Monthly Archives: December 2011

MLB offseason so far: NL Central

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After looking at the offseason moves made so far by the teams in the NL West division, we now turn our attention to the NL Central.

Milwaukee Brewers

Fans of the Brewers haven’t yet been subjected to the sight of Prince Fielder being paraded in another team’s uniform, leaving open the slim possibility that he might return rather than leave as a free agent.  It still seems likely that he won’t be back with the Brewers and the team could be facing a devastating double blow if Ryan Braun’s appeal against a positive drug test fails and he receives a 50 game ban.

The Brewers have revamped the left side of their infield by signing ex-Cub Aramis Ramirez and ex-Brave Alex Gonzalez and, subject to them trading him away, are bringing back reliever Francisco Rodriguez after he accepted their offer of arbitration.  Milwaukee are intent on making another strong playoff push in 2012, particularly with starting pitchers Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum eligible to be free agents at the end of the season, and if the losses of Fielder and Braun (albeit just a temporary loss in the latter’s case) are confirmed then the Brewers may look to bring in another bat to strengthen the lineup before Opening Day.

St. Louis Cardinals

Unlike the Brewers, Cardinals fans have already seen their first base hero smiling at another team’s press conference. Albert Pujols has joined the Los Angeles Angels and his absence, both of his potent bat and his presence as the superstar leader of the team, will be keenly felt in 2012. Veteran manager Tony La Russa has also retired, being replaced by rookie manager Mike Matheny, making this the beginning of a new era in St. Louis.

Such losses are slightly easier to cope with when you are basking in the glow of a World Series triumph.  The Cardinals have also rapidly moved to replace part of Pujols’ offensive production. Even before his departure was announced, many considered that a useful Plan B would be to move Lance Berkman to first base and to sign outfielder free agent Carlos Beltran.  That’s exactly what the Cards have done and when you factor in a healthy again Adam Wainwright rejoining the rotation and shortstop Rafael Furcal being re-signed on a two-year contract, it’s clear that the Cardinals are not content to live off the memories of a World Championship and their former first baseman.  Continue reading →

MLB offseason so far: NL West

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Looking at the MLB team depth charts over the Christmas period has reminded me how easy it is to lose track of some of the roster decisions that teams have made amid the headline-grabbing signings.

As the Christmas to New Year period is normally quiet on the Hot Stove front, it’s a good time to review the main moves that each team has made so far over the offseason.  Today we start with the National League West division, looking at the teams in the order they finished in 2011.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Manager Kirk Gibson and General Manager Kevin Towers have both been rewarded for the team’s 2011 NL West triumph with new three-year contracts.  Towers showed that he believes this team can continue to compete in the near future by trading away prospects – including one of their best in Jarrod Parker – to acquire starting pitcher Trevor Cahill from the Oakland A’s.  The D-Backs have had considerable success in trading for young starters in recent seasons and Cahill is a good bet to continue this trend alongside Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson in the rotation.

Arizona have also signed former Twin Jason Kubel to play left field in a case of power over (Gerardo) Parra.  Kubel isn’t great with the glove and all things considered it could be argued that Parra is actually the better, more-rounded, player.  However, Kubel should add some thump and having Parra as a fourth outfielder is a good position to be in.

San Francisco Giants

General Manager Brian Sabean is working over this offseason with the contract status of Matt Cain (a free agent at the end of the 2012 season) and Tim Lincecum (under contract for the next two years, but eligible for salary arbitration in those years) as key issues in the background as he looks to improve the roster.

Despite the welcome prospect of Buster Posey’s return from injury, this team once again needs some additions to the batting lineup.  Carlos Beltran has moved on to the Cardinals after performing well as a rental player at the end of the 2011 season and the team’s rumoured interest in shortstops Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins didn’t result in either joining the club.  They have added two outfielders (Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan) via trades and Brandon Belt could develop into an everyday player for them in 2012, but otherwise it looks like being a fairly quiet offseason in San Francisco.  Continue reading →

Rangers raise the stakes again with $51.7m bid for Darvish

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After all the rumours, it was Texas, rather than Toronto, who were the highest bidder for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.

