Offseason baseball Thread

Yeah, I was a bit shocked to hear that until realizing it was a gag.

 

Wow:

With the Astros’ victory celebration in full swing, a...

 

Ellsbury is exactly the light-hitting bad defender the Giants have been seeking for CF.

 

The Twins now face much bigger questions about what to do with Miguel Sano that have nothing to do with his weight or position:

Miguel Sano accused of sexual assault

 

His response:

Miguel Sano Denies Assaulting Female Photog: 'It Never Happened'

 

Wade Davis to the Rockies in 3-year, $52 mil deal.

Wade Davis to sign rich new deal with the Rockies, as Colorado continues to spend big on a bullpen

 

Holy shit, that’s the market for a first baseman with a career OPS of .781? Shows the benefits of sticking the landing during your contract year, which was an outlier at the dish.

 

It wasn't much of an outlier for a guy his age. His OPS is .822 over the past three years and .882 last year, despite a rugged start. He's been pretty much the same guy for the past three years.

He doesn't strike out a lot, will hit for average and has some pop. He's also entering his prime. It's not crazy to think he'll hit 30-33 HRs this year.

And, of course, there's the fact that he's by far the best available free agent at first base. Who else are they going to sign there? Adrian Gonzalez? Logan Morrison? The Royals know him, they know how good he is in their clubhouse and they want to keep a homegrown talent who is a face of the franchise. Better than throwing money at AGon's corpse or Morrison.

 

Rob Picciolo, former major league player and coach, dies at 64 from a heart attack.
He was always regarded as a great guy and was given community services awards for off-the-field work. One of those guys who everybody liked. I went to junior college with him. He also played basketball and was on a team that won a state championship in 1972.


Rob Picciolo, former Angels and Padres coach, dies at 64 – Orange County Register



Back in the early 2000s, Duane Espy and Picciolo were both coaching for the Padres. I went to the game when they played the Angels, to visit with Espy, who I'd known since junior high and played baseball with in high school. At one point we were behind the batting cage and Espy was busy with batting practice so I was talking with another writer who covered the Padres. I asked him if he ever chatted with Picciolo. He said yes. So I said, next time you are chatting with him, tell him you met a guy who told you that Picciolo was the eighth man on an state championship basketball team that was known as the Magnificent Seven. Well, the guy headed right for Picciolo, started talking to him and pointed toward me. Picciolo came right over, smiled and said, "Man, you're crazy. I wasn't the eighth man, I was probably the 11th man." I texted Espy tonight about this. He had already heard. He responded: "He was a special man."

 

Peaches was on the A's when they suddenly got good under Billy Martin. Such a fun team to watch. Heck, I enjoyed the years before Martin as well, sitting among the 2k fans at the Coliseum - you really felt like they were "your" team.