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News Articles


Following are the one hundred most recent articles for the category News .

02/10/2012: Recapping a swap-filled winter

by Jeff Moore

02/10/2012: A baseball card mystery: Ontiveros and Schmidt

by Bruce Markusen

02/10/2012: A dynasty ranking follow-up

by Josh Shepardson

02/09/2012: Forecasting Prince

by Myron Logan

02/09/2012: The Homestead exemption act of 1992

by Frank Jackson

02/09/2012: Fun with numbers

by Nick Fleder

02/08/2012: Making the leap up

by Derek Ambrosino

02/08/2012: Against replay in baseball

by David Wade

02/08/2012: BOB: Oakland dealt setback in pursuit to keep Athletics

by Brian Borawski

02/08/2012: The virtual 1958-68 Giants, Reds, and Cardinals (Part 10: 1966-67)

by Steve Treder

02/08/2012: 20,000 days since Herb Score’s injury

by Chris Jaffe

02/07/2012: A baseball card mystery: Bill Sudakis and the strange light

by Bruce Markusen

02/07/2012: 20,000 days since Hank Aaron’s worst game

by Chris Jaffe

02/07/2012: Did you know we had a mock draft?

by Brad Johnson

02/07/2012: State of the system - Arizona Diamondbacks

by Jeff Moore

02/07/2012: Rockies building a troubling rotation

by Troy Patterson

02/07/2012: Money and wins

by Dave Studeman

02/06/2012: Super at the right time

by Joe Distelheim

02/06/2012: Let there be news - Volume 7

by Brad Johnson

02/06/2012: 10 things I didn’t know about one-hitters

by Chris Jaffe

02/06/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball: 1/30-2/5

by Karl de Vries

02/06/2012: Would the Nationals consider holding back Strasburg?

by Brad Johnson

02/03/2012: Card Corner: 1972 Topps—Bob Veale

by Bruce Markusen

02/03/2012: Supplementing the dynasty rankings (Part 2)

by Jeffrey Gross

02/03/2012: 10,000 days: 500th homer for Mr. October

by Chris Jaffe

02/02/2012: Edwin Jackson finally signs

by Matt Filippi

02/02/2012: THT Forecasts - 2012 fantasy price guides

by Greg Tamer

02/02/2012: The all-month team: February

by Richard Barbieri

02/02/2012: We will, we will (mock) you

by Nick Fleder

02/02/2012: How are wins, attendance and payroll all related?

by Dan Lependorf

02/01/2012: Are you mocking me?

by Derek Ambrosino

02/01/2012: Why Oliver Loves Yu

by Brian Cartwright

02/01/2012: Reflections after a long offseason

by Chris Lund

02/01/2012: The virtual 1958-68 Giants, Reds, and Cardinals (Part 9: 1965-66)

by Steve Treder

01/31/2012: A baseball card mystery: Ken Holtzman’s 1974 Topps card

by Bruce Markusen

01/31/2012: The new golden age of catching

by Troy Patterson

01/31/2012: 10,000 days since Carlton becomes Phillies win leader

by Chris Jaffe

01/31/2012: The Verdict: Hardball Times mock draft analysis

by Michael Stein

01/30/2012: Let there be news - Volume 6

by Brad Johnson

01/30/2012: Juan Pierre, Domonic Brown, and plans

by Brad Johnson

01/30/2012: Dave Duncan, the 1982 Mariners and lost glory

by Paul Francis Sullivan

01/30/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball

by Karl de Vries

01/30/2012: What was I thinking?