Toronto can turn their attention to other targets, possibly swinging a trade for a pitcher like Gio Gonzalez, or maybe even setting up a Jose Bautista-Prince Fielder double act in their batting lineup.

As for Texas, the fun has only just begun.  Now it’s on to the tricky process of negotiating a contract.

The spectre of Daisuke Matsuzaka has never been far away in the Darvish story.  Matsuzaka’s decidedly mixed transition to North America has made some question whether Darvish’s star will shine so brightly in MLB as it has in Japan.  The Boston Red Sox’s $51,111,111 bid doesn’t look like money well spent in retrospect, to say the very least.

When it came to posting a bid for Darvish, there were several different approaches that a team could take. They could have shied away from such a vast sum as a risky investment, they could have believed that he is a superior talent to Matsuzaka and therefore potentially worth a similar amount, or believed that he is a superior talent but that $51.1m was paying well over the odds and therefore settled on a significant but lesser figure.

The Rangers went for the middle position of those three, bidding $51.7m.  The current conversion rate has that at approximately £33.1m, intriguingly close to the £35m that Liverpool speculated on the similarly risky (in different ways) Andy Carroll.  Put that down as reason number two why the Red Sox’s owners – also Liverpool’s owners, of course – steered clear of dishing out a similar sum this time around.  Continue reading →

Rounding the Bases: Catching up

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Plenty has happened in MLB over the last week or so, making a round-up article a good way of covering the most important topics.

The most recent news concerned the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday evening. They made a trade for the San Diego Padres’ starting pitcher Mat Latos, dealing away Edinson Volquez, Yonder Alonso, and prospects in right-handed pitcher Brad Boxberger and catcher Yasmani Grandal.

I read news of the deal after an enjoyable British baseball research day at Colindale, on the way back from which I had discussed the Reds’ trading ideas with fellow BGB writer Mark George. 

My blatant self-interest was in the potential for the A’s to trade Gio Gonzalez to the Reds and, looking at what the Padres received for Latos, I’m disappointed that Billy Beane couldn’t swing that return.  Maybe the Reds don’t value Gonzalez quite as highly as Latos, and Beane probably wouldn’t have been interested in a deal including Volquez, but Cincinnati certainly showed that they were prepared to part with several good pieces to acquire a quality young starter.

The A’s can at least use that deal as a yardstick for any potential suitors to match up to, so hopefully it will be to Oakland’s benefit in the end.

As for the Reds, they’ve given up a lot to get Latos – undoubtedly an ace-type talent, but with some question marks regarding his temperament – and that shows you they genuinely feel that they can get back into the postseason race quickly after following up their 2010 NL Central division win with a disappointing 2011 campaign.

You ideally want a solid all-round team; however if there’s one key thing that postseason contenders have strived for in recent years, it’s three frontline starters.  The Brewers, for example, won the NL Central in 2011 in large part because they finally backed their offence with Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum to go alongside Yovani Gallardo.  Arguably that’s also what the Diamondbacks have tried to do by trading for the A’s Trevor Cahill, to accompany Ian Kennedy and Daniel Huson in Arizona.

The Reds presumably see Latos combining with Johnny Cueto to start their trio, with the hope that maybe Aroldis Chapman’s conversion to a starter pays immediate dividends, Mike Leake steps up to another level or another quality pitcher is acquired before the season starts.

Cincinnati have paid a high price; however the Brewers are probably losing Prince Fielder (potentially also Ryan Braun for 50 games too, as we’ll get to) and the Cardinals have lost Albert Pujols, so there could be a window of opportunity for the Reds before their own star first baseman Joey Votto hits free agency.  Continue reading →

George Price continues to unearth baseball treasures

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George Price, an octogenarian from the north-west corner of England, is one of the generous collaborators who make Project COBB function. He has previously proved to be very helpful in supplying team photos and identifying players for uses such as the Great Britain national team archive, and very recently he has uncovered a couple of more textual gems.

