Agent Paul Kinzer said at this week’s press conference to introduce Edwin Encarnacion in Cleveland that the attendance bonuses that are built into the contract — worth upwards of $1MM per season, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman — helped push the Indians‘ offer over the top, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. However, it may be tough to meet those figures, as Hoynes points out that Cleveland hasn’t topped two million fans (the minimum threshold for Encarnacion to begin receiving incentives) since 2008 and haven’t drawn three million fans in a season since 2001. That type of clause is rare enough, Kinzer notes, that Cleveland president of baseball ops Chris Antonetti had to call the commissioner’s office just to see if the Indians would even be allowed to include such an incentive in the contract. While it’s unlikely that Encarnacion alone will drive the Indians’ attendance to those levels, MLB.com’ Jordan Bastian tweets that Cleveland has sold more than $1MM worth of season tickets since word of the agreement with Encarnacion broke — a 50 percent increase in new sales relative to last year’s offseason. A couple more notes on the Central divisions:
- Though this week’s report that Brandon Phillips nixed a trade to the Braves (via FOX’s Ken Rosenthal) lends some credence to recent connections between Atlanta and Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press circled back with a source that characterized a Dozier-to-Atlanta deal as a “long shot” (Twitter link). It continues to appear as if the Dodgers are the only team that currently has a strong enough need to consider meeting Minnesota’s price for its excellent second baseman.
- Fastball velocity has increased throughout the game in the past several seasons, but it’s increased even faster within the Pirates organization during that time, Travis Sawchik of FanGraphs writes. The Bucs finished first in fastball velocity in 2015 (94.0 MPH) and second in 2016 (93.4 MPH). A key trait of many of the reclamation pitchers the Pirates have used in recent years — from starters like A.J. Burnett, Edinson Volquez and Francisco Liriano to relievers like Arquimedes Caminero, Neftali Feliz and John Holdzkom — is that they possess above-average velocity, as Sawchik points out. Bucs GM Neal Huntington notes that velocity gives pitchers more cushion for their mistakes, in that a poorly located pitch thrown in the mid-90s is less likely to yield poor results than a poorly located pitched thrown at a more modest radar reading. Now that other teams are also valuing velocity among free-agent pitchers, the Pirates are looking to develop hard-throwing pitchers of their own, like Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl.
I wondering if the bucs are done this winter. are they up for another move or two?
They are fielding almost the exact same team that they did in 2016. Hudson takes the place of Feliz. The Bucs FO expects fans to be fooled into thinking they plan to contend.
Or the offseason isn’t over yet? They’ve been connected to Quintana among others. Saying they don’t care about winning is just dumb.
They care about winning but not if it costs too much!
Have you ever owned a business? I highly doubt it based on your comments. So why not walk into your bosses office on Monday and ask for more money. He’s going to tell you no. He has a budget, the company you work for has a budget and baseball teams have a budget. If Nutting wants to make 20mil a year he has a right to do so just as the owner of your company has a right to make as much as he wants no matter the cost.
Yes, and we as fans have the right to not go to games! If ownership doesn’t want to field a competitive team then fans don’t have to buy the product! The better the product the more revenue you generate! Nutting is a greedy owner who is not interested in the Pirates tradition. I for one wish Mark Cuban would buy the buccos.
Cuban has no real desire to own the Pirates. He talks real big but he knows that he would have to operate much the same way as Nutting. He knows he could not make enough to still make money in the business and field a highly competitive team each season and not have to worry about a large contract going bad and have to eat a huge contract with no extra money coming in to be able to sign another big name to make up for the bad large contract player. People with money do not like to lose money. Just like you and I do not like to lose money.
Mark Cuban is a total punk. He is an elitist snob from Mt.Lebo.
Anyways the Pirates would have had a winning season if Liriano, Cutch and Cole didn’t have bad years. They are in a much better position than they ever were under the disgrace McClatchey. They have very good pitching depth in the minors and will be good. It’s a shame they share a division with the Cubs and Cards.
Some people will stick to the old bash ownership mantra no matter what happens. Spending tons of money doesn’t guarantee a championship. Ask the Dodgers.
Pittsburgh has the worst fans ever. When the team wins that go to the games and love them but when they don’t win the fans leave in droves and trash every aspect of that team. The media in Pittsburgh is also terrible, Mark Madden is example enough. I hope the down year for the Bucs last season will keep some of the bandwagon Steelers fans away from PNC Park they ruined the atmosphere.
