In 2015, Matt Duffy thrust himself into the baseball limelight for his play on the field as well as his social media presence, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. As far as the baseball part goes, Duffy says that he isn’t stressing over whether he can manage a repeat performance in 2016.
“I think it’s human to think about that,” Duffy said. “But you just get back to what made me able to do it. I wasn’t worrying about hitting .300 or hitting ten homers. I did it by focusing on the most simple thing: See the ball as big as I can and put a good swing on it. As soon as you think about other people’s expectations, you lock yourself up trying to do the simplest things.”
Here’s more out of the National League:
- Mark Simon of ESPN.com looked at new Mets shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and stacked him up against everyone else at his position at shortstop. Ultimately, Cabrera does not grade out as an elite option, but he is an upgrade over what the Mets had there prevously. A major league scout told Simon that Cabrera profiles similarly to former teammate Jhonny Peralta. “I don’t think he’s a top-15 shortstop, but he’s in the middle of the pack,” said the scout. “What I like about in him is his ability to switch-hit, and I like his hands defensively. Everything he gets to, he’ll catch. Range-wise, he’s limited, but he’s still a quality baseball player. He knows how to do little things that help his team win. He may not match up to the kids at shortstop athletically, but he’ll surpass them in baseball intelligence. His brain is top-10. He’s still a very good guy to have on a major-league roster.” Cabrera inked a deal with the Mets which will guarantee him $18.5MM over the next two seasons plus a club option that could keep him in place through 2018. As it stands, Cabrera might go down as the Mets’ biggest free agent splash this winter.
- The Cardinals must focus on offensive development to remain a perennial contender, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch opines. Thanks to revenue sharing, even smaller market teams are able to lock up their young bats well before they can ever hit the open market. Historically, the Cardinals have shied away from the high-ceiling potential of high school hitters in favor of college players with quick developmental potential. Now, with three selections within the first 40 or so picks, Gordon believes that the Cards can afford to go with more long-range prospects.
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News cannot understand why Reds Brandon Phillips refused to sign off on a trade that would have sent him to the Nationals. The second baseman reportedly wanted enhancements made to his current pact, which calls for him to earn $27MM over the next two years. McCoy views the veteran as greedy for making those demands and can’t fathom why he wouldn’t want to play for a winning team like the Nationals, especially when it means that he could have been reunited with Dusty Baker. Of course, after the Nats agreed to sign Daniel Murphy, there’s no real chance of that deal coming back together.
“Ultimately, Tejada does not grade out as an elite option, but he is an upgrade over what the Mets had there prevously.”
Typo?
They fixed it
Phillips does come out to be a bit greedy, but he’ll have to move out of the environment that he’s used to, so maybe you could cut him some slack there.
Yes i agree plus on trade rumors it said that he felt comfortable in cincy and wouldnt want to leave so cut him some slack
How many years are left in Phillip’s career? 2? Maybe 3? He has lots of time to be comfortable, after. No time for winning will be left. Just don’t see him as manager potential.
I do understand the frustration that fans wanting a rebuild may have over this but he has his rights as well.
Phillips isn’t being greedy. He signed a contract to play in Cincinnati. Family is more important than winning a game. If he accepts a trade then he has to move his family where they have spent the last 10+ years of their life. He feels like he should be compensated for uprooting his family.
I’ve always understood Phillips to be a single guy, not a married family guy. But I did read recently that he owns a home and lives year round in Cincinnati.
Not sure about the single part. But he openly speaks about his daughter. Not sure of the specifics. It’s possible he isn’t with her mother and they live in Cincinnati.
The guy is unquestionably arrogant but otherwise appears to be a fine role model (he works alot with the community).
O God man that’s rough! Now I understand feel so bad for him!
What’s rough? He has the dollars. He probably has custody.
We often forget that players are human. They have families and lives that tie them to a community. So if Phillips didn’t want to leave that, but hen I get it.
The reason some could view this as a greedy decision, though, is because it came down to money. While lots of players use their NTR to stay in a certain city, Phillips seemed most interested in using it to leverage more money from a potential new team.
If he has the right to turn down a trade because he is comfortable(which I agree he should), then why can’t he ask a potential new team to compensate him further to leave what is comfortable to him? It’s essentially a relocation tax. I have no problem with it.
I agree with justinept, this was all about getting more money,
Ditto. Only about the money. If hadn’t asked for the extra years on the contract? Could have gotten away with the family guy, but this makes 2x he has demanded either a renegotiation, or extra years. With Phillips, he has made it clear it’ is only about money.
It’s always about money, that doesn’t mean it’s only about money.
