ATLANTA -- Turner Field will no longer be the home of the Braves after the 2016 season.

The Braves announced on Monday that they are planning to build a state-of-the-art ballpark that will open in Cobb County, about 14 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta, in time for the start of the 2017 season. The proposed stadium will be located on the northwest corner of the I-75 and I-285 intersection.

The Braves informed the city of Atlanta late last week they would move from Turner Field when their 20-year lease on Turner Field expires at the end of 2016. Club officials are scheduled to meet with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday to detail their plans.

Since moving from Milwaukee in 1966, the Braves have been located in downtown Atlanta near the I-75 and I-20 intersection. They played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium through the end of the 1996 season and then moved across the street to Turner Field the following year.

Archer humble in face of AL ROY Award candidacy

Rays right-hander deflects credit, but rookie success speaks for itself

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com | 11/8/2013 10:00 A.M. ET

ST. PETERSBURG --

Rays right-hander Chris Archer has remained humble despite his success. After a stellar rookie campaign that has earned him a nomination for the Jackie Robinson Award for the American League Rookie of the Year, he deferred to teammate and fellow nominee Wil Myers when asked about who should win.

"I really feel like Wil's going to take the award home, and he deserves that," Archer, 25, said.

The Jackie Robinson Award, voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, honors the top rookies from the AL and the National League. Voting took place at the end of the regular season, so postseason performances were not taken into account. The winners will be announced on Monday.

"Having that hardware would be really cool, but for me, being the only pitcher in the category lets me know I did my job, that I hit a goal I was striving for. That from [the voters] perspective, I was the best rookie pitcher in the league," Archer said. "That's all I can do. So honestly, like, I'm good. I'm good with coming in third place, because I was the only pitcher on the list."

Though Archer might think otherwise, he could take home the award based on his accomplishments in 2013. In his first extended action in the Majors, he went 9-7 with a 3.22 ERA in 23 starts. Among AL rookies, Archer ranked first in ERA, opponents' average (.226), complete games (two), shutouts (two), hits per nine innings (7.5) and WHIP (1.13). He was named the AL Pitcher of the Month and AL Rookie of the Month for July.

"I thought Arch had a tremendous year," said Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. "The development year after year was extremely impressive, and not that surprising to those of us who spend a lot of time with him. Just the work ethic and the desire to continue to get better [are] off the charts, and so it's great to see guys like that rewarded with more success. And I think the scary part is [that] the arrow is still very much pointing up and that he has a chance to be a good bit better than he was this year."

Archer made an immediate impression on teammate David Price, the 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner.

"From the first time I met him, I could tell he was raised the right way, that's a big part of it," Price said. "I could tell he had the work ethic. The determination. He had that right mind-set to want to continue to learn and grow in the game of baseball. That's what he does -- he comes to the field every day to get his work in. He's a great teammate, he's a great person."

Typical of Archer, he credited his team for the recognition he and Myers have received.

"We wouldn't even be nominated for this award if we didn't have guys in the lineup for Wil, setting him up for good pitches, and guys playing defense behind me," Archer said. "So we can credit ourselves a good portion, but Wil and I don't forget that the reason we're here is because the team that we're on."

No beard in the Bronx: Wilson won't shave

Yankees GM Brian Cashman is in the market to acquire relief pitching, but he learned from agent Dan Lozano on Wednesday that making an offer to Brian Wilson this offseason would just be a waste of time: The right-hander does not plan on shaving his beard.

Yu comes in second on AL Cy Young ballot

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting on Wednesday, losing out to Max Scherzer of the Tigers in the 2013 voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Iwakuma third in AL Cy Young Award vote

It's not easy being the best pitcher on a staff that includes Felix Hernandez. Yet Hisashi Iwakuma established himself as not only the Mariners' most consistent hurler in 2013, but also one of the premier pitchers in all of baseball, as he finished third in balloting for the American League Cy Young Award.

