Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is just 5’6″, but he doesn’t allow his height, or lack thereof, to be a disadvantage, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.  “He’s an anomaly,” said David Stearns, the Astros’ assistant GM. “He’s tough to explain, other than the fact he works as hard or harder than anyone, he’s got freakish hand-eye skills, he loves baseball and he wants to be great.”  More out of the AL West..
- Bob Dutton of The Tacoma News Tribune (on Twitter) believes that the Mariners have interest in keeping Kendrys Morales beyond this season but, of course, it’ll depend on the price.  The M’s acquired Morales from the Twins in exchange for right-hander Stephen Pryor late last month.  Morales batted just .234/.259/.325 for Minnesota and has slashed .207/.280/.329 for Seattle across 22 games.
- As commissioner Bud Selig makes his farewell tour, he readily admits that he wishes the A’s stadium situation would be resolved and over with, writes Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com.  “One of the reasons for the resurgence of this sport are the new stadiums, there’s no question about it,” Selig said. “I know better than anybody (that the A’s need a new stadium). It was and is complicated. I know people don’t understand that, but it is. And if it was easy, just like if it was easy in Tampa, I’d have been 24 out of 24. But I have hopes in both places. Do I wish it’d been solved? Of course I do. I wish it had.”
- Who’s the best corner outfield prospect in baseball? Â Jim Callis of MLB.com says that distinction belongs to Alex Jackson, whom the Mariners selected with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2014 draft. Â Jackson was the consensus top position prospect in his class and received the third-highest draft bonus of anyone this year. Â He’s got company at the top, however. Â MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo says the Pirates’ Josh Bell is the game’s best corner outfield prospect.
Yeah if Jose Altuve is 5’6″ then I’m 7’2″
And if Alex Jackson is the best corner outfielder in baseball I’m Barry Bonds.
Yeah that sentence was a bit misleading. I think it was supposed to be “best corner outfield prospect”.
Listed at 5’5 on the ESPN site and nickname is “Gigante” haha.
5’6″ with baseball cleats on maybe.
Selig was the one person with the power to solve the A’s stadium situation.
Do I wish Selig hadn’t sat on his hands? Of course I do.
I think, I THINK, if the Mariners made Morales a qualifying offer, there’s a slight chance he might accept.
They can’t.
Nor would they if they have any brains. QOs are expected to be in the $15 mm range. Please tell me you were joking…I hope so for your sake.
I guess I should have out ‘they can’t anyway, not they would’
If you were talking to the OP, I’m sure he was joking.
Yes I was. It’s late…
Something about that second “I THINK” remark made me realize he was being factitious. Just something about it…
They put the wrong link behind Josh Bell. It should be: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bell–007jos
Links amiss: wrong Josh Bell, Jim Callis article at mlb.mlb.com. Look forward to seeing Jackson someday.
With Morales and Drew both having abysmal seasons, you have to wonder what agents are going to be telling their QO free agents this off season. Obviously, the top talents will get their money. But these two could be object lessons. Whatever became of all those folk who were opening special wings of the Hall of Fame for Drew and Morales when they were unsigned?
They’ll say the same thing. Agent’s agendas and players aren’t always the same. The cases of Drew and Morales doing so poorly shows how vital Spring Training and then playing during the regular season is to most players. Jumping into the middle of a season in the MLB is an extremely hard thing to do. They would have been better served, and many others to take the QO and be happy to be paid $14m and prove their worth and long contract for the next year. Most likely Drew and Morales will get one year deals this next year too and for much less.
I suppose there’s 40 games to go, and maybe one or both of these guys will have a bit of a hot streak. But your point about spring training is a critical one. Even if the player threatens not to sign, I don’t think teams are going to look too kindly on a guy who skips it.
As anyone who’s ever been in a leadership position knows, “It’s complicated” is really just code for “I didn’t wanna do it.”
I think there weren’t any options Selig liked. He would like to move the team to a place were A. They get a brand new stadium B. Has a large enough baseball demographic to support a team.
Speaking of that, how Las Vegas doesn’t have a big league team yet amazes me.
Allow the A’s to take advantage of the new ballpark that San Jose wants to build them. Make the bay area a shared market like every other two-region team. Although no one should have to give them anything, negotiate some sort of compensation to the Giants for the loss of the rights the A’s gave them for free. Pat self on back for job well done.
Jose Altuve is a top 5 2nd baseman in baseball. To me this is the list, 1) Cano, 2) Pedrioa, 3) Kinsler, 4) Altuve, 5) Phillips.
Give me Altuve over Phillips and Kinsler all day. And as a Sox fan, I hate to say it… but he is a much better all-around player than Pedey this season, too.
Also, don’t forget that he’s 24 and those guys are all in their early 30’s.
The A’s signed a 10 year lease at the Coliseum and they hired an Architect to design a new stadium in Oakland. The San Jose A’s are dead.
That 10-year lease includes an opt-out clause. If Lew Wolff wants to build a stadium in Oakland and pay for it himself, good on him! Oakland doesn’t have the money to chip in.
The A’s still owe the money on the lease if they opt out and the A’s are building a privately financed stadium in Oakland and they would have to build a privately financed stadium in San Jose. No public money for stadiums in the Bay Area. The Bay Area is liberal and liberals don’t want public money to go to stadiums.