Cleveland Sports Forum

I'm not doubting that he is a head case. I'm not claiming this his jawing back when the Braves got on his @$$ was the right thing to do. Gomez and several Braves on the field showed extreme lack of class. But what McCann did was the most bush-league thing I've ever seen in my life. The guy is obviously a total piece of garbage.

A player is supposed to jog/run/walk/whatever around the bases after a ground-rule home run. You can argue til you are blue in the face as to whether it is disrespectful to got too quickly or too slowly or just at the right speed, but in the end that doesn't matter. Should players yell at each each while the runner is circling the bases? Well, why the hell not? You've got to wait until the journey is completed anyway. It's not delaying the game.

But what part of baseball is the catcher, with his protective covering and his fist clenched, blocking the path of the runner who has every right to proceed to home plate, as the rules require him to do? That is no more part of baseball than is crying.

Technically, he got called for obstruction/interference, but there was NO BASEBALL REASON to do this.

It was McCann who precipitated the "brawl," not Gomez.

Screw McCann, the Braves, and their fans. We're better off without them.

Should be more players like McCann. Every team in MLB would like to have him or someone like him on their roster.

Here's a video of the incident:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/ric ... y=news_mlb

Future is now: Archer, Myers help light Rays' way

Rookie of Year contenders differ in personality but share in pivotal contributions

By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 9/27/2013 10:00 A.M. ET

ST. PETERSBURG --

On Jan. 22, a little more than a month after the Rays traded away the rock of their rotation for a young hitter with star potential, Wil Myers and Chris Archer met for the first time.

It happened at PNC Arena, in their shared home state of North Carolina, at a hockey game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes. They took a picture together standing side by side, and Archer posted it to his Twitter account with a "#Rays" hashtag and a short caption. He said it was meant to describe Myers, but he admitted it could be interpreted to apply to both of them.

"The future."
The Rays have to make every move with one eye on the future, as executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman often says. They pride themselves on their ability to draft and develop, because cost-controlled players help their low-budget operation work as well as it has since 2008.

But these American League Rookie of the Year Award candidates were brought in from outside the organization, not drafted and developed. Archer, who turned 25 on Thursday, came from the Cubs as part of the Matt Garza trade following the 2010 season. Myers, 22, was the centerpiece of the Rays' return for James Shields.

With lower picks and a few misses in the Draft, Tampa Bay's farm system isn't churning out homegrown, Major League-ready players quite like it did in the days of Evan Longoria and David Price. So the Rays sold off valuable parts of their deep and talented, but increasingly expensive, starting rotation. Those deals were supposed to be for the future, but they're working out in the short term, too.

It's not as if Myers and Archer were thrown into the fire as soon as they joined the organization, however. Archer repeated Double-A in 2011, and Myers served more than two months in Triple-A this year. But they have been asked to play major roles at a young age for a team with postseason aspirations.

They've done so in different ways, Archer bringing a philosophical presence in addition to his power pitching and Myers providing a laid-back attitude along with his as-advertised ability at the plate. But so far, they've both delivered.

"We've got to be that group. We've got to continually turn it over and find those kind of guys, and Andrew and the boys do a wonderful job up there, and they always have," manager Joe Maddon said. "They're not just good trades for young players. They're Rookie of the Year candidates. That's kind of interesting."

Myers is arguably the front-runner for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, entering Friday with a .291/.351/.474 batting line, 13 homers and 51 RBIs in 84 games. He ranks first among AL rookies in RBIs, extra-base hits and slugging percentage and second in homers and on-base percentage. Since being called up from Triple-A Durham and taking his place in the middle of Tampa Bay's lineup, Myers leads the team in RBIs, runs, hits, doubles and slugging.

Archer has gone 9-7 with a 3.21 ERA in 22 starts for the Rays since joining the rotation on June 1. He's thrown two shutouts, one of them a 97-pitch, two-hit masterpiece in Yankee Stadium. Tampa Bay is 12-1 when Archer starts and pitches at least six innings.

Not bad for two guys who shared the cover of the Durham Bulls' media guide this spring.

