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Do Something!

In Commentary And Analysis, Major League Baseball by Rice Cube24 Comments

I think I want to see another few years of this version of the postseason before I start lobbying for one of AC’s fun ideas to change things up. What I am sure of, at this time, is that the NLCS was a lot of fun to watch. Even if I’ve been a little bored with three-true-outcomes baseball, when the …

Patrick Newman and The Japan Times on NPB posting fees

In Commentary And Analysis by dmick8935 Comments

The Japan Times published an article yesterday about how the new posting system agreement puts Rakuten (Masahiro Tanaka's team) in an unfavorable position.  The Eagles were widely expected to post Tanaka this offseason, but the newly agreed upon system, complete with a $20 million cap on posting fees, seems to have the team rethinking things. “First of all, discuss it …

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Masahiro Tanaka Stats and Scouting Report, Why the Cubs are Interested

In Commentary And Analysis, News And Rumors by dmick8910 Comments

Masahiro Tanaka is among the leaders in who the OV crowd predicts the Cubs will sign and not too surprisingly, we've already learned they are interested. According to Phil Rogers, Tanaka will be the Cubs top priority this offseason. There's good reason for that, but I wanted to compare him to some other Japanese pitchers, as well as taking a …

Series Preview: Texas Rangers (8-5) at Chicago Cubs (4-8)

In Series Previews by berselius40 Comments

Team Overviews Here are how the teams stacked up in 2012. Respective league ranks in parentheses.   Rangers Cubs wRC+ 105 (4th) 80 (16th) BSR 1.0 (8th) -8.1 (14th) UZR 13.7 (5th) 30.5 (2nd) DRS -6 (10th) -7 (7th) SP FIP- 90 (2nd) 108 (13th) RP FIP- 83 (2nd) 116 (16th) The Rangers are a great team. They lost a …

Daily Facepalm 4.3.13

In Series Previews by berselius27 Comments

Draft bonus pools announced Not shockingly, the Cubs have the second largest bonus pool at ~$10.5m. The Nats have the lowest at ~$2.5m due to their low draft position and losing their pick for signing Rafael Soriano.  Cubs sign Ryan Sweeney The Cubs signed OF Ryan Sweeney to a minor league deal and have him stashed in Iowa. He could see …

Some minor MLB rule changes for next year

In aside by berselius20 Comments

This ESPN blurb lists three relatively minor rule changes for the upcoming season. Here's the highlights Coaches and managers are now allowed to bring an interpreter when conferencing with a pitcher. The article implies that this rule is mostly due to Yu Darvish.  Due to the recent trend in teams having two hitting coaches, teams may now have seven managers …