I'm only writing this so I don't get fined.
- As we move away from the outrage over banning defensive shifts, the next potential rule change that everyone is debating is Ken Rosenthal's proposal that that relief pitchers have to face two batters before leaving the game. It was actually Theo Epstein's idea, but Rosenthal was the one who is bringing it up, so he's getting the credit for now.
- David Schoenfield likes the idea.
- Dave Cameron would take the idea a little farther and limit teams to four pitchers over the first nine innings. And before anyone asks, all of them accept that exceptions to the rule would be made for injured pitchers. Although if they didn't, then maybe Larry Yount would have had a longer career.
- Also, the complete Ken Rosenthal interview with new commissioner Rob Manfred is now available.
- Russell Carleton explains why sabermetric teams that pioneered the defensive shift might be the teams most in favor of banning them.
- One thing that people who are against banning shifts argue that defensive shifts have only a very small impact on decreasing offense. Most say that the biggest problem is the expanding strike zone. Ben Lindbergh tries to figure out how much offense has been lost because of a bigger strike zone. The answer is some, but not all of it. So where did the rest of the offense go?
- We now have a possible explanation for why White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf opposed Manfred becoming commissioner.
- Unfortunately, Manfred inherits a dying sport. In fact, the financial situation for MLB is so bad that some economists predict it will take a few more years for MLB's revenue to surpass the NFL's. There's a reason why baseball salaries are going through the roof. (h/t Hardball Talk)
- Commissioner emeritus Bud Selig hopes that MLB will expand internationally. This isn't what Selig is talking about, but MLB would be wise to try to just buy all NPB and then find Japanese partners to actually run the clubs. It's not clear to me that the Japanese owners would actually sell to MLB, however. But I have little doubt that MLB and local partners of their own choosing would do a better job of running NPB that the people who currently run it.
- The Marlins front office flew all the way to Japan to formally announce the signing of Ichiro Suzuki.
- A lot of people are thinking Suzuki's one-year contract with the Marlins will be the last of his career, but Jon Paul Morosi thinks that Ichiro could have three or four more years left before retirement. I personally can't see Ichiro voluntarily retiring before he gets 3000 major league hits. Not so coincidentally. that would push his combined NPB/MLB hit total past Pete Rose. And yes, that would only be a record symbolically. But it would be a symbol.
- Ben Badler does some more research into Yoan Moncada's issues with the Office of Foreign Assets Control and whether "specific clearances" still exist. Badler reports that the OFAC will still issue a specific clearance (as opposed to a general clearance) but that such clearances are so low on their list of priorities that it could take a long time.
- David Schoenfield asks "Who's better? Freddie Freeman or Anthony Rizzo?" Is that really a question?
- Casey Janssen signed with the Nationals for one year and $5 million.
- Chad Billingsley signed with the Phillies for one year and $1.5 million.
- Neal Cotts is going to the Brewers for one year and $3 million.
- Ken Rosenthal wonders why Joba Chamberlain hasn't found a team yet.
- The Rays collect pitchers who throw high, hard heat. More so than other teams. Especially the Twins, who feel that striking out an opposing batter at Target Field is a sign of bad hospitality and a violation of "Minnesota nice."
- AJ Cassavell lists the top ten players scheduled to be free agents next winter.
- Jayson Werth is going to jail. He will go directly to jail. He will not pass go and will not collect $200. However, it's just for the weekends.
- In uniform news, the Padres are bringing back the brown in 2015, for five games at least. There's been a big campaign to have the Padres return to their brown color scheme and we can hope this is a trial balloon.
- And finally, this is a story close to my heart. The Fresno Grizzlies had a tough offseason, losing their affiliation with the San Francisco Giants, who were the only affiliation they'd ever had and who not coincidentally were the most popular major league team in the area. Much of their marketing over the years had revolved around "See tomorrow's Giants today" and obviously that's out the window now. But the Astros have moved into town (with the third-ranked farm system instead of the 29th) and the team has embraced their new partners. In fact, they've embraced their new affiliation so much that for one game they're going to wear a Grizzlies version of the famous Astros "Tequila Sunrise" uniforms of the 1970s and early '80s. A lot better than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles uniforms they wore last year.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.