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Archives for January 2017

AL East Notes: Orioles, Bautista, Yankees

By Steve Adams | January 23, 2017 at 9:04am CDT

The remaining offseason additions of the Orioles don’t figure to be too costly, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Kubatko again notes that GM Dan Duquette would like to add another left-handed-hitting outfielders with a good glove and some additional pitching depth before breaking down the Baltimore roster and a number of position battles for the final few spots on the 25-man roster. Rule 5 pick Anthony Santander is recovering from shoulder surgery and can be stashed on the DL early in the year, but fellow Rule 5 selection Aneury Tavarez could have a tough time making the roster. The door for a reunion with Vance Worley “remains open,” per Kubatko, and there are several in the organization that would advocate a return for right-hander Tommy Hunter as well. The Orioles possess a number of options for the final bench spot and the fringes of their pitching staff, and Kubatko’s column gives a nice, comprehensive overview as to how it could all shake out.

A few more notes from the American League East…

  • Jose Bautista is a polarizing figure among MLB fans and his peers around the league (to say the least), but many of his Blue Jays teammates are ecstatic to see him return, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Marcus Stroman and Ryan Goins were among those to emphatically praise Bautista when speaking to Nicholson-Smith. Stroman, in particular, explained that Bautista is a critical resource for him when he’s studying opposing hitters and trying to determine how to keep them off balance. “He’s the first guy I go to because I feel like he has the best strike zone judgment out of anyone in the big leagues,” Stroman tells Nicholson-Smith. (Bautista’s 16.3 percent walk rate since 2011 trails only Joey Votto in all of Major League Baseball.)
  • Meanwhile, Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling writes that agent Jay Alou said at Bautista’s press conference that his client had larger offers elsewhere, though he declined to get into specifics. Certainly, there could be some semantics at play, as it’s not difficult to see a two-year offer at a considerably lower annual value offering less appeal than the hefty $18.5MM guarantee to which Bautista agreed. It’s unclear what type of other offers Bautista received (and probably will remain so), but a rebound at the plate would position him nicely in advance of the 2017-18 offseason, even if he’ll be 37 this coming October. Bautista added that he’s open to playing first base for the Jays next year as well, and if he proves serviceable, that’d also go a long ways toward boosting his stock (and would also offer the Jays a means of enhancing their 2017 outfield defense).
  • The Yankees’ system is flooded with well-regarded shortstop prospects (led by Gleyber Torres), and with Didi Gregorius continuing to elevate his game in the Majors, that gives the team plenty of options, writes ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand. GM Brian Cashman tells Marchand that he doesn’t think Gregorius has reached his ceiling yet and should continue to improve. If that’s the case, it’d be hard to displace Gregorius even when Torres is ready for the Majors, though Cashman didn’t sound the least bit concerned about eventually having a potential logjam. “If you have the physical ability to project to play shortstop at the major league level, that also means you have the skill set to play second, third, typically center, left or right because of your speed and the arm,” said the GM. “So, first and foremost, it provides a great deal of creativity and flexibility that you can have with that athlete.”
  • One player that could eventually be impacted by the glut of up-the-middle talent in the Yankees’ farm is Starlin Castro, though he tells Newsday’s Steven Marcus that he “[doesn’t] really think about” the possibility of being displaced or even traded. Castro notes a parallel between the Yankees’ current situation and the end of his Cubs tenure. “That’s the second time it happened to me,” he said of the Yankees’ upcoming wave of talent. “That happened my last year with the Cubs. All the younger guys coming to the team. Here, the same thing.”
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Baltimore Orioles New York Yankees Toronto Blue Jays Aneury Tavarez Jose Bautista Tommy Hunter Vance Worley

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Yordano Ventura Dies In Car Crash

By Connor Byrne | January 22, 2017 at 10:51pm CDT

Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic on Sunday morning. This was a separate crash from the one that took the life of fellow Dominican Andy Marte. Ventura was 25 years old.

“Our prayers right now are with Yordano’s family as we mourn this young man’s passing,” said Royals general manager Dayton Moore in a team-issued statement. “He was so young and so talented, full of youthful exuberance and always brought a smile to everyone he interacted with. We will get through this as an organization, but right now it is time to mourn and celebrate the life of Yordano.”

Tragically, Ventura is the second major league pitcher who has died over the past four months. Former Marlins ace Jose Fernandez passed away after a boating accident on Sept. 25. Like Fernandez, Ventura was an exceptional, hard-throwing talent who emerged as a key long-term building block for his franchise.

