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Attorneys for Alex Rodriguez filed an "application" on Sunday with arbitrator Fredric Horowitz that alleges Major League Baseball officials leaked to the media that Rodriguez had tested positive for a stimulant in 2006.
Rodriguez's legal team filed the complaint with Horowitz, who is overseeing the embattled superstar's appeal of his 211-game doping suspension, after The New York Times reported late Sunday that Rodriguez had tested positive for the stimulant three years before he acknowledged in 2009 that he had used steroids from 2001 to 2003.
Rodriguez's spokesman denied that the Yankee third baseman had tested positive, according to the Times.
Rodriguez's test for the banned substance was not made public because players are not disciplined for a first violation of MLB's stimulant policy.
It would seem unlikely that MLB would leak that information, according to a source familiar with the alleged positive test.
"All it would do," said the source, "is make it look to the arbitrator like baseball is desperate to out Rodriguez. Why would they do that?"
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney declined to confirm or deny whether Rodriguez tested positive for a stimulant in 2006, saying the commissioner's office adheres to its collectively bargained agreement in regard to public announcements of when a player violates its' drug agreement.
According to that agreement, if Rodriguez did test positive, he would not have been outed as a cheater. Rodriguez also tested positive for steroids in 2003 when MLB and its Players' Association conducted a supposedly anonymous "survey" testing program to determine how many players were using banned substances.
The Daily News and other media outlets have reported that both sides have paid for evidence and engaged hardball tactics since baseball began its investigation into Biogenesis, the South Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs to players, last year.
The Daily News recently reported that Rodriguez had submitted a report to Horowitz that included acknowledgement of a $305.000 payment for evidence, including a videotape of MLB buying Biogenesis documents. According to the Times' report Sunday, $200,000 of that went for the tape.
The Daily News and other media outlets have already reported that sources close to the scandal-scarred Yankee superstar have complained since the spring that MLB officials engaged in unethical and sometimes criminal behavior as they investigated Rodriguez's ties to Biogenesis.
Rodriguez and his legal team reiterated those complaints in the lawsuit they filed in New York state court on Oct. 3 that claims MLB officials have engaged in a "witch hunt" against Rodriguez to secure Selig's place in history as an anti-steroids crusader. They have not made public, however, any evidence that proves that MLB investigators have crossed ethical lines or committed crimes during their Biogenesis investigation.
MLB, on the other hand, has laid out a long pattern of violations of the game's collectively bargained drug agreement by Rodriguez, at one point saying he is the game's worst offender, and that he has mounted an aggressive campaign through his stable of lawyers, crisis managers and P.R experts to sabotage baseball's investigation into whether its agreement was being violated.
There has been much speculation among those following the case that if the arbitration does not go his way, Rodriguez will sue both MLB and the Players' Association, claiming his rights have been violated and that he has been unfairly targeted by MLB and not adequately represented by the union.
Rodriguez and 13 other players were suspended this summer for their ties to Biogenesis, the clinic run by Anthony Bosch, the man Rodriguez has described as his "nutritional consultant." Rodriguez is the only player who has appealed the discipline.
The arbitration has been put on hold until Nov. 18 to accommodate Horowitz's schedule. Horowitz is expected to rule on the suspension by Christmas.
Read more: Alex Rodriguez lawyers file application saying MLB leaked lie about positive test from 2006 - NY Daily News
Rodriguez's legal team filed the complaint with Horowitz, who is overseeing the embattled superstar's appeal of his 211-game doping suspension, after The New York Times reported late Sunday that Rodriguez had tested positive for the stimulant three years before he acknowledged in 2009 that he had used steroids from 2001 to 2003.
Rodriguez's spokesman denied that the Yankee third baseman had tested positive, according to the Times.
Rodriguez's test for the banned substance was not made public because players are not disciplined for a first violation of MLB's stimulant policy.
It would seem unlikely that MLB would leak that information, according to a source familiar with the alleged positive test.
"All it would do," said the source, "is make it look to the arbitrator like baseball is desperate to out Rodriguez. Why would they do that?"
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney declined to confirm or deny whether Rodriguez tested positive for a stimulant in 2006, saying the commissioner's office adheres to its collectively bargained agreement in regard to public announcements of when a player violates its' drug agreement.
According to that agreement, if Rodriguez did test positive, he would not have been outed as a cheater. Rodriguez also tested positive for steroids in 2003 when MLB and its Players' Association conducted a supposedly anonymous "survey" testing program to determine how many players were using banned substances.
The Daily News and other media outlets have reported that both sides have paid for evidence and engaged hardball tactics since baseball began its investigation into Biogenesis, the South Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs to players, last year.
The Daily News recently reported that Rodriguez had submitted a report to Horowitz that included acknowledgement of a $305.000 payment for evidence, including a videotape of MLB buying Biogenesis documents. According to the Times' report Sunday, $200,000 of that went for the tape.
The Daily News and other media outlets have already reported that sources close to the scandal-scarred Yankee superstar have complained since the spring that MLB officials engaged in unethical and sometimes criminal behavior as they investigated Rodriguez's ties to Biogenesis.
Rodriguez and his legal team reiterated those complaints in the lawsuit they filed in New York state court on Oct. 3 that claims MLB officials have engaged in a "witch hunt" against Rodriguez to secure Selig's place in history as an anti-steroids crusader. They have not made public, however, any evidence that proves that MLB investigators have crossed ethical lines or committed crimes during their Biogenesis investigation.
MLB, on the other hand, has laid out a long pattern of violations of the game's collectively bargained drug agreement by Rodriguez, at one point saying he is the game's worst offender, and that he has mounted an aggressive campaign through his stable of lawyers, crisis managers and P.R experts to sabotage baseball's investigation into whether its agreement was being violated.
There has been much speculation among those following the case that if the arbitration does not go his way, Rodriguez will sue both MLB and the Players' Association, claiming his rights have been violated and that he has been unfairly targeted by MLB and not adequately represented by the union.
Rodriguez and 13 other players were suspended this summer for their ties to Biogenesis, the clinic run by Anthony Bosch, the man Rodriguez has described as his "nutritional consultant." Rodriguez is the only player who has appealed the discipline.
The arbitration has been put on hold until Nov. 18 to accommodate Horowitz's schedule. Horowitz is expected to rule on the suspension by Christmas.
Read more: Alex Rodriguez lawyers file application saying MLB leaked lie about positive test from 2006 - NY Daily News
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The Pirates' wonderful 2013 continued on Monday night, when Andrew McCutchen and Francisco Liriano picked up prestigious Players Choice Awards.
For the second time in as many years, McCutchen was voted National League Outstanding Player by his fellow players, who also chose Liriano as the NL's Comeback Player.
McCutchen was touched by the peer prop, referring to being the players' pick over St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina and Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt as "definitely an honor."
"It means a lot to know the players we play against again voted for me," McCutchen said on MLB Network after the announcement of his award.
McCutchen's season was highlighted by his becoming only the fourth center fielder in history to post a second consecutive season with a line of .300/.400/.500 or better, as he batted .317 with an on-base percentage of .404 and a slugging percentage of .508.
McCutchen thus had a "split" for the night, having "lost" the cover of the next edition of the popular video game MLB The Show. McCutchen had earned cover status for MLB 2013 The Show through online fan balloting, but MLB players got to select next year's cover boy and have chosen Tigers star Miguel Cabrera for the game, set for a spring '14 release.
McCutchen made that announcement at the end of the telecast, congratulating Cabrera and calling his own chance to grace the game's cover "something I will always have."
Liriano's triumphant season was a comeback squared. He bounced back from a 2012 season in which he went 6-12 with a 5.34 ERA, and from a late-December right arm fracture that delayed his first start until May 11.
Liriano -- also a finalist for NL Outstanding Pitcher, which went to Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers -- led the Bucs into the postseason with a 16-8 record and 3.02 ERA, then pitched them to a 6-2 victory over the Reds in the NL Wild Card Game.
"I thank the Pirates for giving me an opportunity to play," Liriano, speaking from his native Dominican Republic, said on MLB Network. "After I broke my arm, I didn't think I would be playing. But they gave me a chance to play and to prove myself, and everything went well.
"It's a great feeling; I'm very excited," Liriano said of being honored by fellow players. "I think I surprised even myself this year, but I was always positive, because I know anything can happen in baseball if you work hard."
Mere minutes before the Players Choice announcements, Liriano had also picked up MLB's official NL Comeback Player of the Year Award, as selected by online voters at MLB-com.
Players chose Liriano over two other comeback candidates -- his late-season teammate, Marlon Byrd, and Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
As part of the MLB Players Association's Players Choice Awards program, the Players Trust presents each winner with $20,000 for the charities of his choice.
McCutchen said he is splitting his award between Pirates Charities and two foundations run by the Pirates' team chaplain, Brad Henderson. Liriano is presenting his grant to the church in his Dominican hometown of San Cristobal.
Pirates stars Francisco Liriano and Andrew McCutchen honored by peers | MLB-com: News
For the second time in as many years, McCutchen was voted National League Outstanding Player by his fellow players, who also chose Liriano as the NL's Comeback Player.
McCutchen was touched by the peer prop, referring to being the players' pick over St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina and Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt as "definitely an honor."
"It means a lot to know the players we play against again voted for me," McCutchen said on MLB Network after the announcement of his award.
McCutchen's season was highlighted by his becoming only the fourth center fielder in history to post a second consecutive season with a line of .300/.400/.500 or better, as he batted .317 with an on-base percentage of .404 and a slugging percentage of .508.
McCutchen thus had a "split" for the night, having "lost" the cover of the next edition of the popular video game MLB The Show. McCutchen had earned cover status for MLB 2013 The Show through online fan balloting, but MLB players got to select next year's cover boy and have chosen Tigers star Miguel Cabrera for the game, set for a spring '14 release.
McCutchen made that announcement at the end of the telecast, congratulating Cabrera and calling his own chance to grace the game's cover "something I will always have."
Liriano's triumphant season was a comeback squared. He bounced back from a 2012 season in which he went 6-12 with a 5.34 ERA, and from a late-December right arm fracture that delayed his first start until May 11.
Liriano -- also a finalist for NL Outstanding Pitcher, which went to Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers -- led the Bucs into the postseason with a 16-8 record and 3.02 ERA, then pitched them to a 6-2 victory over the Reds in the NL Wild Card Game.
"I thank the Pirates for giving me an opportunity to play," Liriano, speaking from his native Dominican Republic, said on MLB Network. "After I broke my arm, I didn't think I would be playing. But they gave me a chance to play and to prove myself, and everything went well.
"It's a great feeling; I'm very excited," Liriano said of being honored by fellow players. "I think I surprised even myself this year, but I was always positive, because I know anything can happen in baseball if you work hard."
Mere minutes before the Players Choice announcements, Liriano had also picked up MLB's official NL Comeback Player of the Year Award, as selected by online voters at MLB-com.
Players chose Liriano over two other comeback candidates -- his late-season teammate, Marlon Byrd, and Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
As part of the MLB Players Association's Players Choice Awards program, the Players Trust presents each winner with $20,000 for the charities of his choice.
McCutchen said he is splitting his award between Pirates Charities and two foundations run by the Pirates' team chaplain, Brad Henderson. Liriano is presenting his grant to the church in his Dominican hometown of San Cristobal.
Pirates stars Francisco Liriano and Andrew McCutchen honored by peers | MLB-com: News
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It's no coincidence that some of the world's most prolific writers have Bovada Sportsbook in there list of what I feel to be the Nr: 1 greatest sports books ever.
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The qualifying offers are out, and we have our first winners and losers of the offseason.
Winners
Well, everyone who did not receive a qualifying offer would fit this description — they are truly free, unencumbered by draft-pick compensation. Some of those players, though, will benefit more than others. And two teams, in particular, worked the system to their advantage.
First, the players:
• Bronson Arroyo: The Reds can’t cry middle-market poverty when they’re paying first baseman Joey Votto $225 million, but clearly they were concerned that Arroyo would accept the one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer and absorb too much of their offseason budget.
So, the Reds declined to extend the offer, leaving both sides free of worry. The problem is, the Reds now figure to lose one of the game’s most durable and effective starting pitchers to another club.
True, Arroyo will be 37 next season. But since 2006, he has led all major leaguers in starts and all National Leaguers in wins and innings pitched. He has never been on the disabled list. And in four of the past five seasons, his ERA has been below 3.90.
Consistent. As in, ka-ching.
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia: He wanted to stay with the Red Sox, and the chances of that happening diminished when the team declined to make him the one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer.
The Red Sox instead seem likely to pursue Brian McCann, the catcher who years ago blocked Saltalamacchia in Atlanta. “Salty,” though, likely will get over his disappointment.
He’s 28, he’s a switch-hitter and he produced a career-best .804 OPS in the regular season. Yes, he slumped in the postseason, both offensively and defensively, but the scarcity of catchers in the game should make him a fairly hot commodity. • Joe Nathan: The Rangers picked up their end of his mutual option for $9 million, but the closer became a free agent when he declined to return for that amount.
