In December I posted that the Rays were one of four groups that met a deadline to submit a proposal to redevelop the area where Tropicana Field now sits. From that post: “Their proposal includes a new stadium, housing with 5700 multi-family units, 1.4 million square feet of office, 300,000 square feet of retail, 700…… Continue reading Update on Rays’ Quest for New Stadium

Saturday night was the annual BBWAA awards dinner. Justin Verlander and Sandy Alcantara picked up their Cy Young Awards. The BBWAA changed the wording in the trophy for this year—switching out “most outstanding pitcher” to “most valuable pitcher”…or so they thought. Instead, this prized trophy…from the writers but apparently not the editors…read “most valuble” pitcher.…… Continue reading Cy Young Gaffe

Braves manager has a 542-451 record through six seasons at the helm, following >1300 wins as a minor league manager, mostly in the Braves’ system, and three stints as a coach in Atlanta. In his six seasons as skipper, he has won five straight division titles, a World Series championship, a Manager of the Year…… Continue reading Braves Extend Snitker

Okay, I started working on this last night, then today saw a very similar post at ESPN.com. Now, they get paid for this kind of thing, and I’m doing it for free. Also, I swear I’m not plagiarizing! Anyway, each year after the BBWAA Hall of Fame selection announcement is made, I start thinking about…… Continue reading Looking Ahead at Upcoming Hall of Fame Ballots

In 2019 with the Rangers, Jeffrey Springs had a 6.40 ERA out of the pen. In 2020 with the Red Sox, it was 7.08. Nonetheless, the Rays’ scouts/front office saw something in him and brought him to Florida. He responded with a 3.46 ERA. Rays management then thought maybe he could be a starter…and in…… Continue reading Jeffrey Springs Signs Extension with Rays

1997 NL Rookie of the Year. 7 times an All Star. 8 Gold Gloves. 70.1 WAR. 122 OPS+. Mike Schmidt once said he was a superior third baseman to himself. Now, in his sixth year of eligibility, Scott Rolen pulled 76.3% of the BBWAA vote, making him the newest baseball Hall of Famer. It’s well…… Continue reading Scott Rolen a Hall of Famer

This year’s BBWAA Hall of Fame vote will be announced in one week. Approximately 41% of the expected ballots have been revealed as published at http://www.bbhoftracker.com/2022/11/2023-bbhof-tracker-summary-and-leaderboard/#main-navigation Right now Scott Rolen and Todd Helton are hovering in the 80% range. That doesn’t mean for sure they will get in. A large percentage of the, um, grumpier…… Continue reading HoF Voting Update

Yesterday the Cubs held a fan event in Chicago. At it, owner Tom Ricketts surprised everyone, including Ryne Sandberg—who was present, with an announcement that a statue of Sandberg would be made and unveiled at Wrigley Field in 2024. It’s a well deserved honor, and in/of itself a fine moment. With the ongoing renovations at…… Continue reading Why Baseball Can’t Relegate Steroids to the Past

The long national nightmare is over. Carlos Correa has passed a physical and signed a contract. It is with the Minnesota Twins. It is for $200M over 6 years, with up to an additional 4 years and $70M in vesting options. To recap, last month, he/his agent agreed to a 13 year, $350M deal with…… Continue reading Correa is a Twin Again

Earlier this offseason, Carlos Correa agreed to sign with the Giants for 13 years and $350M. Then the deal fell apart. Then he reportedly agreed to sign with the Mets for 12 years and $315M. He has, however, still not signed any deal. Supposedly the Giants were concerned and wanted to renegotiate after an MRI…… Continue reading Correa Situation Continues to Be Weird

Two weeks ago Trevor Bauer had his suspension reduced such that he was reinstated. His official suspension was for 194 games (reduced from 324), and he had already missed that many, thus the reinstatement. As his time out in 2021 was paid, the Dodgers do not have to pay him for the first 50 games…… Continue reading Bauer DFA’d

Yesterday it was reported that the Red Sox and Rafael Devers were finalizing an 11 year contract worth $331 million. As of today, it still hasn’t been signed, but let’s assume the Red Sox’ front office personnel aren’t insane/professionally figuratively suicidal and that the deal does get signed. I’ve seen reports that they absolutely had…… Continue reading 11 Years, $331M

Unless you live under a rock or something, you know that Pele died two days ago at the age of 82 from cancer. I’ve written in the past how terms like “legend” or “generational talent” get overused. It’s not overused on Pele, who was inarguably one of the most famous people on the planet. People…… Continue reading The Passing of a Legend

10 MLB umpires are retiring this year. 7 are crew chiefs. Angel Hernandez is not among the retirees unfortunately. The MLB announcement did not include who would be brought up from the minors to replace them nor who would be promoted to become new crew chiefs (please, MLB, seriously, not Angel Hernandez).

An arbitrator has reduced Trevor Bauer’s 324 game suspension for violations of the baseball domestic violence policy to 194. It confirms the misdeeds and is still the longest suspension ever under that policy. However, with the time he missed in 2021 plus all of 2022, his time of suspension is over. The suspension is unpaid,…… Continue reading Trevor Bauer Reinstated