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WBC News from the Winter Meetings (WILL BE CONSTANTLY UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY)

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This is the Winter Meetings World Baseball Classic update post. I’ll post links and news that I find on Twitter or other online sources about WBC news from the Winter Meetings here. Come back later as more stuff is added.

2:10 PM, Monday: The earliest schedule is up on the WBC website, although not quite complete (some games in the Asian pools are missing), it gives a good idea of what will be going on. Needless to say, there will be early mornings for me in March.

Next off, Chien-Ming Wang will be playing for Taipei in the WBC as a way to showcase himself for teams.

And finally, we have confirmation that Andruw Jones will play for the Netherlands.

3:24 PM, Monday: The schedule for the WBC on the website is no longer there, suggesting to me that somebody put it up before it was supposed to. Joe Torre will apparently be speaking later today, and although it likely will include lots of stuff about his role in the MLB front office, he will surely talk about his role as the manager of Team USA as well.

4:06 PM, Monday: WBC has released an early sheet of some of the notable players who will be playing for each country, although they seem to limit it to a maximum of two per country, presumably to save space on the list.

MLB players on the list include Liam Hendriks and Grant Balfour (for Australia- Balfour is a surprise since he hasn’t pitched for them in past WBCs), Yan Gomes (Brazil), Justin Morneau (Canada), Robinson Cano and Jose Reyes for the DR, Alex Liddi and Italian-American Jason Grilli for Italy, Adrian Gonzalez and Sergio Romo for Mexico, Andruw Jones and Roger Bernadina for the Netherlands, Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran for PR, David Wright and Joe Mauer for the USA, and Miguel Cabrera and Pablo Sandoval for Venezuela.

4:26 PM, Monday: This is weird. The previous list has been replaced with this one, which has some differences. For example, it replaces Hendriks and Balfour with Ryan Rowland-Smith and Luke Hughes, it adds Brett Lawrie to Canada, it confirms Chien-Ming Wang for Taipei and replaces Sergio Romo with Jaime Garcia. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps the first one they put up was a first draft or something.

More news if it comes out.

Winter Meetings Action and Reaction: Part 2

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Part of a feature in which I react to the news coming from the Winter Meetings.

Action:

Reaction: An umpire, an owner and a player. The biggest surprise though is that more than one person was elected by the Veterans Committee- previously they haven’t put in this many.

Action:

Reaction: Well, I guess the Red Sox are back to their old ways. The large amounts of salary they dumped on the Dodgers earlier this year means that they they once again will be able to spend. Mike Napoli has long been a good hitter, and although he likely is now on the downward part of his career, he should be a good fit in Fenway.

 

More actions and reactions will come semi-regularly throughout the Winter Meetings.

Action and Reaction, Winter Meetings, Part 1

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Throughout the Winter Meetings, I’ll react to the acts that are going on in Baseball.

Action:

Reaction: I saw Lidge pitch once when he was with Houston. It was the year after he’d had his soul eaten by Albert Pujols, who sent a go-ahead home run in the NLCS so far into the night that I believe one of the Mars rovers recently discovered it. He got the save, if memory serves, but it was during one of the down points of his career. You see, Lidge was a player who was either lights-out or a heart attack waiting to happen, great one year but not-so-great the next, and injury-prone often (he mentioned on MLB Network this morning that he’s had 9 surgeries over his career). Overall, however, he had a good career, and as he retires he goes out with 225 saves, two All-Star Games, he played a role in a combined no-hitter against the Yankees,  a World Series ring and appearances in two other World Series.

Action:

Reaction: Oh, Alex Rodriguez. It never seems to end for him. With every successive year, his contract with the Yankees becomes even more of a albatross, and as his body breaks down and production decreases, it’s also becoming clear that the one saving grace the Yankees might have had- the attention that would come when Rodriguez could break Bonds’ HR record- is highly unlikely.