Well, Mariano Rivera’s highest salary was $15 million. The Rangers weren’t about to offer $14.1 million to Nathan, who will turn 39 on Nov. 22.
Nathan converted 43 of 46 save chances last season with a 1.39 ERA. If he’s not in Detroit already, reuniting with former Twins teammate Torii Hunter, he could be soon.
• Bartolo Colon: He has been one of the biggest bargains in baseball the past two years, even though he served a 50-game suspension for violating the sport’s drug policy in 2012.
Colon, 40, produced a 2.99 ERA and 127 ERA-plus for the Athletics over 342-2/3 innings in 2012-13, all while earning $5 million. Not each season. Combined.
The A’s weren’t about to offer Colon $14.1 million for his age 41 season, but he could do well on the open market; he was sixth in the majors in ERA and seventh in ERA-plus last season.
Now, the teams:
• Yankees, Red Sox: The rich get richer.
Both the Yankees and Red Sox made qualifying offers to three players — the Yankees to Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda and Curtis Granderson, the Red Sox to Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli and Stephen Drew.
Both clubs possess large enough payrolls to absorb one-year, $14.1 million hits; Granderson and Drew are perhaps the most likely of the six to accept — and Drew, like most Scott Boras clients, still would probably prefer to determine his value on the open market.
The Yankees wound up with the Nos. 32 and 33 picks last season as compensation for Nick Swisher and Rafael Soriano (they re-signed Kuroda). This year, they might re-sign all three of the players to whom they made offers. But they also could wind up with extra picks between the first and second rounds – and the accompanying pool money.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, could hit the compensatory-pick/pool-money jackpot – they are almost certain to get one for Ellsbury, and it’s not out of the question that they could get two more for Drew and Napoli.
Not quite how the system is supposed to work.
Losers
Or, to put it another way, which of the 13 players who received qualifying offers will be this year’s Kyle Lohse?
The answer, believe it or not, might not be anyone — in part because the game is perhaps more flush with cash than ever before.
• Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez: They are perhaps the most obvious Lohse-a-likes, pitchers with inconsistent track records whom teams might balk at giving tens of millions while losing a high draft pick.
Lohse lingered on the market last offseason before finally signing a three-year, $33 million contract with the Brewers on March 25.
Santana and Jimenez, however, figure to be in better positions.
For one thing, they’re younger — Lohse was a free agent at 34, while Santana is 31 and Jimenez turns 30 on Jan. 22. Santana and Jimenez also are coming off strong seasons in the more hitter-friendly American League, while Lohse had pitched in the NL. And some of the teams with “protected” first-round picks — that is, those drafting in the top 10 — should be in the market for starting pitching.
The Mariners, Blue Jays, Phillies, Twins, Cubs and Mets are among the clubs that would lose only a second rounder for signing a qualified free agent. Such teams still might be more interested in pitchers who did not receive qualifying offers — Matt Garza, Jason Vargas, et al. But they figure to at least look at Santana and Jimenez, too.
• Carlos Beltran, Nelson Cruz, Kendrys Morales, Mike Napoli: All have drawbacks. Beltran will be 37 next season. Cruz will be 33 and coming off a drug suspension. Napoli will be 32 and battling the perception of avascular necrosis in both hips, even after appearing in 139 games last season. And Morales, while a mere 30, is essentially a DH.
Sure, teams will be reluctant to give up a high draft pick for such players. Here’s the thing, though: All four are power hitters. Offense is down. And the upcoming free-agent classes are weak.
Hanley Ramirez is probably the top hitter in the 2015 free-agent class; the rest of t
Winners
Well, everyone who did not receive a qualifying offer would fit this description — they are truly free, unencumbered by draft-pick compensation. Some of those players, though, will benefit more than others. And two teams, in particular, worked the system to their advantage.
First, the players:
• Bronson Arroyo: The Reds can’t cry middle-market poverty when they’re paying first baseman Joey Votto $225 million, but clearly they were concerned that Arroyo would accept the one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer and absorb too much of their offseason budget.
So, the Reds declined to extend the offer, leaving both sides free of worry. The problem is, the Reds now figure to lose one of the game’s most durable and effective starting pitchers to another club.
True, Arroyo will be 37 next season. But since 2006, he has led all major leaguers in starts and all National Leaguers in wins and innings pitched. He has never been on the disabled list. And in four of the past five seasons, his ERA has been below 3.90.
Consistent. As in, ka-ching.
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia: He wanted to stay with the Red Sox, and the chances of that happening diminished when the team declined to make him the one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer.
The Red Sox instead seem likely to pursue Brian McCann, the catcher who years ago blocked Saltalamacchia in Atlanta. “Salty,” though, likely will get over his disappointment.
He’s 28, he’s a switch-hitter and he produced a career-best .804 OPS in the regular season. Yes, he slumped in the postseason, both offensively and defensively, but the scarcity of catchers in the game should make him a fairly hot commodity. • Joe Nathan: The Rangers picked up their end of his mutual option for $9 million, but the closer became a free agent when he declined to return for that amount.
Well, Mariano Rivera’s highest salary was $15 million. The Rangers weren’t about to offer $14.1 million to Nathan, who will turn 39 on Nov. 22.
Nathan converted 43 of 46 save chances last season with a 1.39 ERA. If he’s not in Detroit already, reuniting with former Twins teammate Torii Hunter, he could be soon.
• Bartolo Colon: He has been one of the biggest bargains in baseball the past two years, even though he served a 50-game suspension for violating the sport’s drug policy in 2012.
Colon, 40, produced a 2.99 ERA and 127 ERA-plus for the Athletics over 342-2/3 innings in 2012-13, all while earning $5 million. Not each season. Combined.
The A’s weren’t about to offer Colon $14.1 million for his age 41 season, but he could do well on the open market; he was sixth in the majors in ERA and seventh in ERA-plus last season.
Now, the teams:
• Yankees, Red Sox: The rich get richer.
Both the Yankees and Red Sox made qualifying offers to three players — the Yankees to Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda and Curtis Granderson, the Red Sox to Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli and Stephen Drew.
Both clubs possess large enough payrolls to absorb one-year, $14.1 million hits; Granderson and Drew are perhaps the most likely of the six to accept — and Drew, like most Scott Boras clients, still would probably prefer to determine his value on the open market.
The Yankees wound up with the Nos. 32 and 33 picks last season as compensation for Nick Swisher and Rafael Soriano (they re-signed Kuroda). This year, they might re-sign all three of the players to whom they made offers. But they also could wind up with extra picks between the first and second rounds – and the accompanying pool money.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, could hit the compensatory-pick/pool-money jackpot – they are almost certain to get one for Ellsbury, and it’s not out of the question that they could get two more for Drew and Napoli.
Not quite how the system is supposed to work.
Losers
Or, to put it another way, which of the 13 players who received qualifying offers will be this year’s Kyle Lohse?
The answer, believe it or not, might not be anyone — in part because the game is perhaps more flush with cash than ever before.
• Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez: They are perhaps the most obvious Lohse-a-likes, pitchers with inconsistent track records whom teams might balk at giving tens of millions while losing a high draft pick.
Lohse lingered on the market last offseason before finally signing a three-year, $33 million contract with the Brewers on March 25.
Santana and Jimenez, however, figure to be in better positions.
For one thing, they’re younger — Lohse was a free agent at 34, while Santana is 31 and Jimenez turns 30 on Jan. 22. Santana and Jimenez also are coming off strong seasons in the more hitter-friendly American League, while Lohse had pitched in the NL. And some of the teams with “protected” first-round picks — that is, those drafting in the top 10 — should be in the market for starting pitching.
The Mariners, Blue Jays, Phillies, Twins, Cubs and Mets are among the clubs that would lose only a second rounder for signing a qualified free agent. Such teams still might be more interested in pitchers who did not receive qualifying offers — Matt Garza, Jason Vargas, et al. But they figure to at least look at Santana and Jimenez, too.
• Carlos Beltran, Nelson Cruz, Kendrys Morales, Mike Napoli: All have drawbacks. Beltran will be 37 next season. Cruz will be 33 and coming off a drug suspension. Napoli will be 32 and battling the perception of avascular necrosis in both hips, even after appearing in 139 games last season. And Morales, while a mere 30, is essentially a DH.
Sure, teams will be reluctant to give up a high draft pick for such players. Here’s the thing, though: All four are power hitters. Offense is down. And the upcoming free-agent classes are weak.
Hanley Ramirez is probably the top hitter in the 2015 free-agent class; the rest of t
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The Angels believe there may be some upside left in Chris Volstad. And though they aren't counting on him to be more than a Triple-A starting pitcher next season, his age, his size, his Draft history and his clean bill of health made them feel he was at least worth taking a shot on.
"As a scouting package, there's a reason why Chris Volstad was a first-round Draft pick," said Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto, who finalized a Minor League contract with the 27-year-old right-hander on Wednesday.
"There's a reason why he was well thought of as a prospect, and there's a reason why through his years with the Marlins, everybody was waiting for the big turn of the corner, and hopefully we're able to bring that out of him. I know he's committed to it and he's working hard, and he believes it's in there. Sometimes, guys just need a different voice."
Volstad, who will be invited to Spring Training, was the 16th overall pick by the Marlins in 2005. The 6-foot-8 righty had a solid rookie season in '08, posting a 2.88 ERA in 15 games (14 starts), but was never able to duplicate that.
Over the next four years, the last of which was spent with the Cubs, Volstad compiled a 5.14 ERA and averaged 153 innings per season. Last year, he spent the vast majority of the season -- minus six relief appearances -- pitching for the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League, posting a 4.58 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP and a 1.30 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 127 2/3 innings.
Now, he's in the Dominican Republic, working on a cutter and looking to replace a hard slider with a big curveball.
His agent, Bill Rose, said five other teams were interested in his client -- none of which he wanted to name -- and believes Volstad is "on the verge of becoming a big-time pitcher."
"The opportunity is terrific, I think, with the Angels," said Rose, who has known Volstad since he was 15. "And even if they sign [Jason] Vargas or whatever, Chris is going to get an opportunity. They want to get him, as we do, to where we think he should be. Chris should be a 15- to 18-game winner, year in and year out in the big leagues. He's got that kind of stuff."
Volstad joins relievers Josh Wall and Robert Carson as minor pitching additions in the early portion of the offseason. But unlike the latter two, Volstad is not on the 40-man roster. And by the end of the offseason, he will probably have joined a slew of six-year free agents obtained on Minor League contracts, as the Angels look to fill out their Triple-A roster while waiting for the lower levels of their Minor League system to develop.
"As much as anything, you're getting a guy who's still young, who has upside potential, who has plenty of Major League experience," Dipoto said. "And albeit while he's had successes and has had failures, he understands what it's about to pitch at the big league level, and just the untapped upside that exists with Chris is very intriguing."
Angels sign righty Chris Volstad to Minor League deal | MLB-com: News
"As a scouting package, there's a reason why Chris Volstad was a first-round Draft pick," said Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto, who finalized a Minor League contract with the 27-year-old right-hander on Wednesday.
"There's a reason why he was well thought of as a prospect, and there's a reason why through his years with the Marlins, everybody was waiting for the big turn of the corner, and hopefully we're able to bring that out of him. I know he's committed to it and he's working hard, and he believes it's in there. Sometimes, guys just need a different voice."
Volstad, who will be invited to Spring Training, was the 16th overall pick by the Marlins in 2005. The 6-foot-8 righty had a solid rookie season in '08, posting a 2.88 ERA in 15 games (14 starts), but was never able to duplicate that.
Over the next four years, the last of which was spent with the Cubs, Volstad compiled a 5.14 ERA and averaged 153 innings per season. Last year, he spent the vast majority of the season -- minus six relief appearances -- pitching for the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League, posting a 4.58 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP and a 1.30 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 127 2/3 innings.
Now, he's in the Dominican Republic, working on a cutter and looking to replace a hard slider with a big curveball.
His agent, Bill Rose, said five other teams were interested in his client -- none of which he wanted to name -- and believes Volstad is "on the verge of becoming a big-time pitcher."
"The opportunity is terrific, I think, with the Angels," said Rose, who has known Volstad since he was 15. "And even if they sign [Jason] Vargas or whatever, Chris is going to get an opportunity. They want to get him, as we do, to where we think he should be. Chris should be a 15- to 18-game winner, year in and year out in the big leagues. He's got that kind of stuff."
Volstad joins relievers Josh Wall and Robert Carson as minor pitching additions in the early portion of the offseason. But unlike the latter two, Volstad is not on the 40-man roster. And by the end of the offseason, he will probably have joined a slew of six-year free agents obtained on Minor League contracts, as the Angels look to fill out their Triple-A roster while waiting for the lower levels of their Minor League system to develop.
"As much as anything, you're getting a guy who's still young, who has upside potential, who has plenty of Major League experience," Dipoto said. "And albeit while he's had successes and has had failures, he understands what it's about to pitch at the big league level, and just the untapped upside that exists with Chris is very intriguing."
