On this date in 1935, a left-hander named Sanford Braun was born in Brooklyn. He went on to throw a perfect game, win three Cy Young Awards and one MVP, and be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972. Braun changed his surname after his mother remarried during his childhood, and rose to stardom with the Dodgers as Sandy Koufax. Here are this week's batch of links, the final BBWI of 2011…
- Twinkie Town interviewed Twins hitting coach Joe Vavra.
- The Newberg Report wrote about Yu Darvish and the possible chain of reactions for the Rangers.
- Lone Star Ball looks at the various possible outcomes for Darvish in Texas.
- Baseball Time In Arlington mused about Josh Hamilton's future with the Rangers.
- St. Louis Sports 360 praises the Cardinals signing of Carlos Beltran.
- Viva El Birdos is thankful the Cardinals still have Matt Holliday.
- Redbird Rants says now is the time for the Cardinals to extend Yadier Molina.
- BoSox Injection believes the Red Sox did well by acquiring Andrew Bailey.
- Over The Monster looked at Ryan Sweeney as a right field solution for the Red Sox.
- The Best Sox Blog lists some right field options for the Red Sox.
- South Side Sox says John Danks' new contract extension comes with more responsibility.
- Two Points on a Compass isn't sure Yoenis Cespedes makes sense for the Mariners.
- More Mariners explains why Seattle should trade Michael Pineda right now.
- Prospect Insider came up with five trade ideas involving Pineda.
- Sodo Mojo reviews the trade that sent Mike Morse from the Mariners to the Nationals.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness says the Dodgers' lack of international spending is starting to show.
- River Ave. Blues wrote about how Rafael Soriano may be hindering the Yankees' offseason.
- MLB Reports tries to figure out what the Angels should do with their crowded outfield.
- Jays Journal doesn't think Matt Garza makes sense for the Blue Jays.
- Puckett's Pond grades Terry Ryan's first offseason back at GM of the Twins.
- Pirates Prospects wrote about the potential value of a local television contract to the Pirates.
- We Should Be GMs broke down the Pirates moves this offseason.
- DRays Bay listed ten contracts the Rays wish they could return to the store.
- Righteous Shift likes the Indians' Aaron Cunningham pickup.
- Seedlings To Starts wrote about Rockies prospect Tyler Matzek and his control problems.
- Baseball Reality Tour listed the ten best players to change teams last winter.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
FYI: The “MORE MARINERS” Story on Pineda site is coming back with a virus attack reported by my AVG virus software.
It’s not doing that for me. That’s strange.
I thought so to, so I closed it out and went back there a couple times and each time it detected threats. I’m not personally concerned as it was detected… just letting others know so they can make their own decisions before going there.
I just got it too before reading your warning….I have Avast
It appears to just be obfuscated Javascript code. After researching it a bit… it shouldn’t be a concern.
It appears to just be obfuscated Javascript code. After researching it a bit… it shouldn’t be a concern.
The Pineda trade offers are just dumb.
There have been public offers? Or are you just going by fan hypotheticals?
What? You do realize that this is a blog post, right?
A blog post which contains how many “trade offers”?
This is a joke, right? I can’t tell if you’re serious or not. Why don’t you go and read prospect insider then get back to me. Good Lord.
Apologies, I was only looking at the first Pineda story.
Yeah, the Churchill offers are lame.
This is a joke, right? I can’t tell if you’re serious or not. Why don’t you go and read prospect insider then get back to me. Good Lord.
Extend Molina 4 years at 45MM with an option for a 5th year.
It’s “Redbird Rants”. “Redleg” refers to a totally different team.
Its “Cheese Puffs”. “Cheeseballs” refers to a totally different snack.
Every step I take is the funkiest move you’ve ever seen.
The funk it is!
I don’t understand all the “let’s trade Pineda” talk. I know one season does not a legit star make, but the M’s are young and far away from contention, guys like Pineda are who we should be trying to trade FOR not AWAY.
I realize that trading him would bring back a bevy of prospects, but I just don’t see it. Most M fans flat out refuse to consider trading Felix but love the idea of trading Pineda.
The Mariners have pitching depth in the minors. The Mariners need hitting depth in the minors. What doesn’t make sense?
Because unlike Felix, Pineda is under control for a long time at a low price. If anyone should be traded the last person should be your rookie star pitcher.
and unlike felix, pineda isn’t actually a star. they’d be selling high on him in an extreme seller’s market. at the very least, it should be explored
Everything should be explored, but looking at the A’s trading two young arms, I don’t think the market is all that extreme, and certainly doesn’t appear to be so if bats are your biggest concern.
Do you not think the A’s got a great haul for a pitcher who is not as good, young, or cheap as Michael Pineda?
Exactly.
Because unlike Felix, Pineda is under control for a long time at a low price. If anyone should be traded the last person should be your rookie star pitcher.
The only way MIA would even think of trading Stanton is if King Felix is involved
Thanks for the links – there’s some good offseason articles to help time me over until opening day.
Thanks for the links – there’s some good offseason articles to help time me over until opening day.
The M’s need hitting depth on the big club too….lol
The M’s need hitting depth on the big club too….lol
Interesting articles on Darvish. Hopefully, he won’t demand more than 10-12mil per. You figure he won’t since not signing costs him bigger bucks than he would make in Japan as well as cost the Ham Fighters that posting fee.
I see him signing on a 5/75 deal, which is still reasonable. We all wish he’d sign for 5/60 but it won’t happen unless Darvish hates Japan or something that makes him want to sign for anything.
Just check Cot’s and first off has baseball prospectus always run the site or is this a new thing? Second, no no-trade clause. However considering the Athletics just sold Bailey fairly cheapish, Madson is still on the market, and Soriano will cost $25M over the next 2 years (you can forget about him using the opt out), then you have to realize unless the yanks eat about 90% of his salary Soriano is staying put.
What kind of SP do you expect to get for a RP with an xFIP over 4, who makes more than almost every other reliever in baseball and can’t seem to stay healthy that had questions of TJ surgery surrounding him this past spring?
Levine and Steinbrenner made their bed with that one, they’re stuck with Soriano for the next two years.
Soriano screams “negative trade value” right now.
If a team wanted to trade for a veteran reliever instead of signing Madson, there are cheaper, better options to be had.
What would the Braves want with him? They’ve got one of the best bullpens in the MLB.
Besides, at the cost of Soriano, if the Braves were that desperate for a late inning reliever, they’d just go sign Madson, at this point with the demand for closers essentially non-existent, Madson would come cheaper than Soriano.
What would the Braves want with him? They’ve got one of the best bullpens in the MLB.
Besides, at the cost of Soriano, if the Braves were that desperate for a late inning reliever, they’d just go sign Madson, at this point with the demand for closers essentially non-existent, Madson would come cheaper than Soriano.
Shaky Gonzalez is still out there as well..IMO about as good, another injury risk and could probably be had on a 1 year super cheap, incentive laden deal based on games.
Shaky screams for one of those 1 year deals Boras likes to have some of his FA agree to.