Pathetic pathetic ” pirate fans”. Wake up. You will never see a world series with Nutting and he will continue to put bare minimum out on the field to win. Their front office lies all the time, they make trades to save money, but don’t reuse that money, and they keep stealing from morons. I’m just glad we have other owners who care.
Agree with everything u said. All the local media is so steeler driven They trash the pirates at every opportunity. As far as Cuban he is way too cool ( just ask him) to be in baseball
I like how fielding a competitive team year in and year out is “fooling” fans…Twins fan over hear who could use a little fooling lol.
We have an army of morons who listen to a blowhard named Mark Madden.who riles up listeners with the “Nutting’s Wallet” schtick.
In order to bash the Pirates, he praised the A’s in 2014 effusively for trading Addison Russel for two rental pitchers. “They are all in” “They want to win, the Pirates don’t”. etc. We all know how that worked out.
He wanted to trade Marte and Polanco for rentals when they were prospects.
Unlike baseball, he actually knows something about hockey, but still once proposed trading Evgeni Malkin for Rick Nash. Only to bash Nash as a “dog” years later.
“year in and year out” translates to only around 4 years. I think it’s a stretch to claim they were really competitive this past season. Prior to those 4 years, where they were seriously competitive, they did have one of the most horrible streaks in professional sports where they were the opposite.
Not exactly something to wish for.
The current FO didn’t create that 20 year streak. They ended it.
Madden is the absolute worst. But I give him credit for knowing his audience. The Nutting’s Wallet stuff plays very very well in Yinzburgh. It’s ratings gold.
But they really aren’t at the point yet where they’ve proven that they can consistently keep it competitive. 4 years of a winning record isn’t really proof. Especially since even that streak is now over. The Pirates have been hamstrung by ownership for a long time.
I will tell you as a life long Pirate fan that 2013 season was something that I will always remember. The excitement from that year will be hard to match. Even though they broke that awful streak I still hate the Braves. I blame them for ruining my baseball childhood.
I still have no idea how Barry Bonds could have that bad of a throw to the plate that Sid Bream and his brace still scored from 2nd base. Still remember sitting in bed with jaw dropped and my wife waking up asking what was going on…… still iratated too!!
Thanks a lot bigpapi, you just made me watched the replay again…..3 times…….. Still no excuse for e the guy many call the best outfielder ever in baseball history to have such a horrible throw……….Mother trucker!!!!!!!!
Nutting was an owner with mcclatchy
Dodgers won’t give up what Minnesota demands for Dozier. Can say I fault them. Look for Dozier to be in the twin cities this spring.
Agree. I don’t think Dozier gets moved this offseason.
No possible way they don’t move him. His value will NEVER be higher.
Then the Twins had better get “more realistic” in their trade demands. The I doubt that the Dodgers will be manipulated into giving up more than they want to. They will simply find someone who costs less, and provides less production (theoretically)……because nobody knows what Dozier will actually do in ’17……
I doubt the Twins will be manipulated into accepting less then they want to as well
His value will be higher if the market demand gets greater due to injury or WS Run on another team.
I see it just the opposite way-
With the reports of what they’ve been offered so far there’s no possible way he gets moved.
As much as I’d like the Braves to have an actual homerun hitter besides Freddie, Dozier is streaky. And on a team like the braves (who are very streaky) I think we need consistent players. The rotation has veterans now instead of younger guys experiencing growing pains so I think the team will be more consistent this year compared to last season
The Braves don’t need Dozier because they are bad.
The raves don’t need dozier because if he comes to Atlanta it will be dan struggla 2.0
Braves*
I see you found out how to read HR totals on baseball reference, well done.
Dozier and Uggla’s profiles are not similar.
I agree. I’m getting tired of these comparisons. Dozier is an excellent base runner and a solid defender. In the middle of his prime on a below market deal. Even if his home run totals regress he is still better than most 2nd baseman in baseball and worth more than what has been reported. Teams that are looking to contend in 2017 are missing out of they don’t seriously consider this guy especially those close to the luxury tax.
Barves*
^^^
Not on offense. Top 5 offense in the second half
Too bad baseball plays a full season.
The Braves were 6th in wRC+ in the second half, you know who was 5th? The reds. Suppose we should start raving about them as an offensive powerhouse now as well. Those two teams shared those ranks for fWAR in the second half as well. Crazy what can happen when you only look at half a season
the braves coukd be sneaky good this season. they are a distand third in the East, but i can see them hanging around .500 if thry can hit enough.
I’ll agree that they are worse than the mets and nats, but I’m not sure how distant they are. The mets could be pretty bad if they can’t get/stay healthy.