The first is a Merseyside Baseball League handbook from 1951. Having this item has given me the inspiration to set up a league handbooks section on the Project COBB site, which I will expand over the coming weeks. These small artefacts are quite easily one of the best resources for historical information on fixtures, competition structures, team personnel, and club details.

The second item is an amazing collection of minutes from general meetings held by the Atoms and the Liverpool Aces between 1957 and 1964. It gives a rare glimpse into the running of an amateur baseball club in Britain during this poorly chronicled period. I have made scans of the photocopies that George sent me, but they’re not of a sufficient quality to put on the site. However, anyone interested in seeing a PDF should contact me here.

I had the pleasure of meeting George earlier this year, since he was welcomed as a guest of honour by Richmond Baseball Club as part of a trip arranged by his son as an 80th birthday present, and I happened to be scoring that today. A couple of the photos taken that day are provided below.

The author (dark top) standing with Project COBB collaborator George Price (light top)

George Price throws out a ceremonial first pitch at Connare Field in a National Baseball League game in 2011 between the Richmond Flames and the Southampton Mustangs

George played baseball in Liverpool during his younger years. His father, Dave Price, was a noted ambassador for Merseyside and British baseball during the 1960s and even raised awareness of the game here over in the States on family visits.

Marlins mobbed by Angels in search for offseason spotlight

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Up until Thursday afternoon UK time, the Winter Meetings were all about the Miami Marlins.

Closer Heath Bell was signed just prior to the gathering in Texas, shortstop Jose Reyes joined him in parading in the new Miami colours, and then the rumours kept on coming.

A huge offer had been extended to first baseman Albert Pujols, with members of the Marlins’ staff reportedly looking confident that they would get their man. Meanwhile a staggering six-year deal had been delivered to starting pitcher C.J. Wilson alongside a contract offer to fellow hurler Mark Buehrle.

It was beginning to look like everyone would be heading to Miami, and not just for some offseason sand, sea and surf.

When it was reported on Wednesday evening that Buehrle had accepted the opportunity to reunite with manager Ozzie Guillen, it initially appeared to confirm the trend. However, soon the signing suggested that the Marlins may have been bowing out on their other current targets.

In fact, the Marlins were still very much in the running, but their pursuit – despite tabling the most lucrative contract offers to both players – would be in vain.

I was shocked when I logged on to MLB.com late Thursday afternoon and saw that the Los Angeles Angels had signed both Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. Shocked, stunned and then deflated.

As an A’s fan who has spent the last few weeks reading that the only thing my team will be doing this offseason is trying to trade away our best players, watching a division rival spend a reported $331,500,000 on two players summed up how laughably difficult our current plight is. Any Brit who has watched Moneyball in recent weeks and got an idea of the team’s underdog status doesn’t know the half of it.

Add in the fact that the Marlins were able to offer such vast sums on the back of their impending move into a new ballpark and it just goes to show that if Bud Selig is as committed to competitiveness as he claims, he should be doing all he can to help the A’s find a new home.

The A’s misery is joined by the despair in Houston. They’ve finally seen the back of Pujols, only to know that it’s just a one year reprieve before they are reunited in 2013.

Welcome to the AL West.

There’s no doubt that the double signing is a tremendous coup for the Angels.

The one criticism that could be, and has been, levelled at owner Arte Moreno and the Angels’ Front Office is that they have consistently come up short in recent years on adding that one extra impact hitter that would have pushed them from contenders to a fearsome threat. Their unfathomable decision a year ago to take on arguably the worst contract in baseball in Vernon Wells added volume to those dissenting voices.

When it comes to answering such criticism, dishing out the second most lucrative contract in the sport’s history to sign one of the greatest hitters of all time is a pretty good way to do it.

At ten years and $254m (£162,351,084.15, or £312,213 every week for the next ten years – as Charlie Brown would say: good grief!) with a no-trade clause, it is an extraordinary commitment to make. There is obviously a risk that Pujols’ contract could become a burden in its latter years, but extraordinary commitments are required to sign extraordinary players and there’s every chance that even if he does tail off over the years, he will have earned his money before then anyway.