Angels sign righty Chris Volstad to Minor League deal | MLB-com: News
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A Mariners team looking for a fresh start has turned to a skipper looking for a second shot of his own, as Lloyd McClendon was introduced as Seattle's new manager on Thursday.
McClendon, 54, is one of five Major League managers hired this offseason but the first with any prior big league experience, as Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik went with a man who led the Pirates from 2001-05 before spending the past eight years as a coach on Jim Leyland's staff in Detroit.
The club announced the hire on Tuesday and held a news conference Thursday at Safeco Field.
"I think this is a golden opportunity for me and this is a golden time for the Seattle Mariners," McClendon said. "I think there's nothing but good things for this organization and I certainly think we're heading in the right direction. I know the last three or four years have been very tough and very disappointing. But I was asked a question earlier today: Does this team remind you at all of the Pittsburgh Pirates? And I said no, it reminds me of the Detroit Tigers. And I mean that sincerely. This team reminds me so much of the 2006 Tigers and the potential that was with that team. I'm really excited and honored to be here. Hopefully we'll do great things here."
The 2006 Tigers, three seasons removed from losing 119 games, won the American League pennant.
"Lloyd McClendon is a very impressive gentleman, not only his background as a player ... he was a bullpen coach, a hitting coach, managed at one point in time and I believe all of us were very comfortable with him," Zduriencik, who was the Pirates' director of scouting from 1991-93, when McClendon played for Pittsburgh, said. "We've got a very, very sincere and outstanding person. A very strong personality, but it's a personality that I think you're all going to gravitate to."
Zduriencik conducted talks with five finalists to replace Eric Wedge, with McClendon among those brought to Seattle for a second interview. The other finalists were A's bench coach Chip Hale, Padres bench coach Rick Renteria, former Mariners second baseman and longtime White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, and Dodgers third-base coach Tim Wallach.
McClendon was the only one of those candidates with a track record of Major League managing experience, but the Mariners bucked this offseason's trend after the Reds promoted pitching coach Bryan Price, the Nationals hired former D-backs third-base coach Matt Williams and the Tigers opted for former catcher Brad Ausmus, none of whom has sat in the manager's chair at any level of pro ball. The Cubs hired Renteria on Thursday.
McClendon had a 336-446 record when Pittsburgh was in the middle of a 20-year run of losing seasons, then was immediately hired by Leyland and was regarded as a big part of the Tigers' success as they reached the American League Championship Series four times and the World Series twice during his eight years.
He didn't have a tremendous record managing a young Pirates team, but his 72 wins in 2002, 75 in '03 and 72 in '04 were the most victories by any Pittsburgh team over an 11-year period from 2000-10.
"I was a young energetic manager that had my moments. I certainly tried to be a players' manager, quote-unquote," McClendon said. "I think the players respected me. They understood that I was going to be out there and supporting them. But I think the biggest thing I got from that is get them ready and then get out of their way."
McClendon will inherit a Seattle club featuring two of the American League's top pitchers in Felix Hernandez and AL Cy Young Award finalist Hisashi Iwakuma, as well as a promising group of young pitching prospects and position players looking to move forward.
McClendon interviewed with the Mariners in 2010, when they hired Wedge, and he was under consideration to replace Leyland for the Tigers, who instead named Ausmus their new skipper on Sunday.
McClendon becomes the 19th manager in Mariners history, including three interim skippers, since the franchise was formed in 1977. Since Lou Piniella resigned following the 2002 season, the club has had seven managers -- Bob Melvin, Mike Hargrove, John McLaren, Jim Riggleman, Don Wakamatsu, interim skipper Daren Brown and Wedge -- and none posted a winning record during his tenure.
Wedge stepped down after going 71-91 in his third season at the helm, citing differences of opinion with club management.
McClendon is a veteran of 33 years in professional baseball, including 16 years as a player after being selected in the eighth round of the 1980 Draft by the Mets as a catcher out of Valparaiso University. He converted to an outfielder/first baseman in the Majors and spent eight seasons with the Reds, Cubs and Pirates from 1987-94 while batting .244 in 570 games.
The native of Gary, Ind., began his coaching career as the Pirates' roving Minor League hitting instructor in 1996, then was promoted to the Pirates' Major League hitting coach job from 1997-2000 before becoming manager in 2001.
After his five years as the Pirates' skipper, McClendon joined Leyland's staff in Detroit as bullpen coach for one year, then hitting instructor the past seven years.
Mariners name Lloyd McClendon next manager | MLB-com: News
McClendon, 54, is one of five Major League managers hired this offseason but the first with any prior big league experience, as Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik went with a man who led the Pirates from 2001-05 before spending the past eight years as a coach on Jim Leyland's staff in Detroit.
The club announced the hire on Tuesday and held a news conference Thursday at Safeco Field.
"I think this is a golden opportunity for me and this is a golden time for the Seattle Mariners," McClendon said. "I think there's nothing but good things for this organization and I certainly think we're heading in the right direction. I know the last three or four years have been very tough and very disappointing. But I was asked a question earlier today: Does this team remind you at all of the Pittsburgh Pirates? And I said no, it reminds me of the Detroit Tigers. And I mean that sincerely. This team reminds me so much of the 2006 Tigers and the potential that was with that team. I'm really excited and honored to be here. Hopefully we'll do great things here."
The 2006 Tigers, three seasons removed from losing 119 games, won the American League pennant.
"Lloyd McClendon is a very impressive gentleman, not only his background as a player ... he was a bullpen coach, a hitting coach, managed at one point in time and I believe all of us were very comfortable with him," Zduriencik, who was the Pirates' director of scouting from 1991-93, when McClendon played for Pittsburgh, said. "We've got a very, very sincere and outstanding person. A very strong personality, but it's a personality that I think you're all going to gravitate to."
Zduriencik conducted talks with five finalists to replace Eric Wedge, with McClendon among those brought to Seattle for a second interview. The other finalists were A's bench coach Chip Hale, Padres bench coach Rick Renteria, former Mariners second baseman and longtime White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, and Dodgers third-base coach Tim Wallach.
McClendon was the only one of those candidates with a track record of Major League managing experience, but the Mariners bucked this offseason's trend after the Reds promoted pitching coach Bryan Price, the Nationals hired former D-backs third-base coach Matt Williams and the Tigers opted for former catcher Brad Ausmus, none of whom has sat in the manager's chair at any level of pro ball. The Cubs hired Renteria on Thursday.
McClendon had a 336-446 record when Pittsburgh was in the middle of a 20-year run of losing seasons, then was immediately hired by Leyland and was regarded as a big part of the Tigers' success as they reached the American League Championship Series four times and the World Series twice during his eight years.
He didn't have a tremendous record managing a young Pirates team, but his 72 wins in 2002, 75 in '03 and 72 in '04 were the most victories by any Pittsburgh team over an 11-year period from 2000-10.
"I was a young energetic manager that had my moments. I certainly tried to be a players' manager, quote-unquote," McClendon said. "I think the players respected me. They understood that I was going to be out there and supporting them. But I think the biggest thing I got from that is get them ready and then get out of their way."
McClendon will inherit a Seattle club featuring two of the American League's top pitchers in Felix Hernandez and AL Cy Young Award finalist Hisashi Iwakuma, as well as a promising group of young pitching prospects and position players looking to move forward.
McClendon interviewed with the Mariners in 2010, when they hired Wedge, and he was under consideration to replace Leyland for the Tigers, who instead named Ausmus their new skipper on Sunday.
McClendon becomes the 19th manager in Mariners history, including three interim skippers, since the franchise was formed in 1977. Since Lou Piniella resigned following the 2002 season, the club has had seven managers -- Bob Melvin, Mike Hargrove, John McLaren, Jim Riggleman, Don Wakamatsu, interim skipper Daren Brown and Wedge -- and none posted a winning record during his tenure.
Wedge stepped down after going 71-91 in his third season at the helm, citing differences of opinion with club management.
McClendon is a veteran of 33 years in professional baseball, including 16 years as a player after being selected in the eighth round of the 1980 Draft by the Mets as a catcher out of Valparaiso University. He converted to an outfielder/first baseman in the Majors and spent eight seasons with the Reds, Cubs and Pirates from 1987-94 while batting .244 in 570 games.
The native of Gary, Ind., began his coaching career as the Pirates' roving Minor League hitting instructor in 1996, then was promoted to the Pirates' Major League hitting coach job from 1997-2000 before becoming manager in 2001.
After his five years as the Pirates' skipper, McClendon joined Leyland's staff in Detroit as bullpen coach for one year, then hitting instructor the past seven years.
Mariners name Lloyd McClendon next manager | MLB-com: News
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As expected, lawyers for MLB and A-Rod filed dueling motions in federal court in the Southern District of New York, with Rodriguez’s lawyers arguing that A-Rod’s bombastic lawsuit against Selig and baseball should remain in state court, while MLB countered with a motion to dismiss the suit entirely on the basis that baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement and Joint Drug Agreement stipulate that doping grievances should be resolved through arbitration.
Embattled Yankee Alex Rodriguez should have to fight his battles against Major League Baseball — most notably, his claim that baseball and commissioner Bud Selig conducted a “witch hunt” against him during MLB’s Biogenesis investigation — in the ongoing arbitration hearing, and not in federal court, according to court documents filed by the league Friday.
As expected, lawyers for MLB and Rodriguez filed dueling motions in federal court in the Southern District of New York, with Rodriguez’s lawyers arguing that A-Rod’s bombastic lawsuit against Selig and baseball (filed Oct. 3) should remain in state court, while MLB countered with a motion to dismiss the suit entirely on the basis that baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement and Joint Drug Agreement stipulate that doping grievances should be resolved through arbitration.
Rodriguez filed the suit after commissioner Bud Selig hit the Yankee third baseman with a 211-game ban for violating the drug agreement, a punishment unprecedented in baseball and based on what MLB has said are massive violations of its collectively bargained program. Thirteen other professional baseball players were hit with lesser suspensions as a result of the investigation into Biogenesis, the South Florida anti-aging clinic operated by Anthony Bosch.
“Plaintiff Rodriguez is also a member of the Major League Baseball Players Association (“MLBPA”), the exclusive collective bargaining representative for all professional Major League Baseball players,” MLB’s attorneys argued in Friday’s filing. “As a member of the MLBPA, the terms and conditions of Plaintiff’s employment are governed by several collectively bargained agreements between Defendant and the MLBPA, including the 2012-16 Basic Agreement, the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, and Plaintiff’s Uniform Player’s Contract with the Yankees, the form of which is collectively bargained and incorporated into the Basic Agreement.
“With certain limited exceptions not applicable here, these agreements require that disputes between a player and MLB be resolved in accordance with the collectively negotiated grievance and arbitration procedure.”
Rodriguez, who is appealing the historic ban Selig slapped on him Aug. 5 for his alleged doping ties to the now-closed clinic, filed the suit Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. MLB followed with a motion to move the case to federal court. During a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Lorna G. Schofield told both sides to file their respective motions after remarking, “Neither side really wants to be (in federal court).”
MLB stated in papers filed last month that any disputes that arise from collectively bargained agreements are governed by the federal Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). But Rodriguez’s attorneys argued in court documents filed Friday that Rodriguez’s “claims are not preempted (by LMRA), and therefore, this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over them, and they must be remanded back to state court.”
A-Rod’s legal team has argued in his suit and in public that MLB and its investigators responsible for the Biogenesis probe have engaged in unethical and sometimes criminal behavior during the months they gathered evidence over the past year and half and have damaged Rodriguez’s career through negative media leaks. Jordan Siev, one of Rodriguez’s attorneys, told Schofield Thursday that one of the MLB investigators had an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with a witness, and that MLB has leaked information about the case to the media to try and “poison the well” against the three-time MVP.
In Friday’s filing, A-Rod’s attorneys cited the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision in a case brought by former Knick Latrell Sprewell. Sprewell choked former Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo in 1997 when both were employed by the club, and was suspended and then terminated.
“Sprewell sued the NBA for, among other things, tortuously interfering with his business relationships, such as by leaking negative stories to the media during its discipline of Sprewell, which itself was the subject of a grievance under the NBA’s CBA,” A-Rod’s attorneys wrote Friday. “The NBA moved to dismiss the claims, stating they were preempted by the LMRA, but the Ninth Circuit rejected this argument because Sprewell’s claims did not require interpretation of the NBA collective bargaining agreements.”
MLB addressed that argument Friday also, pointing out that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in that case that the district court had properly ruled that Sprewell’s claims were pre-empted by the LMRA.
“That is, any allegation by Sprewell that the NBA’s and the Warriors’ alleged media communications were ‘wrongful’ because they violated the CBA would necessarily require an interpretation of that agreement, and thus would be preempted by section 301,” the motion said.
“This is not that case,” MLB lawyer Joseph Baumgarten said Thursday.
Baseball suspended Rodriguez for multiple violations of its CBA and drug agreement, including claims that he used PEDs in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and that he obstructed Selig’s investigation. His arbitration hearing resumes Nov. 18. The independent arbitrator, Fredric Horowitz, will cast the deciding vote on whether the Yankee third baseman’s ban is reduced, tossed or upheld.
