A few AL East links, as the Orioles enjoy first place…
- Check out some interesting quotes from Yankees executives Brian Cashman and Damon Oppenheimer in Tyler Kepner's profile of potential #1 draft pick Gerrit Cole for the New York Times. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith spoke to Cole in March.
- The Rays and other teams approached Brad Penny during the offseason about becoming a closer, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Three club options "are far too many" from a player's point of view, writes SI's Jon Heyman in reference to Wade Davis' new contract with Tampa Bay. Davis' agent B.B. Abbott explained to MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith on Thursday that the pitcher felt the contract represented a worthwhile tradeoff.
- Not much is known about Vladimir Guerrero's personal life, but Kevin Van Valkenburg and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun shed a little light on his personality.
Penny would probably be an above average closer.
I liked the story on Vlad. Really never knew what to think of him
What a great article on Vlad, everyone should read it.
Let me just say that as an Angels fan, Vlad is one of my all-time favorite players. His love of the game is infectious. If all players played like Vlad (not skill wise – just with his passion for the game) stadiums would be sold out every night. He honestly appreciates the chance to hit make a ton of money hitting a small round ball. Unlike others, you never get the sense that he feels entitled.
Being with the Angels as long as he was you would hear the occasional story from his personal life. However, the article is dead-on that very little is known about what goes on outside of baseball. Always nice when someone pulls back the curtain a bit on such an amazing person.
Amazing article on Vlad. I thought I’d keep that theam up for this thread. It was good though.
Vlad is baseball player not a reality tv joke I think thats great i don’t care what the players do at home come to work and play hard just like vlad has for a long time
Penny would have made more money and played longer he picked wrong.
The Pirates would be insane to pass on Cole. Rendon is going to be a good player but Cole can be a super power ace that usually are either impossible to acquire via trade and incredibly expensive to acquire as a free agent.
I drool thinking of having Cole, Banuelos, Betances, Brackman, Warren and Noesi all waiting in AA or AAA.
Tim, i like the segway you made about the Vlad article “…and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore SUN shed a little LIGHT on his personality.”