I like where I work and am comfortable, it would take a substantial raise to get me to leave. What Phillips is asking is no different.
Looks to me that he has made enough money, this was about more money. I don’t blame the Nats for not extending him either
I think its more about staying in a place he likes, We all have a price as to what it takes to move us from a place we like. He had his price, Nats not willing to pay it. I expect Phillips is happy to stay where he is.
How you know what is ENUF money? I bet you wouldn’t say that about CEO’s that make way more money than Phillips
CEO’s of fortune 500 companies averaged $10.5m per year. less than Phillips makes.
Let’s not forget before the Reds Phillips was an Indian. He has pretty much spent his adult life in Ohio.. Maybe he does not want to move?
Maybe Phillips knows more about Baker than we do and the Nats clubhouse is known to be dysfunctional. Also, he likes it where he is, and has the right to exercise his NTC if there is not something in it for him financially. It comes down to a personal decision and who is anyone to question it let alone calling someone greedy.
I think fans and writers sometimes overstate the importance of playing on a winning team to players earning big salaries. It extends their season, cuts into vacation time, and the pay per game is only a fraction of what they make in the regular season.
It has NOTHING to do with Dusty. I know for a fact that Dusty is a like a father to him. Nice try though, trying to sneak a jab in on Dusty.
Baseballrat your exactly right! But nice try Pete lol people trying to take Phillips back C’mon! Phillips has made a boat load of money in majors 99 out of 100 MLB players would of left but no not him he needed 2 million more. In his stage of his career rings are not important money always more important and always will be to him! God I hope the Nat’s win it all and I’m not a Nat’s fan than he can look back and say dam Hmmmmmmmmmmm…
And I bet his family would want him to win actually maybe……
Everybody likes taking a jab on dusty these days instead of looking at his record on teams who are horrible when he takes them over. Go to baseball reference, look at the giants,reds,and CUBS. Look at the record before he got there, then after year or two.
Case closed. He only gets the hate because he’s……???
Tony larussa was in St. Louis for 20 years. Two world series. Is that enough?
lol, he’s terrible. every team you mentioned started spending money on talent after he took over. his managerial style is hilariously bad tho as is his arm management
As a Cards fan. we’ll be fine. Even if we have to come in 2nd to the Cubs some seasons, we’ve had success before in the Wild Card spot. You can’t worry about the other team, because you can’t change what they are doing. Cubs are loaded with Russel, Schwarber, Bryant, Soler (ect.) on the rise with seasoned stars in Arietta, Heyward and Rizzo. You can’t try to beat them in an arms race, cause that’s unrealistic.
Their best path is what they are seeming to do. Hold on to highly regarded prospects, keep the young core intact, and bring in players who will be consistent to help you win now and in the future.
Point is, Cubs have this core because of the draft picks they’ve used (and Int’l signings). Three first round picks for the Cards is very substantial, and if they do pursue Jeff Gordon’s idea of picking high-ceiling guys, they obviously could get to where the Cubs are at eventually.
Anyone familiar with the Cardinals system knows though they’ve been accumulating more and more high-risk, high-reward players, that they haven’t really done before. Their #4, #5, and #6 prospects (Magneuris Sierra, Edmundo Sosa and Nick Plummer), all aren’t blue-chippers yet, but from what most scouts say, all could develop into high-ceiling stars. Not saying they will, but if Cardinals draft high-floor guys like Luke Weaver, Jack Flaherty and Marco Gonzales, and then also take a chance with guys like Plummer and Sierra, it could take their system to another level.
Either way, it should be fun watching Cubs-Cardinals duke it out for the next several years.
Phillips has every right to reject the trade/ask for more. But by doing so, he is relegated to playing out his contract on a rebuilding team. So, ultimately, it all depends on what is more important to him – winning or comfort?
He’s honoring the contract he signed?? Fans/media crucify guys when they don’t, now they trying crucify him for doing what he signed to do
I have no problem with Phillips staying in Cincy. He just has to know that the Reds are very, very, very unlikely to be competitive the next couple of years. So if he’s good with that, then no worries.
Phillips did not say he wanted to stay in Cincinnati. He said he would go to Washington for more money. Not the same thing.
baseball contracts are guaranteed, so all players and teams honor the contracts they signed unless a guy retires or violates the rules.. your statement really means absolutely zero.
Your statement means ZERO! Guaranteed contracts can still be traded at anytime, unless you are a 10-5 guy or have no trade. Everyone upset cause the player has LEVERAGE
Hal mccoy is a tool. Living in Cincinnati, I’m confused about this sports media. All one big click. Hal crucified Brandon for having his first 100 rbi season by saying he should have had much more. They wonder why big names won’t come here until they hit 35 years old.