Yordano Ventura

Ventura signed with the Royals for a meager $28K as an international free agent in 2008. After climbing up the minor league ladder, Ventura ranked as Baseball America’s 26th-best prospect at the conclusion of the 2013 campaign. He debuted in the majors that year and then became a full-time big leaguer in 2014.

Ventura was a standout as a rookie, as he pitched to a 3.20 ERA over 183 innings to help the Royals clinch their first playoff berth since 1985. His top performance that postseason came under awful circumstances in Kansas City’s Game 6 victory over the Giants in the World Series. After learning two days earlier that his friend, fellow Dominican and former Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras died (also in a car crash), Ventura fired seven shutout, three-hit innings in a 10-0 romp and dedicated the performance to Taveras. The Royals went on to lose Game 7, but they returned to the Fall Classic in 2015 to defeat the Mets and end a 30-year championship drought.

Prior to the 2015 campaign, Ventura inked a five-year, $23MM extension that could have been worth $45MM and kept him with the Royals through the 2021 season. While Ventura’s final two seasons included some rocky moments, including suspensions for separate dust-ups with then-White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton and Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, the potential was there for him to evolve into one of the game’s top starters. Instead, as is the case with Fernandez, baseball and its fans will never know what Ventura would have accomplished had he enjoyed a long career.

For the second time Sunday, we at MLBTR send our condolences to the family, friends, fans and organization of a player gone too soon. Eerily, Ventura was on the mound as the opposing pitcher for Marte’s last major league game on Aug. 6, 2014.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Kansas City Royals Newsstand Yordano Ventura

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Andy Marte Dies In Car Crash

By Connor Byrne | January 22, 2017 at 10:50pm CDT

Former major league corner infielder Andy Marte died Sunday morning in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic, according to various reports. He was 33 years old.

“Words can’t express the emotions from the loss of our client Andy Marte. Gone too soon. A great person on and off the field,” Marte’s agency, J.M.G. baseball, stated (via Twitter).

Marte signed with the Braves as an international free agent in 2000 and quickly became one of the majors’ premier prospects. Baseball America regarded him as a top 40 prospect each year from 2002-05, and he peaked at No. 9 after the 2004 campaign. Marte cracked the big leagues a year later in a 24-game, 66-plate appearance stint with Atlanta, which then traded him to the Red Sox the next offseason in exchange for longtime major league shortstop Edgar Renteria.

Marte again ended up on the move in 2006, this time going from Boston and Cleveland in a large trade that saw the Red Sox net outfielder Coco Crisp. The majority of Marte’s major league action came as a member of the Indians, with whom he batted .224/.281/.369 in 858 trips to the plate from 2006-10.  Marte then spent time with the Pirates, Angels and Diamondbacks organizations, though he only amassed 16 more PAs in the majors (all with the D-backs) before signing with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2014. Marte thrived in Korea over the past two seasons, hitting a stellar .312/.390/.547 in a combined 867 PAs and amassing 20-plus home runs both years.

MLBTR extends its condolences to Marte’s family, friends and fans.

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Uncategorized Andy Marte

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Top 10 Remaining Free Agents

By charliewilmoth | January 22, 2017 at 9:43pm CDT

We last checked in on the top available free agents almost a month ago, and since then, four of our top ten — Jose Bautista, Mark Trumbo, Michael Saunders and Neftali Feliz — have come off the board. Here’s a look at the top ten remaining at this point, with rankings from MLBTR’s November Top 50.

15. Jason Hammel. Hammel’s reported market has been curiously quiet all winter despite a typically solid 2016 season in Chicago. Since the new year, he’s been connected to the Orioles, Rangers and Yankees, although the Orioles look less likely now than they did before adding Trumbo. Hammel also changed agents this winter; one imagines it’s been a frustrating offseason for him.

16. Matt Wieters. Mark Polishuk took a close look at Wieters’ market earlier this weekend. The Braves’ recent signing of Kurt Suzuki would seem to limit Wieters’ options somewhat. A return to the Orioles to share the catcher position with Welington Castillo is a possibility, although, as Mark pointed out, that arrangement doesn’t seem to bode well for Wieters’ chances of landing a big free-agent contract in the future. Wieters has also been connected to the Angels.

Mike Napoli21. Mike Napoli. With Edwin Encarnacion and Trumbo off the board, Napoli could be the next 1B/DH domino to fall. A return to the Rangers might be the strongest possibility at this point, and since the Rangers had interest in Trumbo, it might make sense for talks to intensify now that Trumbo is off the board. Texas has also recently been connected to fellow righty slugger Chris Carter, however.

