New Braves utilityman Sean Rodriguez and his family were recently struck in a car crash in Florida, WSVN TV in Miami reports (hat tip to FanRag’s Robert Murray on Twitter). A man stole a police cruiser and hit Rodriguez’s car. Rodriguez was not hurt, although his wife Giselle and two young children were taken to hospitals. Giselle Rodriguez is in fair condition, while the two children are in serious but stable condition. The man who stole the cruiser died in the crash. “We are aware that Braves player Sean Rodriguez and his family were involved in a very serious car accident Saturday night in Miami,” said the Braves in a statement. “At this time our thoughts and prayers are with the health and well-being of Sean’s family as they look to recover.” We here at MLBTR wish Rodriguez and his family the best in what sounds like a very scary time.
Here’s more from the East divisions.
- The Red Sox’ signing of Hanley Ramirez two years ago prevented them from taking advantage of a glut of right-handed power on this year’s free agent market, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. After a poor first year in Boston, Ramirez bounced back last year, hitting .286/.361/.505. But while numbers in that vicinity made Ramirez a unique commodity in an offense-starved context in 2014-2015, times are different now. After an increase in home runs throughout the game over the past two seasons, right-handed power hitters like Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo and Jose Bautista have landed much cheaper deals than the $88MM Ramirez received, and the Red Sox have sat on the sidelines.
- The Orioles haven’t made a significant move to address their rotation this offseason (other than their trade of Yovani Gallardo for outfielder Seth Smith), but they still feel their starting pitching will be better next season, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes in a report from the team’s FanFest this weekend (more on Orioles FanFest here and here). “Our starting rotation, I hope, is a little bit stronger,” said O’s vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette. “We had really good starting pitching late in the year in September, and we’re returning that rotation.” The Orioles’ rotation ERA of 4.72 was third worst in the AL last year, better than only the Twins and A’s. The team can hope for more from Kevin Gausman (who got better results last year in the first half than the second, although his underlying numbers didn’t change much), and Dylan Bundy (who didn’t transition to the rotation until July and had a modest degree of success once he got there). Joining Gausman, Bundy and ace Chris Tillman will be Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez, who have both mostly struggled in their Orioles tenures.
The only one better is Edwin!!!
Yeah Hanram needs a better consistent bat, played a lot better last year but was up and down a lot. He can get better ABs out of his self, and has been doing this long enough to figure it out….
Is that even definitively true? They are similar hitters (good contact and K rates for hitters with power, not elite OBP, etc), and the biggest difference between them is HR totals, but Toronto is a help to hitters there and Fenway Park actually deflates HR totals. I can understand someone preferring EE, but they seem fairly even (though Ramirez is more unpredictable, so his better seasons are better but his lesser seasons are worse).
Wow, I hope his wife and kids recover. Wrecks are life changing. Almost lost my wife to a bad wreck in 2009.
I hope she came out without any long-term physical impairments, but a “thumbs up” for the “almost” in your comment. I’m glad it wasn’t worse.
Thanks! Yeah, she broke a bunch of bones, including her femur, and couldn’t walk for about 6 months. But could’ve been much worse!
Terrible story. Hoping for a full recovery for Sean and his family.
Baseball players really need to just stay off the roads. Take helicopters instead.
Let’s not have them take helicopters still sad stories there.
How about zeppelins?
Gosh, everyone. Just learn to apparate.
Lol right… if only the Red Sox had just waited 2 years to sign a righty slugger they could’ve got a good deal. As if they could’ve seen the future. Plus, at the time, Hanley was still viewed a a solid athlete who could play multiple infield and outfield positions. What terrible logic.
Agreed. EE is the only one of those three who is actually better. Trumbo has huge holes and Joey bats might be done. All three are much older then Hanley was at the time of signing too.
Hanley already was trending terrible defensive metrics with the Dodgers, which is why they stuck him in the outfield in the first place. Solid athlete is a stretch, his bat is what got him that contract.
That’s not true at all. Hanley’s ability in the field had eroded by the time he reached the open market – he was openly talked about as one of the worst shortstops in the game. Add to that, he had never played the outfield in professional baseball – to claim he was viewed as a solid athlete who could play in or out is beyond guesswork.
He has carried nagging injuries and lost the athleticism he once had in Miami – it was a relief to see him leave LA.
every newspaper needs some filler!
Yeah, you gotta love the hindsight 20/20 reporting. The all follow the exact same form:
Team X signed Random Player for a lot of money a few years ago and he hasn’t been exactly what he hoped. If only Team X didn’t sign Random Player, they could have afforded New Potential Risk for a lot of money.
