Mike used to say he learned a lot about pitching from Bauer. Maybe not the best personal role model

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays are set to continue their recent run on multiyear contract extensions, as multiple sources told MLB.com on Saturday they are closing in on a three-year, $24 million deal with infielder Yandy Díaz.

If finalized, Díaz’s contract would include an option for the 2026 season, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and Juan Toribio. Feinsand was the first to report the potential deal, which has not been confirmed by the team.

The guaranteed portion of the extension would cover the 31-year-old Díaz’s final two years of arbitration eligibility, plus his first year of free agency. Having the option picked up would push back his free agency by two years.

This would be the third such extension the Rays have hammered out this week. They previously agreed to a four-year, $31 million deal with starter Jeffrey Springs on Wednesday [who's he?and a three-year, $12 million deal with Pete Fairbanks on Friday, with each deal including a club option and incentives that would further escalate the contract’s total value.

Springs is a 30 year old lefty who had a good 2022, 9-5 2.46 ERA. Before last year he had a career mark of 10-5 in 154 IP. I guess he has proven he is a reliable starter for the next 4 seasons.

MLB’s 2023 schedule changes: Everything you need to know and what it means for your team
Jayson Stark
Feb 3, 2023
94

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So … did you see the new 2023 schedule that Major League Baseball unveiled this week? Well, if you did, perhaps you’re wondering …

Why would the Giants be spending Opening Day in New York … for the first time since 1956 … and for the first time in Yankee Stadium since … well, ever?

And can it really be true the Cardinals will play the Cubs in London … before they play the Cubs in St. Louis?

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And is there some sort of logical reason the Phillies will play 15 games against the Rangers, Yankees, White Sox, Mariners and Astros in March and April … but zero games against the Mets, Braves and Nationals?

These are all excellent, perceptive questions you should be asking. But they’re not the only excellent, perceptive questions you should be asking — because you know what happened while you were trying to figure out what snacks to serve at your Super Bowl party?

MLB blew up the schedule as we used to know it — and replaced it with something very different, and very disorienting, but also very entertaining. So what the heck is happening here? This is that story where we answer that question — and many more.

What’s going on with this schedule? We have answers … to every one of your questions … and lots more you didn’t know you needed to ask.

How has the new MLB schedule changed?
You might have missed it last March, when MLB teased this epic schedule remake as it was ticking off all the stuff settled in the labor deal. But buried inside those new luxury tax thresholds was this major scheduling earthquake:

Old-fashioned unbalanced schedule? See ya!

Every team playing all 29 other teams every year? Hello!

It’s true. That’s happening. Now here’s a quick rundown of how the world has changed:

GAMES VS. OWN DIVISION (52): In the olden days, by which we mean last year, every team played 76 games against its own division. That computes to 19 games — and six series — versus every division opponent. Not anymore. That number has been chopped to 13 games against each division opponent, spread out over four series (two at home, two on the road). Repeat after us: Less is more.

GAMES VS. OTHER 10 LEAGUE OPPONENTS (64): Each club will now play every other team in its league in one series at home and one on the road, for a total of either six or seven games per opponent. Not much has changed there. Those 64 total games are only two fewer than the old total, of 66.

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INTERLEAGUE GAMES (46): This is where it gets wild. Oh, not the part where every team faces its designated interleague “rival” four times — two games at home, two on the road. Been there, seen that. But …

Where do those other 42 interleague games come from? They come from what we’re declaring is the most dramatic scheduling change in the history of this sport. You know those remaining 14 teams in the other league? Your team will now be matched up against every darned one of them, three games apiece, every year, for the first time in the modern era.

So if Julio Rodríguez doesn’t play in your town this season, he’ll stop by next season. It’s a beautiful thing. There used to be 19 or 20 interleague games a year. Now MLB will more than double that. And in this case, more actually is more.

When interleague play began a quarter-century ago, it was a tease and an oddity. But in 2023, it’s no longer any of that. It’s everywhere. It’s every night. It’s every team. And if you miss those days when there was a sense of mystery and distinction between the two leagues … well, sorry. Baseball clearly isn’t in the nostalgia business anymore.

What were they thinking?

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani — coming soon to a baseball city near you. (Nick Turchiaro / USA Today)
It isn’t 1968 anymore. It isn’t 1998 anymore. The planet has spun in ways nobody would have seen coming in the early days of interleague play. Baseball is simply spinning with it.

For a long time now, the NBA has leaned into its stars to drive its sport and industry. It has used the schedule masterfully and creatively to do that. Now MLB is taking its own steps down that path, in a way that the realities of the modern sports landscape and the modern sports fan are pretty much demanding it take.

I can sum up those steps in two words: Shohei Ohtani.

Now here come 10 more: He’s about to play against that team you root for!

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And finally, there are these two words: Every year.

Look, here’s the truth: Baseball is a regional sport. It can try to convince you: Hey, Ohtani is a superhero. Stay up late and watch him some night. But you know what’s way more powerful? You don’t have to open that MLB app to find him. He’s playing next week in your city.

You can fill in the name of any monster star-power dude you want there. … Mike Trout … Aaron Judge … Mookie Betts … Max Scherzer. Whoever that star is, he is going to face that team you care about. Every year.

That’s the driving force behind shifting to a schedule format like this one. Promote the game. Promote the stars. And we’ll deliver them to your doorstep, just like Uber Eats. Under this format, every team will play games in 22 ballparks every season. It was 18 under the old format. That’s a critical part of this scheduling logic.