23. Greg Holland. Holland reportedly could pick his team in the next week, capping an offseason in which he’s been connected to nearly everyone. Holland reportedly hopes for a two-year deal with an opt-out after the first year; it’s unclear which teams might consent to that arrangement, given that such a contract would require Holland’s new team to assume most of the risk of his return from injury while limiting its reward.

24. Travis Wood. Reports on Wood’s market have been few and far between this month. One potentially interesting development, though, has been the Rangers’ signing of Tyson Ross. Ross had also been connected to the Cubs, and it appeared possible the Cubs could attempt to re-sign Wood as a backup plan as they search for rotation depth.

30. Brandon Moss. Most of the news surrounding Moss in the past month has connected him to teams that no longer seem especially likely to sign him, such as the Orioles (who re-signed Trumbo), Blue Jays (who re-signed Bautista) and Phillies (who signed Saunders). The Rays have been connected to a variety of veteran hitters this offseason and would seem to be a possibility for Moss, although they might prefer a right-handed hitter. With a number of sluggers still available (including Napoli, Carter, Pedro Alvarez and Mark Reynolds), Moss might have to continue to wait for his rolling stone.

31. Joe Blanton. The veteran righty makes his first appearance on this list after a strong season (2.48 ERA, 9.0 K/9, 2.9 BB/9) in the Dodgers bullpen. He’s recently been connected to the Rockies, although there have been few reports on his market.

34. Sergio Romo. As with Blanton, there has been little recent reporting on Romo’s destination, although it recently emerged that the Brewers had interest in Blanton before adding Feliz. Feliz and Santiago Casilla recently signing could conceivably lead teams still looking for late-inning help to turn to Romo, however.

38. Fernando Salas. There’s been virtually nothing on Salas this winter, except one report that made him one of an extremely long list of relievers connected to the Marlins’ before that team’s additions of Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa. One would think, though, that the 31-year-old would attract some late interest, particularly given his excellent 2016 stretch run with the Mets. Unlike Holland and Romo, he doesn’t have much closing experience, although he was successful in a half-season run as the Cardinals’ closer in 2011.

39. Boone Logan. The veteran lefty is one of several solid southpaw relief options remaining on the open market, including Wood (although it’s unclear whether Wood will start or relieve next year), Jerry Blevins and J.P. Howell. Other lefties (including Brett Cecil, Mike Dunn, Marc Rzepczynski, and, of course, Aroldis Chapman, although he’s clearly in a different category than the rest) have done quite well for themselves this winter; it’s unclear whether the crop of remaining lefty free agents will be able to do the same.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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MLBTR Originals

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Luhnow: Astros Likely Done Making Significant Additions

By charliewilmoth | January 22, 2017 at 7:30pm CDT

Speaking with reporters yesterday, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said the team was likely done making big-league additions this winter, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. Luhnow is effectively saying the team is unlikely to add a big-name pitcher such as Jose Quintana, Chris Archer or Sonny Gray, all of whom they’ve been connected to lately. He is not, however, ruling out the possibility that the Astros could still make a move.

The Astros’ roster at the moment is “probably the roster that we’re going to have to start the season,” Luhnow said. “We’re always open to considering ways to improve it, but right now I’d set the expectations low that there’s going to be any major changes.”

Health permitting, the Astros will have Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Collin McHugh in their rotation. After receiving a $14MM contract this winter, Charlie Morton is a reasonable bet to win a job as well, although that’s not a certainty. Mike Fiers, Joe Musgrove and Chris Devenski are also in the picture, and top prospect Francis Martes could eventually emerge as a possibility.

“We feel like we’ve got enough depth in the rotation that we’ll have five guys in our rotation that are going to be able to compete every night, and our offense is going to keep us in games,” Luhnow said. He added that it’s possible the Astros could use the early months of the season to evaluate their starting pitching and then either try to trade for a pitcher or “save ourselves a few prospects” if it turns out they don’t need one.

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Houston Astros Chris Archer Dallas Keuchel Jose Quintana Sonny Gray

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Reactions To The Passing Of Yordano Ventura And Andy Marte

By charliewilmoth | January 22, 2017 at 5:50pm CDT

This morning, Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura and former big-league infielder Andy Marte died in separate car crashes in the Dominican Republic. Here are a few of the many reactions to and reflections on today’s tragic events.

