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Astros staff looking real good.Comment -
Strohs , Indians, dodgers( but roberts will find a way to screw it up)..Comment -
Cannot wait for playoff baseball you know there’s always gonna be some surprises just depends on which team can get hot at the right time...Comment -
When the Cardinals re-signed veteran righty Adam Wainwright over the winter, there was no shortage of second-guessing. But the move has worked out for all involved, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Wainwright will max out his incentives package when he makes his thirtieth start on the year this evening.
The contract came with just $2MM in guaranteed money — a reflection of Wainwright’s subpar output in the preceding campaigns. It called for an array of bonuses tied to the volume of work he performed as a starter and/or reliever. As it turns out, Wainwright earned and held a rotation job all year long while only spending a brief stretch on the injured list. He was thereby able to tack on a hefty $8MM to his earnings for the season, the final $2MM of which is earned with tonight’s outing.
Wainwright says it all turned out as hoped:“They would be incentives that if I hit that would be great for the team and they would be glad to pay me for it. And if it didn’t hit I didn’t deserve it based on what I’ve done the last couple of years. … That’s what I expected to do. It’s good to come through on things you expect to do.”There’s no doubt the St. Louis organization is pleased as well. Wainwright didn’t just fill innings, he did so with aplomb. Through 162 1/3 innings, he carries a 3.83 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 and a 49.3% groundball rate. ERA estimators view him as much the same pitcher he was in the prior few seasons — as a roughly mid-4.00 true-talent performer — but Wainwright finally had a bit of good fortune in a memorable campaign that could be his last.
It remains to be seen whether Wainwright will look to extend his career past 2019. It seems reasonable to presume the veteran will want to return to St. Louis if he does desire to continue pitching. From the team’s perspective, it’s not hard to imagine a return again making sense in some scenarios. For now, all involved are surely content with focusing on the upcoming postseason run.
The Cards opened the present campaign with $162MM and change on their MLB payroll. Despite foregoing significant in-season acquisitions, they’ll end with over $170MM owing to the extra cash due to Wainwright. Just how high the tab has gone is hard to say, but it seems unlikely that the Cards will reach their end-of-year payroll highpoint ($182.7MM in 2017). Regardless, it’s money well spent for a club that’s headed back to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.Comment -
As a Royals fan I say thank you Ned.
He won the AL twice and the WS once despite Mr Glass’s cheapness and he had all that Walmart money.
The two managers made 2014 and 2015 happen, GM Moore and bench manager Ned Yost.
All’s that’s left is Alex Gordon and a beat up Sal Perez, and he may be done.
(and GM Moore, and he may be done)Comment -
^
i love KC despite Glass (who just sold by the way)
I hope new ownership keeps Moore.
Glass was a big advocate of replacement players during the strike, I couldn’t stand him. At least Steinbrenner spent his money, Glass hoarded his.
Good news is Royals have young talent and the minor league teams are pretty well stocked.Comment -
Fan donates Pujols ball to Hall in memory of son
The home run ball that marked the 2,000th career RBI for Albert Pujols has finally landed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ely Hydes, the Detroit Tigers fan who wound up with the ball at Comerica Park on May 9, at first decided he wanted to keep it. Then, after a few days, he narrowed it down to giving the ball to either Pujols or the Hall of Fame.
Last month, Hydes made his choice and hand-delivered the ball to the Hall of Fame, he told the Detroit News. He received nothing in return despite offers from suitors -- including one for $50,000 -- and the Los Angeles Angels.
The ball is significant because Pujols became only the third player in Major League Baseball history to drive in 2,000 or more runs in a career -- joining Hank Aaron (2,297) and Alex Rodriguez (2,086).
Rather than take criticism on social media for keeping the ball or profiting from selling it, Hydes instead donated it -- in the memory of his late son, Cyrus Arlo Maloney, who was 21 months old when he died in June 2018. He was named after Cy Young.
"I'll want to show her and tell her the story, just the whole thing," Hydes said of his infant daughter, Violet. "The good things that happened ... and the cautionary tale of social media."
For his donation, the Hall of Fame gave a lifetime pass to Hydes. In addition to honoring the memory of his late son, the display will also honor the "people of Detroit" for the donation.Comment -
Cardinals getting hot. I still don't think they will beat the Dodgers.Comment -
Looks like LA gets the winner of the Washington/Milwaukee WC game and the Cards get the Braves in a five game set.Comment -
When do pitchers and catchers report?Comment -
Nats didn't miss Harper at all this season.Comment -
Good luck to everyone today.............................Comment -
Reds All-Star Gray has surgery on pitching elbow
Cincinnati Reds All-Star pitcher Sonny Gray had arthroscopic right elbow surgery Wednesday but is expected to be fully recovered in time for spring training next year.
Gray underwent the operation to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow, a condition he dealt with the entire season.
The surgery is not expected to impact the two-time All-Star's offseason schedule at all, according to the Reds.