Cashman: Cano 'loves the money,' will go to highest bidder

New York Daily News

"Robinson Cano has shown his true stripes to Brian Cashman, and they’re not pinstripes. As the Yankees attempt to bring back the free agent second baseman, the GM knows loyalty to the team he has played for his entire career won’t be a major factor in his decision. “He loves the money,”..."

Yasiel Puig among Dodgers drawing interest on trade market

Los Angeles Times

"Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford have drawn interest on the trade market over the first two days of the general managers' meetings. The Dodgers have fielded inquiries about all four of their outfielders, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the..."

Prince Fielder traded to Texas for Ian Kinsler.

EVEN BIGGER ! Remember when this guy was #9 on our top 10 list of Tribe farm hands !

Diamondbacks Designate Tony Sipp For Assignment

By Zach Links [November 20 at 5:26pm CST]

The Diamondbacks announced that they have designated Tony Sipp for assignment. The move will allow Arizona to select the contracts of outfielder Ender Inciarte and right-handed pitcher Bo Schultz from Triple-A Reno.

Sipp, 30, pitched to a 4.78 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 in 56 relief outings last season. Across five big league seasons, four of which were spent in Cleveland, Sipp posted a 3.84 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9. This marks the second time that Sipp has been designated for assignment by Arizona this year. He was DFA'd by the D'Backs and subsequently optioned to Triple-A in August.

Poor A-Roid:

A-Rod walks out of grievance hearing, claims process is 'abusive'

Alex Rodriguez's quest to play in 2014 has taken another strange twist.

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UPDATED NOV 20, 2013 7:35 PM ET

NEW YORK (AP)
Alex Rodriguez benched himself at his own grievance hearing.

The New York Yankees star walked out in the middle of a session Wednesday, furious arbitrator Fredric Horowitz refused to order baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to testify. The move, followed by angry statements accusing Selig of bias and the entire arbitration process of flaws, appeared to be a prelude to a lawsuit challenging whatever ruling Horowitz makes on A-Rod's 211-game suspension.

Horowitz was in the midst of the third week of hearings on the grievance filed by the players' association to overturn the penalty given to the three-time AL MVP by Major League Baseball in August for alleged violations of the sport's drug agreement and labor contract.

"I lost my mind. I banged a table and kicked a briefcase and slammed out of the room," Rodriguez said during a 40-minute interview on WFAN radio. "I probably overreacted, but it came from the heart."

Rodriguez has not testified in the grievance and said he had been warned that repeating his denials of wrongdoing on the stand could result in attempts at additional discipline by MLB.

MLB argued that it could decide what witnesses it wanted to present to justify the discipline, since the penalty must meet a "just cause" standard. The league said Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred spoke to reasoning behind the discipline during his six hours of testimony.

Rodriguez and the union asked Horowitz to compel Selig to testify. After the arbitrator refused, Rodriguez uttered a profanity at Manfred just before leaving the hearing room at MLB's office, two people familiar with the proceedings said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because what takes place at the hearing is supposed to be confidential.


"In the entire history of the Joint Drug Agreement, the commissioner has not testified in a single case," the commissioner's office said in a statement. "Major League Baseball has the burden of proof in this matter. MLB selected Rob Manfred as its witness to explain the penalty imposed in this case. Mr. Rodriguez and the players' Association have no right to dictate how baseball's case is to proceed any more than baseball has the right to dictate how their case proceeds. Today's antics are an obvious attempt to justify Mr. Rodriguez's continuing refusal to testify under oath."

The hearing continued for about two hours after Rodriguez left the room, one of the people said, and it is scheduled to resume Thursday morning.

"We have put on evidence. We have more evidence to put on. We are evaluating our options," said James McCarroll, a lawyer for Rodriguez who also spoke during the WFAN interview. "We haven't said the case isn't being completed. We haven't said that the case isn't complete."

