The Chicago White Sox were slightly below the American League average in runs per game in 2014, but they were the median team. Accounting for their (typically hitter-friendly) home park, that made them something close… Read more »
The Lefty Strike
In the first installment of this series, I used obesity as an introductory analogy to offensive strikeout propensity. The subject of today’s examination, the fourth of seven pieces this week (check out Parts One, Two… Read more »
Parts I and II in this series, on the Cubs and the Astros, are also worth your time. It’s a peculiar thing to say about the team to whom Giancarlo Stanton belongs, but the 2014… Read more »
Cole Hamels is still a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, although the situation becomes more untenable almost by the day. The Boston Red Sox remain the most-discussed potential trade partner in the market, but with… Read more »
If you haven’t read Part One of this series, please check it out. Today, we examine the Houston Astros, the second-most strikeout-happy team in Major League Baseball last season, and the fourth-most vulnerable club in… Read more »
Strikeout propensity is to modern baseball as obesity is to modern healthcare. The number of players and teams fighting serious strikeout problems at bat is large, and it’s growing, just the way the number and… Read more »
Andrew Friedman’s bare feet alighted cautiously on the hardwood floor next to his bed, but there was no shock of cold. He stood, fumbled for his slippers, wandered to the kitchen and opened the cupboard…. Read more »
The San Diego Padres agreed to terms with James Shields very late on Sunday night, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. Shields’s new contract will be worth between $72 million and $78 million over… Read more »
I’ll try to keep the word count on this low. Most of the critical information is in the headline. Here’s what that fact looks like, visually: (Click to animate.) This shows, for the years 2005,… Read more »
The MLB schedule is a mess. For several years now, teams have been playing roughly half their schedules within their divisions. In 2015, the pattern will continue, as most clubs play each of their four… Read more »
In one episode of The West Wing, some news is slowly spreading from one staffer to the next. The Congressional Budget Office is preparing to release new projections of the federal government’s budget surplus, lowering the estimated… Read more »
If you follow baseball closely, you know that runs are becoming more and more scarce, across the league. If you read about baseball on the Internet, you know that one big reason for that is… Read more »
I wasn’t happy when Rob Manfred got the nod as Bud Selig’s successor and the new Commissioner of Major League Baseball. I can’t say I was livid, exactly, because my default disposition is awfully laid… Read more »
On Friday night, we lost another of baseball’s historical and personal giants. Ernie Banks died not far short of his 84th birthday, and perhaps, only a little further short of seeing the Chicago Cubs team… Read more »
In 2014, Dexter Fowler was 20 runs worse than an average defensive center fielder, according to Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). It was the worst figure posted by any center fielder in Major League Baseball. Fowler… Read more »
The Chicago Cubs traded third baseman Luis Valbuena and right-handed pitcher Dan Straily to the Houston Astros Monday, for outfielder Dexter Fowler. It’s a win-now move on both sides, as Valbuena will move offensively helpless… Read more »
Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo isn’t afraid to be called heavy-handed. There’s never been anything subtle about his draft strategy, which is how he took players who spent at least some time as the consensus… Read more »
The Atlanta Braves traded Evan Gattis to the Houston Astros Wednesday, receiving three prospects and sending a suspect minor-league pitcher to complete the transaction. In another NL East-AL West swap, Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane… Read more »
Jackie Bradley might yet turn out to be an odd man out in the Boston Red Sox outfield. The Sox traded Yoenis Cespedes in December, but they still have Hanley Ramirez, Rusney Castillo, Shane Victorino,… Read more »
The Oakland Athletics acquired Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar from the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, sending in return John Jaso, top Oakland prospect Daniel Robertson, left-hitting minor-league outfielder Boog Powell and cash. I wrote… Read more »
Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics value the future; they just don’t think about it the same way you do. That’s what I’m coming to understand about the team, as Beane radically reshapes a roster… Read more »
Sometime this fall, I nearly posted an article cleverly entitled, “Does Bat Speed Help One Bat Against Speed?” It was to be an exploration of Javier Baez’s struggles in his first Major League stint. Honestly,… Read more »
Amid that wild, wacky flurry of activity that turned over baseball in early and mid-December, the Los Angeles Dodgers remade their infield, swapping out Dee Gordon for Howie Kendrick at second base and trading for… Read more »
I’m always a little bit behind the crowd when it comes to the early pair of annual publications that brighten baseball’s offseason, because I wait and ask for them as Christmas gifts. This year, I… Read more »
I haven’t posted here at Banished to the Pen in, wow, it’s been nearly three weeks. This is a short post about my absence, my return, and the stray thoughts reentering the work flow here has… Read more »
Twenty-seven signifies completion in baseball, and the wild week that began with the Winter Meetings included 27 notable transactions among Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs. That’s a funny little coincidence. It means nothing, especially because the… Read more »
The Chicago White Sox have had an active winter so far. It’s hard to say, and much too trivial to bother sussing out, whether they’ve had the most impactful, most interesting or best winter of… Read more »
If you’re a Los Angeles Dodgers fan—Hell, if you’re a baseball fan, or a sports fan, or even a ceiling fan—the last 24 hours have been bedlam. When Jon Lester agreed to sign with the… Read more »
After a flurry of rumors Monday night, the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks completed a trade on Tuesday. Catcher Miguel Montero, 31, became a Cub, and Chicago sent minor-league pitchers Jeferson Mejia and Zach Godley… Read more »
In 2008, the Chicago Cubs won their second straight division title. It wasn’t like its predecessor, though. That 2008 title was a matter of course. That Cubs team was dominant. They won 97 games, led… Read more »