As for Wilson, that signing wasn’t such a surprise. Although the Marlins were clearly a very attractive proposition, linking up with the Angels almost made too much sense for it not to happen. He gets to stay at home in Southern California, in a division he knows well and on a team that will be extremely competitive and will pay him a sizeable amount of money ($77.5m over five years, or £190,415 per week), if not the absolute top dollar that he could have received from Miami.

The Angels’ moves have set up what could be an epic two-way battle in the AL West with the Texas Rangers for several years to come (I’ve probably moaned enough already about what it will mean for the A’s, so we’ll leave that part of the argument to one side).  Both teams will have a great shot at making the postseason under the new double Wild Card format from 2013, although one will face the prospect of seeing their ultra-talented and expensive team potentially being knocked out on the back of one game. 

The joy of Angels fans will be counterbalanced by the disappointment of Cardinals fans who have seen their iconic first baseman depart. Even on Wednesday night, it looked as though there was a strong chance that Pujols would stay in St. Louis, so it will be a shock to see him go, if not one that was completely unexpected.  Still, they have just experienced the delight of winning the World Series and with Adam Wainwright coming back from a season out injured, alongside a new position player or two from the money that would have gone towards Pujols’ salary, they are not about to turn into an also-ran.

And as for those Marlins, three out of five isn’t a bad return from an elite free agent shopping list heading into the Winter Meetings.  Something tells me they haven’t finished shopping yet either.

It will be very difficult for them to steal the offseason spotlight away from the Angels now, but I’m sure they will give it a good try.

Marlins reel in Reyes

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I noted on Twitter yesterday evening that, with the Winter Meetings taking place this week, the gentle simmer of the 2011/12 offseason Hot Stove so far was about to come to the boil.

The Winter Meetings hadn’t even began before that prediction came true. It was announced late on Sunday evening that the Miami Marlins have reportedly agreed a six-year deal with shortstop Jose Reyes.

It was difficult not to view the Miami Marlins’ public courting of the leading free agents with cynicism. Their previous money-pinching ways have seen to that. While the financial boost of moving to a new ballpark, largely funded by the taxpayer, gave them the resources and motivation to make a splash, old habits die hard. Do they genuinely believe they can sign Albert Pujols or do they simply think showing him around will boost season ticket sales?

Pujols may be beyond their reaches – although it does look like they are making a firm effort to sign him – but Reyes was ticketed as their number one offseason target and the fact that they have reeled him in should ramp up the excitement in Miami.

Reports suggested that the former Met was looking for ‘Carl Crawford money’, by which was meant a comparative sum to the seven-year/$142m contract that the left fielder signed with the Boston Red Sox this time last year.

He hasn’t quite reached that level in terms of guaranteed years and dollars. Reyes’ injury history always made Crawford’s contract a staring point to work backwards from, rather than an achievable target. However, Reyes hasn’t exactly missed out.

The reported deal sees Reyes banking $102m over the next six years – that’s £65,093,480.43, or £208,632.95 per week – with a $22m option for a seventh year or a $4m buyout.  Continue reading →

Domestic baseball in Britain at least as early as 1876

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NOTE: The same discovery, of domestic baseball in Britain being played 13 years earlier than what was previously thought to be the genesis season, was independently made at almost the same time by David Block, an American baseball historian with more than a passing interest in Britain’s ties with the early game.

To avoid any confusion among readers unfamiliar with the game’s early history, I’m calling it “baseball” here, but really it was still mostly referred to as two words (i.e. “base ball”) back then.

While I was conducting the research for What about the Villa? back in late 2009 and early 2010, one of the topics I was interested to delve into was the question of whether the ramping up of baseball activity in 1889 and 1890 represented the first domestic baseball in Britain. Like other researchers who had looked into this area, I came to the conclusion that this indeed appeared to be the case.