Gray, 29, went 11-8 with a 2.87 ERA and 205 strikeouts in 31 starts this season, his first year with the Reds. He entered Wednesday fifth in the National League in ERA and 11th in strikeouts.Comment -
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto will undergo a procedure to clean up the meniscus in his right knee, manager Gabe Kapler announced Wednesday (Twitter link via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia). With the Phillies formally eliminated from postseason contention, he’ll go under the knife now rather than play out the season’s final series. There are no long-term concerns associated with the operation, and Realmuto is expected to be ready to go for Spring Training.
The surgery means that Realmuto’s season will come to a close with a strong .275/.328/.493 batting line in his first year with the Phils. Realmuto slugged 25 homers, 36 doubles and three triples over the course of 538 plate appearances while serving as something of an iron man behind the dish; no one in baseball has caught more than the 1139 innings that Realmuto did in 2019. The volume of that workload makes his output at the plate all the more impressive and heightens the value of his superlative defense. Realmuto threw out a ridiculous 47 percent of base thieves in 2019 and ranked among the best in the league in terms of pitch blocking and pitch framing.
Put simply, Realmuto is arguably the game’s best catcher. Phillies general manager Matt Klentak recently lauded Realmuto’s overall contributions and was rather candid in suggesting that an extension for the 28-year-old All-Star will be one of the organization’s priorities over the winter. The Phils control Realmuto through the 2020 season, at present, and he’ll command a sizable raise on this year’s $5.9MM salary in arbitration over the winter. Realmuto has voiced his own interest in signing a long-term pact to remain with the Phillies, so it shouldn’t be a surprise if the two sides ultimately hammer out a deal between now and Opening Day 2020.Comment -
Can you blame Maddon really? The players need to suck it up and play like they should.Comment -
Good to see Minnesota pretty much own the division this year. They were doubted all year but they proved they were the best in the AL Ceentral all year. People still doubt them because the Yankees and Astros look unbeatable so it will be interesting to see if they can make a run at it in the playoffs...
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wow Cleveland way to show up today.....Comment -
Grienkie loses no, no, in the ninthComment -
Yeah, good on Minny.Good to see Minnesota pretty much own the division this year. They were doubted all year but they proved they were the best in the AL Ceentral all year. People still doubt them because the Yankees and Astros look unbeatable so it will be interesting to see if they can make a run at it in the playoffs...
I totally misjudged them in March, I thought thought they were going to be 80 and 82 this year.
Now the bad news, Twins get the Yankees in the first round.Comment -
Having a blast: Twins become 1st to hit 300 HRs
The Minnesota Twins on Thursday became the first team in major league history to hit 300 home runs in a season.
And they weren't done there.
No. 300 was a two-run shot by Jonathan Schoop off Detroit Tigers pitcher Jose Cisnero in the seventh inning. It was Schoop's 23rd homer of the season.
One inning later, catcher Willians Astudillo hit a solo shot to left field for No. 301.
Including the Twins, 13 teams have set franchise records for home runs this season: Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Cincinnati, the Chicago Cubs, Houston, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee, the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, Oakland, San Diego and Washington.
Arizona and Cleveland are also both on pace to set team marks before the season ends.Comment -
Brewers and Nationals have no clue what they getting themselves into facing the Dodgers.Comment -
Mets infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil has been diagnosed with a fracture in his right wrist that was sustained when he was hit by a pitch in tonight’s game, the team announced (Twitter link via Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). Specifically, McNeil has suffered a right distal ulnar fracture. That puts an end to his 2019 season — on the same night the Mets were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention by a Brewers victory.
It’s a sour note on which to finish an exceptional season for the 27-year-old McNeil, who hit .318/.384/.531 with 23 home runs, 37 doubles and a triple in his first full big league season. McNeil leads Mets regulars in batting average and on-base percentage, and only 12 qualified hitter in all of baseball have posted a lower strikeout rate than his minuscule 13.2 percent.
While it’s been a disastrous year for the Mets in some regards — Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia have all struggled; Jed Lowrie has taken seven plate appearances — McNeil and likely Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso have been among the club’s brightest spots. The position(s) at which McNeil is deployed in 2020 will depend somewhat on the team’s offseason maneuverings, but he’ll assuredly be in the lineup with regularity now that he’s cemented himself as a late-blooming building block in Queens. He’s seen action at second base, third base and in both outfield corners this season but could have a clearer path to regular reps at third base with Todd Frazier set to become a free agent. Then again, McNeil looked destined for regular second base work in 2019 before the Mets stunned the baseball world with the ill-fated Cano/Diaz blockbuster.
Regardless of where he lines up defensively, McNeil’s bat has proven to be among the most potent in the National League. Barring an offseason extension, he’ll continue to give the Mets an extreme bargain, playing out the 2020 campaign at scarcely more than the league minimum, given his standing as a pre-arbitration player. McNeil won’t even be eligible for arbitration until the completion of the 2021 season, and he’s under club control all the way through 2024.Comment -
Nats have the best chance.
Anytime you have Max and Stras you have a shot, not to mention Corbin.
All three must go deep in the game though, that Washington bullpen is not to be trusted.
Rendon made everybody forget about Harper.
Soto had a monster season, Turner is solid........Comment
man o man