by Ben Pritchett

01/28/2012: THT mock draft 2012

by Ben Pritchett

01/27/2012: Outfield assist of another kind

by Bojan Koprivica

01/27/2012: In the old days, the game was more exciting

by Max Marchi

01/27/2012: Supplementing the dynasty rankings (Part 1)

by Jeffrey Gross

01/27/2012: 30th anniversary: The Ryne Sandberg trade

by Chris Jaffe

01/27/2012: Cooperstown Confidential: thinking about Al Smith

by Bruce Markusen

01/26/2012: Closer watch

by Paul Singman

01/26/2012: Jack Morris: the winningest pitcher of the 1980s

by Bobby Mueller

01/26/2012: Marshall McDougall’s greatest game

by Frank Jackson

01/26/2012: Players I’ll avoid this year

by Dave Shovein

01/25/2012: It’s THT Dispatch

by Dave Studeman

01/25/2012: THT Forecasts - 2012 Oliver projected-WAR starting lineup

by Greg Tamer

01/25/2012: Another Fielder for Detroit

by THT Staff

01/25/2012: AL West: offseason check-in

by David Wade

01/25/2012: Ask Oliver

by Derek Ambrosino

01/25/2012: BOB: Astros ponder new look

by Brian Borawski

01/25/2012: 40th anniversary: Dave Winfield and the NCAA basket-brawl

by Chris Jaffe

01/24/2012: Fast goes Astro

by Dave Studeman

01/24/2012: The greatest eye in baseball

by Troy Patterson

01/24/2012: A baseball card mystery: Bob Didier and Cleon Jones

by Bruce Markusen

01/24/2012: 20,000 days since the Phillies integrate

by Chris Jaffe

01/24/2012: The virtual 1958-68 Giants, Reds, and Cardinals (Part 8: 1964-65)

by Steve Treder

01/23/2012: Carmona points out an MLB inequity

by Mat Kovach

01/23/2012: Career highlights: Orlando Cabrera

by Chris Jaffe

01/23/2012: Players I like more than you do

by Ben Pritchett

01/23/2012: Let there be news - Volume 5

by Brad Johnson

01/23/2012: Ten least-likely guys to break up a no-hitter

by Chris Jaffe

01/22/2012: Craig Counsell career highlights

by Chris Jaffe

01/20/2012: Thinking big in Big D in 1950

by Frank Jackson

01/20/2012: Card Corner: 1972 Topps: George Hendrick

by Bruce Markusen

01/20/2012: The extra 2 percent: A fantasy market inefficency

by Josh Shepardson

01/19/2012: Evaluating a strange offseason in San Diego

by Myron Logan

01/19/2012: On Edgar Martinez

by Richard Barbieri

01/19/2012: Searching for sleepers

by Nick Fleder

01/18/2012: SABR Analytics Conference

by Dave Studeman

01/18/2012: BOB: Mets owner scores another win in court

by Brian Borawski

01/18/2012: Is Jorge Posada toast as a righty hitter?

by George Szabo

01/18/2012: Can you really play it safe?

by Derek Ambrosino

01/18/2012: A baseball card mystery: Thurman Munson and who?

by Bruce Markusen

01/18/2012: 10th anniversary: Randy Winn’s greatest shot

by Chris Jaffe

01/17/2012: 10,000 days since Buddy Bell walk-off slam

by Chris Jaffe

01/17/2012: The virtual 1958-68 Giants, Reds, and Cardinals (Part 7: 1963-64)

by Steve Treder

01/17/2012: Some thoughts on Moscoso

by Lucas Apostoleris

01/17/2012: The Toronto Blue Jays quirkiest pitching staff since 1994

by Chris Lund

01/17/2012: The Verdict: snake versus auction draft

by Michael Stein

01/16/2012: PED injustice and the Hall

by Mat Kovach

01/16/2012: THT Forecasts: Players’ comments…rollout!

by Greg Tamer

01/16/2012: Ye believe in me, believe also in Mike Stanton

by Ben Pritchett

01/16/2012: Let there be news - Volume 4

by Brad Johnson

01/16/2012: The possible upcoming Cooperstown ballot apocalypse

by Chris Jaffe

01/16/2012: 10th anniversary: Rangers sign Chan Ho Park

by Chris Jaffe

01/14/2012: Is there an asterisk in Brandon’s future?

by Steve Treder

01/13/2012: The Yankees’ finest hour

by Nick Fleder

01/13/2012: Fantasy Chat - 1/15/12

by Nick Fleder

01/13/2012: Cooperstown Confidential: Why Bob Howsam isn’t in the Hall of Fame

by Bruce Markusen

01/12/2012: On Ryan Madson: Parsing Boras’ comments

by Greg Simons

01/12/2012: Dynasty rankings 2012 follow-up

by Nick Fleder

<< Click here to return to the category list.



