Ten years ago today, the Rockies signed an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic named Ubaldo Jimenez. Now the 27-year-old ace boasts a 3.59 career ERA and 669 strikeouts in 744 innings. Today's links:
- Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays is in the mix as the best hitter in the American League, writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. If that's true, his five-year, $65MM contract will turn out to be a significant bargain.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman to Derek Jeter in a November 30th meeting: "You said all you wanted was what was fair. How much higher do we have to be than the highest offer for it to be fair?" That's from Ian O'Connor's source; the ESPNNewYork.com writer has a new book out next month on Jeter.
- The Wichita Wingnuts signed former big league outfielder Brent Clevlen, announced the team. The independent league club is partially owned by a former teammate of Clevlen's, Nate Robertson.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart looks at the potential roster moves the Astros could make when Clint Barmes is activated off the disabled list, possibly as soon as this coming weekend.
The Wichita Wingnuts seem to be made up of ex-Tigers that even DD wouldn’t re-sign to make over $10MM/year. At least he wouldn’t do it a second time. I hate Nate.
Cashman telling it how it is.
I wish people would give the Jeter contract talks a rest. Also they should give the Cliff Lee snuffs NY talks a rest. And for that matter, the “Can he pitch? — Cashman” thing should probably stop. In fact, maybe we should all realize that there are other teams besides NYY and BOS. (Yes that includes me lol)
Jeter I can stop talking about, same with Lee, but this Clevlen kid…can he pitch?
-B. Cashman
How about Clevlen pitches and Cashman catches?
I second the end of the can he pitch thing. It’s stupid
I refuse to believe the MLB has more than 2 teams. I also believe other stupid things like the Earth is flat, Donald Trump would make a good politician, and Obama was born in Kenya.
I would vote for Donald Trump’s hair. It’s obviously sentient and knows how to run a country.
I was having dinner at that restaurant in the trump hotel and tower and this insanely hot chick came out from the back and I watcher her walk all the way across the room and when I turned back Donald Trump was only a few feet behind her (I then realized it was Ivanka Trump) and he stopped right behind the person I was having dinner with and his hair is really ridiculously fake looking in person
as well as fake looking on television… Like the rest of his face (and most of Ivanka’s body)
Wait. What is this about the Earth not being flat?!?
It’s banana shaped.
my roommate is convinced Trump would fix the country’s financial issues.
I laughed at him for everyone that reads this.
don’t worry he’ll have us declare category 11 bankruptcy then have someone else take the fall…
I really wish you were kidding, lol. That makes me sad to realize people actually think things like this
Personally, I couldnt care less about jeter drama. He is signed what more needs to be said? The same people who cared and followed all that drama are probably the same people who were losing sleep over jeter not being a yankee when everyone knew he was returning. This guy is just trying to sell his book.
I agree with Bautista. He’s been AMAZING. He has 8 HR already. He didn’t get 8 until May 15th last year. If he keeps this up he’ll pass the 54 from last season. Damn, that swing is beautiful.
After today’s game he’s on pace for 58.8 homeruns
is the .8 at fenway?
Actually the terrible thing is that Miguel Cabrera will hit 58.9 homeruns this year for the Major League lead…
I don’t think he will hit 58.9 but 35-40 sounds about right.
And how is that terrible again??
It’s an awesome power stroke, that is for sure.
Right now, I think Bautista is the best hitter in the league today.
The contract is looking like an amazing bargain. Pitchers have made the adjustment on him but so has he and he is actually hitting better than he did last year (his 2nd half last year was better than his 1st half).
Imagine if Patterson could actually get on base from time to time. Jays may have a better record.
It would be nice if anybody can get on base for him.
Although it’s been a bit odd with him. At times, they have been on base for him but he hasn’t been able to hit those times but when he has been hitting, they can’t get on for him. Example: Tampa series
Patterson stole his RBIs tonight. 😀
Where are all those guys suggesting Bautista was going to revert back to a 15 HR 45 RBI guy and a 700 OPS? Hell his OBA is almost that without the slugging. Half Man/Half beard growing machine!
Best hitter in the game??? He’s good, but the guy has never hit better than .260 in a full season. He’s got power but at 30 years old and never hitting more than 16 HRs in a season prior to last years it really does raise eyebrows as to why a whether or not he can do it again.
I would have a very hard time putting him in the top 10, and with out that 54 HR season last year, he woulnt even be in the top 100.