“The whole genesis of this idea,” says MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, Chris Marinak, “was, we play 162 games. We don’t play 16 or 17 games. We have great players, and we have players who are making national storylines. So to get them in front of as many fans as possible only helps players tell their story.”

OK, that’s the concept. That’s the grand design. But when this schedule begins to roll out, day by day, week by week, series by series, road trip by road trip, it is not going to look like anything you once thought of as “normal.” So now let’s rip through those details.

Why will the Cardinals fly 10,000 more miles than the Brewers?

Paul Goldschmidt’s Cardinals have the second-biggest increase in air miles. (Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)
Air miles. That wasn’t a category that used to appear in your top 1,000 things to think about heading into a season. But it’s something to think about this year because teams are about to travel about 50,000 more total miles in the air than last season.

Of course, when you divide that up among 30 teams, it’s not as huge a number as it first appears for the average team. And air miles in general can be a misleading way to analyze travel. But for some specific teams, there are significant changes coming. Here’s that never-before-revealed leaderboard, which I compiled from data available at Baseball Savant.

Biggest increase in air miles, 2022-2023
Giants
35,027
46,111
+11,084
Cardinals
26,772
35,524
+8,752
A’s
42,918
51,527
+8,609
Rockies
29,708
37,920
+8,212
Red Sox
31,572
38,029
+6,457
Orioles
27,734
33,483
+5,749
Padres
38,460
44,208
+5,748
Rays
34,320
39,478
+5,158
Dodgers
36,694
41,698
+5,004
Biggest decrease in air miles, 2022-2023
Tigers
34,184
26,606
-7,578
Rangers
38,945
34,373
-4,572
Brewers
28,557
25,426
-3,131
Mets
34,686
31,659
-3,027
Twins
31,759
29,077
-2,682
(Source: Baseball Savant)

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So what’s up with that? Impossible to generalize, say people familiar with the schedule-making process, because there are multiple reasons for it:

• Some of it is fluky, a product of year-to-year variations, especially in the old schedule, which rotated on a three-year interleague cycle.

• Some of it has to do with one-of-a-kind trips, like the Cardinals’ foray to London this June.

• Some of the 2022 totals are a product of the frenetic travel a bunch of teams had to do just to play 162 games after the lockout. (The Tigers, for instance, made two special trips to Oakland that weren’t on the original schedule.)

• Also, there is this rule of thumb: Teams on the West Coast fly a lot!

But whatever the reason, the ripple effects on some of these 2023 division races are something to keep an eye on.

• The Cardinals will fly about 10,000 more miles than the Brewers.

• The Mariners will fly about 10,000 more miles than the Astros.

• The Rays will fly about 8,000 more miles than the Blue Jays and 5,000 more than the Yankees.

• The Phillies will fly about 3,000 more miles than the Mets.

Some of that will theoretically even out in future years, with future schedules. Some is a product of various teams’ travel requests, which we’ll get into shortly. And some of it (Mariners/Astros, for instance) won’t ever even out, based solely on geography. In other words, Seattle isn’t moving closer to Houston, no matter what schedule MLB trots out!

Why will the Phillies make twice as many visits to the Pacific Time Zone as the Mets?

Rhys Hoskins’ Phillies head to the West Coast four times. The Mets do so only twice. (Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
I thought it would be fun and revealing to chart how many trips eastern teams make to the West Coast — and vice-versa. It took way too long, but it was definitely eye-opening, because …

The Mets will take only two trips to the Pacific Time Zone all season — an April spin through Oakland, Los Angeles and San Francisco, then a July journey to Arizona and San Diego. That’s the fewest trips west of any team in the NL East or AL East. But …

The Phillies and Nationals will each pass through the Pacific Time Zone on four trips, the most of any teams in the NL East or AL East.

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The A’s and Diamondbacks will make six trips that take them through the Eastern Time Zone — the most of any western-division teams.

The Padres, meanwhile, will make only four trips to the Eastern Time Zone. That’s the fewest of any West Coast team.

So how did something like that happen? It’s not just random scheduling, it turns out.

Before it made up this schedule, MLB asked all 30 teams for special requests and travel preferences. At least in part, the schedule reflects those requests.

So teams such as the Mariners and Giants, who do a lot of flying no matter what the schedule looks like, tell MLB their preference is to take more three-city trips when they’re traveling across the country. So if they’re traveling east, they might as well see as much of the east as possible. The upside of that is fewer total road trips and less multi-time-zone travel.

But other teams, like the Phillies, would rather do shorter trips — two cities, then back home — wherever possible. So that gives them more regular homestands and more flexible home scheduling. But in this case, it also means they find themselves making trips like Milwaukee/San Diego or Houston/Los Angeles.

Got it? That doesn’t explain all of this. But you should know there’s an actual method to this travel madness.

Did somebody forget the Yankees are in the AL East?

The Yankees and Red Sox will have to wait a couple of months before facing each other. (Paul Rutherford / USA Today)
Of all the surprises in this schedule, April feels like the biggest. Here’s why:

The Yankees will play as many games in April against the Twins (six) as the AL East. And the Giants, Phillies and Padres will all visit Yankee Stadium before the Red Sox first stop by on June 9.

The Phillies will play more series against the American League in April (five) than they’ll play games against the NL East (three). And they won’t play a home game against the Mets or Braves until June 20!

