Major League Baseball News Other than Blue Jays

[jerrym]

Jake Arrieta of the Cubs has thrown the first no-hitter of the 2016 season.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...reds/83368948/

[jerrym]

MLB is rehabilitating Pete Rose step-by-step. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I recognize that from a statistics viewpoint Rose would make baseball's Hall of Fame. On the other hand, his gambling also is a threat to the game's integrity.

Pete Rose has been granted yet another break from his lifetime ban from Major League Baseball.This time, Rose, 75, has the league's permission to make an appearance at a Triple-A Rochester Red Wings game in upstate New York on July 21.
On Friday, the Red Wings announced that Rose will sign autographs and meet with and pose for pictures with a limited number of fans. He also will throw out the first pitch.

Only 250 tickets, costing $50, are being sold to fans seeking an autograph. Another 100 VIP tickets, costing $125, are available to fans to meet with Rose.
In January, Rose received approval from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to be inducted into the Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Fame and have his No. 14 retired in June.

[jerrym]

The very high rate of inflation in baseball salaries is reflected in the $184 million 8-year contract ($23 million/year) given by the Cubs to Jason Heyward, a lifetime .266 hitting corner outfielder, who has averaged just 16 homers per year and has trouble hitting left handers, who admittedly is a good but not great fielder (if he were a very good let alone great outfielder he would be playing centre field) who is also above average but far from top-rank basestealer. The exponential growth in MLB salaries shows no signs of ending. To top it off Heyward has an opt out clause after 3 years which he is expected to take in order to further increase his salary unless he flops, which he is currently doing with a .211 average and zero homers after 23 games. He may be only 26 but he has not shown much growth since his first two years, having arrived in the big leagues at 20 after being hot-housed through developmental baseball from the age of 13 onward by playing baseball in numerous leagues year round. His stats can be found at



http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...eywaja01.shtml

[AngeloV]

The very high rate of inflation in baseball salaries is reflected in the $184 million 8-year contract ($23 million/year) given by the Cubs to Jason Heyward, a lifetime .266 hitting corner outfielder, who has averaged just 16 homers per year and has trouble hitting left handers, who admittedly is a good but not great fielder (if he were a very good let alone great outfielder he would be playing centre field) who is also above average but far from top-rank basestealer. The exponential growth in MLB salaries shows no signs of ending. To top it off Heyward has an opt out clause after 3 years which he is expected to take in order to further increase his salary unless he flops, which he is currently doing with a .211 average and zero homers after 23 games. He may be only 26 but he has not shown much growth since his first two years, having arrived in the big leagues at 20 after being hot-housed through developmental baseball from the age of 13 onward by playing baseball in numerous leagues year round. His stats can be found at



http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...eywaja01.shtml

Yeah, that makes it very hard to really have any interest in MLB. It's stuff like this that makes people look down on the CFL in the GTA.

[Scooter McCray]

Yeah, that makes it very hard to really have any interest in MLB. It's stuff like this that makes people look down on the CFL in the GTA.

One mediocre 26 year old baseball player is making per year what almost half of all CFL players are making combined. I simply do not understand how baseball's economics work. No salary cap, where is all of the money coming from to pay their players, run the league and turn a profit for owners? But then again the world's economics do not make sense at present either - negative interest rates. 5,000 years of modern human history and we have never had negative interest rates, but now Japan and Europe have them, and the bank of Canada and Federal Reserve have actually had discussions in public about negative interest rates.

[gilthethrill]

No no no...if Heywards contract is that big, then he must be a great player.

[jerrym]

But then again the world's economics do not make sense at present either - negative interest rates. 5,000 years of modern human history and we have never had negative interest rates, but now Japan and Europe have them, and the bank of Canada and Federal Reserve have actually had discussions in public about negative interest rates.

The world's economics do make sense for 0.01% of the global population.

[jerrym]

Furthermore, unlike football, MLB baseball contracts are further guaranteed.

[jerrym]

The Atlanta Braves are making history in a bad way. Quite a change for this team that "From 1991 to 2005 the Braves were one of the most successful franchises in baseball, winning division titles an unprecedented 14 consecutive times in that period".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Braves

It has been a rough opening five weeks for Gonzalez and the Braves, who have the worst start in franchise history since at least 1900. ...
The Braves (7-23) are making all kinds of history in a bad way. They have the worst home start since the 1913 Yankees, who lost their first 17 home decisions, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. New York had one tie in that span. The Braves have their worst record through 30 games since at least 1900.
Gonzalez knows the lack of talent in a rebuilding season doesn't keep the manager from being blamed for losses. Even so, his players say Sunday's comeback was proof they haven't given up on Gonzalez.
"After the way we came back today, I think if anybody wonders if we're playing for Fredi or anything like that, we're still working and playing our asses off," said outfielder Jeff Francoeur.
There are reasons to suggest Gonzalez will be given more time.
The Braves have played the majors' toughest schedule so far. Their opponents had a .583 winning percentage as of Sunday.
Gonzalez also hasn't had a full roster. Outfielder Ender Inciarte, the biggest offseason addition, missed 26 games with a hamstring injury before returning Saturday. Foltynewicz was making only his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett. Infielder Gordon Beckham may come off the disabled list for Tuesday's game against Philadelphia — the start of 13 straight games without an off day.