Most players want a chance to win in their career. Phillips is on the downside of his. One might think that he would like to win and play for his father figure Dusty without much concern for money. He has made plenty of that. He is right to put his family first, but many players would not.
I don’t have a dog in the Phillips fight, but reading the McCoy piece leaves me with the feeling that he’s writing for ownership.. Phillips has contract rights, he’s played only in Ohio, he lives in the area, and what McCoy is saying is take one for the team that doesn’t want you anymore–and do it without compensation. We criticize players when they opt-out, we criticize them when they don’t take team-favorable extensions, we criticize them when the sign elsewhere in free agency and don’t give hometown discounts, but when the team wants to off-load them, it’s the player’s duty to go? I don’t know about that.,
Phillips has been a great player and role model in his time with the Reds. Yeah,it might’ve been somewhat about money, who knows,but he IS being asked leave a city and team he’s known for a long time.
Exactly he is gonna make the same amount regardless of where he is. People saying he wanted more years. I can’t blame him. It’s obvious that he would have been in Washington 2 years max. Then he would be moving again. When he signs his next contract it will more than likely be his last. Ride out the last 2 years in a Reds uniform. Sign with a contender and retire after. Only moving 1 time and possibly for a shorter period. Same money with the knowledge of only being there a short time, possibly a return to Cleveland. Seems he really just wants some stability.
Well his moving in 2 years regardless
Yes he will. My point is. He may not want to move at least 2 times. Get settled in for 2 years then move with next contract. Which would be the case accepting a trade. By not accepting the trade he sets himself up to move 1 more time or possibly retire (highly doubt that would happen) and then he would be able to choose his destination.
odds are he will be out of the league after this contract expires
The people calling Phillips out don’t know the first thing about business.
First, there’s the family part as others have mentioned. Though anyone who has followed Brandon Phillips career knows he’s not exactly All-American Family type of guy. He has been in Ohio his entire career though, and Cincinnati for over a decade, so there’s plenty of reason to stay.
Now, back to the business aspect. There is something called leverage. When you have a no-trade clause or 10/5 rights, you have leverage. If you want me to move to a city where I don’t want to move to…if you want me to play for I team I don’t necessarily want to play for (there’s enough cocky a-holes in Washington, I’m not sure adding one more would be the right move)…then pay me.
Players asking for contract extensions to be traded is nothing new. Only the media makes a big deal about it when the team doesn’t pay, the demands broke the deal and the player is made out to be the bad guy. Maybe Phillips didn’t care much, but he decided to bargain from a position of strength (It was Washington who wanted Phillips, not Phillips who wanted Washington) and ultimately failed. If he still would’ve agreed to the trade after his extension request was denied, then it undermines the entire thing
Lastly, people make too big of a deal about playing for a “winning team”. Just how Cardinals fans and their writers couldn’t understand how Heyward (who likely never wanted to go to St. Louis to begin with, he just didn’t have the power to block a trade from Atlanta) could leave a 100-loss team and join their rivals. The same goes for Hal McCoy and the Cincinnati media; quoting Zach’s summary:
“[I] can’t fathom why he wouldn’t want to play for a winning team like the Nationals”
Get off your high horse, Hal. The Nationals are just another team. They are nothing special. People aren’t dying to go play for a team that includes Bryce Harper, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jayson Werth, Three of the most-documented douchebags in baseball. Not to mention Strasburg and even Dusty Baker have their own problems in that regard. In fact, the reality that a soon-to-be 35 year old didn’t accept a trade to a team that many people say are World Series contenders (Didn’t they say that last year, too? How’d that work out?) shows you what people outside of Washington actually think of Washington.
Has anyone noticed the Mets have installed veterans at second and short with young prospects on the verge of coming to the majors at both those positions. Two veterans who know how to play the game to instruct the rookies in place of Flores and Murphy.
They will be gone when those rookies take their place. They will have to be role models from their next team.
“I don’t think he’s a top-15 shortstop, but he’s in the middle of the pack,” said the scout.
Wouldn’t the 15th-best shortstop be in the middle of the pack of 30?
He is only middle of the pack if you include platoon players, defensive replacements, etc. Most teams carry 2 ss on the roster plus the players who are up and down from the minors. There will be about 60 different players at ss this year. He didn’t want to say “we got a guy who hasn’t really produced and in terms of starting ss he would be in the 25-30 range that we could replace if one of the young guys are ready”. So instead he says he is middle of the pack. It gives the illusion to casual fans that he isn’t the best but isn’t the worst option.
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