind out victories in the National League West." Apparently referring obliquely to Fowler, Weiss emphasized the need for players "to compete and grind and play with grit," while assistant GM Bill Geivett explained that the manager "has got to feel comfortable in the weapons he has to attack the other team."
Skeptical of the various explanations for Dexter Fowler’s trade – he seemed confused in a recent spring training interview as to why there was a question about his commitment. In any case, I hope he excels in Houston and plays like a true leadoff CF defense wizard.
Feel like Colorado may have really messed up here.
But the speaking in cliches like Weiss is doing rarely helps either
Kiszla’s piece just made me cringe.
There’s a long line of players who have had hand/wrist injuries that have taken quite a while to heal sufficiently. Teixeira, Carl Crawford, Jordan Schafer come to mind immediately.
If fowler has a nice season, he could easily be extended long term by the Astros. They have the cash to do so
Rockies better hope their current set of players have a high WAG (that’s Wins Above Grit) level, as that pitching staff looks brutal.
Ah the ol “grit” argument. I remember this last year when the D-Backs traded J. Upton because he wasn’t “gritty” enough for Gibson, and got the “gritty” player Prado back in return. Of course they went on 81 games, which isn’t surprising when you trade people simply because they aren’t “gritty” enough instead of the actual value they bring to your club.
While I 100% agree. Prado was basically as good as upton last year though.
To be fair, outside of CarGo and Tulo, their whole team looks brutal.
Well, Rosario and Arenado are solid pieces as well, but yeah some issues there.
why wont the pirates sign francisco
Such a shame the Mets don’t have any hitting. They might have the deepest rotation in baseball even without Harvey and a pen full of flame throwers; they are set up to be great, but just refuse to pay for the rest of the team.
It’s like an experiment… what if you took the pitching from the 1969 Mets and combined it with the attitude and hitting of the 1982 Mets? .500 or bust baby!