The Giants have been known to play the whole month of April without leaving the Pacific Time Zone. But this year … um, not so much. In fact, they spend so much time in the Eastern and Central time zones in April, that before they flip the calendar to May, they’ll play seven games that are scheduled to start before noon, San Francisco time. And they won’t play a road game in the state of California until June 16!

There are lots more examples like that, but you get the idea. So what’s that all about? It’s about an aspect of scheduling most of us never think about — makeup games.

Why did the schedule gurus line up so many out-of-division games early in the season whenever possible? Because those are the hardest to make up if weather stuff happens. And weather stuff will happen.

Now that every team plays 110 games outside its division, finding common off days is a much bigger challenge. So April and May are loaded with those games, to provide as much flexibility as possible to reschedule them later if necessary.

Why aren’t the AL East teams’ schedules easier?
When I first heard about this schedule change last March, my very first trip was to go see the Tampa Bay Rays. Guess why.

Because they were about to play nearly 20 fewer games every year against the Yankees, Blue Jays and Red Sox — three teams that are always a threat to outspend them by about half a billion dollars a season. That’s why. I was pretty sure they were stoked about that.

“We talk about it every spring,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said back then, “how it’s such a good division that we beat up on each other all summer. So to be able to get away from that … I think it’s good for baseball.”

Or, to provide a rough translation of That Thing He Couldn’t Say: “I think it’s awesome for us!”

But then the actual 2023 schedule arrived. And a funny thing happened: It wasn’t quite as awesome for the Rays as you’d expect.

Strength of schedule* (opponent win pct)
Yankees
.501
.502
-.001
Blue Jays
.504
.506
-.002
Rays
.505
.506
-.001
Orioles
.506
.507
-.001
Red Sox
.511
.517
-.006
(*-based on 2022 records)
(Source: STATS Perform)

Hmmm, that wasn’t much different at all. So how about we look at it a different way?

Games vs. winning teams*
Orioles
79
82
-3
Rays
79
83
-4
Yankees
80
86
-6
Blue Jays
81
88
-7
Red Sox
93
106
-13
(*-based on 2022 records)
(Source: STATS Perform)

The last chart is more like what you’d expect. But even that one is potentially misleading, because we don’t know who’s about to have a winning record this year. So in retrospect, are we sure this schedule is “improving” the quality of life in the AL East as much as we thought it would?

That answer, says Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander, is still yes. The reason would be a word called “familiarity.” By which he means it’s overkill to find yourself playing those other three AL East behemoths over and over and over.

Here’s an example of the potential impact of that familiarity. In 2003 and 2004, the Yankees and Red Sox played each other a staggering 52 times in two years — counting their two best-of-seven ALCS duels. So because of that, the Red Sox wound up facing the great Mariano Rivera 27 times in that span.

Now let’s pose this question: Did all those looks have anything to do with Mariano’s two history-altering blown saves in the epic Red Sox comeback from down 0-3 in the 2004 ALCS? We’ll never know. But it seems “intuitive,” Neander says, to think that all that familiarity could have been a factor, much in the way data shows hitters have more success against pitchers in their second and third times through a lineup.

“Whether it’s measurable or not, it at least seems logical to expand that to say that when you see a pitcher more over time, especially if they are unique, you’ve got a greater chance against them,” Neander said. “And in the case of somebody like this, I mean, Mariano Rivera is not normal. I suppose, to eventually have a chance against Mariano Rivera, the best thing you can do is have reps against Mariano Rivera, because who looks like Mariano Rivera? Nobody.”

So regardless of how many extra games they now have to play against the Dodgers and Padres, will any of those AL East teams really miss those eight series they’re no longer sentenced to play inside their division? Does that question even require an answer?

Why do the schedule makers hate the Dodgers and Guardians?

José Ramírez’s Guardians will play 14 more games against teams that had winning records. (LG Patterson / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
We know “strength of schedule” is a concept that doesn’t apply to baseball quite the same way it applies to, say, the Sun Belt Conference on March Madness Selection Sunday. But did that stop us from looking into how strength of schedule might be changing in 2023, under this new schedule? Of course not. This is a full-service column, you know.

So we asked our friends from STATS to compute this year’s strength-of-schedule rankings, based on last season’s records. But before we give you that leaderboard, you might be interested in the teams that are looking at the biggest uptick against teams with a winning record.

Most additional games vs. winning teams*
Guardians
60
46
+14
Dodgers
66
55
+11
White Sox
72
64
+8
Padres
68
60
+8
(*-based on 2022 records)
(Source: STATS Perform)

So to answer the question that began this section, this clearly isn’t a we hate the Guardians or Dodgers thing. It’s an AL Central/NL West thing. What happens when a league shifts from a heavily unbalanced schedule to a more balanced schedule? Teams in a bad division get affected the most because they can’t avoid the good teams the way they used to anymore.

But wait. There’s one little strength-of-schedule tidbit we left out. The Guardians and Dodgers still rank in the top five for easiest strength of schedule, even with all those extra games against winning teams. It’s just a little less easy than before.