  • MLB commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement about Ventura and Marte earlier today. “Today is a very sad day for our entire game and particularly for the many loyal fans in the Dominican Republic, the home of both Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte,” said Manfred. “Yordano was a key figure in the Royals’ recent success. His electric talent on the mound helped lead the Royals to two American League pennants and the 2015 World Championship. Andy was a respected member of six organizations who played seven Major League seasons, including for the Cleveland Indians from 2006-2010.  On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to the families, teammates, friends and fans of both players.”
  • This morning was perhaps even more difficult than expected for Royals GM Dayton Moore, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports relate (Twitter links). Moore first heard about Marte’s death, then received a call about Ventura and thought it was a mistake. Moore and Royals assistant GM Rene Francisco were close with both players — Moore and Francisco were both in the Braves organization when Marte was a top prospect there.
  • Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star offers a beautifully written remembrance of Ventura, who he describes as a fighter with sharp edges but a good person and prodigious talent. “[H]e was relentless and unapologetic and desperate to be great — both for himself, and for everyone back home for whom it meant almost as much,” Mellinger writes. “His teammates and coaches might occasionally grow frustrated at some of the rougher moments, but they saw a good soul, a big heart, and an earnest learner.”
  • Rosenthal offers similar sentiments in a column for FOX Sports, noting that Ventura’s sometimes rough on-field demeanor was not all of who he was. “The Yo that I knew had the warmest of smiles, the most engaging of personalities, a genuine, effusive love for the game,” writes Rosenthal. “[H]e was a diligent worker, one of the Royals’ most regimented pitchers — a kid who was engaged between starts, watched film, worked on pitches, looked and acted the part.”
  • Ventura has “always had a zest for life, an innocence about the game, a freshness, a fearlessness,” says Moore, via Dodd. “And he’s been really the same guy from day one, as far as his character traits and what made him special. He’s just a really passionate human. He loved to compete. He no doubt challenged us. But that made us better.” Dodd adds that police will take three weeks to complete a toxicology report, but there was no sign of alcohol at the scene of Ventura’s crash. The pitcher was not wearing his seat belt and lost control of his vehicle while driving through dense fog on a mountainous road.
  • Ventura was the opposing starting pitcher in Marte’s last Major League game in 2014, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince notes. In contrast to the fiery Ventura, Marte (formerly one of the top prospects in the game) was “an easygoing guy” who took his career disappointments in stride. Marte never could stick in the big leagues after coming up as a top prospect with the Braves and Indians (and, for a month, the Red Sox), and after stops in the Pirates, Angels and Diamondbacks organizations, he finally excelled in Korea, where he totaled 44 home runs with the KT Wiz between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. “The only thing I know how to do is play baseball,” he told Castrovince. “That’s why I didn’t stop.”
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Kansas City Royals Andy Marte Yordano Ventura

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AL East Notes: Yankees, Sale, Red Sox, Orioles

By Connor Byrne | January 22, 2017 at 4:01pm CDT

Given their impressive contingent of young talent, the retooling Yankees likely could have put together a package to acquire ace Chris Sale, who’s now with archrival Boston after the rebuilding White Sox traded him for a prospect haul last month. Noting that “all of a sudden, you’re tearing down when you start to build up,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman unsurprisingly expressed an unwillingness to give up potential superstar catcher Gary Sanchez for Sale (via Randy Miller of NJ.com). Regarding auxiliary pieces, Cashman said, “Is it (a touted pitching prospect such as James) Kaprielian or Chance Adams or Justus Sheffield? It would probably be (Luis) Severino right now. So those are the two primers just to get the ball rolling with the other two players yet to be named to try to match up for Sale.”