Action:

Reaction: And so it begins for the Tampa Rays, who many- including me- think will be a big mover-and-shaker at the Winter Meetings.They have an excess amount of good pitchers. Everybody wants good pitchers. And the Rays aren’t the market where they are able to sign lots of guys to long-term deals once they get expensive (with the exception of Evan Longoria, of course). To flip a pitcher could be a prudent move, for the right prospects. James Shields is the most likely to be dealt, but there have been on-and-off rumblings about David Price for about a year and a half. James Loney, meanwhile, seems like the type of guy who could turn out to be a shrewd move for the Rays. He had an off-year in 2012, but a rebound could give a good new cog to the Rays’ lineup.

Non-Baseball Action:

Reaction: Others might have been more deserving, but it is hard to argue with a MVP, a league title and an Olympic Gold medal.

Keep an eye open for more Action and Reaction throughout the Winter Meetings.

Q and A: The Winter Meetings

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Baseball’s “Winter Meetings” are about to get going in Nashville. You may be wondering why this is happening, and what it is. So, here’s a little question and answer for those of you wondering about it.

What are baseball’s Winter Meetings?

Meetings by baseball people. In the winter.

Very funny, mind going a bit more in-depth?

Okay, technically, the Winter Meetings is a trade-show and convention. Baseball people- from the highest owners, GMs, agents and superstars to the lowest of job-seekers, salesmen and tourists confused as to why their hotel is so full- come to the meetings to discuss business, network, sell their wares, buy stuff, and honor some people over dinners. It’s usually held in a tourist mecca with big nice hotels, like San Diego, Orlando, or, this year, Nashville’s Opryland resort. Technically, the Winter Meetings are run by Minor League Baseball and it’s where many people try to get jobs with minor league front offices, but it’s the MLB parts of the meetings that get all the attention.

That’s it?

More or less. But, guess what? When people in Major League Baseball “discuss business, network, sell their wares, buy stuff and honor some people over dinners”, it’s far different than if, say, paper salesmen were doing that. No offense to paper salesmen. You see, the fact that almost every major baseball mover-and-shaker is in such a small place means that it’s a place where deals and negotiations can happen quickly. Instead of playing phone-tag or flying around in private jets to do negotiations, agents and GMs only have to go between hotel rooms.

Because of this, a ton of deals get made during the winter meetings, far more than the average day of the off-season.

Anything else?

Several announcements will be made during the Winter Meetings.

The Veterans Committee, for example, will be voting for the Hall of Famers on their ballot during the Meetings. Notable names include Bill Dahlen, Jacob Ruppert, Marty Marion and Wes Ferrell. Well, they are notable to seamheads like me, at least.

There will also be announcements about the World Baseball Classic, including a schedule and probably provisional rosters.

And maybe, just maybe, somebody will fall into a fountain and get caught doing it by a MLB Network camera.

How can I follow these… winter meetings?

Well, I’m going to be there, of course, so I’ll… I’m sorry, that’s not true. I’m not going to be there. I’d entered a contest to try and win a trip there, but I lost. Which is a bummer.

So instead, I suggest you follow baseball people on Twitter and watch MLB Network, and perhaps ESPN as well.

Okay, thanks.

You’re welcome.

A detailed look at the BBWAA HoF ballot, Part 1: The Unquestionable and the guys who may have been HoF before alleged drug use and so may make it anyway

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In a world without steroids, where all of the magic numbers of the 1990s and early 2000s were just because of superhuman ability and extremely hard work, this is how this article would start:

“Bonds, Clemens, Piazza, Sosa, Biggio, and perhaps Schilling. That’s five, maybe six sure-fire HoFers coming onto the ballot this year, and Kenny Lofton, while not a Hall of Famer in my opinion, should certainly be expected to stick around the ballot for awhile. Not to mention this could be the year Jack Morris gets in. The biggest worry, really, is whether it’s possible to get more than three or four of them in this year and whether the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce can handle the pilgrimage that will besiege the village, likely the largest group since Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn and Mark McGwire were inducted in 2007…”

Of course, steroids did and do exist, so instead of having five or six sure-fire Hall of Famers on the ballot, it’s a picture that is far less clear. Oh, and Mark McGwire? He wasn’t inducted in 2007. In fact, he’s still on the ballot right now, and likely will remain. Same goes for Rafael Palmeiro, who has even less of a chance than McGwire of one day having a plaque up in Cooperstown’s halls. Both of them would have already been inducted, probably in their first year, had it not been for steroids.

