joez wrote:To think we couldn't afford 30 mil over 9 years

That 9 years is a sticking point for me.

Soler is another of the Cuban players blessed with a strong arm, speed, and can hit for power and average.

I'm convinced it was one of our front office members that said we would not be bidding for "any" of these Cuban ball players.

We'll have to wait and see if he brings the Cubs a WS championship.

In other news, Billy Hamilton just stole #50!

Most of the Cuban players are involved in different ways with Mexican drug lords and kidnappers. I see no problem with an organization not wanting to get involved with that crap or their associates.

Decided to listen to Justin Masterson working for the Cardinals and he again underwhelmed. Cubs announcer noted how his velocity which used to be about 93 is now around 88. Command was shaky at best. In the second he hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and walked the pitcher on the way to a 2 run inning. Then he allowed back to back homers in the 4th and another long homer in the 5th.

The Cardinals must have known what they were getting. Although the questions at the time of the trade pretended not to.
He's the last thing a team needs in their rotation heading down the stretch.

Don't know if James Ramsey will make it in the majors -- he's hitting rather well in his AAA debut -- but simply being rid of Masterson the last 2 months of this year has strengthened the Indians pitching and made their run for the playoffs at least possible.

Ubaldo still searching for his role.



Birds brought in today to pitch the ninth, holding a 11-5 lead. Walks the leadoff man. double. another walk loads the bases. strike out for the first out. walks in a run. leaves the game. next day lets two score. Birds win 11-8. ERA edges up to 4.96, but still a long way from Masterson territory: 6.03!!! combined 2014 ERA

Speaking of whom:

efore the 2014 season got underway, the Cleveland Indians were interested in signing soon-to-be free agent Justin Masterson to a contract extension. Masterson was coming off an All-Star appearance and a season in which he boasted a 3.45 ERA and a 3.35 FIP, and was seeking a multi-year deal worth around $17 million annually. But whatever the Indians offered him -- reports claim it was $14 million a year -- wasn't enough as talks broke off in late March.

Masterson wasn't too upset, however.





"So even though it didn't happen right now, I'm not overly disappointed."

I bet he'd change his tune now.

It was a rough few months for the 29-year-old hurler in Cleveland, so bad, in fact, that general manager Chris Antonetti decided to ship him off to St. Louis in lieu of continuing to try to keep him in an Indians' uniform. In return, the Cardinals gave up their No. 8 prospect according to Baseball America, James Ramsey. Pretty good pull for Antonetti if you ask me.

It's known that it's tougher to pitch in the American League versus the National League so the train of thought was that Masterson's stats would improve once he got to St. Louis. Not many were of the opinion he would be considerably worse, and I actually liked the Masterson trade over the John Lackey one. But through five starts Masterson has been miserable, and there's even been talk of bumping him from the rotation.


Masterson has literally been nothing but a replacement-type player with the Cardinals. He's made five starts and has lasted past the fifth inning only twice. He has the third-highest ERA and 13th-highest FIP among pitchers with at least 20 innings in August, all of those starts were with St. Louis (warning: small sample size).

He's never been a pitcher who gives up home runs (a career 0.69 HR/9), but in just 27 innings he's given up six dingers after allowing six in 98 innings with Cleveland.

In order to analyze the source of his struggles, I looked at his pitch selection and velocity. His lack of velocity immediately jumped out at me. Aside from his changeup, which he rarely throws and is a relatively slow pitch anyway, every one of his pitches -- four-seam fastball, sinker and slider -- has lost speed from a year ago.

Pitch_velocity


His fastball went from 93.1 to 90.5 mph, his sinker 91.1 to 88.6 mph and his slider 82.9 to 80.9 mph. All are significant drops in velocity, and as a result his four seam and sinker combined have been worth -25.9 runs below average. Despite this, Masterson is still throwing them 81.7% of the time, and because he's relied heavily on his fastballs, he's thrown his slider considerably less and it has lost its effectiveness. His slider is worth 5.2 runs after being worth 18.7 runs in 2013.