January 23, 2012

Carmona points out an MLB inequity

Goodbye Fausto! Hello Roberto!

As reported last week, 28-year-old Fausto Carmona is Roberto Hernandez Heredia and perhaps 31 years old.

There are implications here for Carmona-Heredia, for the Indians and, most importantly, for professional baseball and the uneven way it deals with international players.

Since being released on bail, The Sinkerballer Formally Known as Fausto has been apologetic but tight-lipped. He reportedly paid for a false identity that may have incorrectly represented his age. He may have been making periodic payments to maintain the false identity. He eventually balked at paying and somebody talked, leading to his arrest.

He is not the first Latin-American player to take this route. (Last year's most publicized example was Leo Nunez.)

So Heredia lied. But did he do anything wrong to the game of baseball? Does lying about your age and name affect anything about playing the game?

It does not.

While the lies are certainly deplorable, they do not affect the player's ability on the field. People will say that, because his age is uncertain, it could be advantageous for him to have people think he is younger. It could lead to larger bonuses and salaries. He’ll appear more successful since his ability will be compared to that of players younger than him.

But these are issue of deceit based on the current economic model and do not affect the play on the field.

If the same player was actually three years YOUNGER, would we be willing to rectify the situation financially? What happened, as before, is a player found a way to take advantage of the economic system in baseball. For him to be successful, he still had to demonstrate ability and skill.

In doing so, he allegedly broke laws in at least two countries* but he never de-skilled the game. While the misreported younger age would have been helpful during his development, the lying did not give him specific extra ability, or his ability to ignore Lake Erie Midges that Joba Chamberlain could not. Carmona’s lies do not hurt the on-field play of baseball.

* I have no idea if Canada would say anything about a player such as Carmona entering the country with false paperwork. I’m not even sure Canada would prosecute, but I am fairly certain that it is against Canadian law.

When looking at a situation like Carmona’s, I look directly at those running Major League Baseball and the teams. Lying about one’s identity is so advantageous for a specific set of players that it outweighs the risk of punishment. Instead of demonizing players like Carmona and Nunez, it is time to look at the system.

In Japan, younger players are able to develop in a system that gives them the ability to play in their homeland with the possibility of moving to the major leagues in America. In Latin America, players feel the need to break the law to be part of the system. So in one week, Yu Darvish, who has never pitched in even the minor leagues in America, got a $60 million contract after a team paid $51.7 million for the right to give him that contract. During that same week, we learned that, once again a player lied about his identity in an effort to get a portion of that amount of money.

In the end, both players will succeed or fail based on what they do on the field. How they got the opportunity doesn’t affect their ability on the field.

Major League Baseball needs to address the differences. If baseball officials are going to continue to encourage teams to deal individually with international players, they need to address the extreme differences in the system. It is not an easy task. How can baseball expect players not to take the route of Carmona and Nunez when the Darvish situation points out the inequity?

As for the Indians:

While Carmona has not lived up to the promise he flashed in 2007, he has shown, when healthy, to be able to provide a decent set of 30-plus starts and 200-plus innings each year.

In conjunction with this news, it appears the Indians finally pulled the trigger on obtaining Kevin Slowey. The Indians have been interested in him anyway, so this was not in direct relation to Carmona’s issues, but the trade was probably hastened. Carmona will likely end up on the restricted list, leaving the Indians with a hole in the rotation but with an extra $7 million. The Indians gave up Zach Putman, a young pitcher who may have competed for a bullpen position this year.

The Indians have other options for the rotation. David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez will be among those who compete with Slowey for spots behind Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Tomlin and Derek Lowe. In the end, the Indians' depth should be able to cover for Carmona's absence with limited hardship.
Posted by: Mat Kovach


January 12, 2012

On Ryan Madson: Parsing Boras’ comments

Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. and super-agent Scott Boras are having a skirmish of words regarding the Phillies' non-signing of closer Ryan Madson. Boras seems to be saying the Phillies reneged on their offer of $44 million over four years, while Amaro says, "there never was an agreement."

