[stevenash]

God Bless Sal Perez!
I wanna have his babies

[mr. leisure]

Rizzo should be disciplined for that


the rule change was to get rid of that kind of play

Rizzo knew the rules and it was an attempt to injure

Semi dirty play .

[stevenash]

Semi dirty play .

Yes, but dirty enough.
Like I said, there was no criminal intent, I believe the intent was to dislodge the ball, but still you can't target the catcher like that.
You can still run over the catcher, if there is a bang-bang play at the plate, you just can't run over the catcher with a football shoulder to the head.

[yisman]

I have to say, it's odd that the Reds even put Arroyo on their major league roster this season. After the TJ surgery, he couldn't crack any MLB roster and he'd barely pitched.

[Cross]

Arroyo needs to retire.

[stevenash]

Arroyo needs to retire.

I said that 6 weeks ago.
So does Nolasco.

[EmpireMaker]

It now seems likely that the Athletics will end up moving Sonny Gray this summer, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. There’s likely to be plenty of interest in the righty, who is showing improved form after a forgettable 2016 season; indeed, he just placed fourth on MLBTR’s list of the top 50 trade candidates. The full scope of potential suitors isn’t yet known, but Slusser does provide some interesting observations. The Astros, she notes, are “one of the more realistic landing spots” for Gray, with clear interest on Houston’s part and a history of swaps between the division rivals. (A prior report of that possible connection arose over the weekend.) There’s even an unnamed NL club that, per Slusser, “has toyed with the idea of using Gray as a closer.” (If you’re wondering what team that might be, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs takes a shot at a guess.)
More out of Oakland…

• Injured shortstop Marcus Semien will embark on a rehab assignment this weekend, writes John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News, though it’s not likely to be a quick assignment. “It’s going to look maybe a little like spring training,” said manager Bob Melvin. Semien will start off by playing five innings per game and gradually build up to playing full games, per Hickey. I’d imagine that the impending return of Semien will only further trade chatter surrounding Jed Lowrie, as there have already been rumblings that he could be moved to pave way for infield prospect Franklin Barreto.
• Athletics president Dave Kaval stated yesterday that the A’s will announce the site of a new stadium with the calendar year, as Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area writes. The three locations in consideration are a waterfront venue near Howard Terminal, a neighborhood park next to Laney College or a newer facility at the current site of the Coliseum. “Obviously we’re working as quickly as we can to make the announcement as soon as possible,” said Kaval. “At that time, we’ll not only let folks know what the final location is, but also the timeline to actually develop the ballpark, all the different approval processes and also the groundbreaking and the opening date.”

[Chi_archie]

Arroyo needs to retire.

soon

[Otters27]

Will Arroyo play independent ball

[JAKEPEAVY21]

I've been saying for years that Arroyo is hot garbage.

[BigSpoon]

Matt Adams got his groove back

Freddie Freeman plans to return from DL as third baseman to keep Adams in lineup: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...-third-baseman

[yisman]

Schwarber sent down to AAA

Heyward to DL

[El Nino]

Schwarber sent down to AAA

Heyward to DL

That will happen when you are batting .171 and can't hit lefties.

[stevenash]

Freddie Freeman plans to return from DL as third baseman to keep Adams in lineup: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...-third-baseman

Freeman is a gold glove caliber first baseman, Adams also has amazing range at first but he's error prone.
I guess the real question is who is more capable to play third.
My first thought was move Adams to the outfield, but Markakis is like Alex Gordon with the glove, Kemp isn't going anywhere, and Inciarte is staying put too.

Looks like the Braves had a plan all along when they cleaned house and said we're going to build this team around Freeman.
A lot of casual fans don't realize how good he is, he's only 27 with 8 years for the Braves.
His 8 year slash line is .290/26/92, I have no problems at all with a first basemen that makes all the plays and averages 26 homers and 92 RBI.