Read more: [url=www-nydailynews-com/sports/i-team/mlb-a-rod-fight-stay-arbitration-article-1-1511420#ixzz2k8lx8sKh]MLB says Alex Rodriguez fight should stay in arbitration
Embattled Yankee Alex Rodriguez should have to fight his battles against Major League Baseball — most notably, his claim that baseball and commissioner Bud Selig conducted a “witch hunt” against him during MLB’s Biogenesis investigation — in the ongoing arbitration hearing, and not in federal court, according to court documents filed by the league Friday.
As expected, lawyers for MLB and Rodriguez filed dueling motions in federal court in the Southern District of New York, with Rodriguez’s lawyers arguing that A-Rod’s bombastic lawsuit against Selig and baseball (filed Oct. 3) should remain in state court, while MLB countered with a motion to dismiss the suit entirely on the basis that baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement and Joint Drug Agreement stipulate that doping grievances should be resolved through arbitration.
Rodriguez filed the suit after commissioner Bud Selig hit the Yankee third baseman with a 211-game ban for violating the drug agreement, a punishment unprecedented in baseball and based on what MLB has said are massive violations of its collectively bargained program. Thirteen other professional baseball players were hit with lesser suspensions as a result of the investigation into Biogenesis, the South Florida anti-aging clinic operated by Anthony Bosch.
“Plaintiff Rodriguez is also a member of the Major League Baseball Players Association (“MLBPA”), the exclusive collective bargaining representative for all professional Major League Baseball players,” MLB’s attorneys argued in Friday’s filing. “As a member of the MLBPA, the terms and conditions of Plaintiff’s employment are governed by several collectively bargained agreements between Defendant and the MLBPA, including the 2012-16 Basic Agreement, the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, and Plaintiff’s Uniform Player’s Contract with the Yankees, the form of which is collectively bargained and incorporated into the Basic Agreement.
“With certain limited exceptions not applicable here, these agreements require that disputes between a player and MLB be resolved in accordance with the collectively negotiated grievance and arbitration procedure.”
Rodriguez, who is appealing the historic ban Selig slapped on him Aug. 5 for his alleged doping ties to the now-closed clinic, filed the suit Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. MLB followed with a motion to move the case to federal court. During a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Lorna G. Schofield told both sides to file their respective motions after remarking, “Neither side really wants to be (in federal court).”
MLB stated in papers filed last month that any disputes that arise from collectively bargained agreements are governed by the federal Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). But Rodriguez’s attorneys argued in court documents filed Friday that Rodriguez’s “claims are not preempted (by LMRA), and therefore, this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over them, and they must be remanded back to state court.”
A-Rod’s legal team has argued in his suit and in public that MLB and its investigators responsible for the Biogenesis probe have engaged in unethical and sometimes criminal behavior during the months they gathered evidence over the past year and half and have damaged Rodriguez’s career through negative media leaks. Jordan Siev, one of Rodriguez’s attorneys, told Schofield Thursday that one of the MLB investigators had an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with a witness, and that MLB has leaked information about the case to the media to try and “poison the well” against the three-time MVP.
In Friday’s filing, A-Rod’s attorneys cited the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision in a case brought by former Knick Latrell Sprewell. Sprewell choked former Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo in 1997 when both were employed by the club, and was suspended and then terminated.
“Sprewell sued the NBA for, among other things, tortuously interfering with his business relationships, such as by leaking negative stories to the media during its discipline of Sprewell, which itself was the subject of a grievance under the NBA’s CBA,” A-Rod’s attorneys wrote Friday. “The NBA moved to dismiss the claims, stating they were preempted by the LMRA, but the Ninth Circuit rejected this argument because Sprewell’s claims did not require interpretation of the NBA collective bargaining agreements.”
MLB addressed that argument Friday also, pointing out that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in that case that the district court had properly ruled that Sprewell’s claims were pre-empted by the LMRA.
“That is, any allegation by Sprewell that the NBA’s and the Warriors’ alleged media communications were ‘wrongful’ because they violated the CBA would necessarily require an interpretation of that agreement, and thus would be preempted by section 301,” the motion said.
“This is not that case,” MLB lawyer Joseph Baumgarten said Thursday.
Baseball suspended Rodriguez for multiple violations of its CBA and drug agreement, including claims that he used PEDs in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and that he obstructed Selig’s investigation. His arbitration hearing resumes Nov. 18. The independent arbitrator, Fredric Horowitz, will cast the deciding vote on whether the Yankee third baseman’s ban is reduced, tossed or upheld.
Read more: [url=www-nydailynews-com/sports/i-team/mlb-a-rod-fight-stay-arbitration-article-1-1511420#ixzz2k8lx8sKh]MLB says Alex Rodriguez fight should stay in arbitration
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It was written in the comment section yesterday, and not for the first time, that MLB is broken. Many agree. The gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is too wide and that’s mainly due to the absence of a salary cap.
Yes, a ‘have-not’ will sometimes bridge that divide -- as the Pirates did last season by making the playoffs. But it remains to be seen if they can continue to do that or, better still, reach the World Series, where so-called small-market teams rarely play.
So if MLB is broken what does that make NCAA football?
Does anyone believe that the likes of Pitt, Virginia, Indiana and, yes, Penn State and West Virginia, are closer to a national championship win than the Pirates or Kansas City Royals are to a World Series victory?
The topic is on the table today because Pitt, 4-4, plays Notre Dame, a participant in the national championship game last season, tonight at Heinz Field.
The opinion here is that chances of Pitt and many schools like it winning a national championship are more remote than the Pirates being victorious in the World Series.
Obviously, with so many more college teams and with fewer involved in the playoffs, the math is clearly against the likes of Pitt. But there’s another reason, which might be as great. It’s the same reason that holds back the Pirates: Money.
The Pirates have difficulty reaching the top in MLB because they don’t have the money to pay -- and continue to pay -- the best players. Players aren’t paid in college football but money is just as mighty a constraint as it is in MLB.
Money fuels coaching salaries, recruiting and facilities. Those are arms races that never end in college athletics and the schools with the money -- make that the schools with the willingness to spend the money -- will continue to dominate.
The chance of Pitt and schools like it ever catching up to the Alabamas of the world is remote.
The Panthers will have to satisfy themselves with the occasional window of opportunity that might make them a factor in the Atlantic Coast Conference and with games against the likes of Notre Dame, which put them in the national spotlight.
A Pitt win tonight would be grand. It would virtually assure that it reaches the official level of college football mediocrity -- bowl eligibility -- and give the program an overall boost, especially in recruiting.
Further, it would serve to raise the hopes of the fan base, who continually hope for a return to the glory days of 35-40 years ago.
But, face it, there is no more uneven playing field in major American team sports than NCAA football.
Read more: If MLB is broken, what is NCAA football? - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Yes, a ‘have-not’ will sometimes bridge that divide -- as the Pirates did last season by making the playoffs. But it remains to be seen if they can continue to do that or, better still, reach the World Series, where so-called small-market teams rarely play.
So if MLB is broken what does that make NCAA football?
Does anyone believe that the likes of Pitt, Virginia, Indiana and, yes, Penn State and West Virginia, are closer to a national championship win than the Pirates or Kansas City Royals are to a World Series victory?
The topic is on the table today because Pitt, 4-4, plays Notre Dame, a participant in the national championship game last season, tonight at Heinz Field.
The opinion here is that chances of Pitt and many schools like it winning a national championship are more remote than the Pirates being victorious in the World Series.
Obviously, with so many more college teams and with fewer involved in the playoffs, the math is clearly against the likes of Pitt. But there’s another reason, which might be as great. It’s the same reason that holds back the Pirates: Money.
The Pirates have difficulty reaching the top in MLB because they don’t have the money to pay -- and continue to pay -- the best players. Players aren’t paid in college football but money is just as mighty a constraint as it is in MLB.
Money fuels coaching salaries, recruiting and facilities. Those are arms races that never end in college athletics and the schools with the money -- make that the schools with the willingness to spend the money -- will continue to dominate.
The chance of Pitt and schools like it ever catching up to the Alabamas of the world is remote.
The Panthers will have to satisfy themselves with the occasional window of opportunity that might make them a factor in the Atlantic Coast Conference and with games against the likes of Notre Dame, which put them in the national spotlight.
A Pitt win tonight would be grand. It would virtually assure that it reaches the official level of college football mediocrity -- bowl eligibility -- and give the program an overall boost, especially in recruiting.
Further, it would serve to raise the hopes of the fan base, who continually hope for a return to the glory days of 35-40 years ago.
But, face it, there is no more uneven playing field in major American team sports than NCAA football.
Read more: If MLB is broken, what is NCAA football? - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is set to reveal the winners of the traditional Major League Baseball awards this coming week.
Each of the awards will have an hour-long show on MLB Network live, beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
Here's the daily schedule:
Monday: AL/NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award
Tuesday: AL/NL Manager of the Year award
Wednesday: AL/NL Cy Young award
Thursday: AL/NL Most Valuable Player award
Having three finalists for each award, your Eye on Baseball writers have decided to predict the order of finish for the top three in each individual award.
To reiterate: These aren't how we would necessarily vote. We're trying to predict how the final BBWAA collective voting body came down, based upon historical voting precedents, arguments written during the regular season from the voting body and general knowledge of how the voting body thinks.
AL Rookie of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Wil Myers; 2. Jose Iglesias; 3. Chris Archer
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Myers; 2. Archer; 3. Iglesias
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Myers; 2. Iglesias; 3. Archer
NL Rookie of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Yasiel Puig; 2. Jose Fernandez; 3. Shelby Miller
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Fernandez; 2. Puig; 3. Miller
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Fernandez; 2. Puig; 3. Miller
AL Manager of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. John Farrell; 2. Bob Melvin; 3. Terry Francona
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Francona; 2. Farrell; 3. Melvin
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Farrell; 2. Francona; 3. Melvin
NL Manager of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Clint Hurdle; 2. Don Mattingly; 3. Fredi Gonzalez
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Hurdle; 2. Gonzalez; 3. Mattingly
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Hurdle; 2. Mattingly; 3. Gonzalez
AL Cy Young
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Max Scherzer; 2. Yu Darvish; 3. Hisashi Iwakuma
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Scherzer; 2. Darvish; 3. Iwakuma
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Scherzer; 2. Darvish; 3. Iwakuma
NL Cy Young
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Clayton Kershaw; 2. Adam Wainwright; 3. Jose Fernandez
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Kershaw; 2. Wainwright; 3. Fernandez
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Kershaw; 2. Wainwright; 3. Fernandez
AL MVP
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Miguel Cabrera; 2. Mike Trout; 3. Chris Davis
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Cabrera; 2. Trout; 3. Davis
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Cabrera; 2. Trout; 3. Davis
NL MVP
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Andrew McCutchen; 2. Yadier Molina; 3. Paul Goldschmidt
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. McCutchen; 2. Molina; 3. Goldschmidt
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. McCutchen; 2. Molina; 3. Goldschmidt
Predicting MLB's awards for 2013 - CBSSports-com
Each of the awards will have an hour-long show on MLB Network live, beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
Here's the daily schedule:
Monday: AL/NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award
Tuesday: AL/NL Manager of the Year award
Wednesday: AL/NL Cy Young award
Thursday: AL/NL Most Valuable Player award
Having three finalists for each award, your Eye on Baseball writers have decided to predict the order of finish for the top three in each individual award.
To reiterate: These aren't how we would necessarily vote. We're trying to predict how the final BBWAA collective voting body came down, based upon historical voting precedents, arguments written during the regular season from the voting body and general knowledge of how the voting body thinks.
AL Rookie of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Wil Myers; 2. Jose Iglesias; 3. Chris Archer
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Myers; 2. Archer; 3. Iglesias
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Myers; 2. Iglesias; 3. Archer
NL Rookie of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Yasiel Puig; 2. Jose Fernandez; 3. Shelby Miller
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Fernandez; 2. Puig; 3. Miller
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Fernandez; 2. Puig; 3. Miller
AL Manager of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. John Farrell; 2. Bob Melvin; 3. Terry Francona
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Francona; 2. Farrell; 3. Melvin
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Farrell; 2. Francona; 3. Melvin
NL Manager of the Year
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Clint Hurdle; 2. Don Mattingly; 3. Fredi Gonzalez
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Hurdle; 2. Gonzalez; 3. Mattingly
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Hurdle; 2. Mattingly; 3. Gonzalez
AL Cy Young
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Max Scherzer; 2. Yu Darvish; 3. Hisashi Iwakuma
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Scherzer; 2. Darvish; 3. Iwakuma
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Scherzer; 2. Darvish; 3. Iwakuma
NL Cy Young
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Clayton Kershaw; 2. Adam Wainwright; 3. Jose Fernandez
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Kershaw; 2. Wainwright; 3. Fernandez
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Kershaw; 2. Wainwright; 3. Fernandez
AL MVP
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Miguel Cabrera; 2. Mike Trout; 3. Chris Davis
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. Cabrera; 2. Trout; 3. Davis
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. Cabrera; 2. Trout; 3. Davis
NL MVP
Matt Snyder predicts: 1. Andrew McCutchen; 2. Yadier Molina; 3. Paul Goldschmidt
Dayn Perry predicts: 1. McCutchen; 2. Molina; 3. Goldschmidt
Mike Axisa predicts: 1. McCutchen; 2. Molina; 3. Goldschmidt
Predicting MLB's awards for 2013 - CBSSports-com
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On Monday, Major League Baseball and MTV announced a "multi-year, cross-platform programming partnership that will bring fans inside the intersection of pop culture and baseball as their favorite MLB athletes and celebrities are featured across MTV's platforms." The full release is right here, but here's the pertinent info:
To lead things off, Boston Red Sox DH and 2013 World Series MVP David Ortiz and Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen will executive produce a new weekly, 30-episode series on MTV2, MTV's sibling network that targets men with smart, funny and relevant content, that is slated to debut in April 2014. Shot in New York City from inside the MLB Fan Cave, MLB's first-of-its-kind space that mixes baseball with music, pop culture, media, interactive technology and art, the new series will move beyond game analysis, stats and highlights to showcase MLB athletes off the field, spotlighting the stars' personalities and passions through a series of player interviews and features, in addition to celebrity appearances.
