Noah Syndergaard managed to pitch batting practice without his arm flying off. Justin Upton has a first base glove at camp this year. He might end up platooning at first base with Jared Walsh. As Joe Maddon puts it, “Just in case that became pertinent.” Happy birthday Elvis Peguero.
BoyWithApple: Did you want us to publish your 1962 Spring Training Pt. 2 story? It’s still marked as a draft.
The Minnesota Twins signed Carlos Correa and they also signed Joe Smith. Meanwhile Trevor Story went to the Red Sox where he will play second base this year.
Hansel Robles goes back to the Red Sox if he can ever get his visa squared away.
Phil Gosselin got a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves while Kenley Jansen got a major league deal.
Nick Castellanos got a five year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy got drilled in the chest by a foul ball. Ruben Amaro Jr. failed to make a play on the ball.
Seiya Suzuki will wear number 27 because of Mike Trout.
The Giants signed Matthew Boyd, although he apparently can’t play until June because of his flexor tendon surgery.
Links About Bad Behavior
Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave is now extended to April 16. David Ortiz’s private investigator says drug lord Cesar Peralta ordered him shot because Ortiz disrespected him somehow. New York City’s Health Commissioner says their vaccine mandate will extend into the indefinite future. There are apparently two New York Yankees who are un-vaccinated.
Job Postings
The Cleveland Guardians are hiring a Minor League Bench Coach. Meanwhile Synergy Sports needs a Cape Cod Video Scout.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
MLB network, 3 of the top 26 . Nice improvement in a short amount of time Even if its only on paper. Love PTP going forward. .
Why stop there? Time to trade for Josh Hader
I’d be stoked if Thor + Ohtani combine for 250+ innings of ace-quality pitching, but sadly, I don’t think the odds are good that the Angels extend both of them.
Ohtani will be resigned, but if Thor coming off 2 IP last season is worth 22 mil per and ends up at 185 IP with a below 3.00 era and 15 – 18 W’s then we won’t be in the market for payiny 30 mil per season.
Angels are not going to let Shohei become a Dodger or M’s pitcher/dh.
Asking for a friend…..has Rendon seen the field yet?
Supposedly manana
…….should we call that day-to-day? Friend wants to know……….because I would never, ever wonder if he’s hurt still/again. That would be stupid, right?
Rendon’s body must be a real mess if the surgery and all the time off did not heal him. Part of me feels bad for him and it is sad really for him and the team. I hope he gets healthy soon for everybody’s sake.
That is some speculation – and probably justified.
Maddon says that Rendon is both healthy, and likes to ease into Spring Training (not playing in the early games). He is a vet, and probably has his process. Should we read something into that?
Yes because spring training is shortened this time
I don’t want Rendon rushing back though – do you? If he is better easing into things, and it gets results, why mess with that?
Saving him for when the games count.
Then We have to wait until October?
Why if you can’t be proven guilty for a crime, doesn’t matter how crazy the accusation is, are you not allowed to work in your profession? I think this is selective prosecution which is wrong. Trevor Bauer might be a bit weird, is a bit weird, but has done nothing illegal that any investigation by L.A. County or MLB can prove. They have certainly had enough time to find something he did illegal. If the Doyers do not want him then pay him off and allow him to be a Free Agent. He’s guilty of being sexually kinky and how many people look up porn everyday? Move on MLB and stop acting like your image will be smeared in a backlash. MLB didn’t care about cheating, allows games on Bally Sportsnet. (It’s about the money!) along with looking the other way about “Roids. Besides only about 20 teams need pitching (It’s about the money!).
MLB kicking the can down the road….delaying the issue of dealing with him. He’s getting paid so he will be quite for a while longer I guess, but that wont last. He will eventually call them on it. Doyers don’t care about keeping him or the money they are paying him.
He will get every penny of his money, Might get black balled from the league after this is settled.
Black Balled for what? Being into BDSM? If that were the case, then there is a lot of guys scared to death right now. Bauer is not the issue though; it is the right to work in your profession is the issue. Lawyers are going to line up to represent him in this if he is Black Balled and MLB will pay dearly for being stupid.
Extending another six weeks recently shows MLB and Dodgers have nothing on him. At this point they should allow him to ply his craft and move on. Is what he admitted to worse than stealing pitching signs or not enforcing the same punishment on all the teams that were sign stealing or giving the players a free pass for cheating or allowing two managers who cheated to manage once again?