Obviously, since Madson is now a Cincinnati Red, Amaro is correct that there never was an agreement—at least not one so formal that it led to a signed contract. However, there may have been a verbal agreement, a handshake deal, a nod-and-wink, nudge-nudge, say-no-more pact that simply needed to be put to paper and submitted to Major League Baseball's offices for confirmation.

Or there may not have been. If we read exactly what Boras said, it becomes clear that he did not say that he and the Phillies had agreed to a four-year, $44 million contract.

Boras first stated, "We never rejected any offer from Philadelphia at four years and $44 million. We advised Philadelphia that we would agree to such a proposal." He followed that comment up with, "We agreed to a four-year, $44 million offer, and Philadelphia decided to sign someone else."

Let's take a look at the first sentence. While he and Madson never rejected the contract in dispute, Boras didn't say the Phillies made such an offer. You can't reject an offer that isn't made, so Boras may not be lying. Also, "never rejected" is not the same as "accepted."

His second sentence says they would have taken such a deal. Hey, so would I, but no one made me such an offer and, again, maybe the Phillies didn't make one to Boras for Madson's services.

The last sentence uses "we" vaguely. Which "we" agreed to the four-year, $44 million contract he mentions? It could be that "we" is Boras and Madson. Perhaps those two men decided between themselves that such an offer would be acceptable. Good for them, but if the Phillies never tendered such a deal, there was nothing for Boras to accept.

Scott Boras obviously is a phenomenally successful agent. He has made his clients billions of dollars and himself a nice cut of those salaries. He produces gold-lettered, platinum-laced, diamond-encrusted binders to demonstrate how clients such as Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder are the greatest athletes in the history of the universe and should be paid like minor deities. Boras does his job extraordinarily well.

But his success does not come from blunt directness. It comes from deception, obfuscation and borderline flat-out lying. Boras knows where that borderline is, and he has no fear of going up to it and nudging his toes right up against that line. It's what he gets paid so well to do.
Posted by: Greg Simons


December 29, 2011

2011 A’s vs. 1997 Marlins

In 1997, the Florida (now Miami) Marlins won the World Series, bringing joy and enthusiasm to the team and its fan base. Days later, the destruction of the team began as management shipped off nearly every high-priced veteran it could to save money.

The excuse was that the team couldn't afford such a large payroll without a larger fan base, and more fans would come only if the team got a new stadium. Well, it took nearly 15 years, but that new stadium is finally a reality, and it looks to be a stunning ballpark, though the structural integrity and financing of the facility have been called into question.

In 2011, the Oakland A's went 74-88. There were no victory parades, but the team's teardown has been as thorough as the Marlins' was 14 years ago.

Starting pitchers Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez have been shipped off to the Diamondbacks and Nationals, respectively, in return for a gaggle of hot prospects. Middle reliever Craig Breslow joined Cahill in the move to Arizona, while closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney were just sent to Boston for three more promising youngsters.

Josh Willingham, David DeJesus, Coco Crisp and Hideki Matsui—all solid, if unispiring, offensive contributors—will not be returning to Oakland. The roster has been stripped so bare that at one point Sweeney was listed on the A's official Web site depth chart as the starting outfielder at all three positions.

Like the Marlins, the A's say they need a new ballpark to compete. And with the Angels signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, and the Rangers coming off back-to-back World Series appearances and acquiring the rights to Yu Darvish, they certainly need something to keep pace.

Rumors abound that the team soon will be allowed to move to San Jose, though Bud Selig's Blue Ribbon Committee that has been studying the issue for a few years now has not made any formal proposals. Given how long the Marlins waited for a new facility, A's fans shouldn't hold their breath.