Easiest strength of schedule* (opponent win pct)

Astros
.486
.479
+.007
Cardinals
.487
.479
+.008
Guardians
.488
.481
+.007
Dodgers
.490
.483
+.007
Brewers
.490
.486
+.004
(*-based on 2022 records)
(Source: STATS Perform)

Hardest strength of schedule* (opponent win pct)

Nationals
.513
.521
-.008
Rockies
.512
.514
-.002
Red Sox
.511
.517
-.006
A’s
.508
.514
-.006
Diamondbacks
.508
.511
-.003
(*-based on 2022 records)
(Source: STATS Perform)

So what should you take away from all of that? First off, the worst teams will always have the toughest schedules because they don’t get to play themselves. Second, you’ll notice the toughest schedules got slightly easier and the easiest schedules got slightly harder. That’s what happens when you shift to a more balanced schedule. Heck, it’s the whole idea.

But to understand the most important thing, let’s circle back to our AL East discussion. We spent all that time last spring focusing on how this new schedule would make life “easier” for teams like the Rays and Orioles. We now understand that “easy” wasn’t the right word.

“I don’t think of it as ‘an advantage,’” Neander said. “I just think it’s more fair, no matter whether the teams you’re playing are stronger or weaker, or the division is stronger or weaker. When you expand the playoff field and more teams are competing for the wild card based on record, it’s just appropriate to have those teams’ records determined by playing more similar schedules and more similar opponents.”

And that was one of the biggest forces that drove MLB’s shift to a more balanced schedule. It’s an idea that teams like the Rays and Guardians have championed for years, in fact. Why? Because in a world with multiple wild cards — three of them now in each league — this is just more fair.

There was a time last summer, for instance, when it looked as if the Rays and Guardians might be fighting it out for the last wild-card spot. How “fair” was that, when one team (the Rays) had to play 83 games against teams with a winning record while the other (the Guardians) had to play only 46?

“That’s a joke,” said an executive from another wild-card contender. “That can’t happen. We need a schedule where, when two teams win 90 games, that means the same thing.”

Now that’s about to happen. Under the old schedule, teams competing for a wild-card spot played only a little more than half their games, on average, against common opponents. Under this system, that will increase to more than 75 percent. That’s the way playoff races are supposed to work. Right?


Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said the new schedule was “more fair.” (Kim Klement / USA Today)
Will there ever be another World Series involving two teams that haven’t played each other?
One last thing: The Super Bowl is a little more than a week away. The two teams playing in it — the Chiefs and Eagles — never met this season. Does that add to the intrigue? Or does it even matter?

We ask those questions because the World Series feels like the final subplot in baseball’s new schedule. Never again, unless the schedule changes in some other way, will we see a World Series matching two teams that just went through a whole season without playing each other.

Let’s ask this again. Does that lessen the intrigue? Or does it even matter?

Here’s my take: Before there was any such thing as interleague play, this mattered. How could you top that air of mystery, about what might happen, when Mickey Mantle’s Yankees played Henry Aaron’s Braves for the first time ever, with a World Series trophy on the line? That was very cool. But …

It was also very 1957. Once interleague play arrived in 1997, though, all of that mystery became officially defunct. Forever. I can’t think of a single World Series that was lessened in any way because the two teams had already played each other — much like I can’t think of a single reason any other Super Bowl was less fun because the two teams involved had met before.

So if you want Mickey Mantle versus Henry Aaron, go buy a time machine. If you want progress — if you want Shohei Ohtani to visit your town every couple of years — welcome to 2023, when baseball finally joins the world of modern scheduling.

That was a heck of a story to put together!

Major turnarounds are (probably) coming for these 5 clubs, including one AL Central rival
Twins
2022 record: 78-84

Would the Twins have been appreciably better than last year if they hadn’t re-signed Carlos Correa? A lot of people would have still picked them to win more than 78 games, one suspects. But with Correa back? And with López atop that rotation? That’s not to mention Joey Gallo feeling like a perfect fit here and Byron Buxton (fingers crossed!) looking healthy and ready to go. The Guardians look like they’re just as good as they were last year -- no better, no worse [despite adding a couple fairly powerful bats?-- the White Sox are just trying to recover from last year’s letdown, and the Tigers and Royals -- well, they’ve still got a ways to go. The Twins, by bringing back Correa, have made it clear that they plan on competing for American League Central titles for at least the next half-decade. That might be a big ask. But winning more than 78 games shouldn’t be.

This is the 2023 All-Underrated Team
February 6th, 2023
Anthony Castrovince

Anthony Castrovince
@castrovince



Since 2014, I have been crafting an annual All-Underrated Team, and, over that time, my formula for what it means to be “underrated” has been fine-tuned so much that I fear I have painted myself into a corner.

For the uninitiated, these are the requirements to be eligible for the All-Underrated Team:

• No All-Star appearances in the player’s career
• No BBWAA awards (MVP, Cy Young or Rookie of the Year) in the player’s career
• No All-MLB Team honors in the player’s career
• No inclusion on MLB Network’s current “Top 10 Right Now!” lists
• No nine-figure contracts
• At least two years of MLB service time

If you’re reading that and thinking, “That doesn’t leave this guy much to work with,” you’re right! But rules are rules, and the benefit of those strict statutes is that it forces us to pay more attention to guys whose contributions tend to get overlooked by a wider audience.

So without any more ado or explanation, here is the 2023 All-Underrated Team.

Catcher: Eric Haase, Tigers
As described in a recent ranking of the depth at each position, the “everyday catcher” has become a bit of an endangered species in MLB of late. So the backstops who post up regularly and post good numbers and/or provide excellent defense all tend to get their due.

