This week in baseball blogs:
- North Shore Nine examines Pirates left fielder Gregory Polanco’s career to date and looks at what’s in store for him this year.
- Dan Grant of Same Page Team shoots down comparisons between Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman and former major leaguer Tom Gordon. Stroman endorsed the piece on Twitter.
- Chin Music Baseball asks if Braves outfielder Matt Kemp will be able to sustain his late-2016 success going forward.
- Bleeding Royal Blue tackles the pace-of-play issue.
- Cubbies Crib previews Cubs infielder Javier Baez’s 2017.
- NatsGM (links: 1, 2, 3) ranks the Nationals’ 30 best prospects.
- Big Three Sports suggests Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera could eventually bring back a massive haul in a trade.
- Call To The Pen analyzes the Braves’ offseason.
- Mets Daddy argues against an extension for second baseman Neil Walker.
- Clubhouse Corner laments the underrating of Brewers outfield prospect Lewis Brinson.
- District On Deck projects the Nationals’ Opening Day roster.
- Underthought looks for a better way than saves to evaluate closers.
- Jays Journal assesses Toronto manager John Gibbons.
- Pirates Breakdown forecasts the Bucs’ batting order.
- The K Zone wonders how much batting order really matters.
- The Unbalanced measures Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper against Angels center fielder Mike Trout.
- The 3rd Man In speaks with well-regarded pitching prospect Jacob Heatherly, a left-hander who could go early in this year’s draft.
- Wayniac Nation chats with a couple under-the-radar draft prospects.
- Real McCoy Minor News interviews Rays righty prospect Brandon Lawson.
- Pinstriped Prospects profiles young Yankees righty Luis Medina.
- Off The Bench Baseball highlights five must-watch players for the spring.
- The Runner Sports (links here) looks into the Astros’ fifth starter choices and lists takeaways from the Yankees’ spring training opener.
- Outside Pitch MLB delves into the Royals’ second base possibilities.
- Bat Flips & Nerds (podcast link) talks with Jenny Fromer, the CEO of Baseball Softball UK, about baseball’s growth in the United Kingdom.
- Rascals of the Ravine details a trip to Dodgers FanFest.
- Everything Bluebirds and Jays From the Couch have pieces focusing on Toronto’s bullpen.
- The Loop Sports writes about the White Sox’s center field candidates.
- Camden Depot likes some of the Orioles’ recent pitching depth pickups.
- Call To The Pen expects lefty Sean Burnett to claim the last spot in the Phillies’ bullpen.
- Ladodgerreport reacts to the Dodgers’ recent signing of reliever Sergio Romo.
- Rotisserie Duck shares some baseball trivia.
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Mike trout is way better than Harper, this is a joke to talk about. Harper is cocky that he “thinks” he’s worth “400” million, he put up only one great season, trout has 2 MVPs while finishing 2nd in the other 3 years. This discussion is stupid. If Harper cannot replicate his 2015 than he’s just an average joe player , probably get minimum 250 million or even 200 million similar to Jason heyward. Now if we talking about machado between trout will probably have a discussion but trout stills tops most players in majors right now.
Harper had one of the best seasons ever. At his best he is easily on trouts level
Mike Trout is way better than anybody that plays baseball…
Even if Harper never replicates his (historic) 2015 season, he’s still significantly better than an “average joe player.” And for the record, Machado has never finished above 4th in MVP voting. So if you want to use that to justify how great Trout is, what does that tell you about Machado…?
Machado is a significantly more valuable defender than Harper, but at his best hitting-wise, he’s just SLIGHTLY better than where Harper is in his “average joe” years… Of course other things factor in as well, but Harper is significantly more valuable than you seem to think he is.
And Machado is nowhere near the player Trout is; quite frankly, nobody is. There is no logical discussion to be had.
Harper vs. Trout: One has proven that he’s a megastar by doing it on the field every season. The other has been talked up by the media as being a megastar and has only had one great season, and a bunch of good but not great ones.
Meh. Trout’s advantage has been health. Harper has the advantage defensively. Other than that they’re pretty similar players. Obviously Trout is better but that gap isn’t as great as it seems. Trout is doing historic things, and Harper being a bit behind isn’t really a flaw. Nobody is as good as Trout. Like, ever.
A bit behind?? Are you being funny or actually serious?? Do us all a favor…Go compare BOTH their stats and then come back and share with us what you found. Take your time…we’ll wait. You know what, nevermind, I’ll do it for you…Trout is heads and shoulders above Harper in ALL facets of the game: Speed, Power, ASG selections, ASG MVP’s, Regular Season MVP’s, career AVG, R, H, HR, RBI, SB, OBP%, SLG %…Need I continue or is this enough to show you that Trout is just a little bit better than Harper, who is unquestionably more than a bit behind Trout in the talent department. No need to thank me for the education lesson
Doesn’t matter because neither of them will compare to Tim Tebow.
I agree with Mets Daddy on Neil Walker. If Walker won’t take a cheap contract that factors in risk, there’s no reason for the Mets to do it. He hasn’t proven anything at all post-surgery, and pre-surgery he didn’t do anything to suggest he wasn’t declining soon.
I never see anything Padres related on these blogs. Is that because there are none, or none worth posting? Not a gripe, just honestly wondering.