So, instead, we have many categories and shades of grey. Over the next few days, I’ll take a look at those categories.

Unquestionably Hall of Fame, Probably First Ballot:

Craig Biggio: Only three men have had 3000+ hits, 200+ home runs, and 400+ stolen bases. Two of them are Paul Molitor and Rickey Henderson. The third is Craig Biggio. Add in his defensive flexibility (he played 2B, C and OF during his career) and the fact that there isn’t a whiff of steroid scandal around him, and he’s a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame.

Mike Piazza: Piazza has had some steroid stuff around him, but it’s generally been hearsay (he had back acne, according to some people) and general innuendo about the fact that he played during the steroid era. That’s not enough for me, and I don’t think it’ll be enough for the voters. Piazza was, quite simply, the best power-hitting catcher in history. He had more home runs than any other catcher, had a career .308 BA, and made 12 all-star teams.

(Alleged) Steroid-users that may make the Hall of Fame anyway:

Barry Bonds: Without the steroid allegations, Bonds would be so much a slam dunk first-ballot Hall of Famer that the only question would be whether his prickly reputation with the media would keep him from getting 97% or more of the vote. In fact, had he retired after the 1998 season (he allegedly began taking steroids shortly after 1998, partially because of his envy of the attention that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were getting), he would have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer. After all, he’d have retired with 411 HRs, 1216 RBIs, eight All-Star wins, three MVPs, eight Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, and an OPS of .966 that would be 15th all-time today, ahead of such immortals as Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Ty Cobb and Duke Snider. Had he kept going after 1998 without (alleged) steroid-use, he still likely would have gotten to 500 HRs, possibly even 600.

Of course, he did end up (allegedly) using steroids, and as a result he grew from being “merely” the best baseball player since Frank Robinson to being the best baseball player since Ted Williams or Babe Ruth. The question is: does the fact he would have been a HoF before his alleged use of PEDs make up for the fact that, well, he allegedly used PEDs? And… I don’t know.

Roger Clemens: Much like Bonds, the question of Clemens will depend on whether voters consider him as having been good enough of a player before his (alleged) drug use. Clemens (allegedly) began using during his time in Toronto, so let’s just question what would have happened if he had had a career-ending injury in a freak accident shortly after the 1996 season ended in. He would have ended his career with a 192-111 record, a 3.06 ERA, 2590 strikeouts and 100 complete games. He also would have three Cy Youngs to his name, as well as an MVP and five All-Star Games. He almost certainly would be elected to the Hall of Fame.

But, once again, his career didn’t stop there. He went on, and (allegedly) made some bad decisions. So the question is far more difficult.

 

Come back tomorrow for more.

Cheat Sheet: (Almost) All of the Most Recent Champions (as of Nov. 29, 2012)

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(Note: Not included are leagues still in session)

So, who’s the defending champion in the….

The Top Leagues:

…MLB? San Francisco Giants

…NPB? Yomiuri Giants

…KBO? Samsung Lions

…CPBL? Lamigo Monkeys

…Mexican League? Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz

The Affiliated Minors:

…International League? Pawtucket Red Sox

…Pacific Coast League? Reno Aces

…Eastern League? Akron Aeros

…Southern League? Mobile BayBears

…Texas League? San Antonio Missions

…California League? Lancaster JetHawks

…Carolina League? Lynchburg Hillcats

…Florida State League? Lakeland Flying Tigers

…Midwest League? Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

…South Atlantic League? Asheville Tourists

…NY-Penn League? Hudson Valley Renegades

…Northwest League? Vancouver Canadians

…Appalachian League? Elizabethton Twins

…Pioneer League? Missoula Osprey

…Gulf Coast League? Gulf Coast Pirates

…Arizona League? Arizona Rangers

…Dominican Summer League? DSL Pirates Team 1

…Venezuelan Summer League? VSL Pirates

(Want more? Go below the jump!)

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A few statistics that show Marvin Miller’s impact on baseball

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Marvin Miller, the man behind the Major League Baseball Players Association’s rise from an ineffective organization to the most powerful labor organization in the history of the country, has passed away at the age of 95. There are many people who have written big in-depth looks at Miller’s impact, and you should check those out. Here, however, I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves:

$6,000: The minimum salary of a MLB player when Marvin Miller took over the union in 1966.

