Chip Caray and TBS parted ways today:
Pomeroy said no replacement has been picked.
“Since the end of the 2009 MLB Playoffs, we’ve had several discussions with Chip Caray regarding 2010 and beyond. Both sides agree that now is the right time to move ahead on different paths,” the network said in a statement.
Caray was cited for [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:52 pm | Broadcasts | Permalink | 4 Comments
November 30, 2009
Umpire Defects
A Cuban umpire escaped to the United States:
The Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald reports that Nelson Diaz arrived in Miami on Sunday with his wife and two daughters.
Diaz worked in the Olympics and the 2006 World Baseball Classic. His 26-year career supposedly ended after he was picked to work the 2009 WBC in Japan but [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:37 pm | Umpires | Permalink | 3 Comments
November 30, 2009
Players A to Z, Brian Bass
Brian Bass pitches in relief for the Baltimore Orioles. In his two years in the majors, he’s been extremely consistent, posting ERAs of 4.84 and 4.90, pitching between 86 and 90 innings. Bass upped his strikeout rate in 2009, but also his walk rate. He gives up a fair number of home [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:11 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2009
Bayesian Predictions
Sabermetric Research links to a paper called “Hierarchical Bayesian Modeling of Hitting Performance in Baseball.” I haven’t had time to delve into the math, but there are some interesting things that come out of the research, including separate aging patterns for elite and non-elite hitters by position. I also like that they used [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:06 pm | Predictions | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2009
Playoff Shares
MLB announced playoff shares today, with the Yankees getting about $365,000 for a full share. In other words, someone on the Yankees making the MLB minimum almost doubled their take for 2009.
Posted by David Pinto at 5:55 pm | Post Season | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2009
Predicting the Lincecum Figures
Maury Brown takes a detailed look at Tim Lincecum’s arbitration case, and comes down with Tim and the Giants bringing wildly divergent numbers. That also conclusion I came to here, but Maury comes in at lower figures for both sides.
Posted by David Pinto at 5:48 pm | Management, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2009
Players A to Z, Daric Barton
Daric Barton plays first base for the Oakland Athletics. Called up at seasonal age 21, he impressed in his cup of coffee, posting great OBP and power numbers in a limited number opportunities. It was enough for him to get the first base job at age 22. That season was a disaster. [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:36 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2009
Fan Projections
FanGraphs set up a system where you can be part of a wisdom of the crowds projection system. Go here to find out how and start inputting players who you know well.
Hat tip, USS Mariner.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:16 pm | Predictions | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2009
Jeter Sportsman of the Year
Derek Jeter becomes the first Yankees player to win Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year award:
Jeter’s selection caps another outstanding season for the 35-year-old team captain and future Hall of Famer. In 2009 he batted .334 while leading the Yankees to their fifth World Series title in his 14 full seasons, their first since 2000 [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:03 pm | Awards | Permalink | 8 Comments
November 30, 2009
Players A to Z, Jason Bartlett
Jason Bartlett plays shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays. Barlett was involved in one of the more lopsided trades of the last few years as he and Matt Garza moved from the Twins to the Rays for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie. Of course, there is time for this trade to [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:21 am | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2009
No Joshing
The Forida Marlins’ general manager says the team will not trade Josh Johnson this year:
“Obviously, Josh Johnson is a big part of our club,” Hill added. “He is a second-time [arbitration-eligible] pitcher who we still have under control for two more years. From that standpoint, he’s going to be here. The strength of this organization [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:36 am | Management | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2009
Players A to Z, Clint Barmes
Clint Barmes plays second base for the Colorado Rockies. In seasons in which he obtained at least 300 plate appearances, his OBP has vacillated wildly, from a high of .330 in 2005 to a low of .264 in 2006. For his career, his OBP stands at .299. He does have some power, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:05 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2009
Birthday Closer
Happy 40th birthday to Mariano Rivera!
Update: It’s also Vin Scully’s birthday.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:10 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2009
Players A to Z, Brian Barden
Brian Barden plays third base for the St. Louis Cardinals in a utility role. At age 28, he received his first extended opportunity to play in the majors during the 2008 season. Barden hit poorly, posting an OBP under .300. He actually hit right-handed pitching okay, which is unusual because he hits [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:23 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2009
Players A to Z, Josh Bard
Josh Bard caught for the Washington Nationals in 2009, and is currently a free agent. Bard put together two excellent offensive years in 2006-2007, followed by two extremely poor ones in 2008-2009. He still draws a good number of walks, but that’s about the only good thing to say about his [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:54 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2009
Grady Sizemore can Hide his Penis with a Tea Cup
Deadspin has the photographic evidence, as Grady Sizemore takes some beefcake photos for his girlfriend. Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to let the tea steep in a pot for five minutes before pouring it into a cup?
