MLB - NEWS & NOTES

3 years, not 5. But he doesn't have 3 full years of active duty. Remember the Bryant situation with the Cubs where they left him down a little longer to control him longer? The Pirates did the same thing with Cole, if I remember right he wasn't happy about it at the time but it wasn't a big story because he wasn't a huge name prospect and the Pirates weren't good yet. This is the downside of that, sometimes you piss of the player by forcing him to play for less than he's worth for an extra year. He has his leverage too but he waited too long, unless of course he's already told the Pirates he will never sign long term with them.

 

trouble in pittsburgh with cole...greed is good.

 

Neither one is good defensively. Schwarber has the glaring errors of the playoffs, but Soler had some bloopers in the regular season. Plus Soler has played a lot more outfield in his career. Soler struggles in cold weather and staying healthy. Schwarber has some adjustments to make against lefties as he struggled down the stretch. They both will benefit from not having to play everyday. They are both young, but neither is eligible for Rookie of the year, by not playing them everyday, the Cubs aren't taking anything away from them by this strategy.

 

The platoon situations can be a blessing in disguise. Managers can always asses the situation from game to game and go with the hot hand.

A little competition seems to bring the best out of players also.

 

Royals, Perez agree on 5-year contract extension

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Royals have agreed to a contract extension with catcher Salvador Perez that will keep him through the 2021 season, the club announced.

The deal, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, is a five-year extension worth $52.5 million.
The deal, which picks up the club options for three years starting in 2017, adds two more years after that. It also comes with a $6 million signing bonus.

 

A. Chapman suspended 30 games !

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on...ended-30-games-under-domestic-violence-policy

 

They did the same thing with Polanco a couple years ago. Last year was his 1st full year. The year before they left him down a couple months so they could pay him less and keep him longer. Thing is though, Polanco didn't get $8 MIL. in a signing bonus........Too bad he's pissed but that is in the bargaining agreement. Nobody ever said he would sign for less if he was paid more now anyways. You can already tell he's a young money grubber because the club is only using that part bargaining agreement to their benefit. Just like the players use a no trade clause to their benefit. Which was put in because the vets are tired of already proving themselves while rookies get paid more. Pretty sure they do that in the NFL.....Cole wasn't around to vote so he has no say in the matter. If he doesn't like it, then he can leave when he puts in his time......I am personally tired of these players crying all the time and their already making millions. If he's not happy, trade him for a couple 1st rounders! It will only make the Bucs farm system stronger........

 

Cardinals sign 2B Kolten Wong to five-year contract extension

The Cardinals have signed second baseman Kolten Wong to a five-year contract extension that will run through the 2020 season and includes a club option for 2021.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported the deal, and the Cardinals held a press conference shortly after the report to announce the extension.

Wong, 25, is coming off a 2015 season in which he batted .262/.321/.386 (92 OPS+) with 11 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 150 games. For his career, he owns an OPS+ of 86 across parts of three big-league seasons. Wong was slated for arbitration following the upcoming season, so this contract extension buys out his three arbitration-eligible years plus one free agent year. iIf the club option is excercised, then the Cardinals will have controlled him through two free agent seasons. The dollar value of the deal isn't yet known. Whatever the final number, Wong will get a large guaranteed payday, and the Cardinals will get cost certainty. (CBS)

 

igloo, I hear where you're coming from, but I disagree. The team said to Cole that this is all business when they brought him up when it was in their best interest as opposed to the best interest of winning baseball in the short term. Now, I think that's the right decision, just as I defended the Cubs in the Bryant situation, but if my employer looks at me and says this is straight business, I do the same. Don't know how this got out, and he shouldn't have made it public, but I wouldn't be happy with my pay either. I'd be looking for an extension similar to what Wong just got except obviously higher dollar.

Now on to the Wong contract, because you all know I'm all over all Cardinal moves. My first thought was that this makes total sense because the Cardinals are handling this exactly as they handled Allen Craig. Both got a 5-year extension with a club option going into their last pre-arb season. So basically both buy out the last pre-arb year, all 3 arb years, 1 year of extension, and then a club option, all without no-trade protection. I hated the Craig contract at the time, I love this one, and the differences are in the playeres. Craig was entering his age 29 season, didn't appear to have any further upside beyond the previos years production, and isn't the most athletic player. Wong is entering his age 25 season, meaning we locked him through his prime, had a pretty strong year last year while looking to get more and more comfortable in the majors, and is a superior athlete (I believe in athleticism). I think this kid will be a star, he has a ton of upside. Craig didn't have much more upside.

BTW, here is the financial structure:
2016: 1.25M
2017: 2.5M
2018: 4M
2019: 6.5M
2020: 10.25M
2021: 12.5M club option (1M buyout)

 

Well, obviously Cole is the one who let it out that he's not happy. But thats in the CBA and what teams should do. When he's eligible, you know he's not going to cut the Buc's a break. So why cut him a break now. I could understand it if they could come to some kind of an agreement like Wong's. But Cole is probably looking for a lot more. So I don't agree....

 

Lots of guys buy out arb years at a much higher dollar. The Cardinals did it with Pujols on his 1st big contract.