From what I understand, players will be integrated into existing shows and events as well as create new content. Additional details will be announced at a later date.
I haven't watched MTV in years, but anything that gives the game more exposure is a big positive. McCutchen and Ortiz are the perfect guys for this project because in addition to being great players, they're both charismatic and easy to like. They're exactly the type of players new baseball fans will latch onto.
MLB, MTV announce partnership combining baseball with pop culture - CBSSports-com
To lead things off, Boston Red Sox DH and 2013 World Series MVP David Ortiz and Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen will executive produce a new weekly, 30-episode series on MTV2, MTV's sibling network that targets men with smart, funny and relevant content, that is slated to debut in April 2014. Shot in New York City from inside the MLB Fan Cave, MLB's first-of-its-kind space that mixes baseball with music, pop culture, media, interactive technology and art, the new series will move beyond game analysis, stats and highlights to showcase MLB athletes off the field, spotlighting the stars' personalities and passions through a series of player interviews and features, in addition to celebrity appearances.
From what I understand, players will be integrated into existing shows and events as well as create new content. Additional details will be announced at a later date.
I haven't watched MTV in years, but anything that gives the game more exposure is a big positive. McCutchen and Ortiz are the perfect guys for this project because in addition to being great players, they're both charismatic and easy to like. They're exactly the type of players new baseball fans will latch onto.
MLB, MTV announce partnership combining baseball with pop culture - CBSSports-com
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Alex Rodriguez knows he has a right to remain silent. But if he chooses to open his mouth anyway, things could get tricky.
Legal advisers for the Yankees’ scandal-scarred superstar have signaled to Major League Baseball that their client may testify as early as next week when arbitration resumes over his 211-game doping ban.
If he testifies, however, Rodriguez may be required to meet with MLB officials ahead of time and could be grilled about evidence the league has gathered in its investigation of the Biogenesis doping scandal. The collective bargaining agreement, which governs the arbitration process, gives baseball officials an opportunity to question Rodriguez about his ties to the South Florida anti-aging clinic, an invitation he declined previously.
Rodriguez clammed up back in July when MLB met with him for a similar interview in Tampa, as it did with other players involved in the Biogenesis investigation. At the time, Rodriguez was moving up the minor league ladder on his return to the field after a hip injury, and the league was preparing to issue suspensions to more than a dozen other players it had linked to Anthony Bosch’s now-shuttered South Florida anti-aging clinic.
Sources told the Daily News that Rodriguez sat silently throughout that four-hour Tampa meeting while MLB laid out its evidence — the baseball equivalent of taking the Fifth. Rodriguez was joined there by his lawyer and two representatives from the players’ association.
Part of the reason for Rodriguez’s silence was presumably the desire to avoid creating a record of statements to which he could later be held accountable. As Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens proved, giving sworn testimony can put a ballplayer in greater legal jeopardy than almost any other form of evidence.
In this case, Rodriguez would presumably tell arbitrator Fredric Horowitz that he did not obtain or use performance-enhancing drugs provided by Bosch. MLB investigators, sources have told The News, have amassed mountains of evidence that proves Rodriguez violated baseball’s joint drug program. Horowitz may find all of Team A-Rod’s arguments less credible if he believes Rodriguez’s denial is dishonest.
Rodriguez could also be hit with additional sanctions if MLB officials determine he lied during his pre-testimony interview.
Rodriguez is thought to have spoken to MLB investigators back in 2009 about his relationship with Canadian human growth hormone guru Anthony Galea, who later pleaded guilty in 2011 to bringing unapproved drugs into the United States for the purpose of treating professional athletes.
Any new testimony or unsworn comments Rodriguez makes could be scrutinized by law-enforcement authorities in that case or others.
As The News reported in July, most of the players MLB linked to Biogenesis remained silent in their interviews with MLB ahead of the announcement of suspensions. All of them except Rodriguez, however, accepted their bans without protest and most are now able to play.
Bosch has been cooperating with MLB’s Biogenesis crackdown and testified at Rodriguez’s arbitration last month. The league’s case is believed to center on a large amount of electronic communications between the clinic and Rodriguez, leaving the embattled Yankee’s attorneys no choice but to discredit Bosch.
Meanwhile, an MLB attorney told a Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday that baseball officials believe Rodriguez obstructed MLB’s Biogenesis investigation by leaking documents from the anti-aging clinic to Yahoo! Sports earlier this year.
Lawyer Howard Ganz told U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos that P.R. wizard Michael Sitrick has refused to turn over the documents or an affidavit that states he does not have the documents.
But Gayle Klein, an attorney for Sitrick, told Ramos that the public relations man has not complied with an MLB subpoena for documents because he was not properly served.
MLB attorneys asked a New York state judge to order Sitrick to comply with a subpoena for documents that baseball officials claim Rodriguez or one of his representatives purchased in order to thwart its investigation and implicate other players. MLB officials hope to enter the documents as evidence when the arbitration resumes next week.
Judge Arthur Engoron of New York State Supreme Court scheduled a hearing on the subpoena for Wednesday, but that hearing was canceled after Sitrick’s attorneys moved the case to federal court last week. Klein argued that Sitrick, a California resident whose primary office is in Los Angeles, had not been properly served the subpoena under federal rules.
Sitrick says he would sit for a deposition in California, where he resides, Klein said.
Klein also claimed some of the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege, but Ganz disputed that. “The documents supplied by Mr. Sitrick to the media, in no way this could be privileged,” he said.
Ramos ordered lawyers for baseball and Sitrick to file papers explaining their positions on the subpoena by Friday evening. He scheduled a hearing on Tuesday.
Read more: Alex Rodriguez may get grilled by MLB before testimony over ban - NY Daily News
Legal advisers for the Yankees’ scandal-scarred superstar have signaled to Major League Baseball that their client may testify as early as next week when arbitration resumes over his 211-game doping ban.
If he testifies, however, Rodriguez may be required to meet with MLB officials ahead of time and could be grilled about evidence the league has gathered in its investigation of the Biogenesis doping scandal. The collective bargaining agreement, which governs the arbitration process, gives baseball officials an opportunity to question Rodriguez about his ties to the South Florida anti-aging clinic, an invitation he declined previously.
Rodriguez clammed up back in July when MLB met with him for a similar interview in Tampa, as it did with other players involved in the Biogenesis investigation. At the time, Rodriguez was moving up the minor league ladder on his return to the field after a hip injury, and the league was preparing to issue suspensions to more than a dozen other players it had linked to Anthony Bosch’s now-shuttered South Florida anti-aging clinic.
Sources told the Daily News that Rodriguez sat silently throughout that four-hour Tampa meeting while MLB laid out its evidence — the baseball equivalent of taking the Fifth. Rodriguez was joined there by his lawyer and two representatives from the players’ association.
Part of the reason for Rodriguez’s silence was presumably the desire to avoid creating a record of statements to which he could later be held accountable. As Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens proved, giving sworn testimony can put a ballplayer in greater legal jeopardy than almost any other form of evidence.
In this case, Rodriguez would presumably tell arbitrator Fredric Horowitz that he did not obtain or use performance-enhancing drugs provided by Bosch. MLB investigators, sources have told The News, have amassed mountains of evidence that proves Rodriguez violated baseball’s joint drug program. Horowitz may find all of Team A-Rod’s arguments less credible if he believes Rodriguez’s denial is dishonest.
Rodriguez could also be hit with additional sanctions if MLB officials determine he lied during his pre-testimony interview.
Rodriguez is thought to have spoken to MLB investigators back in 2009 about his relationship with Canadian human growth hormone guru Anthony Galea, who later pleaded guilty in 2011 to bringing unapproved drugs into the United States for the purpose of treating professional athletes.
Any new testimony or unsworn comments Rodriguez makes could be scrutinized by law-enforcement authorities in that case or others.
As The News reported in July, most of the players MLB linked to Biogenesis remained silent in their interviews with MLB ahead of the announcement of suspensions. All of them except Rodriguez, however, accepted their bans without protest and most are now able to play.
Bosch has been cooperating with MLB’s Biogenesis crackdown and testified at Rodriguez’s arbitration last month. The league’s case is believed to center on a large amount of electronic communications between the clinic and Rodriguez, leaving the embattled Yankee’s attorneys no choice but to discredit Bosch.
Meanwhile, an MLB attorney told a Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday that baseball officials believe Rodriguez obstructed MLB’s Biogenesis investigation by leaking documents from the anti-aging clinic to Yahoo! Sports earlier this year.
Lawyer Howard Ganz told U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos that P.R. wizard Michael Sitrick has refused to turn over the documents or an affidavit that states he does not have the documents.
But Gayle Klein, an attorney for Sitrick, told Ramos that the public relations man has not complied with an MLB subpoena for documents because he was not properly served.
MLB attorneys asked a New York state judge to order Sitrick to comply with a subpoena for documents that baseball officials claim Rodriguez or one of his representatives purchased in order to thwart its investigation and implicate other players. MLB officials hope to enter the documents as evidence when the arbitration resumes next week.
Judge Arthur Engoron of New York State Supreme Court scheduled a hearing on the subpoena for Wednesday, but that hearing was canceled after Sitrick’s attorneys moved the case to federal court last week. Klein argued that Sitrick, a California resident whose primary office is in Los Angeles, had not been properly served the subpoena under federal rules.
Sitrick says he would sit for a deposition in California, where he resides, Klein said.
Klein also claimed some of the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege, but Ganz disputed that. “The documents supplied by Mr. Sitrick to the media, in no way this could be privileged,” he said.
Ramos ordered lawyers for baseball and Sitrick to file papers explaining their positions on the subpoena by Friday evening. He scheduled a hearing on Tuesday.
Read more: Alex Rodriguez may get grilled by MLB before testimony over ban - NY Daily News
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Alex Rodriguez is tentatively scheduled for an investigatory interview with Major League Baseball on Friday in New York, according to a person familiar with the process, which would enable the Yankees third baseman to testify at his grievance next week.
The interview could be called off, the person said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized.
Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games by MLB on Aug. 5 for alleged violations of the sport's drug agreement and labor contract, and the players' association filed a grievance to overturn the penalty. The case, being heard by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, is scheduled to resume Monday.
The three-time AL MVP said four years ago that he used performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but he has denied using them since. At the time of his suspension, MLB said the penalty was for "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course of multiple years" and for "engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the office of the commissioner's investigation."
Rodriguez was called in for an interview by MLB in July. In a 1980 grievance involving Ferguson Jenkins, arbitrator Raymond Goetz ruled the pitcher had a right to not incriminate himself because legal charges were pending, and that MLB could not discipline him for refusing to answer its questions.
MLB has been expected to assert that Rodriguez should not be allowed to testify at his grievance if he first refused to answer MLB's questions at the investigatory interview.
The person said MLB has threatened A-Rod with additional discipline if he answers questions at an interview and denies using PEDs during the period in question. It is not clear if additional discipline could be combined with the current grievance.
AP Source: A-Rod Scheduled for Interview With MLB - ABC News
The interview could be called off, the person said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized.
Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games by MLB on Aug. 5 for alleged violations of the sport's drug agreement and labor contract, and the players' association filed a grievance to overturn the penalty. The case, being heard by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, is scheduled to resume Monday.
The three-time AL MVP said four years ago that he used performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but he has denied using them since. At the time of his suspension, MLB said the penalty was for "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course of multiple years" and for "engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the office of the commissioner's investigation."
Rodriguez was called in for an interview by MLB in July. In a 1980 grievance involving Ferguson Jenkins, arbitrator Raymond Goetz ruled the pitcher had a right to not incriminate himself because legal charges were pending, and that MLB could not discipline him for refusing to answer its questions.
MLB has been expected to assert that Rodriguez should not be allowed to testify at his grievance if he first refused to answer MLB's questions at the investigatory interview.