There are times when right is right no matter how embarrassing it is. MLB under Manfred has not acted properly and this is one of those times.
I didn’t see that argument work on Kaepernick. He was also essentially blackballed from his league.
Didn’t MLB punish quite a few players for ‘unproven’ domestic violence – on the grounds that it made the league look bad?
amazing people think Kap was really blackballed.
Dude opted out of his Niners contract, went to Seattle where they had prime Russell Wilson and told them he was a starter, then flat out turned down a contract from the Broncos because he wasn’t promised a starting gig.
Add in the $25 million demand from that minor league then moving his tryout and the last minute and it was obvious.
Kap wanted to be a martyr, not a QB. And he’s raking in far more this way than he would have on the field. That’s why he settled his case against the NFL for less than what most owners find under their couch cushions.
Shhhhhh…..you’re messing with the desired narrative.
A kinder gentler Kaep only 11 years ago. Doubt he was wearing his pig socks back then.
https://youtu.be/ogWQcdykCaM
Quite ingenious if you think about it. He ends up with a significant increase in net worth without further destroying his body.
I have often wondered…. does St Colon espouse the notion that we should “believe all women”? If so, does “all women” include the drugged up, drunk as f*** hoe he used to bang who may or may not have been sexually assaulted by Colon and two other NFL has beens in Miami in 2014 while he was negotiating his incredibly racist 126M dollar contract after one good season of football?
As a 49er fan, Kaepernick stunk. He had wheels but passing skills and decision making were not satisfactory. Also. not a team guy, poor leader. Kap is Crap
It drove us crazy how which ever NFL analyst covered the 49ers a lot back then kept gushing about Kap’s pitching past and how he had a 93 MPH fastball or what ever. Over and over like that’s some kind of Thors Hammer of a pitch.
My useless ass also threw 93 in high school (if I reached WAYYYYY back and the radar gun was generous), just to put it in perspective. But Joe Buck or whoever it was (probably not Buck since he’s seen actual pitchers) kept spazzing about Kaps arm the way Tim MacCarver used to get all tight in the pants about Mariano Rivera’s tight, boy like hips and haunches.
All while Kap locks his eyes on the A Receiver and then launches it as hard as he can into double coverage.
One thing I read on SI that I didn’t consider:
Teams want to run vanilla versions of their offenses when the starter goes down. They don’t want to have to reinvent the offense because one guy goes down.
Even if Kap was willing to be a backup, his skill set really limited his options. And his actions clearly show he didn’t want to be a backup.
For one, Bauer has been getting paid while multiple agencies have looked into whether he beat up a woman legally or illegally. No income loss whatsoever.
Two, the domestic violence agreement between MLBPA and MLB was crafted and approved through collective bargaining. Bauer knows that beating up women can result in suspension even if the DA does not bring charges.
The DA in LA is a complete joke who doesn’t even follow state laws in bringing charges. Just because that DA didn’t file charges doesn’t mean there wasn’t violence. There clearly was violence.
So, ultimately when Bauer is reinstated from his suspension the Dodgers have two choices. Pay the pariah to pitch for them or pay him to go away. Either way Bauer will get paid. No monetary losses = really hard case to say you were wronged.
I’d like to think that at some point a team owner and/or the team will get sued for bringing known woman abusers to town. It hasn’t happened in the NFL yet and that league is full of them.
But if I’m an owner and I know Bauer is going to spend his off time cruising social media to find women to beat, I don’t want to inflict him on my community.
Did you see the pictures of that woman’s face and head?
That was a bit more than just being “sexually kinky.”
We lose Packy to Cards
Was that worth keeping as many MIF in the mix as we have? Only two spots (2B/SS plus bench) for Duffy, Rengifo, Rojas, Wade, Velasquez, Mayfield, Davis.
I thought we needed pitching (and yes, I thought he would get through waivers – but alas).
Roster size increased to 26 or am I wrong. (After all I was thinking St. Mary and typed Gonzaga referring to California teams. Very embarrassing.) If I am correct, then there may be room for 3. With Redone injury prone Mayfield, Wade, Duffy seem logical. Trading Rengifo for any warm bodied Baseball Player would be welcomed. Davis will not make the roster I don’t believe if JUp is considered a backup at 1B now. All 3 I choose are multi position players that can hit at least as good as management fav Renny.
Even so, we could have cut any one of those you deem disposable and kept the pitching prospect. They must not have liked what they saw with Packy after all.
