This week in baseball blogs…
- MLB & Fantasy Baseball Analyzed tries to determine whether five highly effective hitters from 2017 will be able to repeat or improve on that success this season.
- Big Three Sports explains why Dansby Swanson could be in for a better year after a disappointing 2017.
- The Point of Pittsburgh wonders if team morale will improve now that Andrew McCutchen is not in the clubhouse.
- District On Deck lists five X-factors for Bryce Harper in his contract year.
- Always The Jake previews Francisco Lindor’s season.
- The First Out At Third names five dark-horse Cy Young candidates for 2018.
- Chin Music Baseball reacts to the Twins’ Logan Morrison signing.
- NY Yankees Digest runs down the best trades in franchise history, while Bronx Bomber Ball ranks the Yanks’ all-time best players at each position.
- The Junkball Daily identifies the trickiest strike three pitcher in baseball.
- BP Toronto ponders whether Justin Smoak’s late-2017 struggles are worth worrying about.
- A’s Farm breaks down the Oakland A’s and Triple-A Nashville Sounds’ likely rosters for 2018.
- Rox Pile forecasts the Rockies’ opening-day roster.
- Pirates Breakdown teases “Pirates Guide,” its season preview book for the team.
- Baseball Census scouts free agent pitchers Jair Jurrjens and Daniel Schlereth, both of whom have pitched against KBO teams this week.
- Motor City Bengals examines the Tigers’ second base options.
- Pro Sports Fandom (links: 1, 2) makes a slew of predictions for this season.
- Real McCoy Minor News highlights the early spring performances of a few young players.
- Jays From the Couch is optimistic Seung-hwan Oh will bounce back this year.
- Underthought takes a look at four of the best hitter performances and asks readers to vote on who had the best day during the 2017 season.
- Ladodgerreport hopes the club stretches out Kenta Maeda.
- The Runner Sports (links: 1, 2) delves into Yankees prospect Miguel Andujar’s red-hot spring and how it could affect Brandon Drury, and writes about what Houston’s Alex Bregman has done to get in better shape.
- STL Hat Trick sees Sam Tuivailala as a potential closer for the Cardinals.
- The K Zone focuses on the offseason’s managerial hires.
- Camden Depot tries to figure out who will lead off for the Orioles.
- Everything Bluebirds asks why the Blue Jays have been going after so many Cardinals.
- Mets Daddy explains how the team should divide playing time between catchers Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki.
- Baseball Takes compares the careers of Derek Jeter and Lou Whitaker.
- Extra Innings UK (links: 1, 2) wraps up the week’s headlines and articles in international baseball, and offers its second weekly update of Europeans playing baseball at American universities.
- Sports Talk Philly has thoughts from manager Gabe Kapler on his stint as a player in Japan.
- Call to the Pen lists Kapler’s pros and cons.
Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com
Harper is gonna sign with the Rays
Miami should give them a run for their money.
That article about Cutch is hilarious
Yeah what was that about. Did he have a reputation as bad in the clubhouse? The article throws it out there but doesn’t really offer anything to support it.
You aren’t allowed to tell the truth about Cutch in Pittsburgh. He is a legitimately great guy off the field, so you aren’t allowed to be honest about what happened on the field. And as the article stated, the owner and front office take all of the blame here. The players are never held to account for their own poor play. Their poor play is always deemed to be the result of a front office or ownership failing.
Truth: He had several MVP caliber seasons, absolutely. He was also often a selfish player and not at all a leader.
When they moved him into the #2 spot, he pouted. When they moved him to RF, he pouted. When they traded Walker, he pouted. When he moved back to CF he was indignant that he was ever moved even though he grades terribly in CF. He never accepted blame for anything and only showed humility once and that was short lived.
And maybe the most revealing was when he demanded that a scorekeeper be fired for giving him an error on a play where the ball hit him right in the glove and bounced out. A full day later, he apologized for calling for the guy’s job but still wouldn’t admit to the error.
Now, out in SF, he talks about how the team didn’t do enough to add pieces around him in 2015 and then 2016.
Cutch had ZERO RBI’s and ZERO extra base hits in the postseason. He and the other so called stars (except Pedro of all people) choked in the playoffs for 3 straight years. But he thinks the problem is they didn’t add enough around the ZERO he brought to the table to carry him further?
Ironically, the one bit of postseason success the Pirates did have…the infamous Blackout “Cueto, Cueto” game….was won because of Marlon Byrd (trade) and Russel Martin (free agent signing).
Then he complains about the lack of moves the front office made in 16 and 17 without acknowledge that he was terrible, Mendoza line untradeable terrible, for 8 of those 12 months. No moves would have mattered when your star and leader craters like a meteor, but still…everyone else’s fault.
So, you have a “star” player blaming a front office (that actually did bring in many useful pieces most years) instead of himself when he came up small…no self awareness or accountability.
So, no, that article might be on to something…in fact, they could write pretty much the same article about Cole.
I made an acct. just to reply @ForWhomJoshBellTolls! Thank you! Finally someone else said it. Cutch was always great to the community and was one of the guys to pull us out of the dark ages. But, on the field his last two years, you’re right, he became a diva and never once looked inward. When he comes back to town in May, he’s going to get that standing O he absolutely deserves. But it is time to move on. There is a solid young core that nobody is giving credit! Maybe it’s because this last young core did nothing by choke. But truly, I feel like Taillon and Bell can lead and we have some solid players not too far from the bigs.