The person said MLB has threatened A-Rod with additional discipline if he answers questions at an interview and denies using PEDs during the period in question. It is not clear if additional discipline could be combined with the current grievance.
AP Source: A-Rod Scheduled for Interview With MLB - ABC News
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Major League Baseball's proposed expanded instant replay challenge system still needs to be approved by the MLB Players Association and the World Umpires Association, but the 30 club owners unanimously approved the proposal at the GM meetings in Orlando, Fla., MLB announced Thursday.
"My father always said life is a series of adjustments and I've made an adjustment," commissioner Bud Selig said in a press conference Thursday (via usatoday-com). "There isn't one play or one instance that changed my mind. It has just happened over time. I know we're doing the right thing."
The original plan was for each manager to have one challenge in the first six innings of each game with two more available per team from the seventh inning until the end of the game. That has been tweaked, though, because now the system calls for two challenges per team, per game with no regulations on when the challenges are used.
This could be negotiated down to one challenge per team, per game in order to get this measure approved by either the players or umpires.
Also, if a manager wins his challenge, he'll get to retain it. From that light, there's really no limit on challenges, so long as they are used to correct incorrect calls. And, really, there wouldn't be much harm in limiting managers to one challenge. If he wins, he'd get to keep it.
The challenges do not apply to plays that were already reviewable -- boundary plays, such as fair/foul calls on home runs or fan interference on home runs. Those will still be handled by the umpires as they were this past season.
Also, balls and strikes aren't reviewable. MLB seems to be conveying -- at least initially -- that pretty much everything else would be reviewable. We'll know full details if and when the proposal has passed and expanded replay becomes part of the written rules.
MLB owners unanimously approve expanded replay - CBSSports-com
"My father always said life is a series of adjustments and I've made an adjustment," commissioner Bud Selig said in a press conference Thursday (via usatoday-com). "There isn't one play or one instance that changed my mind. It has just happened over time. I know we're doing the right thing."
The original plan was for each manager to have one challenge in the first six innings of each game with two more available per team from the seventh inning until the end of the game. That has been tweaked, though, because now the system calls for two challenges per team, per game with no regulations on when the challenges are used.
This could be negotiated down to one challenge per team, per game in order to get this measure approved by either the players or umpires.
Also, if a manager wins his challenge, he'll get to retain it. From that light, there's really no limit on challenges, so long as they are used to correct incorrect calls. And, really, there wouldn't be much harm in limiting managers to one challenge. If he wins, he'd get to keep it.
The challenges do not apply to plays that were already reviewable -- boundary plays, such as fair/foul calls on home runs or fan interference on home runs. Those will still be handled by the umpires as they were this past season.
Also, balls and strikes aren't reviewable. MLB seems to be conveying -- at least initially -- that pretty much everything else would be reviewable. We'll know full details if and when the proposal has passed and expanded replay becomes part of the written rules.
MLB owners unanimously approve expanded replay - CBSSports-com
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Back in March, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association discussed creating an annual international amateur draft, possibly as early as 2014, and set a June 1 deadline to reach an agreement on its framework.
While the parties ultimately could not come to terms by the self-imposed deadline, they are expected to continue developing the idea in the meantime.
But after defaulting in the preliminary negotiations, an international draft is unlikely to happen for the rest of the current collective bargaining agreement, which expires following the 2016 season.
If it’s done right, designing and implementing an international draft system that benefits amateur players could both improve the talent pool in already baseball-centric countries and, more importantly, stimulate the growth of the sport worldwide.
However, developing a draft based on the perceived best interests of amateur players isn’t on MLB’s agenda. Regulating teams’ international spending, on the other hand, remains a top priority. And for that reason, there’s also a growing fear that an international draft would diminish the talent pool in some countries.
Read More: Why MLB Needs to Create an International Draft, and What It Would Mean | Bleacher Report
While the parties ultimately could not come to terms by the self-imposed deadline, they are expected to continue developing the idea in the meantime.
But after defaulting in the preliminary negotiations, an international draft is unlikely to happen for the rest of the current collective bargaining agreement, which expires following the 2016 season.
If it’s done right, designing and implementing an international draft system that benefits amateur players could both improve the talent pool in already baseball-centric countries and, more importantly, stimulate the growth of the sport worldwide.
However, developing a draft based on the perceived best interests of amateur players isn’t on MLB’s agenda. Regulating teams’ international spending, on the other hand, remains a top priority. And for that reason, there’s also a growing fear that an international draft would diminish the talent pool in some countries.
Read More: Why MLB Needs to Create an International Draft, and What It Would Mean | Bleacher Report
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As home-plate umpire A.J. Johnson called Steven Souza out on strikes for the final out of Saturday's Arizona Fall League Championship Game, the Saguaros converged in the middle of the diamond. They hopped the first-base dugout fence and raced in from the bullpen in right field to form a jumping mass of jubilation behind the pitcher's mound.
Surprise had defeated Mesa, 2-0, at Scottsdale Stadium, winning the franchise's first championship since 1995. But other than center fielder Tyler Naquin's spontaneous decision to take the official championship picture wearing Jorge Alfaro's catcher's mask, the celebration was rather low key. There was some Chipotle, but no trophy -- or Champagne -- waiting for the Saguaros in the clubhouse.
But none of it mattered to them.
"That experience I had right there was the best I've had in baseball so far," left-hander Tim Berry said.
"These kids wanted to win," manager Gary Kendall said. "It's all about development, but they wanted to win this ballgame."
Surprise had relied on its offense throughout the fall as it outslugged opponents en route to a West Division title. Its offense was the league's highest scoring, averaging six runs per game. But, Saturday, it was all about its pitching.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, ranked No. 84 on MLB-com's Top 100 prospect list, set the tone for Surprise. The Orioles' No. 2 prospect threw three scoreless innings. He struck out four batters and allowed two hits. Following Rodriguez, five Saguaros relievers combined for six scoreless innings.
Mesa's best chance came in the sixth inning when it loaded the bases with one out against Berry, the Orioles' No. 6 prospect. Kris Bryant, who had been awarded the AFL MVP award before the championship game, came to the plate. He got ahead in the count 2-0, but after a visit from catcher Jorge Alfaro and pitching coach Steve Karsay, Berry escaped the jam.
Berry busted Bryant, the Cubs' No. 4 prospect, with an inside fastball and got him to pop out in foul ground to first baseman Travis Shaw. He then struck out C.J. Cron, the Angels' No. 2 prospect and AFL batting champion.
"It was such a bad start to the inning and such a big finish to the inning," Berry said. "I was just glad to get out of there with no runs on the board and give it to Noe [Ramirez] and they took it from there."
Ramirez, Keone Kela and David Goforth finished the game without further drama. The bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning was the only time all game the Solar Sox advanced a runner to third base.
Bryant went 0-for-4 Saturday and came away impressed with the Saguaros' pitching. "Their pitching was incredible," Bryant said. "Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team. They came through when they needed to."
Surprise scored its first run with two outs in the second inning. Henry Urrutia hit a line drive over Souza's head in center field and cruised into second with a double. Alfaro followed with an RBI single.
The Saguaros added an insurance run in the eighth inning. Jonathan Schoop, the Orioles' No. 4 prospect, led off the inning with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Mookie Betts, the Red Sox No. 16 prospect, drove him in with a single.
Urrutia was the only Saguaro with multiple hits. He finished the game 2-for-3 with two doubles.
The AFL is typically dominated by hitters, but two runs were enough in the championship game. Naquin said the Saguaros pitching staff has been up to the task all season.
"Seems like our pitchers, they always step up in the big, big situation," Naquin said. "We have a great lineup, but if you look at our arms on paper, I'd put them above anybody else's."
The combination of the Saguaros offense and their strong bullpen allowed them to be one of the best teams in the league at coming from behind. While Surprise didn't need a comeback in the championship game, Kendall said he would most remember his team's perseverance game after game.
"A lot of our wins were come from behind wins where we were down by a lot of runs, four or five runs sometimes," Kendall said. "We just never quit.
"There's a bunch of winning players out there and that's probably what I'm going to remember the most."
Stellar pitching helps Surprise top Mesa for AFL title | MLB-com: News
Surprise had defeated Mesa, 2-0, at Scottsdale Stadium, winning the franchise's first championship since 1995. But other than center fielder Tyler Naquin's spontaneous decision to take the official championship picture wearing Jorge Alfaro's catcher's mask, the celebration was rather low key. There was some Chipotle, but no trophy -- or Champagne -- waiting for the Saguaros in the clubhouse.
But none of it mattered to them.
"That experience I had right there was the best I've had in baseball so far," left-hander Tim Berry said.
"These kids wanted to win," manager Gary Kendall said. "It's all about development, but they wanted to win this ballgame."
Surprise had relied on its offense throughout the fall as it outslugged opponents en route to a West Division title. Its offense was the league's highest scoring, averaging six runs per game. But, Saturday, it was all about its pitching.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, ranked No. 84 on MLB-com's Top 100 prospect list, set the tone for Surprise. The Orioles' No. 2 prospect threw three scoreless innings. He struck out four batters and allowed two hits. Following Rodriguez, five Saguaros relievers combined for six scoreless innings.
Mesa's best chance came in the sixth inning when it loaded the bases with one out against Berry, the Orioles' No. 6 prospect. Kris Bryant, who had been awarded the AFL MVP award before the championship game, came to the plate. He got ahead in the count 2-0, but after a visit from catcher Jorge Alfaro and pitching coach Steve Karsay, Berry escaped the jam.
Berry busted Bryant, the Cubs' No. 4 prospect, with an inside fastball and got him to pop out in foul ground to first baseman Travis Shaw. He then struck out C.J. Cron, the Angels' No. 2 prospect and AFL batting champion.
"It was such a bad start to the inning and such a big finish to the inning," Berry said. "I was just glad to get out of there with no runs on the board and give it to Noe [Ramirez] and they took it from there."
Ramirez, Keone Kela and David Goforth finished the game without further drama. The bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning was the only time all game the Solar Sox advanced a runner to third base.
Bryant went 0-for-4 Saturday and came away impressed with the Saguaros' pitching. "Their pitching was incredible," Bryant said. "Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team. They came through when they needed to."
Surprise scored its first run with two outs in the second inning. Henry Urrutia hit a line drive over Souza's head in center field and cruised into second with a double. Alfaro followed with an RBI single.
The Saguaros added an insurance run in the eighth inning. Jonathan Schoop, the Orioles' No. 4 prospect, led off the inning with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Mookie Betts, the Red Sox No. 16 prospect, drove him in with a single.
Urrutia was the only Saguaro with multiple hits. He finished the game 2-for-3 with two doubles.
The AFL is typically dominated by hitters, but two runs were enough in the championship game. Naquin said the Saguaros pitching staff has been up to the task all season.
"Seems like our pitchers, they always step up in the big, big situation," Naquin said. "We have a great lineup, but if you look at our arms on paper, I'd put them above anybody else's."
The combination of the Saguaros offense and their strong bullpen allowed them to be one of the best teams in the league at coming from behind. While Surprise didn't need a comeback in the championship game, Kendall said he would most remember his team's perseverance game after game.
"A lot of our wins were come from behind wins where we were down by a lot of runs, four or five runs sometimes," Kendall said. "We just never quit.
"There's a bunch of winning players out there and that's probably what I'm going to remember the most."
Stellar pitching helps Surprise top Mesa for AFL title | MLB-com: News
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If this is really Alex Rodriguez’s big chance to finally tell his side of the story when the highly contentious arbitration battle over the 211-game suspension Major League Baseball leveled him with for violating its Joint Drug Agreement resumes Monday, then he has a lot of explaining to do. There are text messages, emails, phone records and the testimony of his drug dealer to overcome.
On his side, of course, is the fact that MLB does not have a positive drug test to base its suspension on, and he can try to convince arbitrator Fredric Horowitz that the aggressive investigative tactics MLB has used to build its historic case do not justify the means. He can also attempt to discredit his chief accuser, Biogenesis owner-turned-chief-MLB witness Anthony Bosch, who is said to have provided him with multiple banned substances over a three-year period from 2010-2012.
In the courts and the media, A-Rod’s representatives have attempted to rally back against the torrent of evidence by launching attacks on MLB’s investigation into Bosch’s anti-aging clinic, and deflecting attention from the actual claims in the suspension.
When the hearing resumes Monday, they will take those arguments to Horowitz. Rodriguez is expected to accompany his legal team to MLB’s Park Avenue offices as it opens the first day of his defense, although it is unclear if, and when, Team A-Rod would actually put the player on the stand. Because Rodriguez missed a scheduled interview with MLB on Friday****** — according to the Joint Drug Agreement, MLB has the right to interview him before he testifies — Horowitz will now determine when that testimony would occur.
Rodriguez is believed to have submitted an extensive witness list to Horowitz, who will determine if those witnesses, including commissioner Bud Selig, are relevant to the case. The arbitration is scheduled to run through this weekend and into next week; a ruling would not come for several weeks after the hearing concludes.