Roster size is 26 ( although there was talk during CBA negotiations that the teams may temporarily increase the roster size to 27 to start this season due to the shortened spring.
The maximum amount of pitchers that can be carried on a roster is 13. But I believe Shohei does not count against that because of his two way status. I believe the Angels will carry an 8 man bullpen.
The only way Rengifo, Ward, Davis ( no chance in hell) Velazquez or the Plumber make the roster is if there is an injury or trade to the established 3 of Duffy, Mayfield or Wade. Considering Duffy hasn’t debuted yet maybe he’s dealing with an injury right now? Let’s hope he’ll make his debut tomorrow with Rendon.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1506052023162048514
I think “Lost” is more like “dumped.”
I thought St. Louis was smarter than that…..
https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2548004213290/initial-court-decision-stadium-sale-done-right-lawsuit-dismissed?noAds=1&_f=app_share&s=i16
Well, that is one lawsuit down, more to come.
Someone didn’t get their payoff and pulled the trigger with a lawsuit hiding behind the state.
We’ll if this decision gets Arte in a good mood so he spends more money on the team then I’m all for it .
Correct, this was nothing more than a legal shakedown to try to get funds out of Arte.
Man, they had no idea about the cheapness…. or the evil.
That’s great news. That whole thing was a cluster F. As the Angels clamped down on pregame parties under the a Big A,L years ago,, I think the Angels need a new park and develop an area/grounds to enjoy pre and post games. Win or lose, we booze.
Nice.
Maybe if it was done last week we’d have Story ha ha.
I had wondered what had happened to Brendon Davis. I suspect Criswell will soon be going on the 60 Day. https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1505948556024188928
Mike Trout is apparently on a live YouTube stream this afternoon.
The Plumber at 3b today. Thor to pitch a minor league game tomorrow. I think we’ll sign another starter because I don’t think we will and I’m often wrong about what Perry will do.
Maybe we need to give Arte the Harry Mudd treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag1EbxYKh_4
I feel you brother. This is the best, most accurate roster prediction and analysis in all of halo nation
Serious question:. Who’s still left that might be worth signing among starters?
I floated the idea of Cueto the other day, but he might be asking too high of a price (or I am missing something – injury? loss of stuff after the spider tack thing?)
Taking a look at MLBTR’s tracker the pickings are slim. Matthias probably has the high point in Cueto.
Brett Anderson, Cueto, Fiers, Urena.
Really it is Cueto and blah.
MLB network is at complex today and it’s blocked access to lower fields – what a pisser
Boooo. Ohtani effect.
At least it’s something new. Millar is interviewing Madden now for 30 in 30
Both Greg Amsinger and Kevin Millar came over and talked with us so there’s that.
Amsinger is big (6’5”)
Just waiting for gates to open for Shohei Day now
Shohei is pitching but not batting today?
Just pitching
Any gamblers out there? What do you think we’d have to give up to get Royce Lewis from the Twins now that they made there bet on Correa? I still think Lewis has All-Star potential. I watched him play in Advanced A – and he has jaw-dropping skills.
We’d have to give up Trout and Ohtani to get Lewis. Correa has an opt out after one year so he’s not a Twin for long and they know it. He’s probably a one year and done, buying some time for Lewis to be ready.
Yah very interesting contract. I wonder can they trade him at the deadline if they are out of the playoff race? It’s a good insurance policy for Correa
For sure. If they struggle he’s a prime trade candidate for a contending team in need of a shortstop or big bat.
I wonder when we will see some of the shiny new bullpen pieces in a game?
I’m sure the media will look into his friendship with a known drug lord as hard as they did his obvious steroid use.
Hall of Shame.
And he was the only eligible player that was Hall of fame worthy?
Chowdville is a joke.
Yeah, I didn’t believe the first “mistaken identity” reports when they first came out. Nobody is going to wrongly identify Big Flappi in the DR. i’m sure Ortiz was involved in some unsavory dealings that led to this, but alas, we will probably never know what those were and why they caused him to be shot.
Exactly.
Papi is way too well known to have mistaken identity. Dude probably banged the drug dealer’s girl or something.
Either way, great crowd he’s hanging out with.
he was only shot one time by a drug lord and the commissioner said it might have been a false positive. He’s never been shot since, which proves that he really wasn’t shot at all.
I have also not been shot since then, which is a rock solid reason that Big Papi should get in on the first ballot.
Whenever the involved private party funds the investigation, you know the results are contrived.
edit: Oops, I just read the article.