I had carried out my pre-1889 research using online searches of the British Library’s digitized collection of 19th Century newspapers. Shortly after I had moved from the research phase into the writing phase, the collection was supplemented with a batch of 22 additional titles. I didn’t realize this until I very recently went back to carry out some searches on a different topic.

After establishing that the collection I was searching had increased in richness, I decided, on a hunch, to return to the question of early domestic baseball in Britain. Continue reading →

MLB ‘early’ games 2011: Part Two

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On Tuesday, an analysis of the ‘early’ working week MLB games in 2011 showed that the Chicago Cubs are the team that offer the most live baseball for fans in the UK to follow during the British evening.

The Rays, Tigers, Padres and A’s all followed closely behind, but which teams require Brits to stay up all hours to follow their games? And which days of the week and months of the season are the best for catching a ballgame without sacrificing sleep?

Read on to find out.

An ‘early’ game

As explained previously, an ‘early’ game is defined here as one that begins before midnight UK time. For the purposes of this analysis, we’ll leave Saturday games (sacrificing sleep is not such an issue) and Sunday games (the vast majority are played during the British evening anyway) to one side and concentrate on the traditional working week of Monday to Friday.

The bottom five

26. Atlanta Braves – 16 early games
27. Arizona Diamondbacks – 15 games
28. Baltimore Orioles – 15 games
29. Florida Marlins – 15 games
30. Los Angeles Angels – 14 games

The five teams that played the least number of early games in 2011 are a mix of clubs from both coasts, including contenders and also-rans of late.

It’s disappointing, although not overly surprising, to see the Angels at the bottom of the pile. They are a competitive organization and their Los Angeles (well, Anaheim) home should make them attractive to holidaying Brits. However, they have developed a strong fan base (averaging just over 39,000 for their 81 home games in 2011, fifth highest in the Majors) so it makes sense for them to play more games in the evening to capitalize on this.

The Orioles and Marlins are at the other end of the scale when it comes to attendance (26th and 28th respectively) and they presumably work on the principle that if you’re struggling to attract fans to the ballpark already, you can’t afford to play many games when the adults are at work and the kids are at school.

The Braves have a decent following in the UK so their relatively low total is a bit of a shame, although maybe their British-based fans were glad of the small number of early games during their September collapse.

Overall trends

From the first (shortened) week to the last of the 2011 season, you could watch or listen to at least one live game at a convenient time every single week.

Four weeks in the season provided early games on all five week days, including the first full week of the regular season (week beginning 4 April) that included a season-high 26 early contests.

Week days

To make a fair comparison between week days, I have disregarded the three weeks which only contained a partial schedule of games (the Thursday and Friday of the first week, the All-Star break week and the final week of the season).

Wednesday evening was the time to set aside if you wanted to catch some live baseball in 2011, with the traditional ‘get-away’ Thursday following up with a decent number of early games as well.

Outside of the three partial weeks, there was only one week (week beginning 16 May) in which Wednesday didn’t offer us at least one early game and Thursday delivered some live baseball at a convenient time without exception.

Tuesday is normally the evening that you can set aside for other things (if indeed you have the time or inclination for anything other than baseball, of course), Friday matches Tuesday’s total due to the ‘Cubbies bonus’ explained in part one and the Monday total is boosted slightly by public holidays.

Months

There is a clear trend when it comes to the monthly distribution of early games. There are plenty to watch or listen to in the first two months, but we then get a relative dip in the middle of the season before things pick up down the September stretch.

You would have to compare data from other years (something I plan to do over the next few years) and look at each team’s case to really get to the cause of this. My suspicion is that this trend is something you will see most years and can largely be put down to teams sensibly avoiding playing during the blazing midday sunshine in those months.

It should be noted that July includes the three-day All-Star break and the regular season ended on 28 September, leaving the final two days of that month with no such games being played.

….

So there we have it. The Cubs are your best bet if you want to follow a team that offers the most games at a convenient time in the UK. Wednesday was the best night of the week to catch live games in 2011 and the first two months of the season gave us the chance to follow plenty of the action, with the final month of the regular season also being UK-fan friendly.