During the latest Banished to the Pen podcast, we had a discussion on the Craig Kimbrel trade and the question of where we are on the spectrum of overvaluing or undervaluing closers. If you haven’t… Read more »
COMMENTARY
In a somewhat surprising development, the Pirates did not offer a 2016 contract to first baseman Pedro Alvarez by Wednesday night’s 11:59 PM deadline. He is now a free agent. The reasons this is surprising are… Read more »
In the world of sports, the catcher position is kind of weird. Catchers start each play out of bounds, facing a different direction than their teammates. On a more micro level, baseball’s most important in-bounds/out-of-bounds determination, the… Read more »
After the recent signing of Rich Hill, the A’s had a bit of a logjam in the rotation. To clear way for some of their aspiring youngsters, it was widely assumed the A’s would trade… Read more »
In this article I wrote for FanGraphs Community, I noted, in the summer of 2014, that batters were being hit by pitches at a near-record pace. Here is a graph showing the number of plate appearances… Read more »
Courtesy of wunderkind news breaker Robert Murray, we now know that the A’s signed Rich Hill to a one year contract worth 6 million dollars, with a guaranteed spot in the 2016 rotation. There are… Read more »
Out of the 20 free agents given a qualifying offer (QO), only three accepted. They are the first three ever to accept one, but did they make the right call? Before looking at each individual… Read more »
Last off-season I began work on a framework that would better explain how front offices performed each season by utilizing a couple of frequently used economic measures. My goal was to gain a better understanding… Read more »
I discovered this while playing around with the amazing, indispensable Baseball Savant: There have been just nine pitching staffs in the eight-year PITCHf/x era that have thrown over 3,000 pitches at 95 miles per hour… Read more »
The National League Cy Young race is obviously between three pitchers: Jake Arrieta, Zack Grienke, and Clayton Kershaw. Compelling arguments can be made for any of those three candidates and, refreshingly, none of them pit… Read more »
Last month, I wrote about the two leagues, noting that The American League, perceived as being bad this year, was actually a good deal better than the National League overall, and The perception of the… Read more »
Schedule: Game 1 – Fri, 10/9 at LA Game 2 – Sat, 10/10 at LA Game 3 – Mon, 10/12 at NY Game 4 – Tue, 10/13 at NY (if necessary) Game 5 – Thu, 10/15 at LA (if necessary)… Read more »
Schedule: Game 1 – Friday, 10/9 6:30 PM EDT at St. Louis Game 2 – Saturday, 10/10 5:30 PM EDT at St. Louis Game 3 – Monday, 10/12 at Chicago Game 4 – Tuesday, 10/13 at Chicago (if necessary)… Read more »
Schedule: Game 1 – Thu, 10/8 at KC Game 2 – Fri, 10/9 at KC Game 3 – Sun, 10/11 at Houston Game 4 – Mon, 10/12 at Houston (if necessary) Game 5 – Wed,… Read more »
Schedule: Game 1 – Thu, 10/8 at Toronto Game 2 – Fri, 10/9 at Toronto Game 3 – Sun, 10/11 at Texas Game 4 – Mon, 10/12 at Texas (if necessary) Game 5 – Wed, 10/14… Read more »
As you have probably read by now, Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia announced he is entering rehab for alcohol treatment in a statement he released on Monday. I thought I would try to give a little… Read more »
If you’ve been paying attention to baseball this season, then you know the future is bright. During the course of 2015 so much young talent has entered the majors. Nowhere is that reality more evident than… Read more »
The membership of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America has never been accused of being the most forward thinking or progressive set of sportswriters on the planet. They are an antiquated, bloated network of good… Read more »
This post was originally going to focus on which starting pitcher should be left off the Cardinals’ postseason rotation. It was going to be a tough exercise – choosing between five pitchers who are all… Read more »
It’s almost that time of year. On October 8, MLB’s divisional playoff round will kick off. Eight teams will compete in four best-of-five playoff series to see who moves one step closer to the World… Read more »
As with every year, there have been storylines that are unique to the 2015 baseball season. The remarkable infusion of young talent to the game. The relevance of the Cubs and Astros after years of… Read more »
On April 21, the Pirates were leading the Cubs 8-6 when closer Mark Melancon entered the game to start the ninth inning. A single, double, walk, single, strikeout, and ground out later, the Cubs had… Read more »
Some of you may recall that when the PECOTA projections for 2015 were released, many people thought PECOTA was a little higher on Justin Verlander than widely believed, including by other projections. He was projected… Read more »
Chris Bassitt has risen up from a 5th starter/reliever type to looking like a potential middle of the rotation guy with even higher upside. How has this happened? Is this real, or should we expect regression?… Read more »
The story (if there has to be one story) of the 2015 MLB season has been, to many who follow the game, the infusion of youth and its impact. Both the American and National Leagues… Read more »
Wow, that was fun, wasn’t it? Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like things get more hectic and crazy every year. Now let’s all take a breath and see what all this stuff means…. Read more »
The dealing’s done, and somehow, Rangers GM Jon Daniels walked away from the table with Ruben Amaro’s ace. In the months (and even years) leading up to this season’s trade deadline, Cole Hamels had been… Read more »
This past week has been very busy for the New York Mets, who made multiple trades to bolster both the offense and bullpen, before the announcement of losing reliever Jenrry Mejia for the next 162… Read more »
After several days of rumor and speculation, Tuesday afternoon the Washington Nationals completed a deal with division rival Philadelphia Phillies to acquire veteran closer Jonathan Papelbon. Specifically the Phillies sent Papelbon and $4.5 million dollars… Read more »
As of this afternoon the rebuild is officially on in Cincinnati. The Reds traded Johnny Cueto to the Royals for Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed. Now that the first domino has fallen I expect… Read more »