But Haase, a platoon catcher and occasional outfielder, has quietly compiled decent offensive numbers for the position. Among those with at least 500 plate appearances as a catcher over the last two years, Haase ranks seventh in OPS with a .753 mark. To put that in perspective, that’s just below recent Braves acquisition Sean Murphy’s .764 OPS in that span and just above Braves 2022 All-Star Travis d’Arnaud’s .749.

Haase’s 25 homers as a catcher over the last two years rank 10th at the position.
Eric Haase's solo homer (14)

Oct 2, 2022

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0:22
Eric Haase's solo homer (14)

First base: Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles
Two years into his big league career, Mountcastle just barely makes our service time cut. Because of the pandemic season, he has the unusual distinction of having received AL Rookie of the Year votes twice (finishing eighth in 2020 and sixth '21). But while his early output was recognized in that regard, he’s probably performed better than most realize.

Over the last two seasons, Mountcastle has 55 home runs. That’s more than Anthony Rizzo, Freddie Freeman, Jose Abreu, Josh Bell and other accomplished first basemen. This, despite the Camden Yards fences being moved back to the right-handed Mountcastle’s pull side.

And there’s probably more there than the surface-level stats (.253/.307/.455 slash over those two seasons) suggest, because Mountcastle ranked in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage last season. He also improved to become a plus defender, per Outs Above Average (OAA), last season.
Ryan Mountcastle's solo HR (22)

Sep 13, 2022

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0:23
Ryan Mountcastle's solo HR (22)

Second base: Thairo Estrada, Giants
Let go by the Yankees in early 2021 when they acquired Rougned Odor, Estrada was picked up by the Giants and has emerged as a solid utility man, with the bulk of his time coming at second base, where he seemingly solidified an everyday role by the end of last season.

Among those with at least 300 plate appearances as a second baseman last year, Estrada’s .725 OPS at the position ranked ninth. He had 38 extra-base hits, or only eight fewer than breakout All-Star Andrés Giménez of the Guardians. Estrada also was in the 75th percentile in sprint speed and 76th in OAA.

Estrada is only 27 this season, and now that he’s locking himself into a regular role in the lineup, it seems he has the potential to keep growing as a player.
Thairo Estrada's go-ahead HR (14)

Sep 19, 2022

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0:35
Thairo Estrada's go-ahead HR (14)
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Shortstop: Amed Rosario, Guardians
We recently listed Rosario as the most interesting pending free agent at shortstop, because after two years of superstars reaching free agency at short, Rosario might actually profile as the best player available at the position next offseason.

Though nobody will confuse Rosario for one of those superstars, he’s proven he can help a playoff-caliber team. In each of the last three full seasons, he’s supplied league-average offense (with OPS+ marks from 100-106) and elite speed at a premium position. In Rosario’s two seasons in Cleveland, he’s stolen 31 bases with 22 homers, 51 doubles and 15 triples. He’s actually the only player in MLB in that span with at least 20 homers, 50 doubles, 10 triples and 30 steals.

Generally speaking, Rosario plays with a hustle that rubs off on younger teammates.
Top Finishes: Rosario's walk-off

Dec 13, 2022

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0:30
Top Finishes: Rosario's walk-off

Third base: Ryan McMahon, Rockies
The Rockies used to have a pretty good third baseman named Nolan Arenado. You’ve probably heard of him.

When Arenado was traded to the Cardinals prior to the 2021 season, McMahon assumed the hot corner in Colorado. And while he’s not going to win 10 straight Gold Gloves like Arenado, McMahon has proven himself a good defender. Over the last two seasons, he ranks third in OAA (19) at third base, behind only Ke’Bryan Hayes (30) and Arenado (25).

McMahon’s offensive numbers are nothing to write home about. They come out to roughly league average. But when you deliver on defense the way he has, it provides a high floor. To that point, McMahon’s total WAR over the last two years (5.5), as calculated by FanGraphs, ranks 11th among third basemen and is just ahead of the 4.9 mark posted by former Rockies infielder DJ LeMahieu in a similar number of games played.
Ryan McMahon's solo home run (20)

Oct 1, 2022

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0:33
Ryan McMahon's solo home run (20)

Left field: Mark Canha, Mets
Mr. Canha’s going to have to make some room in his trophy case, because he was saluted with this honor in 2020 and, all this time later, he’s still underrated.

After making the move to the Mets as a free agent prior to 2022, Canha continued to perform at a high level offensively. He’s now logged five straight seasons with a wRC+ mark at least 15 percent better than league average. At a time when the depth of talent in left field is not particularly strong, that kind of production stands out.

Canha’s signature skill is his ability to get on base. Going back to 2019, he’s walked once every 8.33 plate appearances -- the 20th-best rate in MLB among those with at least 1,500 plate appearances in that span.
Mark Canha's three-run homer (13)

Oct 5, 2022

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0:27
Mark Canha's three-run homer (13)

Center field: Tyrone Taylor, Brewers
This guy must drive Brewers fans crazy. Last year, his OPS marks, by month, were .574 in April, .872 in May, .573 in June, .849 in July, .588 in August and .913 in September/October.

Quite a ride.

By year’s end, Taylor was sharing center field with prospect Garrett Mitchell, and in 2023, he’s probably more likely to man right field after Hunter Renfroe’s departure.

