This week in baseball blogs…
- Bunt To The Gap and Blue Jay Hunter are bullish on Toronto’s re-signing of right fielder Jose Bautista.
- Sports Talk Philly interviews former major league closer Billy Wagner about his Hall of Fame chances and the induction of longtime Astros teammate Jeff Bagwell.
- Two Strike Approach: A Baseball Podcast features a discussion with former New York Times baseball writer and current Hall of Fame voter Murray Chass.
- The Runner Sports looks back on Bagwell’s career.
- The Point of Pittsburgh makes a Cooperstown case for home run king Barry Bonds.
- Outside Pitch MLB praises Hall of Famer Tim Raines for his late-’90s stint with the Yankees.
- NYRDCAST posits that Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has a borderline Hall of Fame resume.
- Wayniac Nation offers some thoughts on this year’s Hall of Fame voting.
- Pirates Breakdown talks with Bucs right-hander Nick Kingham.
- Rotisserie Duck focuses on the excellence of Reds first baseman Joey Votto.
- The Redbird Daily tries to figure out why things went so poorly for Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha last season.
- The K Zone touches on the growing value of relievers and the decreasing importance of starters.
- Inside the ’Zona recaps the hardest-hit balls of the Diamondbacks’ 2016 campaign.
- Call To The Pen projects the American League East race for 2017.
- Mets Daddy explains why the club has not been able to trade outfielder Jay Bruce.
- Motor City Bengals addresses the Tigers’ acquisition of former Rays outfielder Mikie Mahtook.
- Chin Music Baseball analyzes the Rangers’ outfield.
- The 3rd Man In wonders if the Brewers should convert starter Wily Peralta into a reliever.
- Pinstriped Prospects opines that the Yankees shouldn’t be in a hurry to trade left fielder Brett Gardner or third baseman Chase Headley.
- Jays From the Couch (links here) speaks with Toronto prospects Rowdy Tellez and Conner Greene.
- Real McCoy Minor News chats with Tigers righty prospect Gerson Moreno.
- Call To The Pen (links here) revisits the Phillies’ decisions to trade Cole Hamels and Ken Giles.
- MLB Reports breaks down the Giants’ payroll situation.
- The Runner Sports likes the Athletics’ signing of reliever Santiago Casilla.
- Ladodgerreport encourages the Dodgers to acquire Twins second baseman Brian Dozier.
- Off The Bench Baseball ranks the National League’s managers.
- Bronx Bomber Blogger calls attention to certain milestones some Yankees could achieve in 2017.
- Dan Grant of Same Page Team examines the Blue Jays’ bullpen options.
- North Shore Nine is optimistic about Pirates righty Drew Hutchison.
- The Runner Sports has a piece on the Yankees’ newest addition, first baseman Ji-Man Choi.
- Baseball Hot Corner searches for a left field answer for the Blue Jays.
- MLB451 (second in a two-part series) details what it was like to work as an intern for the Dodgers.
Please send submissions to ZachBBWI @gmail.com.
It incorrectly says Brewers signing of Santiago Casilla just to make note of it
A’s, Brewers, same thing.
Good catch. Thanks! The reason I had the Casilla/Brewers connection on my mind: mlbtraderumors.com/2017/01/reliever-notes-casilla-…
Anybody that has a bad thing to say about Votto’s game should go watch soccer. I’d take trout, then votto right now to start a team and both are super citizens.
Votto is pretty old to start a team. Trout, then Harper, then Bryant.
Harper’s not that good.
Really? That’s pretty interesting take on it. Harper is a pretty unbelievable talent..
1 great year makes unbelievable talent?
1 superstar year at that age? Yes. He does a lot of things very well. And has one of the best starts to a career ever.
Overall I would agree with you, but if I were to want to win now, I’d go for votto
rave reviews
Nice try MLB Reports, but no. I’ve tried for YEARS to try to help inform “trusted” media outlets that their MLB team payrolls are inaccurate, specifically relating to the SF Giants.
