Final Sunday’s column included my opining that Joey Votto ought to retire relatively than signal with a crew apart from the Cincinnati Reds, thus making him a one-franchise participant. My buddy Sam — a bona fide baseball nerd — learn the column and proceeded to share an fascinating thought once I bumped into him on the espresso store we each frequent. Being of the assumption that gamers sticking with one crew is an efficient factor — I feel most followers would concur — Sam wonders if tweaking the Aggressive Stability Tax in a fashion that will incentivize groups’ skill to re-sign their free brokers may be attainable. As an example, if participant X had been to signal a one-year $20M contract with a brand new crew, all the quantity would issue into the crew’s payroll. Conversely, if Participant X re-signed along with his outdated crew, a lesser quantity ($10M?) would rely towards it.
Sam didn’t point out Mookie Betts, however he could properly have had him in thoughts. With their celebrity outfielder one yr away from free company, and the CBT an acknowledged issue, the Pink Sox traded Betts, together with David Value, to the Dodgers, thereby slashing over $40M from their forthcoming 2020 payroll. The deal put them a reported $18M beneath the edge. Whether or not or not Betts would have opted to re-sign with Boston is one other query, however the CBT clearly performed a job in his departure.
Ben Clemens introduced up basketball’s “Fowl Rights” as a parallel once I requested for his ideas on Sam’s concept. As my colleague identified, NBA groups get to exempt hometown stars from the wage cap in some conditions. In fact, MLB doesn’t have a ceiling. Nor does it have a ground, which additional complicates the difficulty.
There are admittedly imperfections in Sam’s concept. Most notably, groups just like the Pink Sox whose payrolls are close to the posh tax threshold could be most immediately impacted. Giving them a possibility to re-sign a sexy free agent and nonetheless stay beneath the edge would drawback smaller market — i.e. lower-payroll — golf equipment who would possibly in any other case ink him to a contract. That stated, how typically would a smaller-market membership, versus a deeper-pocketed one, be signing stated participant? Most likely not too typically.
Discovering a technique to higher allow smaller-market/decrease payroll groups to retain (ditto receive) gamers is itself an enormous problem, largely as a result of we’re sometimes speaking about billionaire homeowners who prioritize pocketing cash over spending it. (That’s to not counsel the Dodgers don’t have considerably extra assets than, say, the Guardians or Pirates, however a billionaire is a billionaire.) What baseball actually wants is the aforementioned wage ground. Would possibly that hold extra gamers with one crew longer, versus their basically being waved goodbye as a result of Scrooge McOwner can’t “afford” them? Regardless, the CBT solely does a lot, and it’s removed from excellent. Baseball’s total financial system is way from excellent.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Matt Holliday went 5 for 12 towards Ervin Santana.
Juan Gonzalez went 6 for 7 towards Johan Santana.
Will Clark went 8 for 8 towards Julio Santana.
Danny Santana went 9 for 14 towards Gerrit Cole.
F.P. Santangelo went 9 for 11 towards Frank Castillo.
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The Dodgers opened their coffers to the tune of a reported $1.2 billion in current weeks, signing Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamato, and likewise buying and selling for and lengthening Tyler Glasnow. With these costly expenditures in thoughts, I ran a Twitter ballot on Friday asking the diploma to which you [the person voting] will root for the Dodgers in 2024 relative to earlier seasons. The three choices had been elevated, decreased, and no totally different.
The outcomes steered that impartial followers aren’t susceptible to root for… properly, MLB’s equal of U.S. Metal, be it situated in New York, Los Angeles, or wherever. Solely 18.5% of voters opted for “elevated,” whereas 34.3% went for “decreased” and 47.2% settled on “no totally different.” With the caveat that the best choice was itself impartial, potential bandwagon jumpers had been outpaced by naysayers almost two to at least one.
It was as soon as stated that rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Metal, and that decades-old quote appears applicable right this moment — albeit with an impeccable timing twist. In the exact same week that the Dodgers signed the second of their two Japanese imports to a record-setting deal, Nippon Metal reached an settlement to accumulate U.S. Metal.
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A quiz:
Which place (proper subject, middle subject, and left subject counted individually) has accounted for probably the most MVP awards?
The reply could be discovered beneath.
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NEWS NOTES
C.J. Nitkowski is leaving the Texas Rangers’ broadcast crew and might be serving as the first analyst within the Atlanta Braves tv sales space starting subsequent season. The previous big-league left-hander has been in his Rangers position since 2017.
The Chicago Cubs have employed Matt Hinkley as their Arizona-complex pitching coordinator. Hinkley has spent the previous two years as a pitching coordinator at Cressey Sports activities Efficiency.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have employed Kyle Driscoll as their minor league pitching coordinator. A Former pitching coordinator at Cressey Sports activities Efficiency, Driscoll was a coach with the New York Mets Triple-A affiliate final season.