Horowitz, chosen by management and the union as their independent arbitrator last year, has the discretion to eliminate the suspension or alter it. The statements by Rodriguez and McCarroll made it appear the 14-time All-Star intends to sue MLB and the union unless the penalty is eliminated.

Rodriguez already has filed one suit against MLB and Selig, accusing them of a "witch hunt," and another against the Yankees team physician and his hospital, alleging malpractice in the diagnosis and treatment of a hip injury.

Manfred is technically part of a three-person arbitration panel that also includes union General Counsel David Prouty and is chaired by Horowitz

"I'm done. I don't have a chance," Rodriguez said during the WFAN interview.

He issued a statement earlier in the day attacking the procedures established in the agreements between MLB and the union.

"I am disgusted with this abusive process, designed to ensure that the player fails," Rodriguez said. "I have sat through 10 days of testimony by felons and liars, sitting quietly through every minute, trying to respect the league and the process.

"This morning, after Bud Selig refused to come in and testify about his rationale for the unprecedented and totally baseless punishment he hit me with, the arbitrator selected by MLB and the players' association refused to order Selig to come in and face me. The absurdity and injustice just became too much. I walked out and will not participate any further in this farce."

The players' association was disappointed with Horowitz's decision but was less confrontational than Rodriguez.

"The MLBPA believes that every player has the right under our arbitration process to directly confront his accuser," the union said in a statement. "We argued strenuously to the arbitrator in Alex's case that the commissioner should be required to appear and testify. While we respectfully disagree with the arbitrator's ruling, we will abide by it as we continue to vigorously challenge Alex's suspension within the context of this hearing."

McCarroll blamed Horowitz for precluding evidence Rodriguez wanted to introduce and hinted of a court fight.

"Whether the case is finally decided in this forum, created by Major League Baseball, Bud Selig's forum, or another forum, nobody is throwing the case out," he said.

Rodriguez denied using performance-enhancing drugs or obstructing MLB's investigation into the Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic. Rodriguez was the only one of the 14 players disciplined this summer to challenge his suspension.

"Over time, the arbitration process in baseball has been amazingly pro player," MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said. "It was that process which created free agency. It allowed Steve Howe to remain on the field despite numerous drug violations and resulted in the shortening of suspensions like John Rocker's. The notion that this same process is not fair enough or good enough for Alex Rodriguez is ridiculous."

Rodriguez said he had hoped to testify Friday. MLB had insisted Rodriguez submit to an "investigatory interview" prior to his testimony, but he canceled his scheduled appearance last week, claiming illness. MLB agreed to waive its right to penalize him for testimony during an interview it might deem untruthful, one of the people said.

"The system is wrong, and whether you're in federal court or state court or in kangaroo court that we are today, players need protection," Rodriguez said on WFAN. "The union has already told me that if I go on on Friday and they think I lied, they can give me say another 100 games, so now you're to 311. So now we'll appeal that. In the appeal process, I would say I didn't do it, so now you're up to 411, and this can go on for the next seven or eight years."

He repeatedly disparaged Selig, who has been in charge of baseball since 1992 and said in September he plans to retire in January 2015. Rodriguez said Selig wants him as "a trophy" to put "in his big mantel on his way out."

"My only message to the commissioner is, I know you don't like New York, but come to New York and face the music. He hates my guts, there's no question about it," Rodriguez said. "One hundred percent it's personal, and I think this is about his legacy, and it's about my legacy, and he's trying to destroy me."

Rodriguez said four years ago he used PEDs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03. He has denied using them since.

He briefly discussed his relationship with Biogenesis head Anthony Bosch, who is cooperating with MLB's investigation.

"It was nutrition and it was weight loss," Rodriguez said. "And Bosch wasn't the only guy. I traveled the world to see doctors, cutting-edge stuff, but always between the parameters of Major League Baseball. And I have hundreds of emails that will be part of evidence which I can't get into that backs me up 100 percent."

