MLB - NEWS & NOTES

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...ced-red-sox-braves-lead-with-three-wins-each/

gold glove winners...

 

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...-mvp-cy-young-manager-and-rookie-of-the-year/

MLB Award Finalist. Surprised DeGrom was not a MVP Finalist. He will win the Cy Young if that's any consolation.

 

Major League Baseball has announced the finalists for various awards given by the Baseball Writers Association of America. They are:

American League Rookie of the Year

• 3B Miguel Andújar (Yankees)
• P/DH Shohei Ohtani (Angels)
• 2B Gleyber Torres (Yankees)

National League Rookie of the Year

• OF Ronald Acuña, Jr. (Braves)
• SP Walker Buehler (Dodgers)
• OF Juan Soto (Nationals)

American League Manager of the Year

• Kevin Cash (Rays)
• Alex Cora (Red Sox)
• Bob Melvin (Athletics)

National League Manager of the Year

• Bud Black (Rockies)
• Craig Counsell (Brewers)
• Brian Snitker (Braves)

American League Cy Young

• Corey Kluber (Indians)
• Blake Snell (Rays)
• Justin Verlander (Astros)

National League Cy Young

• Jacob deGrom (Mets)
• Aaron Nola (Phillies)
• Max Scherzer (Nationals)

American League Most Valuable Player

• Mookie Betts (Red Sox)
• José Ramírez (Indians)
• Mike Trout (Angels)

National League Most Valuable Player

• Nolan Arenado (Rockies)
• Javier Báez (Cubs)
• Christian Yelich (Brewers)

The schedule for awards announcements:

• Monday, Nov. 12: Rookies of the Year
• Tuesday, Nov. 13: Managers of the Year
• Wednesday, Nov. 14: Cy Youngs
• Thursday, Nov. 15: MVPs

Remember that voting for these awards was completed before the start of the playoffs. So, for example, the Red Sox winning the World Series won’t impact Alex Cora’s chances of winning the AL Manager of the Year Award. (NBC's PHT)

 

Report: Mariners agree to trade Mike Zunino, Guillermo Heredia to Rays for Mallex Smith
The Mariners are reportedly working on a trade that would send Mike Zunino and Guillermo Heredia to the Rays in exchange for outfielder Mallex Smith and maybe a prospect as well.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...ery-as-he-attempts-mlb-comeback-as-a-pitcher/

Rick Ankiel is trying to come back as a reliever. good for him. hope he can make it.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...ser-bill-james-calls-all-players-replaceable/

wow - a war is brewing between the owners and the players and the union. to me Bill James is way out of line here and ignorant, and you all know what i think of his Sabermetrics stats, so a big FU to him.

 

Such an odd statement coming from the guy who pioneered the use of statistical analysis to assign value to players' performance based specifically on how much better they were than a replacement level player. Overall a lot of players owe Bill James a serious debt of gratitude for helping to improve teams' understanding of their value, and thus their earning power. Wonder if he was just having a "senior moment."

Regardless, he's not an owner, nor even a direct employee of a team, so his opinion shouldn't carry much if any weight in the matter of the CBA. The union has plenty of legitimate beefs with ownership, this shouldn't be one of them.

 

he works for the Red Sox ?

 

Yes, as a consultant, as you noted. He's not a full time FO employee of the team.

 

regardless what he said is only hurting himself and burning a bridge.

 

Report: Owners expected to approve five-year extension for Rob Manfred...

Next week, MLB owners are expected to vote and unanimously approve a five-year extension for commissioner Rob Manfred, Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports reports.

Manfred, 60, was elected to succeed Bud Selig in August 2014 and officially took over in January 2015. Major League Baseball has achieved record revenues during his tenure. He has also made noteworthy changes to pace of play rules. A new collective bargaining agreement was also ratified which has thus far worked out well for ownership. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Manfred will be unanimously approved to spend at least another five years at the helm.