[yisman]

funny part is he batted third yesterday

and batted leadoff for over a month

Maddon so clueless

[El Nino]

funny part is he batted third yesterday

and batted leadoff for over a month

Maddon so clueless

No argument here. Everyone thinks he is a genius. I think he fosters a good atmosphere and his players like showing up to the ball park and playing hard for him. As far as an in game manager, he is nothing special. NBA coaches and MLB managers are the most overrated positions in the major sports.

[stevenash]

funny part is he batted third yesterday

and batted leadoff for over a month

Maddon so clueless

Maddon is a nut job.
Love him or hate him LaRussa was a genius.

[mr. leisure]

Yep agree , Maddon is a good guy but no genuis .

[stevenash]

I just saw Aaron Judge hit a ball to the black at Yankee stadium.
OMG!
That kid is must see TV, when he's at bat I watch it, not just look at it, watch it.
He's the real deal, this is no flash in the pan.
What makes him so special is he has plate discipline.
If he doesn't like the pitch, he'll wait.

Not a Yankee fan, but that lineup can rake all day.

[koz-man]

The Dodgers have scored eight or more runs in five consecutive games, their longest such streak since 1945. Only once in franchise history have they had a longer streak: six games in June 1894, when they were known as the Brooklyn Grooms.

[stevenash]

Arroyo needs to retire.

Let's include Matt Cain to this list.
Watching this Braves - Giants game for fantasy reasons.
First inning Inciarte leads off spanked single, wild pitches him to second, two batters later the 12 million dollar singles hitter Nick Markakis takes him deep and out of the ball park, Kemp hitting clean up crushes a line drive but right to the center fielder.....

Said it before, this Braves team is only a few pieces away.
And yes, Matt Cain sucks and has been sucking since the end of 2012, since then he hasn't had a season with an ERA under 4 and this will be his fifth year of an ERA of over 4, and this will be his fourth consecutive year with a WH/IP of over 1.5
(Give him credit for his post season efforts though, he only had one bad game that was the game against the Reds in 2012)

So, he's made 63 million dollars in the past three years for sucking badly

Year	Age	Tm	Salary	SrvTm	Sources	Notes/Other Sources
2006	21	San Francisco Giants	$328,000	?
2007	22	San Francisco Giants	$650,000	?
2008	23	San Francisco Giants	$950,000	?
2009	24	San Francisco Giants	$2,900,000	?
2010	25	San Francisco Giants	$4,583,333	4.038
2011	26	San Francisco Giants	$7,333,333	5.038
2012	27	San Francisco Giants	$15,000,000	6.038	contracts
2013	28	San Francisco Giants	$20,000,000	7.038	contracts
2014	29	San Francisco Giants	$20,000,000	8.038	contracts
2015	30	San Francisco Giants	$21,000,000	9.038	contracts
2016	31	San Francisco Giants	$21,000,000	10.038
2017	32	San Francisco Giants	$21,000,000	11.038
2018	33	San Francisco Giants	*$21,000,000		$21M Team Option, $7.5M Buyout
		Earliest Free Agent: 2018
Career to date (may be incomplete)			$134,744,666	Does not include future salaries ($0)

[EmpireMaker]

The Nationals have shown interest in Phillies righty Pat Neshek, reports FOX’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Other clubs are interested in the veteran setup man as well, he notes, which comes as little surprise given Neshek’s affordable salary and strong work thus far in 2017.
Indeed, the 36-year-old Neshek has been nothing short of exceptional for the Phillies since being acquired in an offseason swap with Houston. Through 28 innings out of manager Pete Mackanin’s bullpen, the side-armer has worked to a minuscule 0.64 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 1.3 BB/9 and a 36.8 percent ground-ball rate. Though he’s had issues against left-handed batters in recent years, Neshek has held them to a mere .163/.205/.244 slash through an admittedly small sample of 45 batters faced in 2017. He’s had some good fortune on balls in play against lefties, but he’s also significantly dipped his walk rate against hitters that hold the platoon advantage.
Neshek is earning $6.5MM in 2017, and he’s still owed roughly $3.6MM of that sum through season’s end. While trades between division rivals aren’t especially common and are often trickier to work out, Neshek’s status as a rental likely makes it a bit easier for the two sides to align. And, it should of course be noted that the Nats and Phillies have lined up on trades in the past, with Philadelphia recently trading Jonathan Papelbon to Washington in a 2015 swap that netted the Phils right-hander Nick Pivetta.
Much of the focus on the Nationals has been on their need for an established closer, but in reality the team could benefit simply from adding multiple quality relievers. While names like David Robertson, Alex Colome and AJ Ramos may well be kicked around in connection with Washington, the Nats have seen what were perhaps projected as their top four arms — Blake Treinen, Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley and Joe Blanton — each post an ERA north of 5.00 this season. Deepening the relief corps as a whole, and not merely fortifying the ninth inning, figures to be the priority for the Nationals over the summer.