Larry Miggins, an outfielder who appeared in a single sport for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1948, and 42 extra in 1952, died earlier this month at age 98. The Bronx native had two big-league dwelling runs, one every towards Preacher Roe and Warren Spahn.
Ryan Minor, an infielder who performed for the Baltimore Orioles from 1998-2000, and for the Montreal Expos in 2001, misplaced his life to most cancers this week at age 49. The Canton, Ohio native changed Cal Ripken Jr. within the Orioles lineup on September 20, 1998, ending the Iron Man’s file 2,632 consecutive-games-played streak.
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The reply to the quiz is first base, with a complete of 37 MVP seasons. Proper fielders are second, with 30 MVP seasons. (Hat tip to MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, whose November article on the topic was the primary that got here up once I did in search after developing with the quiz query.)
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Left on the cutting-room ground from my quote-driven function that ran right here at FanGraphs on Wednesday was Craig Breslow’s response to a query in regards to the pitching-development program he’s instituting in Boston. I requested the membership’s new Chief Baseball Officer if vertical method angle and deception are being baked into their evaluation course of.
“Vertical method angle is one thing we are able to very comfortably measure,” replied Breslow. “Deception is slightly bit extra nuanced, however know-how is rising that permits us to account for what we expect would possibly contribute to deception [and] to have the ability to mannequin that and create some quantitative contribution of deception. Intuitively, one technique to method that’s, ‘Who’re the pitchers who constantly outperform anticipated outcomes, or underperform anticipated outcomes?’ You attempt to drill down into the place that’s coming from.”
Just a few of Boston’s more-promising pitching prospects possess plus stuff, however are missing in command. The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey adopted up my query by asking how that each one too widespread shortcoming could be addressed .
“It’s tough to articulate the way you enhance command in the identical method we are able to discuss out enhancing velocity or pitch form,” stated Breslow. “I feel command is one thing that takes extra time; it’s one thing that compounds over time. However from a bodily perspective, it’s offering instant suggestions on whether or not you completed a activity, whether or not that’s throwing to a goal or to strings. There are additionally mechanical markers that we’ve recognized which are strongly correlated to command, and making certain that we hit these benchmarks. After which, I feel there’s a psychological part, a willingness to belief and to problem the strike zone along with your stuff.”
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My November 22, 2015 Sunday Notes column included the next:
Yuki Matsui gained’t be coming stateside any time quickly. The left-hander turned 20 years outdated three weeks in the past and he’s solely pitched within the Japanese Pacific League for 2 years. Even so, he’s a reputation price figuring out.
Three extra paragraphs adopted these strains, the final of which cited a scout’s opinion that Matsui would possible be a fourth-round decide had been he eligible for the newbie draft.
Eight years later, the now-28-year-old reliever is now a San Diego Padre, having signed a five-year take care of the Friars yesterday. He’ll come to MLB with a formidable résumé. In 10 seasons with NPB’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Matsui logged 236 saves and allowed simply 436 hits whereas fanning 860 batters in 659-and-two-thirds innings. A reputation price figuring out certainly.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Takahisa Hayakawa is 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 27 innings for the Australian Baseball League’s Perth Warmth, The 25-year-old left-hander went 6-7 with a 3.44 ERA for Rakuten this previous season.
Yuhi Sako allowed two hits and one run over seven innings on Wednesday because the Australian Baseball League’s Canberra Cavalry crushed the Sydney Blue Sox by a rely of 10-1. The 24-year-old native of Japan pitched for the impartial Frontier League’s New Jersey Jackals this summer season.
Miguel Sanó is slashing .225/.346/.405 with two dwelling runs in 107 plate appearances for the Dominican Winter League’s Estrellas Orientales. The 30-year-old nook infielder final performed professionally with the Minnesota Twins in 2022.
Max Murphy is slashing.279/.380/.570 with 12 dwelling runs in 208 plate appearances for the Mexican Pacific Winter League’s Mayos de Navojoa. A 31-year-old outfielder who performed within the Minnesota Twins and Arizona Diamondbacks programs from 2014-2019, the Robbinsdale, MN native has spent the final three summers with the American Affiliation’s Winnipeg Goldeyes.
Jeff Kinley is 5-0 with a 2.70 ERA over 53-and-a-third innings for the Mexican Pacific Winter League’s Algodoneros de Guasave. A 31-year-old southpaw from Saginaw, Michigan who pitched within the Miami Marlins system from 2015-2019, Kinley final performed stateside with the Atlantic Affiliation’s Chicago Canines in 2022.
Adael Amador — the highest prospect within the Colorado Rockies system — is slashing .243/.372/.300 in 86 plate appearances for the Puerto Rican Winter League’s RA12. The 20-year-old shortstop spent most of this season with Excessive-A Spokane.
