The Golden Days Committee named 4 new inductees to the Hall of Fame. I’m pretty happy about it—3 were on my mythical ballot yesterday and I listed the 4th as also deserving. The four are: Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Minnie Minoso, and Gil Hodges. To be elected, 12 members of the 16-person committee has to…… Continue reading 6 New Hall of Famers

Not all of baseball is shut down, just the major league part. In fact, baseball’s winter meeting is still happening. The minor leagues portions are happening this weekend, and so are two of the Hall of Fame’s veterans committees—the Early Baseball and Golden Days committees. Each comprises 16 members and considers 10 people each. To…… Continue reading “Vets Committees”

The lockout has started as of midnight last night. We all knew it was coming. I discussed some of the issues in a previous post and won’t regurgitate them here. After months of talks with no progress, this was a forgone conclusion. Yesterday the two sides met—for a whopping seven minutes, just long enough to…… Continue reading …and so It Begins

Full disclosure—I’ve had OU football season tickets for a few years. Being a member of the “Sooner Club” technically makes me a booster. I was shocked/dismayed when Lincoln Riley bailed and signed to become USC’s head coach. There are lots of pundits saying lots of stupid things about why he’s there now and not here.…… Continue reading A College Football Rant

The current CBA expires in 2 days. Right now, it’s business as usual for the offseason. Trades have happened—most notably Adam Frazier to the Mariners. Players have signed lucrative extensions with their current teams—most notably Byron Buxton of the Twins. Free agents have signed with new teams—most notably Starling Marte (Scratch that—Max Scherzer) with the…… Continue reading 2 Days to Go

The Hall of Fame has sent out its ballots to the BBWAA voters. The new names this year are: David Ortiz, Justin Morneau, Mark Texeira, Joe Nathan, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, Carl Crawford, Jake Peavy, Prince Fielder, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Howard, Jonathan Papelbon, and AJ Pierzynski. In their 10th and final year on the ballot…… Continue reading HoF Ballot Released

The Rays…repeat, the Rays…are signing Wander Franco to a massive extension: guaranteed $182M over 10 years, potentially $223M over 12. It’s not just the biggest contract in Rays’ history, it’s the biggest ever in MLB history for a player with less than a year of service time. Note that the Rays have spent $348M total…… Continue reading Rays Sign Wander Franco to Record Deal

That’s not much of a prediction. The MLBPA and MLB have be supposedly talking for months and are reportedly “still far apart” (ie, have made no significant progress at all. Anyone who watched them fail to get any real agreement last year (when it was in their obvious mutual interest to come up with anything…… Continue reading Guarantee There Will Be a Lockout

The owners voted unanimously to provide housing to nearly all minor leaguers starting in 2022. The exceptions are (1) players actually on major league contracts—and thus being paid at least major league minimum, (2) players earning at least $100K—i.e. the high level bonus babies, and (3) a player who opts out. The housing may be…… Continue reading MLB to Provide Minor League Housing

The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani was the unanimous winner of the MVP in the AL. The only question for his award was whether the vote would be unanimous or not. He was one of the best DH’s and simultaneously one of the best pitchers in the game, giving all baseball fans the kind of show we…… Continue reading MVP

This year’s awards went to Robbie Ray of the Toronto Blue Jays (AL) and Corbin Burnes (NL). Perhaps it’s just me, but this was not an exciting contest this year, at least after Jacob deGrom and Shane Bieber each sustained significant injuries. Indeed, deGrom looked like he would challenge Bob Gibson’s single season ERA record…… Continue reading Cy Young

There is a 17 year old just two doors down willing to help me with my snow shoveling.

Noah Syndergaard signed a one year, $21M deal to pitch for the LA Angels next year. The Angels have been perennially desperate for better starting pitching, so their interest is understandable. Ohtani can’t do it by himself. Of course, Thor is coming off TJS, so his health and effectiveness are both question marks for 2022.…… Continue reading Thor Signs with Angels

Last night the Rookie of the Year awards were announced. Neither winner was a surprise. Reds 2B Johnathan India took home the award for the NL. He accumulated 3.9 WAR with 21 HR, a .269 batting average, and a 116 OPS+. The AL award went to Randy Arozarena, who had 4.1 WAR with 20 homers/20…… Continue reading RoY, MoY Awards

First, congratulations to the Braves. Unlike Scott Boras, I know they won their title fair and square according to the rules as currently written. My issue is that I’d like to tweet the format…but not in the way MLB reportedly wants to. Supposedly, one of the things the owners want from the next CBA is…… Continue reading Postseason Pondering