Think about the market in December 2014:
1. Supply & demand — Hanley was the only RT handed power hitter available. Every writer said the Sox “won” the hot stove season by signing the two best hitters on the market, even though SF & SD offered Panda more $$$.
2. Most doubted that Papi had a full season left in him let alone two great yrs. given his leg & ankle injuries.
3. Hanley hit 10 HR’s in April and then hurt his left shoulder. After running into the wall he became wall shy and there was never a chance for him to develop into an ok outfielder.
As for Panda making a come back this year, you have to wonder if he had a left shoulder issue in 2015 that caused him to give up switch hitting. There never was an injury in the spring of 2016 yet the shoulder was so bad that he missed the entire yr.
dam what’s with these MLB players getting into accidents these days. Jose Fernandez, Oscar taveras, Ventura, Nick adenhart, Sean Rodriguez.
Mostly drinking and drugs. Fernandez and Taveras were high/drunk, Adenhart and Rodriguez were hit by drunk drivers/felons.
There are around 7,000 active players affiliated with American professional baseball. There are around 321 million people in America. 1.2 people die in vehicular incidents per million every year in this country.
yeah, but I lean towards professional athletes hiring drivers. They should err on the safe side
Would it matter if a ‘hired driver’ was driving the car and not Rodriguez? His family was hit by another driver, it wasn’t anything Sean did…
Agreed. For Rodriguez it wouldn’t have mattered, but for a number of other guys it could have made a big difference, whether it be avoiding a crash or DUI.
Like the previous comments said, the wreck still would have happened. Actually, Sean being the driver allowed him to come out unscathed. It was just an unfortunate event.
But what are the auto death stats for males 18 to 29? I bet they make up a higher %.
I don’t think that’s a fair assessment of Hanley at all. First he played a decent 1B last year whereas most of the others are way worse defensively. Also Hanley has a better hit tool than all but Edwin. But comparing Mark Trumbo or Bautista ? Sorry but I don’t see it. Both are likely to hit .220-.230 this year and Hanley is more likely to hit .280-.290. that’s a huge difference in the hit tool.
Trumbo is average to slightly above average at 1B. Plus Trumbo’s effort has never been questioned
Yes but his talent has.
Hanley might hit .280/.290 but I can guarantee you that Bautista will reach base at like a .360 clip
Hanley has alway reached 360 in 3/4 years. He is also a lot younger.
Yeah I was just pointing out that although Hanley is probably gonna hit ~50 points higher than Bautista in batting average, Bautista will still get on base just as often
Would you be surprised if Hanley Ramirez out performed Edwin Encarnacion in 2017? I wouldn’t be. Offensively, in 2016, only Miguel Cabrera and Jose Abreu were better than Ramirez at 1B.
…in the AL. There are multiple guys who were better in the NL (Votto, Freeman, Rizzo, Goldschmidt). That said, Ramirez really turned it around after a rough start in BOS. He sucked it up, kept his head down and learned multiple new positions, and he started to produce again. I really thought he and Panda were going to be two albatross contracts, now it looks like Ramirez is pulling his weight (no pun intended, it was actually the first phrase that came to mind).
Sorry to hear about Sean and his family. Hopefully everyone gets better soon.
Godspeed on the recovery of the Rodriguez family.
The O’s starting rotation is solid 1-3, and possibly 1-4 if Ubaldo pitches like he did in the 2nd half last season. They really only need 1 more reliable starter to have a very good rotation. Hopefully they sign someone like Henderson Alvarez to a minor league deal and hope he pitches like he did before his injury or Jason Hammel and hope he stays healthy, he could be a solid 3 or 4 for the O’s and would probably be good for 11-14 wins. I also see Miley bouncing back after getting more comfortable with the team.
if jason hammel is a 3 for your team then you do not have a very good rotation.
Agreed that he’s not the sexiest option but if he performs well enough he’ll be a more than serviceable mid-back end rotation piece and unfortunately, the Royals have a newfound glaring hole in their rotation
Also don’t agree with the Hanley comparison. Ee is the only one better on the list, and I wouldn’t want the Sox to go crazy getting him when they already have Hanley.
Still think I would do the Ramirez deal as a Boston fan.
Tillman isn’t an ace. He IS the best of the group but doesn’t belong in conversations with Kershaw, Lester, Scherzer etc.
Beat me to it DL0806.
“ace Chris Tillman”
In my opinion, an ace is who you throw the ball to to stop a losing skid. Tillman is not an ace. Laughable.
There’s only about 8-10 true aces in the entire league.
more info on the crash: wsvn.com/sports/atlanta-braves-confirm-player-fami…
As someone who has had to endure the loss of a child, due to an ignorant driver, I truly hope and pray Sean Rodriguez and all of his family members make a full and speedy recovery. Even though it sounds as if no one’s life is at stake, I’m sure this will be a very emotional and tough time for their family. Again, I definitely wish and pray everyone comes out in good spirits and in good health.
