Signing Ruben Tejada to be their starting shortstop, rather than promoting Aledmys Diaz to the job, was the right move for the Cardinals, Bernie Miklasz writes for 101Sports.com. Diaz went 4-for-4 with two doubles in the Spring Training game after Jhonny Peralta went down with a thumb injury. But his production has since slowed, and Diaz has very little experience in Triple-A (where he was optioned Sunday after Tejada’s signing became official). It’s best for him to begin his season there to see if he can build on the success he enjoyed in the second half of last season, Miklasz argues. Here’s more from the Central divisions.
- Carlos Correa is an incredibly exciting young shortstop, but in comparison, Francisco Lindor of the Indians doesn’t get enough hype, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues. Lindor got off to a slow start after being promoted to the big leagues last year but batted .370/.413/.500 in August and .325/.366/.592 the rest of the season. “How many times do you see a kid come up in the first 100 at-bats and just go off, and then the league makes its adjustments?” asks manager Terry Francona. “It was kind of the other way around.” One reason for his late-season success, Lindor says, was bunting — he had nine sacrifices in August. By bunting (which Francona wasn’t necessarily thrilled with, but which he did allow), Lindor learned to track the ball better, setting himself up for success in future plate appearances.
- Pirates ace Gerrit Cole is one of several pre-arbitration players who were reportedly unhappy with the salary his team offered him for the 2016 season, Nathaniel Rakich of VICE Sports notes. (Cole will receive $541K from the Bucs after posting a 2.60 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 2015.) But going public with their displeasure in an effort to affect the next Collective Bargaining Agreement might not be the best course of action, Rakich argues. The MLB minimum salary is a pittance compared to what many players get, but it’s still a lot of money by the standards of most MLB fans. And the 1994-95 strike, in which players and owners negotiated through what Rakich calls “grandstanding,” demonstrates the perils of trying to change labor conditions by arguing through the media.
I’ve always liked Cole ever since he left the Yankees at the alter to attend college instead. I’m surprised the Pirates wouldn’t throw him a couple hundred K more to improve relations with him before they get into contract talks down the road. Hopefully enough animosity between the sides builds to the point where hey have to trade him. And you know which team is loaded with prospects and would probably get him, right?
I was somewhat sympathetic to the descriptions of you being a 16-year old, but unless you school is closed or you are home sick today, one does wonder about the veracity of that. It’s not Evacuation Day, Good Friday, or Patriots Day, and Spring Break isn’t until next month.
If you are just trying to get a rise out of people, I suppose this is success. If you are actually hoping to convince…maybe not so much. Your path to choose, but if it’s the former and not the latter, you run the risk of everyone simply tuning you out.
Mike156–calm down. Not worth getting so upset. Either ignore the comments or respond to the uberfan with logic as I did below. Going off on the uberfan only fuels the ego. If you respond back calmly and with logic, you will defeat such posters as they enter a battle of wits unarmed.
I have a smart phone now
Spring Break is now Brozo.
So you’re saying the Red Sox are getting Chris Sale and Garrett Cole if their teams trade them? You’re unreal.
We’ll probably not both, duh
The Pirates have the kind and quantity of prospects needed to trade for Chris Sale. The reason that’s important is that it means the Pirates will not trade Cole for a boatload of prospects. The will target specific players who fit team needs. In other words, the cost of acquiring Cole will likely be painful.
Chris Sale might cost them Austin Meadows + Taillon and Glasnow. And I don’t think the pirates would do that.
Cole is not going any where for 2 years at least. Pirates will have Glasnow and Taillon in the Majors sooner than later as solid pieces to a strong rotation with Cole and Liriano. Meadows is the OF heir apparent for when McCutchen comes up for FA in a few years. High praise for Meadows from scouts from what I have read and they will not part with him. No need for Sale right now for the Bucs. They will need Taillon and Glasnow much more as big parts to the rotation when Cole leaves via trade or FA.
A shame the pirates won’t be able to afford cole long term since he is a boras client. Honestly , If the white sox are out of it by the deadline I won’t be shocked if the cubs tried to make a package for him.
Might cost them? That would be an underpay. Tallion has been hurt so much he has missed valuable development time and meadows hasnt shown enough of his raw power in games to project him reaching his ceiling. It would take bell as well to peak the sox interest.
Taillon will be up in June …
Are you talking about Houston or the Dodgers, I’m confused
Eh, it’s probably not worth it in the long run.
A few hundred thousand now will have no bearing on decisions from free agency – it’s business all round.
What it will do though, is set the starting point at arbitration higher, which has a snowball effect each year afterwards.