The dude is a career .254 hitter and you want to call him the best hitter in the game today??? I have to call that an epic fail.
I think it will play out a little different than you suggest, but probably not an exact continuation of the present. He is selective and has a wicked HR stroke. How long do you want to hold onto his numbers before he was an everyday player? He may not hit 40 this year, but his trend since Sept’09 shows that he has figured something out and he is a pretty damn good hitter. Imagine if he had some real protection behind him? What are you going to say if he continues to rake? I know what I’ll say: “Pawsdeep as a baseball analyst? Epic fail
I am not talking about his length of career. You look at what he’s done since September of 09 and it’s amazing and scary part is, he continues to get better.
Career wise he is a poor hitter because he’s only had 1 great season but like I said, RIGHT NOW, you could argue he is the best hitter in the game today.
Lets see; top 5 in runs scored, 2nd in OBP, leads the AL in B.Avg, tied for 1st in HR, 1st in BB, 1st in slugging, 1st in OPS, 5th in total bases, oh and he is 2 for 2 in steals. All this with zero protection in the line up and pitchers throwing him breaking balls 4 out of every 5 pitches. I may be a homer here, but I’ll tell you this, if Bautista was on the Yankees or Red Sox, he’d be considered as the best hitter in Baseball (right now) and you wouldnt hear a peap about it. Oh and all of the above items, done with playing about 4 less games than all the other top hitters and some pretty good defence thrown in… if he continues on these types of stats, A.A. is a genius for that contract he signed.
It’s April. Were not even a month into the season.
If he is still on a tear in July I will change my tune, but a statiscally freakish year paired with a hot spring will not change my mind.
Maybe you would like me to start spouting the stats going back to Sept 1st 2009? Nah, I’ll let you look them up.
I’m aware—but two hot months and 1 freakish season doesnt exonerate him as a baseball great. Ryan raburn had a similar September to his 09, hits for better average less power, and a higher OBP in his month long wrecking job so average players can look like hall of famers…now would I rather have Bautista? Of course, but I was just drawing a parallel…
I know he is good and expect to see him with 35-40 homers with a BA of 260-270 and strong slugging….in which I will reiterate that those numberdoes not make him the best hitter in the game….it would definitely put him in the top 10, but I will need to see more than 1 season and 2 red hot months before I can hail him in the top ten bats in the game.
Remember when Ryan Rayburn ALSO followed up the mashing of September ’09 with a monster ’10 and a freakishly hot, get on-base over 50% of the time, lead the league in HRs while not even playing 4 games already this season??? Damn, Rayburn’s got game
Anyone else want to name a player who had ONE great month in their career and use THAT as an argument against Bautista?? His ‘hot streak’ spans over 3 different seasons Paws, that ain’t fluke territory anymore. I’m fine with people not yet calling him a great, just because you definitely need to sustain great numbers, BUT nothing about his swing shows a likeliness of a plummet. Just read Dave Cameron’s article here.
Oh and Chris Shelton?? Good comparable for Bautista??
Drawing a parallel to what? Raburn had Sept 09, what did he do in 2010 or this year to even be mentioned in the same breath as Bautista? Man, you must be in construction because you sure can dig a hole with irrelevant garbage. I’ll put it to you this way, over the last 220 games (just short of 1.5 full seasons) There is not a more feared power hitter in baseball. That may change over the balaance of this season, but right now, there is a strong case to be made with putting Bautista in the same category of a Pujols/A-Rod/Hamilton/Cabrara etc… His numbers do match up well with that group Feel better?
Maybe you should learn to use words in the proper context. “Exonerate” means to declare free from blame. if you want to make any valid argument you better start by sticking with words that you know how to use properly-this isn’t a gradeschool essay contest.
Don’t use BA as a reference to a good hitter ever again. It is useless in determining a good/productive hitter. Try OPS, wOBA, ISO etc as it shows a true measure of an effevective hitter and you will see that Bautista is a PIMP!
OPS, wOBA and ISO show power and ability to draw a walk. BA is certaintly not the best stat to use to prove a hitters ability but to DO NOT devalue the importance of a players ability to be a great contact hitter. A .280 BA means nothing but a .330 plus means a lot.