So why highlight Taylor here? Well, because, when you add it all up, his .748 OPS over the last two seasons is identical to that of recent, touted Toronto trade acquisition Daulton Varsho. Taylor logged that while playing a majority of his innings in center field, where last season he was worth the same number of OAA (5) as 2021 Gold Glove winner Michael A. Taylor. The Brewers’ Taylor also rated in the 80th percentile in sprint speed last year.

His performance might be maddening, but if he could somehow avoid some of those dramatic down months, there’s a lot to work with here.
Tyrone Taylor's solo homer (17)

Sep 18, 2022

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Tyrone Taylor's solo homer (17)

Right field: Anthony Santander, Orioles
Santander came to the O’s as a Rule 5 Draft pickup back in 2017 and turned into one of their best everyday players. Over the last three years, his .463 slugging percentage ranks 10th among qualified outfielders, just behind Bryan Reynolds’ .473 mark.

Right field is too deep with stars for Santander to have been saluted at the Midsummer Classic, but his .771 OPS over the last four years is identical to that of All-Star teammate Cedric Mullins.

Here’s the really important part (to me, anyway): You likely don’t realize that this man set a single-season American League record last year for home runs by a player who goes by the name Anthony (not Tony… that’s a completely different name, trust me), with 33.

Why people spent more time talking about Aaron Judge’s homer chase is a mystery.
Santander's two-run HR (33)

Sep 27, 2022

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Santander's two-run HR (33)

Starter: Logan Webb, Giants
Webb had his capital-M Moment in the 2021 postseason, when he was terrific in two NLDS starts against the Dodgers. The Internet raved not just about his pitching but also how similar he looks to Todd from “Breaking Bad.”

So it’s not as if he’s completely under the radar.

But Webb has managed to maintain All-Underrated Team eligibility despite some magnificent numbers on the mound. Over the last two seasons, he has a 2.96 ERA, a 138 ERA+ and a 2.90 FIP in 340 2/3 innings over 59 appearances. Among those with at least 300 innings in that span, his ERA+ ranks 11th in MLB. Everyone ahead of him on the list has been an All-MLB selection and/or All-Star. Webb’s time will come.
Logan Webb strikes out seven

Sep 27, 2022

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Logan Webb strikes out seven

Reliever: Scott Barlow, Royals
It’s hard to become a household name when you’re a reliever on an out-of-contention club, so we don’t fault the wider world for not recognizing what Barlow has brought to the table for the Royals.

But when you zoom out, you see this impressive stat: Among relievers with at least 140 innings pitched from 2021-22, Barlow’s 189 ERA+ is bested only by the Guardians’ elite closer Emmanuel Clase (309). In that span, Barlow has posted a 2.30 ERA with 168 strikeouts and 40 saves. His five two-inning saves in that span are the most in MLB.

Last season, Barlow had one of the best chase rates (37.2%) and opponent hard-hit percentages (30.3%) in MLB. His most-used pitches were a slider that held opponents to a .189/.188/.306 slash and a curveball that held them to a .138/.148/.202 slash. Impressive, underrated stuff.

The Royals have signed slugger Franmil Reyes to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com reporter Anne Rogers. The 27-year-old hit .221/.273/.365 with 14 home runs in 118 games with the Guardians and Cubs last year, but had two 30+ home run seasons in his career.

No reason for a last place team to give him a try He was still on top of his game only 2 years ago

I see that other former Cleveland OFs all 1st or 2nd round picks:

Brad Zimmer on a minor league deal with the Dodgers
Jackson fka Clint Frazier a minor league deal with the Cubs
no deal for Tyler Naquin when I last checked
Will Benson as we know is on the Reds major league roster

deGrom 'very aggravated,' but downplays left side issue

It's either bad luck or bad choices but Texas signings don't seem to work out very often.

FORBES BUSINESS SPORTS MONEY

Shohei Ohtani Could Become Baseball’s First $500 Million Man In Free Agency

Christian Red Contributor

Feb 22, 2023,01:49pm EST

On January 23, longtime Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno announced in a statement that he was ending “the exploratory process” of selling the franchise, and that there was still “unfinished business” to accomplish under his watch.

In addition to trying to make the postseason for the first time since 2014, another piece of unfinished business Moreno will want to address this year is how to keep Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani — the two-way player who was the 2021 American League MVP and who finished second to New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in that category last year — in the Angels fold.

Ohtani, 28, is set to enter free agency after this season.

The right-handed pitcher was 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 2022, and was the Angels’ unequivocal ace. At the plate, lefty-swinging Ohtani socked 34 home runs and batted .273 with 95 RBI to compliment the Angels’ other mega talent, outfielder Mike Trout.

Still, the Angels finished third in the AL West in ‘22, and haven’t sniffed the playoffs since Ohtani arrived before the 2018 season. Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, told reporters earlier this week in Arizona that his client has “earned the right to play through the year, explore free agency, and we'll see where it shakes out.”

With Judge, 30, signing a gargantuan nine-year, $360 million deal this past offseason to stay a Yankee, and with reigning AL Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Justin Verlander, 40, securing a two-year, $86.6 million contract with the Mets, Moreno should expect to empty his wallet for Ohtani.

And if Moreno won’t pay the big bucks, another owner — the Mets’ Steve Cohen anyone? — most certainly will. In the baseball world of ever-expanding player contracts, it’s not unrealistic to think a player of Ohtani’s caliber could land a $500 million deal.