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Earlier this month, The Boston Globe’s Matt Porter wrote about New England-based sports activities groups that nearly relocated to different cities — in addition to just a few that truly did. His point out of the Boston Braves, who moved to Milwaukee previous to the 1954 season, included a truth I used to be conscious of however had by no means actually put a lot thought into: Henry Aaron debuted that yr, and had he performed so in Boston, each he and Ted Williams would have performed in the identical metropolis on the similar time.
Porter didn’t current this particular state of affairs in his column, however I can’t assist however questioning what might need occurred had the relocation — pushed by financial components which included attendance points — not occurred when it did. The Braves had been coming off a pair of shedding seasons after they departed Boston, however promptly gained 92 video games after arriving in Milwaukee. Furthermore, by the top of the last decade they’d performed in two World Sequence, successful considered one of them. The roster on the championship membership included not solely Aaron, but in addition fellow Corridor of Famers Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, and Pink Schoendienst, in addition to eight-time All-Star Del Crandall.
As for Boston’s different crew, the Pink Sox had been routinely center of the pack throughout this era — regardless of the presence of The Splendid Splinter — and by no means critically contended at a time when the New York Yankees had been dominating the American League. With that in thoughts, suppose a younger celebrity like Aaron had been main a high-quality, Boston-based Nationwide League squad whereas the Pink Sox had been treading water within the junior circuit? Would possibly the Braves nonetheless be in Boston and the Pink Sox elsewhere? Or might the town have continued to assist two groups? In that case, for the way lengthy? We’ll by no means know.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
At The Worldwide Examiner, Emily Hawks talked to Kerry Yo Nakagawa — the founding father of the Nisei Baseball Mission — in regards to the little identified historical past of Japanese baseball.
At Northwest Baseball Historical past, Amanda Lane Cumming introduced us with a tribute to the extra-inning video games of yore, together with a 20-inning affair between the Mariners and Pink Sox in 1981 that helped forge her fandom.
DRay Bay’s Elizabeth Storm wrote about Tyler Glasnow’s departure from Tampa Bay.
Royals Evaluation’s Preston Farr feels that Kansas Metropolis’s 2024 offense may very well be higher than you suppose.
Corridor of Fame voter Invoice Ballou put checkmarks subsequent to simply two names — Adrian Beltré’s wasn’t considered one of them — on this yr’s poll. He defined his reasoning at The Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
San Diego Padres batters had 1,316 hits and 1,311 strikeouts this previous season. Minnesota Twins batters had 1,336 hits and 1,654 strikeouts.
Minnesota Twins pitchers had 1,560 strikeouts and allowed 1,294 hits. Colorado Rockies pitchers had 1,129 strikeouts and allowed 1,599 hits.
Chase Utley had 1,885 hits, 3,189 whole bases, and 61.6 fWAR.Robin Ventura had 1,885 hits, 3,133 whole bases, and 56.7 fWAR.
Ken Griffey Jr. had 1,662 runs scored and 1,836 RBIs.Rafael Palmeiro had 1,663 runs scored and 1,835 RBIs.
Vinny Castilla batted .304 with 40 dwelling runs, 113 RBIs, and a .548 slugging proportion in 1996. He batted .304 with 40 dwelling runs, 113 RBIs, and a .547 slugging proportion in 1997.
Robin Yount had 21 dwelling runs, 103 RBIs, 19 stolen bases, 9 triples, and 9 GIDPs in every of the 1987 and 1989 seasons.
The New York Yankees signed David Wells to a free-agent contract on right this moment’s date in 1996. The well-traveled southpaw — he performed for 9 totally different groups — went 34-14 over his preliminary two years in pinstripes. Wells went on to have a second two-year stint with the Yankees and went an equivalent 34-14 from 2002-2003.
The Detroit Tigers traded Glad Townsend to the Cleveland Naps in alternate for fellow right-hander Pink Donahue on right this moment’s date in 1905. Donahue proceeded to go 13-14 in 1906, whereas Townsend went 3-7 in what was the final of his six big-league seasons. A local of Townsend, Delaware, “Glad” had gone 5-26 two years early pitching for a Washington Senators squad that completed 38-113 with 5 ties. Two of the tie video games had been extra-inning affairs towards the Tigers through which neither crew scored. Townsend tossed 11 scoreless frames in considered one of them.
Gamers born on right this moment’s date embody Kirt Ojala, who pitched in 56 video games for the Florida Marlins from 1997-1999. A left-handed knuckleballer, the Kalamazoo, Michigan native completed his MLB profession 3-10 with a 4.71 ERA.
Additionally born on right this moment’s date was Keith Luuloa, an infielder whose MLB profession comprised six video games with the Anaheim Angels in 2000. The Honolulu native went 3-for-4 in his last sport and had six hits in 18 at-bats in all.