Mickey Callaway, Masterson's pitching coach in Cleveland, suggested Masterson's decrease in velocity is due to the knee injury he suffered in July. That's plausible, considering a knee injury could affect a pitcher's mechanics if not fully healed. And even if the knee is healthy, it might still be in the back of Masterson's head, causing him to subconsciously alter his mechanics. To further this claim, Masterson pitched exclusively from the stretch on Saturday in order to simplify things.

But even though it's clear Masterson is having a season to forget, we must take into account his lack of luck. Opposing batters are hitting .348 on balls in play against Masterson, which is the fourth-highest BABIP among pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings. That's a bit unusual considering Masterson owns a career .307 BABIP. This can be somewhat explained by the horrific defense he had to put up with in Cleveland (the Indians are dead last in Ultimate Zone Rating). On the other hand, the Cardinals are top seven in UZR, yet Masterson is still allowing a .342 BABIP. But I'm going to chalk that up to a small sample size. It's also not helping that he's giving up a higher line-drive percentage.

Masterson was asking for $17 million a year for two or three years before this nightmare of a season, however, I would argue he wasn't worth that then and definitely isn't now. He's been horribly inconsistent and has really only put together two solid seasons. The Indians knew what they were doing when they repeatedly rejected his offer and traded him to St. Louis.

To complete the Trifecta, Scott Kazmir seems to be falling apart. After a few less than stellar August starts, he was hit very hard last time out [10 hits in 3 innings, 7 runs] and today couldn't throw the ball over the plate. [4 walks, 2 hits, 6 runs in 1 1/3]. His August totals:

30 innings
38 hits
26 earned runs
ERA 7.80
12 walks
16 strikeouts
1.67 WHIP

haven't read about his situation, but is he in a "dead arm" period? has he been overworked? is he re-injured?

Perhaps another wise choice by Indians front office?

Grady Sizemore just hit a homer for the Phillies.

Kazmir voices frustration with ump's strike zone
Players said Davis was reprimanded for making faces at dugout the day before

By Jane Lee / MLB.com | 8/31/2014 10:51 P.M. ET


ANAHEIM -- The A's Scott Kazmir called out crew chief Gerry Davis following Sunday's 8-1 loss to the Angels, believing he was intentionally squeezed on several calls in a six-run second inning in which the left-hander walked four.

MLB did not issue an official statement, but A's players told reporters that Davis was reprimanded by MLB for making faces at Oakland's dugout the night before. Kazmir, who allowed six runs in just 1 1/3 innings, specifically questioned Davis' professionalism and wondered out loud whether the reprimand impacted his calling of Sunday's game.

"It's late August, a tough time of year for anyone in the game, it really is," said Kazmir. "But it's important to rise above any personal issue and call a fair game. We owe it to the game to do that, we really do. And what I saw in the video were 10-plus pitches that I felt were right there. I don't know if it had something to do with last night, since he got reprimanded, but just professionalism is something I have an issue with. No matter what happens on the field, some things are just unacceptable."

Manager Bob Melvin voiced his displeasure with Davis in the middle of the inning and was subsequently ejected, and catcher Derek Norris expressed sentiments similiar to Kazmir's after the game.

"It seemed like he made consecutive pitches over and over again that weren't getting called," said Norris. "There were countless times I felt like I really didn't move at all, and anyone who watches me catch knows I'm not really a corner splitter. I don't split the plate. I try and set up on the outer third, and it allows them a little bit more room to miss. I like to force early contact for that reason alone. And he wasn't budging.

"That's really all I got. That's really all I can say right now."

"It's one thing if you're erratic all over the place and you expect to get a pitch like that," said Kazmir. "But when you constantly pitch inside and hit your spots and have nothing to show for it ... it's really, really frustrating."

Derek Jeter takes call from reporter's husband during news conference
David Brown
By David Brown 8 hours ago Big League Stew

Phones multitask these days, so it's common for reporters to use a phone app to record press conferences. What a modern convenience! The danger, of course, is that a call might come at an inopportune time — which is what happened during a Derek Jeter press conference Sunday afternoon.