This stuff perpetuates when all are wrong. Belt, Crawford, Bumgarner and some other actual 2017 player salaries are vastly different than their AAV (as player salaries apply towards the CBT). For instance, I’ve no idea where Span’s “$11M” comes from. His 2017 salary is 9M, his deferred (partial) signing bonus is 3M. That’s 12M. And his accurate total 2017 salary includes eight performance bonus escalators of $125K each. That’s $13M for 2017. Of course, the CBT also must include the MLBPA player benefits, 40-man roster salaries, September call-up (pro-rated) salaries, and other factors (like injury replacements). Giants currently project to $6M over the 2017 CBT threshold.
So now the “fake news” is descending upon baseball? lmao
Yeah, okay. No big deal. I’ll suppose you will use this sort of personal attack for the next four years, reflection of you more than anything else. That site might have an official “sounding” name, with cred. So what? Claims that Giants have $36M left before hitting the CBT. He’s only off by $42 million. Well. Close enough for government work, I suppose. lol.
The 11 mill is his 9 mill base average of bonuses. Then they divide the bonuses for all players through the life of their contracts. Hence the 2 mill is the 6/3. They don’t fix the bonuses or escalators until after the season. It’s just a baseline.
Sorry, I’ll still disagree. Aren’t performance bonuses added to AAV only for their applicable CBT year? Okay, like a player option or team option or arbitration salary. But, yes, signing bonuses are divided over the full contract, as part of the AAV. So, $11M is just an inaccurate number. It doesn’t exist as AAV or actual paid salary.
I just used Span as one example. One could argue for a variety of numbers being considered “accurate’ to some “definition” of salary. Actual with signing bonus paid, with signing bonus and performance. bonus paid, AAV, or adjusted AAV with performance bonus for 2017. None of those “numbers” equal 11M.
You are trying to defend his signing bonus allocated as AAV, as it applies towards the CBT (2M). But adding it to his 2017 actual salary (9M). That’s just inaccurate. and confusing. Either account for actual paid salary in 2017 (9M + 3M + 1M). OR Salary AAV plus signing bonus AAV plus his actual 2017 performance bonus added (10.33M + 2M + 1M). Cheers.
I wasn’t trying to defend anything. I was just answering the question you asked as to how they got the 11M number.
It’s not a big deal to me because it’s just a reference point. Even if an individual is keeping a spreadsheet unless you know MLBs actual valuation of the contract in terms of AAV the numbers are going to be off on both sides.
What more does one need to know about Choi….? Let keep this super simple for the simple minded baseball wanna be’s. Dude could not make it on the Angels. End of story.
“Yeah, sure, he cheated, but….let’s reward and honor him anyway!!!”
Society is doomed.
There’s guys who are already in, probably a majority, that’s juiced. It’s only logical to let the best players in
Well, first off, you are claiming that a majority (more than half) of the players in the HOF were juiced?
K.
OJ Simpson got away with murder. Using the same logic, we must let Aaron Hernandez out of prison.
“OJ Simpson got away with murder. Using the same logic, we must let Aaron Hernandez out of prison.”
The prosecution failed to deliver a compelling enough case to convince a jury to convict him. These two are not the same at all. This is just a weak comparison.
The prosecution failed to convince THAT jury. Any adult with functioning synapses who looks at the same evidence knows OJ killed two people.
But his point was that “if other people get away with breaking the law/rules, why shouldn’t everyone else who did too”?
Oh… So he thinks like my 6 year old? That’s cute
The Mets could have dumped his salary on the Phillies for an A level prospect. Alderson puts too much value on his own players trying to “win” each trade. Since no one is willing to commit to a player long term due to his inconsistency, why would you ask for 2 high level prospects. I hope they get stuck with him and finish 3rd.
I fully admit a bit of bias on this one, but I also recommend reading Talking Chop’s interview with Mike Soroka. It’s a very well done interview, and his baseball IQ definitely shines through. Braves’ fans definitely should read it, but I think all baseball fans will enjoy it as well.
Stop giving Murray Chass attention, it’s what he wants.
If Hoyt Wilhelm, Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage are in the Hall, it’s a crime if Billy Wagner doesn’t end up there.