When the Marlins tore things down, they shaved massive financial commitments from their books, but at least they had a title to show for their investment. The A's are dealing away young, cheap, cost-controlled talent for even younger, even cheaper, cost-controlled potential. And they have nothing to show for their efforts other than the possibility of being the cheapest, most anonymous ball team since the 1998 Marlins.

Things were awful in South Florida in '98, as the team fell from 92 victories the season before to a mere 54 wins. The A's starting point is 74 wins. An equal 38-game dropoff would yield a 36-126 record that would make the 1962 Mets look like world beaters.

Oakland is unlikely to be quite that bad in 2012 and beyond, but it's going to be horrendously ugly for the next few years. It may even be so bad that this monstrosity will look good by comparison.
Posted by: Greg Simons


September 26, 2011

Hitters to watch in the final regular-season series

The final regular-season series begin on Monday with both Wild Card spots very much up for grabs. Boston and Atlanta each hold one-game advantages over Tampa Bay and St. Louis, respectively, with three games left to play. For these four clubs, the playoffs started a couple of weeks ago, but this three-game stretch will ultimately decide if the previous 159 games were worth playing in a quest for a championship.

Each of the four series is a division battle, and the key players for the Red Sox, Rays, Braves and Cardinals have had a large number of plate appearances to adequately gauge how their teams' offensive stars will fare in the final three days before the postseason.

Key Hitters 	 PA	  Slash Line    HR     RBI	 R     SB      XBH	   
Ellsbury vs BAL	 73	.424/.466/.712	 4	11	15	1	10	   
Pedroia vs BAL	 72	.338/.403/.600	 3	14	18	2	10	   
Longoria vs NYY	 62	.241/.339/.407	 2	 6	 6	0	 5	   
Zobrist vs NYY	 51	.293/.412/.512	 2	 7	 6	2	 4	   
McCann vs PHI	 58	.196/.293/.294	 1	 3	 3	0	 3	   
Uggla vs PHI	 62	.161/.242/.375	 3	 6	 8	0	 6	   
Pujols vs HOU	 50	.261/.320/.478	 2	 7	 8	1	 6	   
Berkman vs HOU	 31	.429/.484/1.036	 5	12	 6	0	 7	 
As you can see, the two Red Sox MVP candidates have torn up Baltimore pitching, and Boston may survive after all. Even if they falter, Tampa Bay's star players will come into their series against Yankee backups having struggled against New York all season.

Philadelphia will try to do its best to hold the pitching-strong Braves out of the postseason, and stars Brian McCann and Dan Uggla have to break out of their respective funks against the NL East champs. The Cardinals and their stars have done extremely well offensively against the feeble Houston pitching staff this season, especially former Astro Lance Berkman.

If the performances of these eight hitting stars are any indication of this week's outcomes, the Red Sox and Redbirds could very well be moving on for some October baseball, leaving the Rays out and the Braves crushed by their stretch run downfall.
Posted by: Shlomo Sprung


September 22, 2011

Offenses dramatically impacting NL Wild Card race

On Sept. 1, the Braves led the Cardinals by eight and a half games (nine in the loss column) and the Giants by nine and a half (10 in the loss column). Exactly three weeks later, that lead has decreased to one and a half games over St. Louis (one in the loss column) and three and a half over San Francisco (three in the loss column).

Pitching is obviously a large factor: The Giants' 2.69 team ERA (first in the NL) and the Cardinals' 3.18 ERA (sixth in the NL) are much better than the Braves' 4.16 team ERA (12th in the league). But the stark differences in recent offensive performance have made this race far too close for Atlanta's comfort.
 September
(NL rank)	                 Slash Line	          R	    HR	        XBH	   
St. Louis Cardinals	.292 (1)/.346 (2)/.442 (2)	85 (2)	  17 (T-9)	55 (T-3)	   
San Francisco Giants	.255 (4)/.319 (8)/.452 (1)	82 (T-3)  24 (3)	52 (T-7)	   
Atlanta Braves	        .251 (6)/.320 (7)/.383 (11)	73 (12)	  18 (T-6)	49 (11)	 

Posted by: Shlomo Sprung


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