"We kind of came up with rookie status at the same time, so it's looking like we could be together for a long time here," Myers said. "I think that's very exciting -- not just for us, but the whole team."

Archer said he would vote for Myers as the AL's Rookie of the Year, "because to me he is the most outstanding rookie." Myers, of course, said he would cast his vote for Archer.

"He's got great stuff. You don't see too many guys who throw in the upper 90s with that kind of secondary stuff," Myers said. "I don't even think he's tapped into his full potential yet."

So how would they settle on a winner?

"I don't know if there's any way to give co-Rookie of the Year," Archer said. "That would be awesome."

* * * * *

In a way, it's easy to think of Myers and Archer as one unit. They're on the same short list of the AL's best rookies and seemingly on the same path to being future stars. Rays fans imagine them as the second coming of Longoria and Price.

And there are a few similarities between the two rookies. Maddon has observed that both think about baseball in a way that's beyond their years. Archer makes it clear for everyone to see; he's a deep thinker, a good communicator and performs a unique pre-start routine involving visualization and meditation.

Myers isn't often thought of in the same way -- whether it's because of his bat flips or his nonchalant demeanor -- but he looks over scouting reports and approaches each at-bat with a plan in mind, too.

"Think about it. To be that good of a hitter, you have to see deeper and beyond the surface. You have to see things that other people don't see," Archer said. "We've had one-on-one conversations, and I'm like, 'Wow, that's why you're that good.'"

That's about it as far as comparisons go, considering their distinctive personalities. Take it from Myers.

"I don't know. I mean, our similarities, we're from North Carolina," he said, laughing and grasping for answers. "We're near the same age."

Where Archer comes across as thoughtful, often philosophical, Myers is direct and straightforward. When the cameras are on, Myers says "awesome" and "cool" a lot and turns questions about himself into answers about the team. His refreshingly honest attitude and unabashed brand of confidence initially drew raised eyebrows from those around him and eventually earned a nickname from Maddon: Ricky Bobby, Will Ferrell's simple-minded NASCAR driver in the movie "Talladega Nights."

"He's kind of like that," Maddon said, smiling before referencing one of the character's colorful quotes from the movie. "In the morning, he does something in an excellent manner."

"They're different in a lot of ways. Wil's a more laid-back type and very loose," said teammate Jake Odorizzi, who was dealt by the Royals alongside Myers and started the season with Archer in Durham's rotation. "That's what makes him what he is, just because stuff rolls off his back and he doesn't concentrate on any of the bad stuff."

Archer, on the other hand, is more introspective and cerebral. He loves pitching in the Major Leagues, but it's almost unfair to define him by his job. Archer is well-read and well-spoken, showing off an expansive vocabulary and displaying a passion for serving the community. He thinks a lot about who he is and why people are who they are.

Archer's Twitter posts range from motivational messages to "deep" thoughts, like asking if Earth could be considered a spaceship "since we are traveling on it through space." After a third straight subpar outing in early August, Archer gave reporters a typical baseball answer -- he just wasn't executing pitches -- then diverted into an unexpected comparison between his struggles and a tree needing to weather storms in order to grow.

Some might wonder if Archer is too thoughtful for a singularly focused game like baseball. The results would say otherwise. Either way, he's no Ricky Bobby.

"Arch is very in-depth. He's very tedious," Odorizzi said. "He does everything the right way."

Archer embraces the concept of individuality, that people's life experiences shape who they become -- a fitting idea, because he and Myers are practically a case study in it. They get along well, having become better friends in the Majors than they were in Durham. They're separated by about two years, grew up less than two hours apart and arrived here together at roughly the same point in their careers.

Yet here they are, performing right in the thick of a playoff race, with personalities as disparate as their positions.

"They're two different guys," Odorizzi said. "But they're great guys."

And they've turned out to be great additions for the Rays.

They might be the future, but they're no less a part of the present.

Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie went seven innings for his 15th victory, becoming just the third Royals pitcher to reach that level since 1997. Paul Byrd won 17 in 2002 and Zack Greinke 16 in 2009.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer has one of those power arms that can carry him to success as a Major League pitcher. It's important to trace his baseball history to understand his current status.