“DO NOT devalue the importance of a players ability to be a great contact hitter.”
wOBA does not devalue contact ability. to the contrary, it gives that ability an objectively appropriate weight as a part of a player’s total offensive output
and incidentally, batting average isn’t even a very effective measure of contact ability
Jeter is a joke, should have taken 10 mil a year and been happy. Instead he thinks about his “captain” ego and himself. I understand the Yanks can afford it, but players like Youk and Pedey(or course im talking about my team, I know them the best) take discounts and are just happy to be playing baseball for 8+ mil or whatever a year. Don’t get me wrong, I love money– but when you’re at a certain point and are a part of a TEAM, don’t be so selfish.
Go bautista btw, I like this guy and everyone doubts him.
Does pedey or Youk have the Track record, history or the revenues that Derek Jeter has?
they also sign those two players to early team friendly contracts, and none of them actually test the market.
Jeter has never tested the market either. And nobody should be paid for past performance. They were already paid for that ($189mil over 10 years). I am not ragging on Jeter but he is old and not even near as effective as he was. It happens. But there is no way on this banana-shaped earth that he should have gotten $51mil/3 years. That is ridiculous.
Jeter tested the market I think is what it’s all about this last time, found nothing even approaching what the NYY initially offered is what most have gathered, yet wanted far more even then. That is why most have termed him as greedy and not team 1st.
It would have been something if cashman would have been allowed to let him take a hike to another team, or let jeter pout it off and come crawling back to see if that initial offer was still on the table however.
I’m sure if Youk and Pedroia had a chance to test the free agent market, they would try it out and not sign a team-friendly contract.
As long as Bautista keeps Chuck Norris’ beard, he is going to rake, the second he runs into Chuck and gets a round house kick to the face and loses the beard, he will be no one special.
If the MLBPA had any sense, they’d institute a mandatory beard policy for post-arbitration players. It’s no coincidence that John Lackey threw his best game of the season after growing a beard.
There’s plenty of precedence for beards/elevated play – let’s not forget the early 90’s Phillies “Macho Row” and the 2004 performance from Johnny Damon.
Nor Charlie O’s mastachio’d bunch with Oakland that romped to 3 straight world series when he gave them all a small bonus for growing a mustache of some sort.
The concept of “Playoff Beard” exists for a reason.
Brian Wilson.
Absolutely, remember on Family Guy when Peter grew a mustache? Same power property, grow a beard and reap the benefits, only Bautista has Chuck Norris’ beard and so he has all of baseball in beard envy.
No, I don’t, because that show stopped being even remotely passable like six years or seven years ago.
We will see with Bautista we are what 23 or 24 games into the season. As for Miguel Cabrera if his home ballpark was Rogars Centre, you could add about 8 to 10 more homeruns a season at least. Comerica is a big park.
8-10 less homeruns but 15-20 more doubles.
I’ll take that trade off for miggy in comerica.
Okay seriously, I am really getting sick of the steroid allegations against Bautista. Just look at footage from before Murphy was hired to be the Jays hitting coach and after. His swing is night and day. He added a massive leg kick, so he’s ready to drive the ball earlier. It’s simple mechanics. He always had power, he didn’t have the right mechanics and wasn’t getting ready soon enough. Seriously, give it a rest he’s clean.
This just in….
“Breaking news…a good percentage of the Yankees took steriods and they have a massive payroll……”
This just in….I never said Bautista used but clearly enough has happened to take the blinders off.
This just in…there’s about 102 other users on that 2004 list that we don’t know about.
Stop
Yeah, I remember when Brady Anderson straightened out his mechanics before he hit 52 hrs as a leadoff hitter. Still dont know why people questioned if he was on the juice cuz he never failed a test either!
Another genius who talks of a time before there was testing. It’s already been indicated that in the last 15 months, Bautista has been tested 6 times. Also, the Brady comparison is lacking in any real comparables – A) he went from not much power to huge power to not much power again. Bautista, went from having power but not playing everyday, to adjusting his swing, Rios getting waived, Playing everyday starting in Sept 09, and has 220 games of absolute mashing with no sign of slowing down, and actually getting better with his avg, hr/ab, WAR, OBA, Slugging, just about every meaningfull stat there is to be used for hitters.
You were the same one I was having an argument with in the offseason when the Jays signed Bautista, saying he was going to be a 15 hr/50 RBI guy. I guess having a bunch of users on your team must make you suspicious about others.
But again, thanks for the trolling input.