Rodriguez’s defense is expected to center primarily on the lack of a positive test during the three years he is accused of violating the policy — he tested positive in
MLB’s survey testing year in 2003 and reportedly tested positive for amphetamines in 2006, although under baseball’s policy a first positive for amphetamines does not result in a suspension and is not made public — and on baseball’s investigative methods and focus on A-Rod.
Rodriguez has denied using banned substances at all from 2010-2012, and has described Bosch, who was baseball’s chief witness during the hearing, as a “consultant.” His lawyers, who include New York defense attorney Joe Tacopina — who is involved in closing arguments in a separate trial and may not be present Monday — sports law expert David Cornwell and attorneys from the firm of Reed Smith, have accused baseball of buying stolen documents that once belonged to Bosch and using them to hit A-Rod with an unfair punishment.
After ESPN reported last week that MLB’s purchase of the documents hampered a Florida Department of Health investigation into Bosch, Rodriguez lawyer Jordan Siev issued a statement attacking Selig and saying the report “confirms what Mr. Rodriguez alleged in his lawsuit against MLB and commissioner Selig over a month ago — that MLB investigators knowingly purchased stolen documents in their quest to allow commissioner Selig to act, for the first time, as if he was tough on PED use in baseball despite striking a cooperation deal with Anthony Bosch, who MLB knows is under federal investigationfor providing steroids to minors.”
The Florida Department of Health, saying its punishment was consistent with the remedies available, fined Bosch $5,000 and banned him from misrepresenting himself as a doctor at about the same time a federal investigation into Bosch was launched. That investigation continues.
MLB responded to ESPN’s report with a statement, saying, “The truth continues to be that we did not knowingly purchase stolen documents and there is an active police investigation to determine if the documents were in fact stolen.”
The Daily News reported earlier this month that one of the men responsible for selling the documents to MLB, Gary Jones, had signed an affidavit for Rodriguez’s team saying he told MLB investigators the documents they were buying were stolen, a claim that contradicted his previous statement to police that he had not stolen the documents and was not part of a break-in of the car that held them.
According to a source familiar with the arbitration case, Rodriguez’s representatives wired $200,000 into Jones’ bank account the same day he signed the affidavit, an amount they have said was for the purchase of a videotape of the transaction between MLB and Jones, although they have not made that video public.
As to the charge that MLB bought the documents to zero in on Rodriguez, the league is expected to point out that when investigators bought them last spring, they were targeting at least 20 players they believed were linked to Bosch and Biogenesis, not just Rodriguez. Ultimately, 12 players accepted 50-game bans for violating the drug agreement, while Milwaukee Brewer Ryan Braun accepted a 65-game ban. Rodriguez is the only player who appealed.
Read more: Alex Rodriguez to begin making case in court against MLB - NY Daily News
On his side, of course, is the fact that MLB does not have a positive drug test to base its suspension on, and he can try to convince arbitrator Fredric Horowitz that the aggressive investigative tactics MLB has used to build its historic case do not justify the means. He can also attempt to discredit his chief accuser, Biogenesis owner-turned-chief-MLB witness Anthony Bosch, who is said to have provided him with multiple banned substances over a three-year period from 2010-2012.
In the courts and the media, A-Rod’s representatives have attempted to rally back against the torrent of evidence by launching attacks on MLB’s investigation into Bosch’s anti-aging clinic, and deflecting attention from the actual claims in the suspension.
When the hearing resumes Monday, they will take those arguments to Horowitz. Rodriguez is expected to accompany his legal team to MLB’s Park Avenue offices as it opens the first day of his defense, although it is unclear if, and when, Team A-Rod would actually put the player on the stand. Because Rodriguez missed a scheduled interview with MLB on Friday****** — according to the Joint Drug Agreement, MLB has the right to interview him before he testifies — Horowitz will now determine when that testimony would occur.
Rodriguez is believed to have submitted an extensive witness list to Horowitz, who will determine if those witnesses, including commissioner Bud Selig, are relevant to the case. The arbitration is scheduled to run through this weekend and into next week; a ruling would not come for several weeks after the hearing concludes.
Rodriguez’s defense is expected to center primarily on the lack of a positive test during the three years he is accused of violating the policy — he tested positive in
MLB’s survey testing year in 2003 and reportedly tested positive for amphetamines in 2006, although under baseball’s policy a first positive for amphetamines does not result in a suspension and is not made public — and on baseball’s investigative methods and focus on A-Rod.
Rodriguez has denied using banned substances at all from 2010-2012, and has described Bosch, who was baseball’s chief witness during the hearing, as a “consultant.” His lawyers, who include New York defense attorney Joe Tacopina — who is involved in closing arguments in a separate trial and may not be present Monday — sports law expert David Cornwell and attorneys from the firm of Reed Smith, have accused baseball of buying stolen documents that once belonged to Bosch and using them to hit A-Rod with an unfair punishment.
After ESPN reported last week that MLB’s purchase of the documents hampered a Florida Department of Health investigation into Bosch, Rodriguez lawyer Jordan Siev issued a statement attacking Selig and saying the report “confirms what Mr. Rodriguez alleged in his lawsuit against MLB and commissioner Selig over a month ago — that MLB investigators knowingly purchased stolen documents in their quest to allow commissioner Selig to act, for the first time, as if he was tough on PED use in baseball despite striking a cooperation deal with Anthony Bosch, who MLB knows is under federal investigationfor providing steroids to minors.”
The Florida Department of Health, saying its punishment was consistent with the remedies available, fined Bosch $5,000 and banned him from misrepresenting himself as a doctor at about the same time a federal investigation into Bosch was launched. That investigation continues.
MLB responded to ESPN’s report with a statement, saying, “The truth continues to be that we did not knowingly purchase stolen documents and there is an active police investigation to determine if the documents were in fact stolen.”
The Daily News reported earlier this month that one of the men responsible for selling the documents to MLB, Gary Jones, had signed an affidavit for Rodriguez’s team saying he told MLB investigators the documents they were buying were stolen, a claim that contradicted his previous statement to police that he had not stolen the documents and was not part of a break-in of the car that held them.
According to a source familiar with the arbitration case, Rodriguez’s representatives wired $200,000 into Jones’ bank account the same day he signed the affidavit, an amount they have said was for the purchase of a videotape of the transaction between MLB and Jones, although they have not made that video public.
As to the charge that MLB bought the documents to zero in on Rodriguez, the league is expected to point out that when investigators bought them last spring, they were targeting at least 20 players they believed were linked to Bosch and Biogenesis, not just Rodriguez. Ultimately, 12 players accepted 50-game bans for violating the drug agreement, while Milwaukee Brewer Ryan Braun accepted a 65-game ban. Rodriguez is the only player who appealed.
Read more: Alex Rodriguez to begin making case in court against MLB - NY Daily News
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Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is spending the week in Arlington to work out and get a medical checkup on his lower back.
Darvish was dealing with inflammation in a nerve in the area over the final six weeks of the season. He was given an anti-inflammatory injection once the season was over, and the Rangers don't expect the problem to linger into next year. Darvish will be re-evaluated this week to see exactly where he stands in his recovery.
Darvish's strength and endurance were affected by the nerve problem and he was 1-4 with a 3.38 ERA in his last nine starts. The Rangers went 3-6 in those starts but Darvish didn't want to come out of the rotation while his team was fighting for a spot in the playoffs. The Rangers won his last three starts, but Darvish didn't complete six innings in any of them.
Darvish finished the season 13-9 with a 2.83 ERA in 32 starts and 209 innings while leading the Major Leagues with 277 strikeouts. He finished second to Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer in the American League Cy Young Award voting, and he is a finalist for the Starting Pitcher of the Year GIBBY, which fans can vote on through Dec. 1.
The Rangers aren't expected to release a medical report on Darvish until later in the week.
Texas Rangers' Yu Darvish continues to rehab lower back issue | MLB-com: News
Darvish was dealing with inflammation in a nerve in the area over the final six weeks of the season. He was given an anti-inflammatory injection once the season was over, and the Rangers don't expect the problem to linger into next year. Darvish will be re-evaluated this week to see exactly where he stands in his recovery.
Darvish's strength and endurance were affected by the nerve problem and he was 1-4 with a 3.38 ERA in his last nine starts. The Rangers went 3-6 in those starts but Darvish didn't want to come out of the rotation while his team was fighting for a spot in the playoffs. The Rangers won his last three starts, but Darvish didn't complete six innings in any of them.
Darvish finished the season 13-9 with a 2.83 ERA in 32 starts and 209 innings while leading the Major Leagues with 277 strikeouts. He finished second to Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer in the American League Cy Young Award voting, and he is a finalist for the Starting Pitcher of the Year GIBBY, which fans can vote on through Dec. 1.
The Rangers aren't expected to release a medical report on Darvish until later in the week.
Texas Rangers' Yu Darvish continues to rehab lower back issue | MLB-com: News
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Alex Rodriguez's grievance hearing to overturn his 211-game suspension resumed Monday with the first of what could be 10 straight days of sessions.
The sides spent their ninth day before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, who also heard the case from Sept. 30-Oct. 3 and Oct. 15-18. Rodriguez's legal team was set to call witnesses when the hearing resumed.
MLB and the players' association appear to be trying to finish testimony before Thanksgiving, and it remained unclear whether the New York Yankees third baseman would testify. He had been scheduled for an investigatory interview with MLB on Friday, but the session was canceled when Rodriguez's side said he was ill with flu-like systems and could not travel from California.
Rodriguez arrived at MLB's office on Monday morning.
MLB has been expected to assert that Rodriguez should not be allowed to testify at his grievance if he first refused to answer MLB's questions at the investigatory interview. Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games by MLB on Aug. 5 for alleged violations of the sport's drug agreement and labor contract, and the players' association filed the grievance to overturn the penalty.
The three-time AL MVP said four years ago he used performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but he has denied using them since. At the time of his suspension, MLB said the penalty was for "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course of multiple years" and for "engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the office of the commissioner's investigation."
A Florida police department said Monday it had reopened an investigation into the theft of documents related to baseball's inquiry.
Boca Raton police officer Sandra Boonenberg said the investigation was reopened several weeks ago based on new information stemming from Rodriguez's lawsuit against MLB, which accused the sport of engaging in a "witch hunt."
Boonenberg offered few details on the open investigation but said detectives have "a lot of leads that they're pursuing."
The documents were stolen in March from the car of Porter Fischer, who took them from Biogenesis of America, the now-closed Florida anti-aging clinic where he worked.
The clinic and its owner, Anthony Bosch, have been accused of providing banned performance-enhancing drugs to Rodriguez and other major leaguers. Bosch agreed to cooperate with baseball's investigators, and baseball later suspended 14 players.
Citing unidentified sources close to the investigation, ESPN reported last week that MLB impeded the Florida investigation. "MLB investigators knowingly purchased stolen documents in their quest to allow Commissioner Selig to act, for the first time, as if he was tough on PED use in baseball despite striking a cooperation deal with Anthony Bosch who MLB knows is under federal investigation for providing steroids to minors," Jordan Siev, one of Rodriguez's lawyers, said in a statement.
MLB has repeatedly denied the accusation.
"The truth continues to be that we did not knowingly purchase stolen documents and there is an active police investigation to determine if the documents were in fact stolen," the commissioner's office said in a statement.
Alex Rodriguez, MLB resume grievance hearing
The sides spent their ninth day before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, who also heard the case from Sept. 30-Oct. 3 and Oct. 15-18. Rodriguez's legal team was set to call witnesses when the hearing resumed.
MLB and the players' association appear to be trying to finish testimony before Thanksgiving, and it remained unclear whether the New York Yankees third baseman would testify. He had been scheduled for an investigatory interview with MLB on Friday, but the session was canceled when Rodriguez's side said he was ill with flu-like systems and could not travel from California.
Rodriguez arrived at MLB's office on Monday morning.
MLB has been expected to assert that Rodriguez should not be allowed to testify at his grievance if he first refused to answer MLB's questions at the investigatory interview. Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games by MLB on Aug. 5 for alleged violations of the sport's drug agreement and labor contract, and the players' association filed the grievance to overturn the penalty.
The three-time AL MVP said four years ago he used performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but he has denied using them since. At the time of his suspension, MLB said the penalty was for "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course of multiple years" and for "engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the office of the commissioner's investigation."
A Florida police department said Monday it had reopened an investigation into the theft of documents related to baseball's inquiry.
Boca Raton police officer Sandra Boonenberg said the investigation was reopened several weeks ago based on new information stemming from Rodriguez's lawsuit against MLB, which accused the sport of engaging in a "witch hunt."
Boonenberg offered few details on the open investigation but said detectives have "a lot of leads that they're pursuing."
The documents were stolen in March from the car of Porter Fischer, who took them from Biogenesis of America, the now-closed Florida anti-aging clinic where he worked.
The clinic and its owner, Anthony Bosch, have been accused of providing banned performance-enhancing drugs to Rodriguez and other major leaguers. Bosch agreed to cooperate with baseball's investigators, and baseball later suspended 14 players.