A couple of hundred K would do nothing for the Pirates when it would come to negotiations with Mr. Cole and Mr. Boros (assuming Mr. Boros will still be the agent of record at the time). The $8 million signing bonus is not helping one iota now so why would just a couple hundred thousand help in 3 years? Many other teams besides your beloved Red Sox. will come calling with prospects and MLB roster players for the likes of Mr. Cole if he stays healthy and keeps performing. Will be a bidding war. No matter the scenario, all good for the Bucs.
Maybe so but I like our chances if the Bucs make him available
You will be waiting at least 2 years.
Curious Bigpapi4ever, what would you give up for Cole?
So, our putative 16 year old with a smart phone–very advanced for his age–began his admiration for Cole when Cole “left the Yankees at the alter to attend college”. Putting aside the spelling for a moment, that was in 2008. Mathematically possible, I suppose, that an eight year-old (going on nine) would be so in to baseball as to recognize a HS pitching star from California.
+1
Pretty big news when first round picks dont sign, especially when its the most heralded franchise they turn down. Add in he is a sox fan i can see him not liking anything yankees related.
lest we not forgot that Cole got $8 million out of HS in 2011 then pitched in the majors in 2013, ’14 and ’15 and will pitch in ’16 under this deal. Couple that with his current salary until he hits arbitration and he’s earning/earned roughly $2.5 M/yr. Certainly he’s outperformed his contract but that’s the nature of the game. He’ll need to continue to pitch well and stay healthy to get the next big contract.
Actually got the $8 million out of college in 2011. Yanks drafted when he graduated HS in 2008 and he declined and went to UCLA. Yes, mentioned above that the $8 million was forgotten in the discussion by Cole and Boros. I would expect that. That is why even an extra million now would mean nothing when it comes to an extension or FA deal with the Pirates. Why should the Pirates give away a bunch of money that will make no difference in future negotiations.
If Cole is a Boras client, then he gone.
Mr. Cole will get a contract with an outrageous yearly salary for at least 6-8 years. And he will get an ‘opt out’ clause which will allow him to negotiate for even more money after a few years if he does well; and if he does poorly and his career heads downhill, then he will stay with the team and eat up a good percentage of the payroll without performing at the level he’s being compensated at. That should be great for the fans of the team.
I have no idea why and athlete that is sensational in football and basketball would want to play those sports professionally if he could play baseball at a slightly above average level. Less strain on the body and a lifetime earnings potential that the NFL and NBA can’t possibly match.
See Bo Jackson. Still remember watching him run up the OF wall to make a catch. What he could have been except for the hip injury that he sustained in is last Raiders game. Should have quit football but even Bo didn’t know that would happen to him.
Might want to do a bit of fact checking on Lindor. He did not come up and just start hitting. He had trouble hitting over .230 until Francona moved him up to bat in front of Brantley. He got pitches to hit, and immediately his BA started climbing.
For people that believe that the person batting behind a player does not affect the amount of hitable pitches he sees, one might investigate how Daniel Murphy went off after Yoenis Céspedes was acquired by the Mets and hit behind Murphy or how José Abreu followed his great 2014 offensive year with a poor 2015 resulting in Hawk and Steve constantly pointing out after Abreu AB’s that he simply wasn’t seeing many good pitches….which resulted in the Sox overpaying to acquire Todd Frazier to bat behind Abreu in 2016.
The article is saying that it was the other way around. At first he did not hit then figured it out and hit 370 in August and 325 the rest of the way.
I thought the package for Frazier was underwhelming, though i admittedly don’t follow their prospects as closely as some other teams.
Having protection in the line-up is HUGE for most teams, and Ces is a great example for how some protection can transform a lineup. Murphy got stupid hot, but the rest of the lineup were able to relax some because they weren’t needed to be, “The Guy.”
Thats exactly what the article says, he struggled at first and then tore it up, as opposed to a lot of talented players coming up, starting hot and then the league adjusts. Its not the author, it was your reading comprehension that led to your misguided comment.
As to the second part of your post this is proven to have been false through statistical analysis. Pitchers will throw hitters the same. The 2 things that have actually proven to help hitters is having players on base in front of them and the speed of those runners. Some pitchers stuff plays down a bit out of the stretch, and when say a billy hamilton is on first a pitchers fastball usage goes up to prevent steals and fastballs are the easiest pitch to hit for majority of mlbers.
I’m sorry Samuel but did you really just say Jose Abreu had a poor 2015 season? Whatever crack you are smoking let me have some.
Compared to his 2014.
Abreu’s 2014 and 2015 season are basically identical.. his numbers only dipped because the WhiteSox had the worst offense in The AL last year. Now that they have Frazier behind him expect big things. 40+ Homers .300+ BA
Basically identical? Whaaaa? His babip stabalized is all. He is too slow to be carrying a .360 babip. I would never expext him to have another .300 season tbh.