By the way, I’d say the photos are not safe for work, or for browsing during a Sunday [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:37 am | Players | Permalink | 2 Comments
November 29, 2009
Players A to Z, Daniel Bard
Daniel Bard pitched in relief for the Boston Red Sox. A first-year rookie in 2009, Bard turned in an impressive performance. The 24-year-old struck out 63 in 49 1/3 innings, 11.5 per nine. His walks were a bit higher than the Red Sox might like at 4.0 per nine innings, but it [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:23 am | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 28, 2009
Players A to Z, Rod Barajas
Rod Barajas caught for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009. He currently stands as a free agent. Barajas set a career high for a season in playing time with 125 games and 429 at bats. He also turned in one of his worst offensive seasons. The only thing he did well [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:36 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 28, 2009
Players A to Z, Brian Bannister
Brian Bannister pitches as a starter for the Kansas City Royals. Bannister is a favorite of the sabermetric community due to his embrace of advanced statistics. Brian tries to minimize hits walks and home runs allowed, while maximizing his strikeouts. In other words, Bannister pitches to minimize his FIP, his Fielding Independent [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:22 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 28, 2009
Moyer Recovering
Jamie Moyer underwent surgery for a blood clot but expects to be ready for spring training. That’s good news.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:25 pm | Injuries | Permalink | No Comments
November 28, 2009
The End of Bud?
Bud Selig told owners who want him to stay on that he’ll leave the job of commissioner after his contract expires in 2012. I’ll believe when I see it.
Bud is getting up in years, so even if he does stay on past 2012, he won’t be around for ever. Who should MLB hire [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:50 am | Commissioner | Permalink | 6 Comments
November 28, 2009
Boston’s Shortstop
Via BBTF, Bob Ryan comes down hard on Theo Epstein over the Red Sox shorstop situation. What’s more interesting is Evan Brunell’s take on the situation. Since the Blue Jays signed Alex Gonzalez, Marco Sutaro is the best shortstop on the market. If the Red Sox sign him, they give Toronto a [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:57 am | Free Agents, Management, Team Evaluation | Permalink | 3 Comments
November 28, 2009
Baseball Fiction
Damian Hughes wrote the first Australian baseball novel, The American Dream: From Perth to Sacramento. The novel’s been a reality for a number of players from down under.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:10 am | Books | Permalink | No Comments
November 27, 2009
Players A to Z, Josh Banks
Josh Banks pitches for the San Diego Padres as a starter and a reliever. Over the last three seasons he’s pitched in the minors and got called up to the majors with the same results. He posts excellent strikeout and walk numbers in the minors, then his walks go way up and his [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:20 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 27, 2009
Players A to Z, Grant Balfour
Grant Balfour pitches in relief for the Tampa Bay Rays. Apart from being the worst named pitcher since Bob Walk, Balfour over the last two years demonstrates just how inconsistent relief pitchers perform from year to year. In 2008, Balfour used a very high strikeout rate, 12.8 per nine, combined with a great [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:00 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 27, 2009
Special Accomplishment
Tim Lincecum’s two Cy Young awards makes his arbitration case more complicated:
Theoretically, because of a “special accomplishment” provision, the arbitration process allows Thurman to negotiate without regard to service time, meaning Lincecum could be compared with any pitchers, meaning teammate Barry Zito (averaging $18 million annually) and CC Sabathia ($23 million average) could enter the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:38 am | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
November 27, 2009
Bob Sheppard Retires
Bob Sheppard gave up trying to come back to his job at Yankee Stadium:
Sheppard, 99, hasn’t worked a game since late in the 2007 season due to illness.
“I have no plans of coming back,” Sheppard told the Web site in a telephone interview. “Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:10 am | All-Time Greats | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 27, 2009
Black Friday
Amazon is offering great deals, and you can help out Baseball Musings by going through this site for your shopping.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:31 am | Other | Permalink | 2 Comments
November 26, 2009
Zeile for Lists
The Todd Zeile for Hall of Fame movement begins.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:39 am | Humor | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 26, 2009
Bedard and the Orioles
Geoff Baker in Seattle notes that the Orioles may end up with Erik Bedard:
This story in the Baltimore Sun indicates that Bedard is at the top of the Baltimore Orioles’ wish list. How big a coup would that be for O’s president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail? Not only does he get to reap the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:36 am | Free Agents | Permalink | No Comments
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