David Samson, the former Miami Marlins president, said if he were an executive trying to keep a free-agent-to-be player like Ohtani, one of the many factors to consider is whether to make an Ohtani an offer based upon his dual pitching-slugging roles.

“I am going to do the math calculation and figure out the amount of sponsorship dollars we’re going to lose by not having Ohtani on the team,” said Samson. “Then I’m going to calculate what I believe to be the attendance that (Ohtani) drives, so I can put a number to that. I’ll talk to baseball people about an allocation of payroll, where, if we’re at a $200 million payroll, can we pay him $50 million of it?”

Samson added that Ohtani is “both a top-of-the-rotation starter and a middle-of-the-order bat,” and therefore occupies two spots on a team.

“The general rule is, if any player is 20% or more of your payroll, you have a problem,” said Samson. “It’s very hard to win when one player is 20% of the payroll, but I get to count Ohtani as two players. Two $25 million players on a $200 million payroll team is perfectly reasonable. Listen, if (Mets pitchers) Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are worth $43 million (per year each), then Shohei Ohtani is worth $50 million. It’s not even close.”

“Ohtani is younger than they are,” Samson continued. “Is there a chance that he’ll be a top-of-the-rotation, middle-of-the-order batter for the next nine years? It’s possible, but, man, that would be something that no one’s ever seen in the history of baseball.”



Well, maybe not since Babe Ruth was a star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the early 20th century and then transitioned into the “Bambino” for the Yankees throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.

But the Hall of Famer Ruth only pitched a handful of times once he joined the Yankees in 1920. And although Ruth, a lefty, had five great pitching seasons with the Sox (1915-1919), he was dominant at the plate in only one of those five, 1919, when he batted .322 with 29 homers and 113 RBI to go along with a 9-5 pitching record and 2.97 ERA.

“Ohtani is a unicorn. That is why he is going to get paid as such,” said Samson. “I would get to Ohtani early, so he’s aware of where (the Angels) are, but leave a lot of room to negotiate, knowing that no matter what they offer, he is going to test free agency. The Angels have to hope that they have a good year, make the playoffs, and convince (Ohtani) that they can win with him.”

Balelo told reporters he’s “always been open to” negotiating an extension with the Angels during spring training, but also gave a non-answer in the same breath.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again — we're taking one day at a time," Balelo said. "I'm not putting the cart before the horse on this one.”

When Ohtani was first posted by his Japanese team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, in 2017, there was immediate interest from numerous MLB clubs, including the Yankees. But despite Yankee general manager Brian Cashman’s “incredible presentation” — Yankee president Randy Levine’s words — to Ohtani and his representatives then, the Japanese star spurned pinstripes in favor of the Angels.

Ohtani made much less money coming to the States before he turned 25, and was subject to the Angels’ international signing bonus pool money only. But five seasons later, there is no doubt Ohtani is a bonafide star, and one that will command a salary commensurate with his talent.

“Ohtani is not going to sign for below the record,” said Samson. “Will it be 10 years at $50 million a year? The worst part about this deal for a team is he’s going to want an opt-out clause.”

“But Ohtani is a generational player, no question. The Angels have a generational player already (in Trout),” added Samson. “There aren’t any other teams in baseball who have two generational players, and between them (Trout and Ohtani), they have zero wins in October. The question is, would you rather have two generational players or would you rather play in October?”

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Twins' Kenta Maeda Throws 2 Scoreless Innings Despite PitchCom Device Leak

FRANCISCO ROSA

MARCH 2, 2023

Minnesota Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda was so good against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, the batters knew what was coming and still couldn't get anything going against the right-hander.

Apparently the PitchCom device used by catcher Tony Wolters was louder than the norm to the point where the home plate umpire and batter could hear the call. This didn't affect Maeda at all, however.

He still threw two scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out two batters.

"I said nicely done," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "By the way, something to note, they knew every pitch that was coming."

Adjustments were eventually made to the device after Baldelli had a conversation with the umpires after the second inning.

Maeda, 34, is in his sixth year in the league after coming in from Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. He started his MLB career with the Dodgers where he spent four seasons before getting traded to Minnesota in Feb. 2020.

He had an excellent debut season with the Twins, going 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA and led the league in WHIP (.750). He finished as the runner-up for the AL Cy Young Award in 2020, losing out to Cleveland's Shane Bieber.

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Jordan Walker.

The new Pujols? Walker's forcing the comparison

With 2-HR game, MLB's No. 4 prospect continues his charge to leap from Double-A to Majors

3/4/23 6:14 PM CST

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. --

St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol didn’t join the Cardinals’ organization until 2007. But through the years, he has heard numerous stories of the 2001 Spring Training when a then-21-year-old Albert Pujols literally hit his way onto the MLB roster and didn’t stop until he had 703 career home runs some 21 years later.

Fast forward to Spring Training 2023. And if Marmol squints his eyes, tilts his head just so and allows his imagination to run rampant, he just might be seeing a second coming of that legendary Pujols performance from two decades earlier in the hulking silhouette of 6-foot-5, 250-pound slugger Jordan Walker.

Walker, 20, grew his legend as a phenom even more on Saturday when he smashed two eye-popping home runs -- one a towering shot approximated at 470 feet and a second laser that left the bat at 115 mph by some estimates -- while also doubling, legging out an infield single, driving in three runs and scoring three times.