Archer graduated from Clayton High School in Clayton, N.C. After a season in which he went 8-3 with a 1.75 ERA, Archer had discussed attending the University of Miami. However, the Cleveland Indians selected Archer with their fifth-round pick in 2006.

At 17 years old, the right-handed Archer signed a professional contract and began his career with the Indians' Rookie League teams in both the Gulf Coast League and at Burlington in the Appalachian League.

Archer pitched a combined 21 innings, starting six of the eight games in which he appeared that first season. He had an ERA of 7.71 and a WHIP of 1.762. Both those statistics were a result of 18 walks and 19 hits issued during Archer's introduction to professional baseball.

By 2007, Archer made his way to Low Class A Lake County in the South Atlantic League, but his control and command of his promising fastball and slider were slowly developing. Swings and misses and strikeouts were increasing, and he was walking a tad fewer than seven hitters per nine innings.

While Archer was still working on command and control, the Chicago Cubs were getting offensive production from versatile 33-year-old Mark DeRosa. The Cleveland Indians took note of DeRosa. In December 2008, the Indians and Cubs agreed on a trade that sent pitchers Archer, John Gaub and Jeff Stevens to the Cubs for DeRosa.

Archer's career began a positive turn with maturity and the different scenery. In 2009, he lowered his ERA to 2.81 while starting 26 games at Low Class A Peoria in the Midwest League. Archer threw 109 innings and yielded only 78 hits. Best of all, he lowered his walk rate a bit and increased his strikeouts. At only 20 years old, Archer had begun to realize his potential and significant upside remained.

Archer spent the following season at Class A Advanced Daytona and Double-A Tennessee. He was making progress, as his ERA was below 3.00 for the second consecutive season at three separate classifications. Archerearned the Cubs' Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award.

In the 2011 offseason, the Cubs saw an opportunity to obtain a top-of-the-rotation pitcher from the Rays. They packaged infielder Hak-Ju Lee, outfielder Brandon Guyer, catcher Robinson Chirinos, outfielder Sam Fuld and the 22-year-old Archer to Tampa Bay for pitcher Matt Garza and outfielder Fernando Perez. The trade provided dynamic roster adjustments for both clubs.

In June 2012, Archer made his Major League debut for the Rays as an injury-replacement starter. He threw 29 1/3 innings, pitching fairly well.

Perhaps at some point this season, at age 24, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Archer may ultimately find a permanent role in Tampa Bay's rotation. MLB.com ranks Archer as the No. 4 prospect in the Rays' organization.

I was able to scout Archer in a recent appearance with the Durham Bulls. He made a start against the Norfolk Tides, Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate.

Archer is primarily a fastball-first pitcher. He generally sits at 93-94 mph, but it isn't uncommon for him to crank the pitch up to 97 if needed. The pitch is effective because Archer can induce swings and misses and strike people out -- provided his control and command are solid. There are times, however, when he totally loses his release point and fails to finish his pitches. That results in Archer "pulling" his arm across his body and missing his target completely. He can lose command fairly quickly, but he regains it fairly quickly as well. The net result is an increase in Archer's pitch count and an earlier exit than he would like.

Archer's slider may be his best pitch. It is a biting pitch that buckles the legs of the hitter. Imagine looking for a fastball that sinks and getting a slider at 84 mph that cuts into the hands of the hitter. That's what happens. Changing the balance of the hitter is Archer's best overall strategy and weapon. When he uses his combination of fastball/slider, he is a very tough pitcher to hit.

Archer's third pitch is an 82-mph changeup. It's a pitch I don't think he uses enough. With a reduction in velocity from his fastball to the changeup of roughly 12 mph, the hitter can appear to be virtually helpless. I don't think Archer trusts that pitch. He uses it far too sparingly. It's a pitch that will separate Archer from being an effective Minor League pitcher to being an effective Major League pitcher.

Archer's tall and rather thin frame is highlighted by his long arms and legs. As a result, he pitches "downhill" and induces ground balls with late life and sink on his fastball.

Archer's agility and athletic ability manifest themselves in outstanding fielding. He is quick off the mound and fields his position extremely well, saving additional runners and potential inning-lengthening jams.