Unfortunately, too many of us here at MLBTR, have been either directly or indirectly affected by people making poor and selfish decisions when behind the wheEl of a vehicle. It is not always alcohol and/or drugs; for example, a distracted driver on his/her phone can become just as dangerous as a drunk or high driver.
Let us all please take notice of the potential dangers when driving, for it is not only our own lives at risk, but the lives of everyone else around us as well.
Well said brother
Gausman was much better in the second half than the first half
Wait what? I wouldn’t take Trumbo or Bautista over Hanley if anything they shouldn’t have signed Rusney Castillo if you think about he got more money than Encarnacion and the gay can’t even hit double digit HRS in AAA. If anything The Red Sox should have Hanley and Encarnacion instead of Castillo and Moreland.
Good assessment of the situation, but there’s really no need for the homophobia.
Trumbo’ 47 hrs make up for his defensive shortcomings but can he hit 40-50 hrs every year?
If he is the DH he doesn’t have defensive shortcomings.
I believe playing the field last season took some of the steam from Trumbo,a full season at Dh will make a difference in his second half production this season…….. His glove work or lack there of , will matter not in’17….. As for the rotation, Gausman will be a finalist for the A.L. Cy Young this year……… I’m as certain of that as I am that Omar Daal could come back and issue a walk to Schoop..
“I hope our rotation is better” come on DD a dog turd will never be a tootsie roll no matter how you shape it.
PIT has done well with reclamation projects, though the O’s just don’t seem to have that same mix/coaching talent/scouting/luck. I have always enjoyed the O’s as a team and suffered through dozens of games during the ‘dark years’ of Camden Yards, but eventually they need to do something different. Better staff guys (analytics, scouting) and a better GM (needed for awhile) because they have wasted some of the best years of Machado et al. Camden Yards is one of my fav. places to travel to for a weekend of baseball, even though DD and company keep trying to jam a round peg into a square hole.
Here is to a speedy recovery for the Rodriguez family.
The O’s currently have two guys they can count on. Bundy wasn’t great as a starter and the back end of that rotation is going to be back to back losses every time through. They desperately need someone to at the very least push Jimenez to the bullpen
The article conveniently leaves out all mention of another right handed power bat available on this year’s free agent market for a bargain – Mike Napoli. But I guess that wouldn’t have fit into this dumb article since the Red Sox had both in 2015 at a a higher annual price tag than it would take to have them both this year.
Best wishes to the Rodriguez family for a full and speedy recovery. AND, where do I submit the request for a refund of the 3 minutes I spent reading the idiotic HamRam article? I understand the lack of MLB news prior to the kick-off of spring training but the writer uses disjointed logic to support what – his contention that Hanley’s $22M salary this year could be better spent elsewhere? That premise probably applies to 90% of the multi-year contracts on the books.
I don’t at all get that silly point about Boston and Hanley Ramirez. The only reason the team would regret the contract going forward (which is the author’s point) is if it were worse than the contracts of the other players.
But Ramirez is 33 and set to be paid just $44M total over the next 2 years, with the advantage of a vesting option for one more season (desirable in that the team wants it exercised if it vests, because he would be worth keeping, and if it doesn’t it wouldn’t want to keep him) with no buyout.
Encarnacion has a lower salary, but is a year older and guaranteed $60M over the next three years, or else will earn $75M over the next four. Give me the similar-level player who is a year younger and comes with a year less in obligations any day of the week,
Meanwhile, Trumbo just simply isn’t as good as any of the other names mentioned, so it doesn’t matter how relatively cheap he is, and Cespedes just got the same 4 year contract (at about the same age at the time of signing) that Ramirez got two years ago and has a MUCH higher average salary. How is that supposed to be something Boston would prefer?
Looks to me like Ramirez’s offering is at least no worse than these, so at worst it’s something of a wash. No reason to cry about that.
Think that signing Panda sitting on the bench for $88M and DD pulling the trigger on Price at $217M the next winter had anything to do with them sitting out this winter FA market?
The Hanley deal was never as bad as most make it. Anyone else realize that Hanley’s injury in April ’15 torpedoed his season. He was hitting in the mid .300’s with 9 HRs when he ran into the left field wall and hurt his shoulder. I was not surprised of the ’16 rebound. Despite ’15, overall the deal could turn out well. That said, the perception that Hanley could handle LF was lost value and it did hamstring Boston’s options in the ’15-’16 offseason. Don’t forget that there’s also lost value in that Hanley can probably be deployed at 3B if not for Panda sitting there.