 

DeGrom refused to sign his contract as well. He's in the same situation. The Cubs gave Bryant a raise. His contract is for $652,000. Still a huge bargain, but at least the Cubs are throwing him a bone. DeGroms contract is for $607,000. Cole's is for $541,000. Is Bryant worth 17% more than Cole? Is deGrom a 10% better pitcher than Cole? All 3 are huge reasons their teams went to the playoffs. Baseball is tough because you can play your first 5 years for relative peanuts. Then you make ridiculous paydays. How is that equitable in today's game with all these CRAZY good young players? The best players on a lot of teams are making minimums while vets like Edwin Jackson make $12mil (from a team he was released from).

 

Well, baseball has other benefits that the NFL doesn't also. They both have different bargaining agreements. In the NFL, a team can cut you if they find a better player contract or no contract. In MLB, all contracts are guaranteed once they are signed. So if a MLB player has a bad year, he still gets paid what he signed for. In the NFL, a team can cut a player no matter what. Thats a big difference. Imo, they should decide on contracts on a year to year basis. That being incentive laden. If you do well , you can make more money. If you don't, you should make less. It's kind of ridiculous to pay a MLB player millions and they have a bad year. An incentive laden contract might help the player and the team. So I'm not in favor of the MLB CBA.......Players in all sports should be paid as to how they produce. It's completely out of hand, imo.....

 

Incentive laden contracts are written all the time. I dont really want to see contracts based on performance either.

What if Trout has a bad season? Do you take his money off the table? What if you sign a player like JD Martinez and he hits 40 HR's, should he get more than Mike Trout?

 

Hit batsmen rankles Tigers, Verlander in win over Yanks

Lakeland, Fla. ? It?s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

On Wednesday in Tampa, Yankees right-hander Luis Severino cracked Cameron Maybin?s wrist with a 95 mph fastball. The Tigers and Yankees played again Friday at Marchant Stadium and leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler was hit in the hand by a 94 mph pitch from starter Bryan Mitchell.

Kinsler waived off trainer Kevin Rand and stayed in the game, but the Tigers? dugout was not pleased.

?Obviously it?s a little higher-tension situation when a guy breaks his hand and has to miss some time,? said Justin Verlander, who pitched two scoreless innings in his spring debut. ?You never want that to happen, so you get upset. Like, ?If you can?t pitch in(side), stop pitching in.?

?But, that?s the game. You have a guy get hurt and the tension is there. If Kinsler gets hurt, then you are risking a franchise?s season, so you get a little upset.?

Anthony Gose also got hit by a pitch, a glancing blow on the foot, and Verlander plunked Cesar Puello on a 2-2 pitch.

?I don?t think either one was on purpose, nor was mine,? Verlander said. ?It?s early in spring training and guys are trying to pitch in and you?re not quite locked in and it tends to get away from you.?

Manager Brad Ausmus echoed Verlander that there clearly was no intent, but the Tigers have been taking on too much enemy fire through five games.

?We?ve been hit quite a bit,? he said. ?Maybin got hit in Tampa and we had three or four guys hit in Bradenton (Wednesday). Understanding that guys are coming off the offseason and not as sharp, but we won?t take kindly to it if it continues.?

Other than the hit-batsmen, it was a pretty placid game. The Tigers won 3-0 on Miguel Cabrera?s three-run home run into the Yankees bullpen in right center off Vinnie Pestano in the third inning.
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Playing some beanball already and its just Spring Training. Leave it to the Yankees to get this started, of course.

 

Francisco Liriano dazzles in Spring Training debut. I like this guy. He must have a good year for the Pirates and I believe he will.

 

I tell you no lie... The Cubs drew 15,446 to a spring training game today. WOW !

 

Report: MLB proposes changes to Cuban free agency process

Right now, if a Cuban player wants to make the leap to MLB, he must defect and establish residence in another country while waiting on the league and by extension the federal government to greenlight his efforts. It's a tortuous process, and the perverse incentives in place have given rise to the involvement of organized crime and human smugglers. Needless to say, it's an unseemly process and one that's dangerous for the players in question, as Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers would surely attest.

In an effort to make it safer and more above-board, MLB is reportedly proposing changes to the process -- changes that will require the approval of the U.S. Treasury Department, since a formal embargo of Cuba is still in effect, although relations have been somewhat normalized in recent years. Here's this from Ben Strauss of the New York Times:

Under the proposed plan, according to M.L.B.'s top lawyer, Dan Halem, an entity would be created made up of Cuban entrepreneurs and officials from M.L.B. and its players' union. A percentage of salaries paid to Cuban players would go to the new body, which would function like a nonprofit and support youth baseball, education and improving sports facilities in Cuba.
Per the embargo, no money may go directly to the Cuban government, so this would seem to satisfy those conditions. It remains to be seen whether the Cuban government will be receptive to such a plan, but, as Strauss notes, they have in the past expressed in interest in making changes to the status quo -- perhaps even to the extent of allowing Cuban major-leaguers to retain their Cuban citizenship.

Ultimately, anything that increases economic freedom and makes for safer passages for players is good thing, so perhaps this effort will pay off.

 

Can you blame them? *SHADES* Not only would you get to see the Cubs kids, but Mike Trout was in the lineup against them. Yeah, I would have loved to have been there.

 

Me too... sounds like a lot of fun. Also seems to me that Spring ball is becoming quite a bit more popular than it ever was.

Lots of stadium renovations and great attendance.