Given his arm strength, Archer has positioned himself to control his own destiny. His two main pitches allow him to change speeds and navigate a lineup, provided he can throw strikes. Archer's third pitch, the changeup, could go a long way to helping him finish off hitters.

I believe Archer will go as far as his control and command take him -- which could ultimately be to an All-Star level.

If he doesn't fit in the rotation plans of the Rays, he can certainly be used at the back end of the bullpen. However, in my opinion, he best fits as a starter.

Tampa Bay has a wealth of starting pitching talent available within the organization. For me, Archer is the most advanced of the highly regarded potential rotation prospects.

Archer is one of the few Indians' draft picks that blossomed in another organization.

Eric Wedge out on the street.

September 27, 2013 at 5:57 PM

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik says he’s ‘surprised’ Wedge won’t stay
Posted by Geoff Baker

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik and manager Eric Wedge in happier times, before Wedge tendered his resignation today effective at season's end. Photo Credit: AP
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik and manager Eric Wedge in happier times, before Wedge tendered his resignation today effective at season’s end. Photo Credit: AP

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik says he was going to bring manager Eric Wedge back on a one-year extension for 2014 and was “quite surprised” this morning when Wedge tendered his resignation. Zduriencik had floated the idea of a one-year extension to Wedge after last season and was rebuffed by the manager, who felt the team’s ongoing rebuilding plan required that a longer commitment be made to him.

Nevetheless, Zduriencik today said he’s surprised that Wedge still won’t take the offer. He said he and Wedge had numerous discussions through the course of the year with regards to his contract.

“I was looking forward to having Eric back,” Zduriencik said. “But through his series of thought processes he decided this wasn’t going to work and he made his decision.”

Zduriencik said there were never any internal team discussions about not having Wedge come back, even though the team waited up to this point without putting the extension back on the table. Zduriencik said there were things the team needed to first discuss with Wedge and that this was supposed to happen on Monday, when the two were to meet.

But Wedge had become increasingly irritated with his lame duck status, especially after a report several weeks ago by radio host Steve Sandmeyer that the Mariners were planning to fire him at season’s end. Nobody from the team ever went public to refute the report. Indeed, when pressed for comments on the future of Wedge and Zduriencik at the time, team officials declined all comment.

Wedge interpreted their silence as another vote of non-confidence and felt the team was allowing him to twist in the wind all month.

But Zduriencik insists he was always going to bring Wedge back and expected that he’d go along with the idea.

“We never had any reason to think Eric wasn’t coming back,” Zduriencik said. “I think Eric had known I was in his corner and would like to have him back. But again, there were things we were going to talk through. I think there were a lot of things he and I were going to talk through in relation to the ballclub and the direction…but again, the thought process of not bringing Eric back just wasn’t there.”

Zdureincik admitted that, even had they discussed the extension further: “Eric’s desire was different than what we would have ended up at.”

I asked Zduriencik whether he felt it was important, during a rebuilding plan, to have a manager on-board for more than just one year.

“I guess you could make that argument that it’s important,” he said. “I’m a big believer in that. But you could also make the argument that players are players. They’re going to go out there and play baseball and they’re going to play no matter who the manager is. I think it’s important to have continuity but I also think players are players and instruction is important and as we put this next staff together, depending on how it goes, we will have guys on this staff that I’m excited about. I know that. And they’ll be doing what’s best for these kids and these kids will play baseball, they’ll just move on.”

And so, Zduriencik is now looking for a third manager in five years. As to his own contract status — said to be for just one more year at present — he doesn’t anticipate it being a hinderance when it comes to attracting top managerial candidates.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a big issue,” he said. “I really don’t. Like I said, a contract’s a contract. I look at it this way. I’m here doing my job. I’m going to do my job until I’m told ‘Jack, it’s the end.’ So, whether I’m on a one-year deal, a two-year deal, a three-year deal, whatever the case is, it doesn’t change what I’m doing. I think candidates that come in here, they’re going to look at the general manager and the realtionship that we have with them.