Elsewhere around the American League East…

  • The Orioles’ Zach Britton has been a premier closer since 2014, but he only developed into a lights-out reliever after a difficult run as a starter. In 48 appearances (46 starts) from 2011-13, Britton flashed his signature ground-ball ability (55.5 percent), though he otherwise underwhelmed with a 4.77 ERA and 5.94 K/9 against 3.92 BB/9 across 254 2/3 frames. Britton “had flashes of brilliance” as a starter, ex-Orioles pitching coach Dave Wallace told David Laurila of FanGraphs, but Wallace doesn’t believe the 29-year-old would have evolved into a high-end rotation piece had he stayed in that role. “He doesn’t have the… I wouldn’t say mentality, but the wherewithal to navigate,” observed Wallace. “When you’re a starting pitcher, and you give up a run — give up something — you have to maintain your composure and still make pitches, knowing you have quite a bit of the game to go. A lot of guys can’t do that, and he was one of those guys.”
  • Although the Red Sox are making an effort to bolster their depth with minor league signings, they’re having trouble attracting players, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski explained to Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. “We keep trying to sign minor-league guys to contracts with big league invites,” Dombrowski said. “We haven’t been very productive. Not for a lack of trying, but guys are still at the point where, first of all, they’re looking for major league contracts if they can. You can see this past week, they finally started to click where, they were accepting some (minor league) invites. But they’re going to other clubs rather than ours, because they don’t like the chances of making our major league club as much at this time.” While Dombrowski “wouldn’t mind” picking up extra pitching and outfield depth, he’s content with his third base possibilities and is “hopeful” Pablo Sandoval will rebound from a forgettable two-year stretch.
  • As of earlier this month, Baltimore general manager Dan Duquette hadn’t ruled out signing the top starting pitcher available in free agency, one-time Oriole Jason Hammel. That was before the club re-signed pricey slugger Mark Trumbo, though, meaning it’s now more likely to add a cheaper starter, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Baltimore remains interested in re-upping swingman Vance Worley, per Kubatko, who hears that the right-hander’s price will have to drop for a reunion to happen. The Orioles non-tendered Worley last month in lieu of paying the 29-year-old a projected $3.3MM via arbitration in 2017. Worley managed to prevent runs at a respectable clip with the O’s last season in spite of a subpar K/BB ratio (1.6, well below the 2.53 league-average mark), as he pitched to a 3.53 ERA over 86 2/3 innings and 35 appearances (four starts).
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Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox New York Yankees Chris Sale Jason Hammel Vance Worley Zach Britton

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MLBTR Originals

By Connor Byrne | January 22, 2017 at 9:31am CDT

The past week’s original content from the MLB Trade Rumors staff:

  • Given that the Dodgers don’t have a clear second base solution, I asked readers what the team will do about the position before the 2017 season begins. The majority of voters expect Los Angeles to acquire a second baseman via trade in advance of Opening Day.
  • With Greg Holland serving as arguably the best reliever remaining in free agency, Jeff Todd polled readers on where the once-elite Royals closer will sign. The Nationals got the most support among the five listed clubs, but the plurality of votes went to the “Other/mystery team” option.
  • We’re in the midst of arbitration season, leading Jeff to highlight various all-time arb records for relievers.
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MLBTR Originals

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Quick Hits: Darvish, Marlins, Rays, Holland

By Connor Byrne | January 21, 2017 at 10:04pm CDT

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and the agent for right-hander Yu Darvish have engaged in a couple of contract extension-related conversations – but not serious ones – Daniels told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Extension talks tend to heat up around spring training, which was the case last year between the Rangers and cornerstone third baseman Adrian Beltre. The two sides ultimately hammered out a deal in mid-April, thus preventing Beltre from testing the open market this winter. Darvish will become a free agent next offseason if he and Texas don’t reach an extension, but it seems the 30-year-old wants to remain with the organization. “I am really grateful to the Texas Rangers for giving me that contract,” Darvish said of the six-year, $56MM pact he signed to leave his native Japan in 2012. “They have taken care of me really well.”

Now for the latest on the majors’ Florida-based teams:

  • The Marlins have reportedly discussed signing either Chris Carter or Mark Reynolds – two power-hitting first basemen who remain without contracts. However, picking up a big bat isn’t a priority, writes MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, who notes that the Marlins are likely at their payroll limit. As a result, the Fish could roll with a four-man bench consisting of A.J. Ellis, Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Dietrich and Miguel Rojas and an eight-man bullpen to begin 2017. One reason the Marlins are open to taking that route is because they’re aiming to give lefty-swinging first baseman Justin Bour more opportunities against southpaw pitchers. Bour has slashed a miserable .223/.273/.291 versus lefties in his career, but those struggles have come over a small sample size (110 plate appearances). “We haven’t really actively tried to finish off anything in terms of a right-handed bat, knowing that we’re going to give Bour every opportunity to be that everyday guy and face lefties and righties — and occasionally getting (catcher) J.T. Realmuto [time] over at first,” stated team president Michael Hill, who added that signing a righty hitter is “not at the forefront of things for us. Our goal was to create as much pitching depth and quality as we could.”
  • The Rays are continuing to monitor the open market for bench and bullpen pieces, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. With that in mind, the club could look for a “proven right-handed hitter,” suggests Topkin, who rules out Mike Napoli but lists the aforementioned duo of Carter and Reynolds as possibilities. While the Rays have been involved in the sweepstakes for free agent reliever Greg Holland, it’s “unlikely” they’ll land him, per Topkin.
  • Since hiring Jason Pare as their senior director of analytics a year ago, the Marlins have worked to beef up the department – which is now roughly league average in size – details Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Hill and manager Don Mattingly, two organizational bigwigs, are among those who have embraced the 31-year-old Pare’s role. “[Hill] is very good about giving everybody a seat at the table,” Pare told Healey. “That’s the expression that he uses. They come to me with a lot questions, and I’m encouraged to give my opinion proactively as well.” Pare, for instance, was instrumental in Miami’s decision to shift Christian Yelich from left field to center, which had Mattingly’s support after he observed that Yelich fared better up the middle than Marcell Ozuna did in 2016. “He gives us another dimension of … trying to put the right people in the right spots and make sure metrically we are paying attention. We do want to be able to evaluate our guys, and that’s part of it,” Mattingly said of Pare.
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Miami Marlins Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Chris Carter Greg Holland Justin Bour Mark Reynolds Mike Napoli Yu Darvish

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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bautista, Jays, HOF, Votto, Cards, Pirates

By Connor Byrne | January 21, 2017 at 8:47pm CDT

This week in baseball blogs…

  • Bunt To The Gap and Blue Jay Hunter are bullish on Toronto’s re-signing of right fielder Jose Bautista.
  • Sports Talk Philly interviews former major league closer Billy Wagner about his Hall of Fame chances and the induction of longtime Astros teammate Jeff Bagwell.
  • Two Strike Approach: A Baseball Podcast features a discussion with former New York Times baseball writer and current Hall of Fame voter Murray Chass.
  • The Runner Sports looks back on Bagwell’s career.
  • The Point of Pittsburgh makes a Cooperstown case for home run king Barry Bonds.
  • Outside Pitch MLB praises Hall of Famer Tim Raines for his late-’90s stint with the Yankees.
  • NYRDCAST posits that Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has a borderline Hall of Fame resume.
  • Wayniac Nation offers some thoughts on this year’s Hall of Fame voting.
  • Pirates Breakdown talks with Bucs right-hander Nick Kingham.
  • Rotisserie Duck focuses on the excellence of Reds first baseman Joey Votto.
  • The Redbird Daily tries to figure out why things went so poorly for Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha last season.
  • The K Zone touches on the growing value of relievers and the decreasing importance of starters.
  • Inside the ’Zona recaps the hardest-hit balls of the Diamondbacks’ 2016 campaign.
  • Call To The Pen projects the American League East race for 2017.
  • Mets Daddy explains why the club has not been able to trade outfielder Jay Bruce.
  • Motor City Bengals addresses the Tigers’ acquisition of former Rays outfielder Mikie Mahtook.
  • Chin Music Baseball analyzes the Rangers’ outfield.
  • The 3rd Man In wonders if the Brewers should convert starter Wily Peralta into a reliever.
  • Pinstriped Prospects opines that the Yankees shouldn’t be in a hurry to trade left fielder Brett Gardner or third baseman Chase Headley.
  • Jays From the Couch (links here) speaks with Toronto prospects Rowdy Tellez and Conner Greene.
  • Real McCoy Minor News chats with Tigers righty prospect Gerson Moreno.
  • Call To The Pen (links here) revisits the Phillies’ decisions to trade Cole Hamels and Ken Giles.
  • MLB Reports breaks down the Giants’ payroll situation.
  • The Runner Sports likes the Athletics’ signing of reliever Santiago Casilla.
  • Ladodgerreport encourages the Dodgers to acquire Twins second baseman Brian Dozier.
  • Off The Bench Baseball ranks the National League’s managers.
  • Bronx Bomber Blogger calls attention to certain milestones some Yankees could achieve in 2017.
  • Dan Grant of Same Page Team examines the Blue Jays’ bullpen options.
  • North Shore Nine is optimistic about Pirates righty Drew Hutchison.
  • The Runner Sports has a piece on the Yankees’ newest addition, first baseman Ji-Man Choi.
  • Baseball Hot Corner searches for a left field answer for the Blue Jays.
  • MLB451 (second in a two-part series) details what it was like to work as an intern for the Dodgers.

Please send submissions to ZachBBWI @gmail.com.

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Baseball Blogs Weigh In

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