Analysis: Rangers add slugger, Tigers get flexibility
Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports 10:49 p.m. EST November 20, 2013

The Texas Rangers were one of Prince Fielder's most ardent suitors when he hit the free agent market two years ago. Now, in a roundabout way, they've landed the rotund slugger.

In a stunning deal more than two weeks before the winter meetings, the Detroit Tigers agreed to send Fielder and cash to the Rangers for second baseman Ian Kinsler.


There had been no previous rumblings about the trade, but it makes sense for both clubs on several fronts.

The Rangers, who came within an out of winning their first World Series in 2011, failed to make the playoffs last season for the first time in four years as they dropped from first in the American League in runs scored to seventh.

Fielder, a 5-11, 275-pound first baseman, has averaged 36 home runs and 111 RBI over the last seven seasons. The five-time All-Star won't turn 30 until May and has a career on-base plus slugging of .911, although it dropped to .819 last season.

He floundered in two postseasons in Detroit, producing just two extra-base hits in five series as the Tigers won one pennant and came within two wins of another.

Now, according to a club official with direct knowledge of the deal, the Tigers will pay the Rangers $30 million to ship Fielder to Texas.

That's only part of the upside for the Rangers, whose incumbent first baseman, Mitch Moreland, has never driven in more than 60 runs.

The trade also opens second base for prized infield prospect Jurickson Profar, who was stuck behind Kinsler and shortstop Elvis Andrus last season, getting relegated to a utility role.

The Tigers lose power but gain financial flexibility and offensive versatility with the addition of Kinsler, a three-time All-Star who has reached double figures in home runs and steals in seven of his eight seasons in the majors.

They could use it, on the field and the balance sheet.

By moving Fielder's nine-year, $214 million contract – which has $168 million left to pay – the Tigers may have created enough payroll room to keep newly minted AL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer. With Fielder moving on, two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera will almost certainly return to first base, where he's better suited. Cabrera voluntarily switched to third when the Tigers signed Fielder before the 2012 season, but he lacks the mobility required for the hot corner. He's also less likely to get hurt playing first.

Oh, and Cabrera's contract - a very reasonable eight-year, $152.3 million deal - expires after 2015. Moving Fielder greatly enhances the chance Cabrera becomes a Tiger for life.

As for the 2014 club that will bid for a fourth consecutive AL Central title? The free agent departure of Omar Infante left a hole at second base. Kinsler, 31, has twice hit 30-plus homers in a season and provides a more potent bat than Infante while adding a speed dimension the plodding Tigers lacked. Detroit had the fewest stolen bases and the fewest attempts in the majors last season.

The Tigers seem to have an heir apparent at third in prospect Nick Castellanos, who hit .276 with 18 homers and 76 RBI at Class AAA Toledo last season and earned a September callup. Castellanos is still only 21, though, so he might require more seasoning.

The staff co-ace will be entering his final season before free agency in 2014. After accepting pitching's most coveted prize last week, Scherzer made it clear he would like to return to Detroit, but not at a discount.

The Tigers already have two players with contracts valued at more than $150 million in Cabrera and Justin Verlander, who have combined to win the last three AL MVPs.

Cabrera will no longer be able to count on Fielder's presence as lineup protection in what had been baseball's most fearsome 1-2 combo, but the Tigers should still have enough pop and plenty of pitching to contend.

Contributing: Bob Nightengale

It's interesting how long-term deals for first basemen have generated buyer's remorse. The Red Sox traded Adrian Gonzalez last year. Now the Tigers have dealt Fielder. Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Mark Teixeira have albatross contracts that their respective teams would love to be free of.

Boston picked up some relief help, acquiring right-hander Burke Badenhop from Milwaukee in exchange for minor leaguer Luis Ortega.


A baseball player named Badenhop?????

What's next, a guy named Swingnmiss

seagull wrote:
What's next, a guy named Swingnmiss

Would he be related to Swinginforthefences?