The New York Yankees honored Jeter at Yankee Stadium for his final season and, afterward, he sat on the dais in a packed room and answered questions about Derek Jeter Day in New York City. The Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals 2-0, and Jeter went 1 for 3 with a walk. A king's worth of dignitaries and guests came by to pay their respects to The Captain — Cal Ripken, Michael Jordan, seemingly every living Yankee — and, hang on a second.

"Someone's phone's ringing. 'Walt Rheinheimer,' " Jeter deadpanned, holding a phone with the shiniest, sparkliest silver case ever.

"You want me to get it?"

Columnist Tara Sullivan of The Record recognized the phone — the case was a Christmas gift from her 9-year-old daughter. And the name Jeter read, Walt Rheinheimer Rheinheimer — was that of her husband. Sullivan later said she was absolutely mortified at that moment. Jeter took the call and put his face to the receiver.

"Walt, she's gonna have to call you back, buddy," Jeter said before hanging up.

The room erupted with laughter, though it would be a while before Sullivan found it funny.



So, what did husband Walt Rheinheimer think of Jeter taking his call? Unfortunately, he didn't realize who had answered until Sullivan called him back a half-hour later.

"I actually couldn't hear anything," Rheinheimer said in a phone interview with Big League Stew. "I think he actually pressed the wrong button because I thought my wife had hung up on me.

"I knew where she was, I thought she still might have been working. I figured it was her and that she'd call back when she could. I actually wish I could have talked to him; it would have been pretty funny."

Rheinheimer could have talked with Jeter about what a big Mets fan he is.

"Haha, yeah, I am," Rheinheimer admitted. "But I'm a Derek Jeter fan, too. How can you not be?"

[Related: Sullivan's column from The Record, appreciating Jeter through the eyes of Mariano Rivera]

Having heard about the moment from his wife and seeing the video of his call to Jeter, Rheinheimer said he appreciated how it all happened.

"He handled it perfectly, really," Rheinheimer said. "I was surprised he was so nonchalant. But then, that's Jeter."

Rheinheimer, who was attending a party when Jeter answered the phone, said he was calling to find out if his wife was coming with a present for the guest of honor. (Always a tough spot for the husband.) She was on her way. And she brought the gift, so he was off the hook. And they had a funny story to help them remember Jeter's final season in the majors.

"I don't think my wife thought it was funny at first," Rheinheimer said. "But she's starting to see the humor in it."

Big BLS H/N: MLB Cut4

Former Tribe Starter Report:

Jiminez had last week off. Last pitched August 31.

Masterson got the 8th inning, mopping up a Cardinal loss on Friday night. 1-2-3 inning. That gives him a perfect month of September, 1 inning in the last 8 days.

Kazmir with a decent start on Saturday, 6 1/3 innings, 3 runs, on 3 hits, walked 5 (ump's fault again?), 8 Ks. 5 innings of shutout work before he ran into trouble.

Cruz drives in all seven runs as Orioles pad lead

Outfielder sparks ninth-inning comeback, homers for win in 11th

By Jim Hawkins / Special to MLB.com | 9/7/2014 7:39 PM ET

ST. PETERSBURG --

Nelson Cruz single-handedly topped the Rays, 7-5, in 11 innings Sunday, driving in seven runs with two homers and a triple to stop the Orioles' five-game road losing streak, prevent a weekend sweep by the Rays, increase the O's lead in the American League East to 9 1/2 games and reduce their magic number to clinch to 12.

"It was one of those wild, crazy games," said Cruz, who continues to lead the league in home runs with 39 and now has 101 RBIs. "It wasn't pretty but it was nice to come away with the W." "It wasn't pretty but it was nice to come away with the W."

Cruz continues to make the Indians and a lot of other teams look pretty bad. No one wanted him. The Birds took a chance. I think they are pretty happy that they did.