[mr. leisure]

The Dodgers have scored eight or more runs in five consecutive games, their longest such streak since 1945. Only once in franchise history have they had a longer streak: six games in June 1894, when they were known as the Brooklyn Grooms.

Gonna need some late inning heroics to continue .

[Chi_archie]

Maddon is a nut job.
Love him or hate him LaRussa was a genius.

very true

[Otters27]

Mets just laid down to the Dodgers. Rockies and Diamondbacks now 1.5 behind

[BigSpoon]

Let's include Matt Cain to this list.
Watching this Braves - Giants game for fantasy reasons.
First inning Inciarte leads off spanked single, wild pitches him to second, two batters later the 12 million dollar singles hitter Nick Markakis takes him deep and out of the ball park, Kemp hitting clean up crushes a line drive but right to the center fielder.....

Said it before, this Braves team is only a few pieces away.
And yes, Matt Cain sucks and has been sucking since the end of 2012, since then he hasn't had a season with an ERA under 4 and this will be his fifth year of an ERA of over 4, and this will be his fourth consecutive year with a WH/IP of over 1.5
(Give him credit for his post season efforts though, he only had one bad game that was the game against the Reds in 2012)

So, he's made 63 million dollars in the past three years for sucking badly

Year	Age	Tm	Salary	SrvTm	Sources	Notes/Other Sources
2006	21	San Francisco Giants	$328,000	?
2007	22	San Francisco Giants	$650,000	?
2008	23	San Francisco Giants	$950,000	?
2009	24	San Francisco Giants	$2,900,000	?
2010	25	San Francisco Giants	$4,583,333	4.038
2011	26	San Francisco Giants	$7,333,333	5.038
2012	27	San Francisco Giants	$15,000,000	6.038	contracts
2013	28	San Francisco Giants	$20,000,000	7.038	contracts
2014	29	San Francisco Giants	$20,000,000	8.038	contracts
2015	30	San Francisco Giants	$21,000,000	9.038	contracts
2016	31	San Francisco Giants	$21,000,000	10.038
2017	32	San Francisco Giants	$21,000,000	11.038
2018	33	San Francisco Giants	*$21,000,000		$21M Team Option, $7.5M Buyout
		Earliest Free Agent: 2018
Career to date (may be incomplete)			$134,744,666	Does not include future salaries ($0)

Luckily for the Giants they have MadBum on a team friendly deal through 2019. Team options for 2018 and 2019 at only $12M per season.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

I'd love to see the Cubs miss the playoffs

[koz-man]

Anthony Rizzo will lead off his 10th straight game on Friday as Joe Maddon has 4 lefties in the lineup against righty Jose Urena of the Marlins. Jon Jay is in LF with Ian Happ in right and Miguel Montero behind the plate. The Cubs are 29th in baseball against righties with a .234 batting average.