We don’t know what this team is with so many rookies and bridge vets. So many people are labeling this team according to the team that got off to the worst start in franchise history before the AS Break 2016, but forget about the decent finish (.500) after the AS Break and the roster changeover we’ve had since that AS Break.
Not saying we will compete for the division, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it unless WSH and/or NYM dominate. And considering WSH still has a huge question marks in the bullpen and sacrificed their pitching/farm depth for Eaton, they could be more vulnerable unless Harper has a MVP season.
NYM still hasn’t upgraded their offense, overly relying on Cespedes and anything from Conforto, Wright, and Co. Yes, they’ll have a healthy arms coming back, but can we really expect Cespedes to continue to produce at his previous levels for NYM?
And should we even speak about MIA which has sent me a invitation to spring training to star in their rotation or PHI?
the braves had a second half record of 37-35, the reds 36-37. The reds also had a higher team war for the second half and it can be pretty clearly seen that they under performed likely due to an awful bullpen. Am I to believe that they too, will compete for a playoff spot in 2017? Or are you of the opinion that the east will be so bad that if the braves are competing for the division they wouldn’t also be competing for a wc?
I’m also quite confused why you think that WAS trading two pitchers who contributed very little last year, to add a player in eaton who was very productive last year, is going to somehow hurt them for 2017.
I guess i shouldn’t say will compete, i should say, am i to believe that you also wouldn’t be surprised to see the Reds compete for the playoffs in 2017?
You guys will love Eddie, the mans a beast! He should easily outplay that contract, wish him all the best.
I agree PatBorders. Eddie puts butts in the seats. Quiet guy whose style of play can light up a stadium.
and his name is Dan Uggla….i mean Brian Dozier!
Dan Uggla doesn’t even compare to Dozier.
The reviews Brian Dozier draws are far more rave than those drawn by Dan Uggla.
There can be more comps to Dozier than just Uggla. Just because he hits HR with a low AVG doesn’t mean he’s terrible at base-running and can’t field. If he had a tree trunk for a neck, I could understand, but he doesn’t.
Dan Uggla, in ten seasons, had less than half the WAR Brian Dozier has compiled in 4 full seasons. So no, not comparable.
WAR isn’t a real stat. It is a math nerd fantasy.
Check out WAR leaderboards, and try and tell me they aren’t doing a great job of reflecting general opinions. Bad players rate poorly, good players rate well.
Or, choose to throw stones at something you probably don’t understand, and let baseball leave you behind.
It’s common knowledge that every team has money invested in their analytics department, and every team calculates production in a WAR-like figure, proprietary to them. Do you know something they don’t?
Fast Fastballs Are The New Market Inefficiency
Are Meadows and Glasnow going to make it? That’s my big question on trading for Quintana. Presuming one or both are the asking price for the lefty. Hate using Nutting talking points, but it’s a fact, the Pirates are on a budget. And have to be more careful than Boston or the Nats with their prospects.
When are the dodgers going to move on, very peculiar they haven’t done anything for 2b or OF…
Not really, they’re waiting for the 2b market to settle.
What market?
Takes two to tango. No sense in signing someone like Utley, for it to be wasted money should one of their works in progress develop.
The market isn’t going anywhere until the Dozier situation is sorted – why jump the gun?
so encarnaccion has been worth less that 1m in season ticket sales. Maybe fans will stop commenting on how teams need to sign players to increase the season ticket sales (pads 2 years ago dbacks last year)
Meadows. Glasnow. Bell. Newman. Keller.
I don’t want to trade even one of them, let alone three of them.
For one arm? That’s pitched A LOT of innings and hasn’t had his TJ surgery yet?
For what? To increase your chances of getting the 2nd wild card?
No ____ing way.
Marte and Polanco are locked up. Don’t get confused by the initial inability to trade Cutch. Let him rebound and then move him. Keep developing this core. It’s the best chance for the Pirates to win. It just won’t be for a few more years.
Don’t trade it to the White Sox so they can win in a few years instead.
Why don’t the pirates try and replicate what the Sox did and lock up their core with possible team friendly deals, it’s sort of opposite of trading them away to get something you could just copy. Disclaimer-I am aware this is easier said then done, just thought it would be the next best thing than having Q
They have……..the locked up Marte, Polonco, Cervellii., and Nova……the will try with Taillon, Cole never will sign a team friendly long term deal as long as he has Boros as his agent……
Twins should GRAB DeLeon, he’s going to be a stud probably a number 2 pitcher, Dozier won’t match his 2016 stats, trade him now while the getting is good!!!