Citing unidentified sources close to the investigation, ESPN reported last week that MLB impeded the Florida investigation. "MLB investigators knowingly purchased stolen documents in their quest to allow Commissioner Selig to act, for the first time, as if he was tough on PED use in baseball despite striking a cooperation deal with Anthony Bosch who MLB knows is under federal investigation for providing steroids to minors," Jordan Siev, one of Rodriguez's lawyers, said in a statement.
MLB has repeatedly denied the accusation.
"The truth continues to be that we did not knowingly purchase stolen documents and there is an active police investigation to determine if the documents were in fact stolen," the commissioner's office said in a statement.
Alex Rodriguez, MLB resume grievance hearing
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The Tigers went into the offseason needing to solve second base for 2014, but needing to solve payroll concerns for well beyond that. On Wednesday night, they addressed both issues in one incredibly big yet beautifully simple move.
It's a one-for-one deal. But by trading Prince Fielder to the Rangers for Ian Kinsler, the Tigers pulled off a blockbuster that changes the course of both teams for years to come.
They needed just over 24 hours to make it happen. Considering how quickly the Tigers' free-agent contract with Fielder came together, maybe it's fitting.
"It happened really fast, there's no question," said Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski on a conference call.
It was an idea, Dombrowski said, that was first "kicked around" at MLB's General Managers Meetings last week but not seriously discussed until Tuesday afternoon.
News of the trade was quick enough that even Tigers players were caught off guard. The Tigers will send cash considerations to Texas, reportedly $30 million in payments starting in 2016, to help bridge the gap in money remaining on the two contracts. Fielder has seven years left at $24 million each on the contract he signed in January 2012, barely a week after Victor Martinez's catastrophic knee injury left Detroit in desperate need of a big hitter and left owner Mike Ilitch aggressively looking to fill Martinez's void.
Fielder's arrival 20 months ago played out like a homecoming, returning to the city where fans fondly remembered him as a youngster hitting home runs in batting practice while his father, Cecil Fielder, was a larger-than-life presence in the Tigers' order.
The homecoming lasted two years. In the end, Fielder -- on vacation in the Bahamas -- waived his no-trade rights for a fresh start, and Ilitch gave his approval Wednesday night, little more than 24 hours after Dombrowski approached Rangers GM Jon Daniels about the swap.
"You could tell both sides were interested and motivated," Daniels said. "We got the money where both sides could live with it and we made the deal."
Kinsler has $57 million left over the final four guaranteed seasons of his contract. The Tigers can pick up his $12 million option for 2018 or buy it out for $5 million.
"We were trying to create some financial flexibility but keep our club in a very competitive nature," Dombrowski said.
On paper, the Tigers had a dream lineup in 2013 with Fielder at first base, Miguel Cabrera at third and Martinez as the designated hitter. But while the offense put up mighty numbers over the course of the season, the game-to-game output wasn't consistent. That inconsistency came back to bite them in the postseason, when a series of low-scoring duels put pressure on Detroit's vaunted rotation and not-so-solid bullpen to hold slim leads.
Fielder, fairly or otherwise, became the flashpoint for that. For most players, his .279 average, 25 home runs and 106 RBIs would've been a good season. After a .313 average, 30-homer debut season in Detroit, however, a 121-point drop in OPS stood out.
"He was an all-star player for us," Dombrowski said. "He played hard and wanted to play all the time under any circumstance. It's a time where we'll be thankful for what he did for us for two years. He drove in 100 runs for us two years in a row and that's not easy to do."
Fielder's postseason struggles compounded to the point that he was booed at home at Comerica Park during the ALCS. When the Tigers were eliminated in Game 6, Fielder made remarks that downplayed the emotional impact, which seemed to frustrate Detroit fans further.
Dombrowski said that feedback was not a motivation in trade talks.
"Not really," Dombrowski said.
The bigger numbers pressing the Tigers were financial. With Fielder's contract, Verlander's recently signed deal, Max Scherzer and Martinez a year away from free agency and two-time American League MVP Cabrera among a handful of prominent Tigers up for free agency in two years, Detroit's long-term payroll looked like an unsolvable puzzle.
Trading Fielder, even with the offensive gap it creates, became the solution, which is why talks came together quickly. Detroit could save as much as $8 million in each of the next two seasons, and more after that, depending on how the money going back to Texas is spread out.
Asked if the new-look payroll makes an extension for Scherzer more likely, Dombrowski said, "I'd say it makes it perhaps more possible. As we've talked about in the past, we're in a situation where we have a lot of stars on our club. They're well-paid stars and you can only be in a position where you have so many of those type of players.
"Does it make it probable? I can't say that. But it makes it more possible going forward. … Max is a player we'd like to keep in our organization and a player I know would like to stay here."
The Rangers were an option for Fielder as a free agent two years ago, and carried the bonus of no state income tax. Now, the prospect of Fielder regaining his power bat in a much more power-friendly park looms for AL opponents.
The Tigers, meanwhile, will be re-adjusting the rest of their roster in turn. The lineup will lose a huge power presence in the cleanup spot, but gain an accomplished leadoff hitter in Kinsler.
Kinsler has batted leadoff for 662 of his 1,066 career games, all of them in a Rangers uniform, with a .346 on-base percentage and .813 OPS out of the leadoff spot. He'll likely do the same in Detroit after Austin Jackson's postseason struggles knocked him out of the spot for the last couple of games of the AL Championship Series.
"I think it gives us another option at the top of the order. I'm talking about the top two spots," new Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Whether it's Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, Ian Kinsler, I don't think that needs to be decided at this point."
Kinsler, a three-time AL All-Star, has been a mainstay at second base in Texas, and at age 31,
It's a one-for-one deal. But by trading Prince Fielder to the Rangers for Ian Kinsler, the Tigers pulled off a blockbuster that changes the course of both teams for years to come.
They needed just over 24 hours to make it happen. Considering how quickly the Tigers' free-agent contract with Fielder came together, maybe it's fitting.
"It happened really fast, there's no question," said Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski on a conference call.
It was an idea, Dombrowski said, that was first "kicked around" at MLB's General Managers Meetings last week but not seriously discussed until Tuesday afternoon.
News of the trade was quick enough that even Tigers players were caught off guard. The Tigers will send cash considerations to Texas, reportedly $30 million in payments starting in 2016, to help bridge the gap in money remaining on the two contracts. Fielder has seven years left at $24 million each on the contract he signed in January 2012, barely a week after Victor Martinez's catastrophic knee injury left Detroit in desperate need of a big hitter and left owner Mike Ilitch aggressively looking to fill Martinez's void.
Fielder's arrival 20 months ago played out like a homecoming, returning to the city where fans fondly remembered him as a youngster hitting home runs in batting practice while his father, Cecil Fielder, was a larger-than-life presence in the Tigers' order.
The homecoming lasted two years. In the end, Fielder -- on vacation in the Bahamas -- waived his no-trade rights for a fresh start, and Ilitch gave his approval Wednesday night, little more than 24 hours after Dombrowski approached Rangers GM Jon Daniels about the swap.
"You could tell both sides were interested and motivated," Daniels said. "We got the money where both sides could live with it and we made the deal."
Kinsler has $57 million left over the final four guaranteed seasons of his contract. The Tigers can pick up his $12 million option for 2018 or buy it out for $5 million.
"We were trying to create some financial flexibility but keep our club in a very competitive nature," Dombrowski said.
On paper, the Tigers had a dream lineup in 2013 with Fielder at first base, Miguel Cabrera at third and Martinez as the designated hitter. But while the offense put up mighty numbers over the course of the season, the game-to-game output wasn't consistent. That inconsistency came back to bite them in the postseason, when a series of low-scoring duels put pressure on Detroit's vaunted rotation and not-so-solid bullpen to hold slim leads.
Fielder, fairly or otherwise, became the flashpoint for that. For most players, his .279 average, 25 home runs and 106 RBIs would've been a good season. After a .313 average, 30-homer debut season in Detroit, however, a 121-point drop in OPS stood out.
"He was an all-star player for us," Dombrowski said. "He played hard and wanted to play all the time under any circumstance. It's a time where we'll be thankful for what he did for us for two years. He drove in 100 runs for us two years in a row and that's not easy to do."
Fielder's postseason struggles compounded to the point that he was booed at home at Comerica Park during the ALCS. When the Tigers were eliminated in Game 6, Fielder made remarks that downplayed the emotional impact, which seemed to frustrate Detroit fans further.
Dombrowski said that feedback was not a motivation in trade talks.
"Not really," Dombrowski said.
The bigger numbers pressing the Tigers were financial. With Fielder's contract, Verlander's recently signed deal, Max Scherzer and Martinez a year away from free agency and two-time American League MVP Cabrera among a handful of prominent Tigers up for free agency in two years, Detroit's long-term payroll looked like an unsolvable puzzle.
Trading Fielder, even with the offensive gap it creates, became the solution, which is why talks came together quickly. Detroit could save as much as $8 million in each of the next two seasons, and more after that, depending on how the money going back to Texas is spread out.
Asked if the new-look payroll makes an extension for Scherzer more likely, Dombrowski said, "I'd say it makes it perhaps more possible. As we've talked about in the past, we're in a situation where we have a lot of stars on our club. They're well-paid stars and you can only be in a position where you have so many of those type of players.
"Does it make it probable? I can't say that. But it makes it more possible going forward. … Max is a player we'd like to keep in our organization and a player I know would like to stay here."
The Rangers were an option for Fielder as a free agent two years ago, and carried the bonus of no state income tax. Now, the prospect of Fielder regaining his power bat in a much more power-friendly park looms for AL opponents.
The Tigers, meanwhile, will be re-adjusting the rest of their roster in turn. The lineup will lose a huge power presence in the cleanup spot, but gain an accomplished leadoff hitter in Kinsler.
Kinsler has batted leadoff for 662 of his 1,066 career games, all of them in a Rangers uniform, with a .346 on-base percentage and .813 OPS out of the leadoff spot. He'll likely do the same in Detroit after Austin Jackson's postseason struggles knocked him out of the spot for the last couple of games of the AL Championship Series.
"I think it gives us another option at the top of the order. I'm talking about the top two spots," new Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Whether it's Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, Ian Kinsler, I don't think that needs to be decided at this point."
Kinsler, a three-time AL All-Star, has been a mainstay at second base in Texas, and at age 31,
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Ausmus, a former Tigers catcher and current Padres special assistant, is reportedly on his way back to Detroit to accept the managerial job on Sunday. Adam Spolane, a Texas-based radio broadcaster, first reported the story Saturday evening.
Neither Ausmus nor Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski returned messages for comment Saturday night. Tim Wallach, one of three others who interviewed for the job over the past week and a half, told MLB-com in a text message that he hadn't heard from the Tigers regarding the job.
The Tigers have been expected to look towards a familiar face to follow Jim Leyland as manager. In Ausmus, they've still managed to create a surprise.
Ausmus interviewed for the job on Monday, saying afterward that he had a good discussion with Dombrowski and his staff for the job. He was the third candidate to interview for the job, following Wallach, the Dodgers' third-base coach, and Lloyd McClendon, longtime hitting coach on Leyland's staff in Detroit.
Padres bench coach Rick Renteria also interviewed for the job, on Thursday. The Tigers had been expected to interview Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, but the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham reported Saturday that they hadn't asked the Red Sox for permission to talk with him about the job.
Ausmus would be taking the job with no managerial experience in the Major or Minor Leagues -- a first for Dombrowski. Those who have worked with Ausmus, however, rave about his ability to communicate with players, the products of a Dartmouth education and an 18-year career as a big league catcher.
Ausmus spent 2 1/2 of those seasons in Detroit, most recently in 1999-2000. The Tigers then traded him to Houston, where he spent the next eight seasons before finishing his playing career with the Dodgers in 2010. "Great mind for the game," one American League official said, "and an ability to communicate in layman, Ph.D., management terms. ... Low-energy look, but a fierce competitor, humorous but tough, all lends to an ability to find everyone's button that needs to be pushed."
Former Tigers great Travis Fryman, who played with Ausmus during his first Tigers stop in 1996, described Ausmus as a "very bright guy.
"I've certainly heard his name the last couple of years in manager discussions. Certainly catching prepares you to a large extent. So I think Brad would do an excellent job for anybody interested in him.
"We seem to see a trend in baseball towards younger managers. A lot of it I think is your presence, how you impact people around you. A lot of the decision making today is a little more predictable with sabermetrics. ... Certainly, Brad is a very intelligent guy. He's a Dartmouth graduate. I think Brad would be a strong manager."
That's a trend the Tigers haven't necessarily been expected to follow with a team coming off a third consecutive AL Central title and a six-game battle in the AL Championship Series before falling to the eventual World Series champion Red Sox.
One factor that could mitigate the inexperience would be a veteran coaching staff, such as what the Tigers had with Leyland. Gene Lamont, Leyland's close confidant and bench coach this past season, is close with Ausmus and is expected to be a candidate for a coaching role. Pitching coach Jeff Jones was a bullpen coach for a stint while Ausmus was a catcher here.
Reports: Detroit Tigers to name Brad Ausmus as next manager | MLB-com: News