MLB Bullets Is Getting Awkward

Can spring training get started already?

• People are still talking about James Shields, including James Shields. Shields said that his final decision came down between the Padres and the Cubs. I don't know whether I should feel disappointed or happy that he ended up in San Diego.
• Making me feel good is Tony Blengino, who in an ESPN Insider article ($) writes that pitchers decline rapidly after eight years and 27,000 pitches. Shields has thrown 27,469 pitches over the past eight season.
• Ken Rosenthal talked to a CPA who estimated that after state and federal taxes, Shields take-home pay will actually be under $39 million. I'm not sure how he's going to feed his family.
• Dave Cameron argues that the problems Shields had getting a huge contract indicate that teams put a lot more emphasis on sabermetric stats like FIP than on traditional stats like ERA and wins.
• Ken Rosenthal writes that spring training is going to get awkward for the Phillies unless they're able to trade some of their veterans.
• Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that eight teams have inquired about Cole Hamels and four have made trade offers.
• Ken Rosenthal's sources say that the Phillies are waiting for injuries in spring training to create a demand for Hamels.
• The Phillies have also been unable to come to an agreement with the Brewers on a trade for Jonathan Papelbon. In the absence of that, the Brewers are looking at re-signing Francisco Rodriguez, but he's looking for a two-year deal.
• Jonathan Lucroy has a hamstring strain and will miss the next four to six weeks.
• The Mariners have signed a former Brewer, free agent Rickie Weeks to a one-year, $2 million deal.
• Since the Mariners already have a second baseman, they plan to use Weeks in the outfield. Also, because Weeks plays second base with a machete instead of a glove.
• Last season, the big news of spring training was the number of pitchers who needed Tommy John surgery. You know that spring is just around the corner since Braves reliever Shae Simmons underwent Tommy John surgery.
• Ben Lindbergh talked to Brad Ausmus, Dennis Eckersley and Padres minor leaguer Austin Hedges about pitch framing. Some provocative stuff in there, especially the point that the Yankees found catching defense and pitch framing is so important, that in 2009 they concluded that they were a better team with Jose Molina behind the plate than Jorge Posada. This helps explain why Welington Castillo has fallen out of favor with the Cubs.
• Some people are a little upset that the Cardinals are putting a memorial patch on their uniform in remembrance of the late Oscar Taveras. Paul Lukas has that controversy and the history of such patches on baseball uniforms.
• Craig Calcaterra understands the concerns of those who oppose the Taveras patch, but he thinks that the patch is not an honor so much as it is a way for the Cardinals to grieve, so it is appropriate.
• Yoan Moncada is expected to sign with a team in the next two weeks. Is July 2 in the next two weeks?
• Commissioner Rob Manfred is not going to get involved in the dispute over the Dodgers television broadcasts.
• Bill Plaschke writes there is no end in sight to the Dodgers TV standoff.
• But MLB is looking at altering the strike zone to increase offense. It's been well-documented that the size of the strike zone has increased over the past few years.
• MLB and the MLBPA are making progress towards some "tweaks" designed to speed up the pace of the game.
• Rob Neyer noticed something I wrote a few weeks ago about the 2011 Royals farm system. He points out that the highly-touted prospects that season have been somewhat disappointing but the "lesser prospects" were the key to their successful 2014 season.
• Neyer also writes an article about whether or not reliever Joe Black was "robbed" of the 1952 MVP when the award went to the Cubs' Hank Sauer. That part of the article was boring and I wouldn't be linking to it except for the part at the end where he reveals that something that Black suggested to Bobby Bonilla may have won the 1997 World Series for the Marlins. The video seems to confirm the story, too.
• In 1979, Alison Gordon became the first full-time female beat reporter in MLB when she covered the Blue Jays. Gordon died yesterday at the age of 72.
• Rodger Sherman thinks the trend of silly uniforms in the minor leagues has gotten out of control and needs to be stopped. Can't really disagree with that one.
• But crazy minor league promotions will never end. The Akron Rubber Ducks have scheduled a "Brian Williams Pants-on-Fire" night.
• It's not just the minors. The Angels are giving away a really ugly Mike Trout cap.
• Dan Epstein talks to former Cub Lenny Randle about the baseball-related music that he made when he was with the Mariners. Also, Lenny Randle is both the Babe Ruth and Bill Veeck of Italian baseball.
• And finally, an 88-year-old at a fantasy camp got pitched up and in. So he did what any ballplayer would do, he charged the mound.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.