“But they’re also going to look at the players, the potential that we have here. And I think from that standpoint, I trust those above me that ‘Hey, if we do a good job and continue to do what we’re doing, then we’ll be here for a while.’ Whether it’s on a one-year deal forever or whether it’s an extension. You do your job. That’s just the way you look at it.”

7-3 Pittsburgh in the bottom of the 7th.

September 28, 2013 at 11:52 AM

Eric Wedge: I wouldn’t take five-year contract extension from Mariners
Posted by Geoff Baker


Mariners manager Eric Wedge is still on the job and not about to go quietly. Wedge read the media coverage of yesterday’s events and was not pleased with statements by the team that his decision to leave was mainly about his lack of a contract extension beyond 2014.

This morning, Wedge was blunt about why he chose to leave.

“Let me be clear here: the contract is not the reason I’m not coming back here,” Wedge said. “If they’d offered me a five-year contract, I wouldn’t have come back here. So, let’s be clear with that.”

Wedge was asked to go into greater detail.

“It’s where they see the club,” he said. “They being Howard (Lincoln), Chuck (Armstrong) and Jack (Zduriencik). And where I see the club and my vision for the future and theres, it’s just different. And that’s about as plain as I can make it.”

Wedge said his vision of the future is sticking with the young players the team has committed to, adding to that mix and then being patient and sticking with the program.

“And having consistency,” he said. “You have to have consistency with personnel. Everytime you turn over, you start over again to a certain extent.”

Wedge said he wasn’t just talking about himself and the coaching staff, but also the players the team has chosen to bring in.

“The whole gambit,” he said.

The Mariners did bring in a bunch of veterans this past off-season but mostly on one-year deals. He’d like to see the team commit to more stable pieces that can help the younger players not just now, but down the road. And not only veterans on thir final legs, but players in their prime.

When I mentioned to him that Zduriencik yesterday suggested that he and Wedge were mostly on the same page vision-wise, outside of their contract differences, Wedge shook his head.

“That’s not the case,” he said. “Like I said, I’m not not coming back here because of the contract. It’s because of how they see things and how I see things.”

So, what exactly is Wedge’s vision? Well, he talked about some of it yesterday, about sticking with young players and not bailing at the first — or second, or third — sign of trouble. But it also involves supplementing the core with some proven talent — something this franchise has been loathe to do going on several years, especially when it comes to increasing payroll.

Wedge clearly is not pleased with some of the supplemental work done here. He didn’t want to get too far into it today, knowing what a storm he’s already going to cause with his words. But we pressed him on it and he did offer up some stuff.

For starters, I asked him whether he was as involved in the decision-making process as he felt he should be when it came to personnel, given his prior seven years of experience managing a rebuilding effort in Cleveland.

“No, not to the extent that I would have liked,” said.

Wedge was asked about the lack of younger veteran players on the team, the fourth and fifth year guys who could help speed a rebuilding plan along.

He agreed the Mariners don’t have enough of those and that it hurts the team’s consistency.

Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez worked out for him, but both are on one-year deals. Wedge was asked whether he’d have liked to see more experienced pieces brought in on multi-year deals.

“Yeah, that are vested in it, yeah,” he said.

Wedge was asked whether he felt he was being made to absorb the blame for the team’s record, despite the fact the Mariners were forced to abandon their pre-season game plan in April due to injury and then called up a bunch of Class AA and AAA players in-season.

“I think it’s all part of it,” he said. “It comes with the territory, you know what I mean? I mean, I know what’s happened here and that’s enough for me.”

Where you don’t find aces?

Well, in general there has been little luck with international free agents. They had only 13 appearances which came out to about only about 19%

Joe: please take note.

“The whole gambit,” he said.

Should be gamut

Pirates clinch home field in NL wild card with 6 homers off the Reds today

Compared to other playoff teams, the Tigers have relied less heavily on their farm system to build their roster, writes Jim Callis of MLB.com. GM Dave Dombrowski has acquired much of Detroit's roster through shrewd trades, getting, for example, Miguel Cabrera, Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister. But he's also acquired players like Prince Fielder, Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez. There are only six players on the Tigers' projected playoff roster who came through their farm system, although one of those is Justin Verlander.