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Jordan Walker 2-run homer game

https://youtu.be/Uvfa1N3R_ws

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HE'S ONLY 20 YEARS OLD!

Jordan Walker's spring:
.500 AVG
1.167 SLG
1.667 OPS
3 HR
6 RBI



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In just six Spring Training games, Walker is more than living up to the hype of being MLB’s No. 4-ranked prospect and the Cardinals’ No. 1, per MLB Pipeline. All he has done is go 9-for-18 with three home runs, three doubles, two infield singles and six RBIs. He’s slugging at a 1.167 clip, and his OPS is an absurd 1.667 over a small sample size.

Even for a player who has yet to make his MLB debut, what Walker is doing is … Pujolsian? Much like Pujols in 2001 -- when he slugged his way onto the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster and never looked back en route to a likely first-ballot Hall of Fame career -- Walker seems to be getting closer to the Majors with each epic clout.

“Sometimes players force your hand, and that’s a beautiful thing,” Marmol said, referring to what Pujols did and what Walker is doing. “I love the mentality of a player coming in, and his objective is to do exactly that [force his way onto the Opening Day roster].”

Walker put on a show that featured a little bit of everything from his five-tool arsenal in the Cardinals’ 9-6 defeat of the Nationals. Batting second a day after leading off and registering two hits, Walker used his surprising speed to leg out an infield single in the first. Two innings later, he hit a 2-2 pitch from Cade Cavalli not only over the 388-foot mark in left-center, but well beyond the grassy berm and one hop off the concession stand past the batter’s eye. The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is not wired with ball-tracking equipment, but Cardinals staffers estimated the blast at 470 feet.

“No, not even close, I don’t think,” Walker said sheepishly when asked if he had hit a homer that far before. “I knew it was gone, but I didn’t know how far it would go. I knew the wind was blowing out, so I got lucky.”

Later, after his double set the stage for Nolan Gorman’s two-run blast, Walker did more damage to get the pro-Cardinals crowd roaring with raw emotion. Walker didn’t miss a two-strike fastball from Washington’s Chad Kuhl, and his line-drive homer wound up halfway up the berm.

Said Nationals manager Dave Martinez: “You can’t make a mistake. You make a mistake, he’ll smoke you.”

The mistakes Walker has been smoking thus far are the products of intense work he put in over the winter to ready himself for a training camp battle with incumbent outfielders Tyler O’Neill, Lars Nootbaar and Dylan Carlson. He has even surprised himself with being able to adapt to MLB pitching so quickly.

“I worked really hard in the offseason, and there were a lot of things I did differently with a lot of one-on-one work with the coaches,” said Walker, who starred in the Arizona Fall League and also drilled near his suburban Atlanta home. “I had a [friend] who had a facility where I could hit as much as I wanted. I’ve taken it to a different level because this Spring Training means a lot.”

The jolt of power Walker has provided means a lot to a Cardinals franchise desperately hoping to be a serious World Series contender again. Whether or not Walker will successfully jump from Double-A Springfield to the MLB roster -- much the way Pujols did in 2001 -- remains to be seen. But he is certainly making the kind of power-packed splash not seen from a Cards phenom in more than two decades.

“I don’t know what the tipping point is, but he’s continuing to show he’s capable,” Marmol said. “We went into this camp saying there is going to be real competition and that’s what he is making this -- a real competition. He’s come in ready, and I’m enjoying watching it.”

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White Sox's Mike Clevinger won't face discipline after abuse complaint
3:09 PM ET
Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan
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Chicago White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger will not face discipline under MLB's joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, the league announced Sunday.

He has voluntarily agreed to submit to evaluations by the treatment boards that cover domestic violence and drugs of abuse and also agreed to comply with any recommendations those boards make.


Clevinger, 32, had been under investigation after being accused of domestic abuse by the mother of one of his children. On Jan. 24, Olivia Finestead posted a photo on Instagram of marks on her body with accompanying words that alleged the injuries were "from when he threw an iPad at me pregnant" and "finally left when he strangled me."

"Mike Clevinger," she added, "you really deserve hell I've kept quiet now for almost a year and you continue to covertly abuse your infant."

She also said Clevinger "threw chew spit on our baby" and accused him of illegal drug use, bringing the Joint Baseball Drug Policy into the investigation.

In a statement Sunday, MLB said the investigation included "interviews of more than 15 individuals, in addition to Mr. Clevinger and the complainant, as well as a review of available documents, such as thousands of electronic communication records" and that the investigation is now closed.

"I am pleased that Major League Baseball has concluded its investigation," Clevinger said in a statement. "I had nothing to hide and cooperated fully with MLB. This situation has been stressful for my family, and I thank them for their strength and support. I asked everyone not to rush to judgement until MLB's investigation was concluded, and I appreciate everyone who had faith in me, including the White Sox organization and my teammates.

"I am looking forward to the 2023 season and helping the White Sox win a championship this year."

Clevinger finalized a $12 million, one-year contract with Chicago in December. MLB's probe predated his agreement with the White Sox who, based on collectively bargained policies, were not told he was under investigation before he signed. The news only became public after Finestead's social media posts.

Clevinger is expected to pitch in the back end of the White Sox rotation this season. He threw in a spring training B game against the Dodgers on Sunday before the league announced its findings.

There have been 15 players suspended for violating the domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy since it was instituted in 2015. Trevor Bauer received the longest suspension at 324 games. It was later reduced to 194 games after an appeal.