Wow, Batistas passed 6 tests since he went from zero to hero. Imagine that! And Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, etc passed all their tests too! Incredible! You probably can’t accept that Clemens started juicing when he became a Jay either! Clemens, George Bell, and Canseco are among many Jays who used peds FYI. That free canadien healthcare system at it’s best. Keep on trollin eh!
LOL… Absolutely idiotic. Clemens, Canseco, Bonds, Sosa, McGuire etc, never had to take any tests as they were all pre-testing era with their huge years. And did you actually just make a George Bell reference? Really? What about Ortiz doing the zero to Hero routine? I love it when guys who try to be funny with nothing to really say, try to post reteric to pass off as intelligence.
Let me try… Jim Rice, huge juice head in the 80’s. Hey, it’s posted on the internet somewhere so it must be true… right??? right???
I find it best not to reply to guys like this.. He’s completely ignorant and doesn’t know anything about baseball. He just comes here to stir things up and feel important enough that people actually reply to him.
He’s never said anything that even remotely resembles a pratical thought, at this point I don’t he’s capable of doing so. You know you’re right and he’s a tool, just ignore him and hopefully he’ll just go away.
So speaks my Stalker who trolls on every Sox post.
Nah, your little mind has Jim Ed confused with other 80’s reputed juicers like Joe Carter, Paul Molitor, and Dave Stieb! Think it was in the Mitchell Report!
Figures you are a Sox fan… Who else would accept the idiots of the world… Based on your picture, I guess you would know the jiucers when you see them.
Leave it to a jays fan to be jealous. No big surprise there!
next yr battin lineup
Davis
Escobar
Bautista
Feilder
Lind
Lawrie
Arencibia
Snider
Hill or Nix
I highly doubt the lineup will look like that. I think the Jays are going to spend some money this offseason. I don’t think Davis will be a starter next season. The Jays do have money to spend and they need a legitimate leadoff hitter. A guy who can hit over .300 and steal over 30 bags. Jose Reyes is a free agent. Aaron Hill is in a serious decline. I don’t think it would be too crazy to see the Jays going out and signing Reyes and moving him to second base. Then your lineup looks like this:
2B Jose Reyes
SS Yunel Escobar
RF Jose Bautista
DH Prince Fielder
1B Adam Lind
3B Brett Lawrie
C J.P Arencibia
LF Travis Snider
CF Eric Thames/ Davis/ Free agent
eric thames playing center field?? we just got rid of a bad fielder CF!
You can tell Bautista is raking. He has so many haters now.
True dat!
Raking equals juicing!
Numbers dont lie—to go from 16 to 54 HRs is quite suspicious.
But i will always give the player the benefit of the doubt, even if they what they are doing is statiscally 99.9% improbable.
If this is still serious, I hope somebody punches you in your face today. Preferably a little kid.
Pretty sure that Bautista has probably been tested more times than he can count with “random” testing. Also it is not as if he put on the body mass that you commonly see with PED users, but I guess A-rod never bulked up that much.
You’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, yet in the same breath call it suspicious? Nice double talk. You should be a politician.
Barry bonds never failed a steroid test.
250% increase in power ABSOLUTELY will make fans wonder. Especially when there wasn’t even a slight increase, save a stellar September, before you all of the sudden mashed 54…
I will always give the player the benefit of the doubt, but that also won’t stop me from asking questions or understanding other people for their reservations about a machinelike incease in production
“Especially when there wasn’t even a slight increase, save a stellar September, before you all of the sudden mashed 54…”
as you acknowledge, the power surge did start a season before he hit 54. his ISO was .349 in 125 sept/oct plate appearances, which coincides with the point at which he made the mechanical adjustments he did
read about them here and be cured: link to aolnews.com
Bonds biggest years were before testing was instituted genius. Try again!
lol to barry bonds never failed a steroid test
how many did he take u braniac?
if you are atleast going to have an opinion have some sort of evidence to back it up
I think that was his point. He’s saying that if the random tests weren’t actually random like aforementioned, Bonds would have failed one. But he didn’t because he probably didn’t take one… because it probably is random.
There was no tests then ! geeze
Let them ramble on. Its funny that when they instituted testing in 2005, bonds went from 45hr/101rbi in ’04 to a 14 games plays season in ’05 and only hit 26 and 28 in each of 06 and 07.
Thats why he never failed a test. Obviously once MLB started testing, he stopped using, but I guess it needs to be spelled out for some people…