http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/sto...raves-Gonzalez

[AngeloV]

The Washington Nationals signed Steven Strasburg to a 7 year, $175M contact today. Seeing as how he's a starting pitcher, I have to ask...How does anyone that only plays 1 out of every 5 games get that type of money?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15...175m-extension

[R.J]

$25 million per = Wow. Baseball salaries along with most pro sports nowadays really need to reel it in. The gravy train won't last forever - the CFL learned that the hard way.

[Will]

The Washington Nationals signed Steven Strasburg to a 7 year, $175M contact today. Seeing as how he's a starting pitcher, I have to ask...How does anyone that only plays 1 out of every 5 games get that type of money?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15...175m-extension

He's not even the highest paid pitcher. David Price got $30,000,000 per year from the Red Sox and I'm not even 100% sure if he's at the top.

[R.J]

He's not even the highest paid pitcher. David Price got $30,000,000 per year from the Red Sox and I'm not even 100% sure if he's at the top.

Kershaw of the Dodgers is - 7 years $215 million, then Zach Greinke is next with 6 years $206,500,000.

[argolio]

The Washington Nationals signed Steven Strasburg to a 7 year, $175M contact today. Seeing as how he's a starting pitcher, I have to ask...How does anyone that only plays 1 out of every 5 games get that type of money?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15...175m-extension

Like Les Nessman, I blame the red Chinese.

[AngeloV]

Like Les Nessman, I blame the red Chinese.

He also would think it's some sort of plot. Pete Rose played first base.

[jerrym]

Another example of baseball salaries gone mad is the signing last year by the Atlanta Braves of Nick Markakis to a four year contract for $44 million even though he had to undergo neck surgery to fuse disks. Why pay a player who was of questionable health $11 million per year guaranteed for 4 years when it was uncertain what kind of player he would now be? Because the Braves couldn't afford to pay for a more expensive and talented player and were desperate to get some veteran with some kind of a career to fill an outfield spot. They also overpaid him in number of years in the contract to entice him to play for the lowly Braves, when many other veteran free agents did not want to do this. Markakis did come back to play, but the neck surgery has meant he can't swing hard and has been transformed into a singles hitter with a .275 average with zero homers this year and only 3 all of last year, which is way below average for a right fielder.
The Braves also argued they are a bottom of the league team because they cannot compete financially due to their low team salary of roughly $95 million and mid-market size. They used this to wangle a brand new stadium and surrounding development out of Atlanta regional taxpayers at a cost of $1.1 billion, mostly by taxpayers.
Who needs hospitals and schools when your kids could become millionaires playing sports largely subsidized by the taxpayer? And of course once they got the stadium the Braves didn't stop there, successfully demanding a $9 million pedestrian bridge for their fans, at the taxpayers expense of course.

A new security filing from Braves owners Liberty allots $672 million for SunTrust Park and $452 million for the surrounding mixed-use development. It adds up to a total cost of above $1.1 billion.
Meanwhile, those in Cobb County are focused on progress. New renderings and construction photos give a clearer vision of how the area all will look by 2017.
"When you can drive by and see where the actual field is gonna be, it's also a strong indicator that we're well on our way to getting this done," said Cobb County Commission chair Tim Lee.
The next price tag for discussion has fewer zeroes but just as much debate: a double-decker pedestrian bridge that would allow stadium access. Lee claims it will cost $ 9 million, none from the Braves.
With taxpayers subsidizing so much of the costs of sports, hyperinflation of salaries will keep going ahead full steam.

http://www.11alive.com/news/local/sm...1-1b/132162306

[jerrym]

Jake Arrieta of the Cubs won for the ninth time last night. He is only one of three pitchers with 6 or more wins but no losses. Stephen Strasburg has 8 and Josh Tomlin has 7 wins but no losses.

Jake Arrieta got some help from the Cubs' offence to stay perfect.
Arrieta remained unbeaten on the season despite allowing as many as four runs for the first time in nearly a year and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 on Wednesday.
"I picked a good day to be (bad)," Arrieta said.

The Cubs have won Arrieta's past 23 starts, a franchise record.

http://www.tsn.ca/arrieta-stays-perfect-as-cubs-edge-cardinals-1.495753