[EmpireMaker]

Young Dodgers southpaw Julio Urias will require anterior capsule surgery on his left shoulder, according to a team announcement. It’s a major operation that clouds the future of the 20-year-old hurler.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says that the expectation is Urias will require an absence of between twelve and fourteen months, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports (links to Twitter). It’s even possible that Urias could pitch in the majors in 2018, he emphasized.
Though the procedure is a scary one for any pitcher, there are some mitigating factors here. Friedman says that Urias suffered the injury in an acute manner and is not dealing with any other injuries in his shoulder. That makes for a relatively more constrained problem than many prior pitchers have dealt with.
Still, it’s hard not to cringe when looking at the list of pitchers who have gone before Urias — though Friedman did specify that none were truly direct comparables. The most famous case is that of Johan Santana, who never really made it back. This 2012 piece from Adam Rubin of ESPN.com talks about the history (before Santana’s ultimate fate was known). And this deep dive from Jon Shepherd of Camden Depot covers the nuts and bolts.
It’s notable that the injury — so far as is presently known — occurred while Urias was on optional assignment. That would mean he will not accrue MLB service time during his recovery. Service-time considerations were only part of the picture for the Dodgers as they handled Urias with care over the past several seasons. Even as he showed immense aptitude for his age, the team took great care to limit his workload and ease him towards the big leagues.
The Mexican prodigy cracked the majors last year at 19 years of age, turning in 77 impressive innings of 3.39 ERA pitching with 9.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. It seemed he’d be ready for a more-or-less full season of work in 2017, but struggled early and ended up back at Triple-A. While he was seemingly on track to sort things out and make it back up, Urias apparently suffered the injury in his most recent outing for Oklahoma City.
While Los Angeles can do little but wait and hope that Urias responds well, the news does have near-term ramifications. The Dodgers will no longer be able to count on a boost from the lefty down the stretch, making it seem all the more likely that the team will consider adding a starter at the deadline. Though the rotation goes at least six deep, with other options standing by, the Dodgers are facing a steep test in the NL West and are no doubt aware of the injury risks carried by most of the members of the current staff.

[Chi_archie]

Young Dodgers southpaw Julio Urias will require anterior capsule surgery on his left shoulder, according to a team announcement. It’s a major operation that clouds the future of the 20-year-old hurler.

ouch

[stevenash]

I'd love to see the Cubs miss the playoffs

If the Rockies shoot themselves in the foot the Cubs will get a wild card.
I think Arizona is in, their starting pitching is a top 3 unit, and they can rake with the best of them.
Rox can rake with the best of them as well, but pitching wins and 'Zona (and LA) have it, and they don't.

..... and the Royals are winning games now like they did in 2015, cone from behind timely hitting jobs.
They don't have a top 5 starting unit, but what they have is more than serviceable.
If the hitting continues, and it should, my beloved Royals can nab a WC spot.

I've been saying for awhile, Tampa Bay is for real.
Archer is a bona fide ace, and they've got the bats.

I've been also saying all along since spring training Baltimore is not all that and their pitching sucks.

Now, just to show you guys I am not a total blowhard, but just a semi blowhard, I'm also on record as saying several times that the Dodgers are overrated, boy was I wrong.

[Otters27]

Royals a pesky team. BLUE JAYS left fielder lost the game for them

[stevenash]

Royals a pesky team. BLUE JAYS left fielder lost the game for them

True, still falls under the category of "Royals finds a way to win"

Here is one of my top three baseball moments of all time, in this case 15 minutes of moments.
Like the magic bounce over Correa's glove.
Now if Correa isn't looking at the second base turning the double play before the ball is even in his glove, then maybe my beloved Royals doesn't get that magic hop.

The 2015 post season are baseball thrills I'll take to my grave.

[koz-man]

Corey Kluber has struck out 10 batters in 3 straight games, tying the franchise-record streak for 10-K games within a season, according to Elias.

The others? Sam McDowell (Five times), HOFer Bob Feller (twice), CC Sabathia and Chuck Finley.

[stevenash]

Corey Kluber has struck out 10 batters in 3 straight games, tying the franchise-record streak for 10-K games within a season, according to Elias.

The others? Sam McDowell (Five times), HOFer Bob Feller (twice), CC Sabathia and Chuck Finley.

I watched that game, dominant until he ran out of gas in the seventh.