Cole, I have not a single good thing to say about him. He crumbled like a darn cookie anytime something didn’t go his way. Good riddance. Uncle Ray is going to do nothing but help Musgrove. I’m sure he and Nova can adapt, bring out the curveball some more, and work on deception. If Kuhl continues to turn a corner… and Trevor’s Williams who silently had some head-turning peripherals. A full season of healthy Taillon, we have the Ace. Let alone Mitch Keller being a season away.
I hope Freese and J-Hay and Nova can be the elders and turn the clubhouse atmosphere around. I have faith in them. Harrison lost his best friend through trade… It’s going to hurt. But he’s always such an “up” guy otherwise. I don’t think the NL Central is possible this year. I’m excited to watch guys develop and if a miracle happens, them getting the 2nd WC spot. But it will be cool to watch the next couple years shake out. I have faith in the young guys.
Thanks for sharing all of that. The article could have used some more of that detail.
The Cutch article is a racist pile of garbage and I am ashamed this site linked to it. No white player is ever excoriated for this kind of stuff. Ever. Embarrassing.
Right because everything needs to be boiled down to race. Grow up.
MLBTR should only link to articles from that site that were written by Kevin Creagh. The other two primary writers are blinded by their love for Neil Huntington.
“Big Three Sports explains why Dansby Swanson could be in for a better year after a disappointing 2017.”
Well, it can’t go much worse. Article over.
Machado signs with the Cardinals. Y’all heard it here first.
Uh, you’re not the first to suggest that.
Nor the first to be wrong.
We won’t know that until next offseason.
Phillies will sign Harper and Machado.
I think they’re more likely to chase Trout in a couple of years than they are to chase Harper next offseason.
Machado or Donaldson would make sense for the Phillies.
Step 1: Harper signs whatever deal he will sign next Winter.
Step 2: The Angels use that as a template to extend Trout past the 2020 season (these next three seasons are already $33.25M each). Rework the salaries for 2019 and 2020, and sign him to a new deal extending to 2027. Opt-out along the way if necessary, but the team’s ability to find the postseason this year will be all that matters.
Folks who think it is forgone conclusion that he will be a Yankee (apparently because of Jeter-worship, though a South Jersey kid isn’t a Yankees fan by default) or a Phillie (due to his proximity to the family homestead) assume facts not in evidence.
The majority of the games he plays with the Angels are in ideal weather (including Safeco with the roof closed as necessary), the living environment is fantastic, and the whole point of returning to Millville in the offseason is because it’s the offseason—he can’t get away from the game if he is a Phillies player among Phillies fans.
Finally, it is worth noting that he doesn’t appear driven by money. He is driven by the opportunity to become better at the game than the year before, which means he doesn’t go play elsewhere just because some other team offers a few million more. He’s an anomaly in the game, in that he is very well-adjusted and low-key. He doesn’t seek the spotlight, but he behaves well when the spotlight finds him.
None of us knows what the next few years will bring, besides a contentious negotiation for the next CBA. But as one who observes Trout as a person, and not just as stats in a fantasy league, I don’t think he will wear another uniform for the next decade.
Trout very well could remain in LA. But that doesn’t mean the Phillies wouldn’t pursue him.
The point of what I was saying is the Angels could fashion an extension for Trout once Harper’s contract is known. It would be simple to work out the details with Harper’s contract providing the framework. Extend Trout to 2025 or 2027, tear up the salaries for 2019 and 2020, and lock him down for an unprecedented salary run.
If so, no, the Phillies couldn’t pursue him, because that would be tampering.
Why did you post this?
Seems to be universally expected that Taylor will regress quite a bit this year. Except the Dodger fans of course.
I have an idea how Darnaud and Plawecki can split time…. Sign Lucroy and have one on the bench and the other split time with a catcher on another team
Where’s the weekly complaint(s) about how terrible the blogs are and how they get selected?
Sweet Lou actually could field for most of his career. Was as humble as most stars in the game could be at the time and nearly always had time for the fans. 3 things up on Jeter.
He and jack morris came thru the Tiger system at the same time, were teamates at FSL Lakeland Tigers if remember correctly under then manager Jimmy leyland in ’76. He was approachable and humble then and stayed that way during ST throughout his BL time returns.
You don’t have any proof on anything of which you posted. As usual your anti Yankees rhetoric is both transparent and pathetic.
Bah humbug to the whole idea of WAR. If you want to have two separate numbers , one for offense, one for defense fine. If we do it this way both were slightly above average for their position on defense. On offense there is no comparison. Lou was much better. Lou is just another Tiger that should be in the hall of fame. Hopefully he will just have to wait longer like Jack Morris and Alan Trammell did. It would make more sense to compare Lou to Joe Morgan as both redefined 2B as a power position.
1968
I should remember this but why did Lou Whitaker retire? HIs numbers were pretty impressive in 1995 considering he had less than 300 at bats.
Whitaker was 38 and was having the normal aches and injury stuff that anybody who played almost 20 years would have. His defense at the end was a liability as well and the 95 Tigers were a really bad team in need of a rebuild. I doubt he wanted to continue his career elsewhere.