$19,000: The average salary of a MLB player when Marvin Miller took over the union in 1966.

$241,000: The average salary of a MLB player when Marvin Miller retired in the early 1980s.

$480,000: The minimum salary of an MLB player in 2012.

$3.4 million: The average salary of an MLB player at the beginning of the 2012 season.

Whatever your opinion of Miller, the union or money in baseball, you cannot deny that he, and the union he built, has left a permanent mark upon the way the business of baseball is operated.

2013 WBC Team USA projections Version 2.011

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(EDITED IN ON DEC. 31: As of this writing, the most recent projection for the United States can be found here.)

With more stuff coming out about what players might or might not be taking part in the WBC, here’s another update of how Team USA looks. As we get closer to the tournament and some players start to drop out (Chris Sale, for example, has said he will probably won’t take part), it becomes clear that America’s best strength is it’s depth. Other countries have a line of superstars, but not much below that, but Team USA has a player pool that lets it take a licking but keep on ticking. Sale is out, you say? Well, there’s still plenty of good lefty starters like Gio Gonzalez, Wade Miley, Matt Harrison, C.J. Wilson, Madison Bumgarner, Cliff Lee, Derek Holland….

You get the idea.

This version, VERSION 2.011, includes the official coaching staff of Team USA, as confirmed by MLB’s official website.

A refresher on my selection rules/assumptions:

  • Any player coming off a major injury or who has a history of injuries is unlikely to participate. This is especially true for the pitchers.
  • Players that will be on new teams are less likely to participate, but shouldn’t be completely ignored, with the exception of pitchers.
  • Teams are made up of 28 players, of which 13 of them must be pitchers and two of them catchers.
  • The pitch count rules make relievers extremely important.

Now, go after the jump for the full look:

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Long-Term Deals: The Way to the Future

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Two things caught my eye this morning, and while on first glance you would think they aren’t related, in fact they may be tied together.

The first is an article by Jeff Passan on how the money involved with regional sports network deals, such as the one the Dodgers are expected to take that will be between $6 and $7 billion dollars, are going to widen the gap between the rich and poor in baseball.

The second is the news that Evan Longoria has signed a $100 million dollar extension with Tampa that will keep him with the team until as late as 2023, depending on options.
How are these connected? Well, in a word, the events of the first article will probably lead to us seeing more deals like the Longoria deal of the second article.

Consider: the bubble of money that Regional Sports Networks will bring the big market teams- amounts of money that not even revenue sharing will dent all of that much- will make it extremely hard for teams to keep top free agents from leaving. A team like Tampa will just simply be unable to outbid, even on a good day, one of the top markets. While of course there will be some exceptions such as “hometown discounts” and big markets botching negotiations, the fact is that the best way for a smaller market to keep talent will be to make sure that they never leave in the first place. The way to do that? Sign them up early, and sign them up often.

Longoria, for example, had already been signed to a contract extension early in his career, before he became his MVP self. That was a deal extremely kind to the Rays. This second deal is more in line with Longoria’s value, but is also good for the Rays (at least in the short-term), since it means that he won’t be leaving.

Longoria’s deal is just the latest in what has become a trend… but expect it to become the norm as time goes on.

Links of the undetermined amount of time: Grantland and Sports On Earth

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When I am asked- and I am never asked- where to find the best sportswriting on the internet, I point (well, I would point if I was ever asked) to one of two websites.
The first, and the older of the two, is Grantland. Part of the ESPN empire and run by “Boston Sports Guy” Bill Simmons, it sports a large roster of writers writing about not only sports, but also popular culture. While it can sometimes be hit and miss, and Simmons’ himself is decidedly a mixed bag, it is still a daily destination, especially during big-time sports events.

The second, newer but more focused on sports, is Sports on Earth, a joint-venture between USA Today and Major League Baseball Advanced Media that is like Grantland, only without the pop culture. One of the biggest drawing cards for SoE is the fact that it features Joe Posnanski, one of the best sports columnists on the internet, period.

Check them out.