Nightengale notes that additional rules are expected to be discussed between Manfred and the owners including more pace of play improvements such as a pitch clock, as well as potentially limiting shifts and pitching changes. The league could also make a rule to discourage the use of “openers,” a strategy popularized by the Rays this past season in which a traditional reliever starts a game but quickly yields to a starting pitcher once he has gotten through a certain portion of the opposing lineup.

 

i don't think he sped up the pace of play that much. still some very slow and long games.

 

Joe Mauer hangs em up...

 

how much of his extension was left ? didn't he sign for a long deal a few years ago ? someone asked if he was HOF catcher ? i saw his stats and awards. tough call in a tough position for HOF'ers.

 

From; HBT

Former Twins first baseman Joe Mauer has announced his retirement from Major League Baseball, according to a letter that was published on MLB.com on Friday. While there had been several hints that the six-time All-Star was nearing the end of his time with the club, Mauer revealed that he hadn’t felt ready to make an official decision until he stood on the field for the final game of the 2018 season.

The answer I was searching for came into sharper focus during my last game,” Mauer wrote, “a game I will never forget and a day where I felt like everything I was questioning started to become clear. As I stood on the field in my catcher’s gear, something I never thought would be possible again, I realized in that moment that this is how I wanted to finish my career. I wanted to finish on my home field in front of our amazing fans, my family, my friends, my teammates, and the organization that means so much to me. Being able to do that for a brief moment as a catcher, made that day even more incredible than I could have imagined.

It wasn’t just a sense of closure that gave Mauer the courage he needed to step away from a long, illustrious run with the Twins, however. He sustained a severe concussion during the 2013 season, one that compromised his ability to stick behind the plate and forced a permanent switch to first base. A host of other injuries — including a thigh injury, back strain, and lingering concussion symptoms — plagued the infielder in the years to follow, culminating in his decision to enter retirement for the sake of his health and his family.

Over 15 years with the Twins, the 35-year-old infielder holds a lifetime .306/.388/.439 batting line, six All-Star designations, three Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers and the 2009 AL MVP award. He also earned several distinctions in the league as the first AL catcher to earn a batting title, which he tacked onto his MVP season with a league-leading (and MLB record for a catcher) .365 average and .444 OBP across 606 PA for Minnesota.
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Joe signed a contract prior to the 2011 season, it was 8yrs/$184,000,000 - $23M guaranteed/yr, so it was expired.
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As for the HOF, id put him in in a heart beat... I think his stats back that up.

 

a great career cut short. it's funny, like Ichiro, his lifetime average is over 300, but these last couple of unproductive seasons really brought down his batting average as it was a lot higher than .306.

 

This was the last season of that big contract.

If Mauer had been a C his whole career and put up those numbers I think he would've been a shoo-in. Only about 900 games as a C, though (as a comparison, Yadi is the same age and has caught twice as many games and is still an elite defensive C and putting up numbers comparable to what Mauer has been putting up as a 1B)...his offensive numbers his final 6 years were not anywhere near good enough to warrant HOF consideration as a 1B. I think he'll be a guy that will get enough votes to stay on the ballot every year based on what he did his first 8 years, but probably never get past 50% or so of the vote.

 

For me personally, I'm not sure I'd ever see a ballot grouping where he would get one of my 10 votes, but I'd put him in the pretty large group of guys that I think is probably good enough to get in (especially when compared to some guys that are already in), but I wouldn't be upset if he never made it, either.

 

I agree, Underdog. I was just thinking of the value of that position, I kind of lean towards putting him in just because of the position he played. It wouldn't break my heart, so to speak, if he didn't make it, I just think if it were me, id be generous. Plenty of room down at the ol' Hall.

 

My general rule of thumb is that anybody who's the best player in his league at his position for a decade is someone who should be in the HOF conversation. Mauer's injuries and position change hamper him a bit in that regard, but his peak as a C was so good that it keeps him in the convo.