Hitting The Cutoff Man

Somewhere out in the great beyond, there exists an alternate universe with an alternate Major League Baseball. Here are some recent headlines from this league's Hot Stove season.

Yanks’ Sabathia Opts Out of Contract, Eyes Homecoming With A's
By Buster Olney, ESPN.com

The New York Yankees drafted, developed and groomed CC Sabathia, but it appears the chronically cash-strapped organization is going to lose yet another homegrown talent to a team with considerably more payroll power.

Sabathia's agent Brian Peters said Monday that the left-handed former Cy Young winner will opt out of his current deal with the Yankees, with four years remaining, and become a free agent. Speculation among several high-ranking baseball front office personnel indicates that Sabathia wants to sign with his hometown team, the Oakland Athletics, who are looking to significantly increase their payroll thanks to their brand new stadium that will open next season.

Oakland general manager Billy Beane declined comment, but one American League GM said he would set the chances of a Sabathia-to-Oakland deal at “above 80 percent.”

Sabathia signed an extension with the Yankees when he first reached free agency after the 2008 season, but demanded the opt-out clause in case he felt the organization did not come through on its promises to field a competitive team. ...

Three Hospitalized After Camden Yards Stampede
By Baltimore Sun Staff Reports

Seven unidentified men were taken to a Baltimore hospital and three will be held overnight for observation after sustaining injuries in a stampede at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Thursday afternoon.

Details remain scarce about the incident, but witnesses told The Sun the stampede was caused by a large group of candidates for the Orioles’ open general manager position all trying to rush into an interview room at once. Only eight candidates were officially scheduled to interview for the much sought-after job, but at least three times that many people showed up at the ballpark Thursday in an attempt to gain consideration.

“This is the job that everyone wants, and so we all were trying desperately to be first to speak to (Orioles owner Peter Angelos),” said one of the potential GMs, who was released from the hospital with minor injuries and asked not to be identified by name. “We’re talking about a successful, stable organization with the best owner in baseball. Who wouldn’t want to step into that situation?” ...

Padres Said to Be Leading Charge for Fielder
By Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com

The San Diego Padres could be close to adding another big bat to their stable of sluggers.

According to multiple baseball sources, the team is currently the favorite to land free agent first baseman Prince Fielder, whose contract with the Milwaukee Brewers expired after this past season.

With chunks of excess cash burning a hole in the pockets of new general manager Josh Byrnes and Fielder said to be keen on playing 81 games a year at the bandbox known at PETCO Park, there is reason for both sides to be optimistic about an agreement.

“Money, as we all know, is no object for the Padres,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations. “And even though they already led the National League in home runs last season, they have an opening at first base. Plus, Prince feels he could hit 60 homers a year thanks to PETCO’s practically Little League-sized right field.” ...

Red Sox Lock Up Epstein, Francona For Long Term
By Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Just days after finishing off their third World Series Championship in eight years, the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday ensured that two key pieces of their operation will remain with the team for years to come.

Team officials confirmed that general manager Theo Epstein will receive a five-year contract extension that will kick in when his current deal expires after next season; they also confirmed that manager Terry Francona’s 2012 and 2013 options, worth a total of $8.75 million, will be picked up and supplemented with two additional years at a slightly higher rate. Exact terms of the extensions were not disclosed, but a press conference has been scheduled for Wednesday at Fenway Park.

Epstein and Francona presided over a Red Sox club that won 93 games in the regular season, holding off the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League wild card, then breezed through the postseason, beating the Atlanta Braves in five games in the World Series.

Epstein has been lauded for his recent signings of Carl Crawford and John Lackey, key pieces of the team’s 2011 success, while Francona’s relaxed clubhouse -- characterized by in-game sessions of fried chicken, beer and video games -- is said to have been crucial in preventing panic as the Rays made a late-season push. ...

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I tend to enjoy it when position players are used as pitchers, like Cardinals Felipe Lopez and Joe Mather were during Saturday's 20-inning marathon against the Mets.

Usually it happens with the game well out of reach, rather than hanging in the balance, but in any case it presents us with an interesting situation that you really don't see in other sports. You have a guy who obviously is a great athlete doing something extremely unnatural that he probably hasn't done in many years. For example, Mather said he had last pitched in high school, and Lopez in Little League.

In football, you don't see a linebacker coming in to play quarterback, and in basketball you don't see centers bringing the ball up the court. Yet in baseball, every once in a while you get to see a non-pitcher take the mound.

And it's shocking to me how well they sometimes do. In Saturday's game, the Mets had a tough time hitting both Lopez and Mather, although they managed to scratch across two runs against the latter. The last time a Cards position player toed the rubber, I was actually in attendance: June 13, 2008 vs. the Phillies. St. Louis was trailing 20-2 (the Phils had a nine-run fourth inning to go up 13-1), and Tony LaRussa brought in infielder Aaron Miles to pitch the ninth. The Cards' five previous pitchers all had surrendered at least one run, but wouldn't you know it, Miles retired the side 1-2-3.

I think in a lot of cases, it's probably difficult as a Major League hitter to suddenly be facing a guy who's heaving it in there at 75-80 miles per hour. Plus, with the ball coming in so slow, it's probably easy to over-swing in an attempt to crush the ball 500 feet.

But back to Saturday. As the game kept going, I was having some fun thinking about who else the Cardinals (or the Mets) might bring in if play continued. One name that popped in to my head was Rick Ankiel, the former Cardinals pitcher-turned-outfielder. Ankiel is now with the Royals, making the idea a moot point, but apparently, LaRussa would have used Ankiel had he still been around.

For the Mets, it could have been fun to see guys with great arms like Jeff Francoeur or Jose Reyes take a shot at pitching.

What other major league position players would it interesting to see get a shot at pitching at some point? I'd like to hear some suggestions, but here a few of my half-serious ideas:

-- Prince Fielder: The big fella is more nimble than he looks. Perhaps he could channel CC Sabathia? It would be entertaining to watch him pounce on a bunt attempt.

-- Manny Ramirez: Would probably cut off the throw if his catcher tried to nab someone stealing second base.

-- Jayson Werth: Looks the part -- he's tall and lanky and already has closer-style facial hair. Plus, he's got a good arm.

-- Stephen Drew: After that throw he made last week, the backstop might be in for a workout.

-- Derek Jeter: Jeter honestly seems like a good enough guy, but it would enjoyable to see him fail miserably at something for once.

-- Ichiro: Apparently, Team Japan was considering using him in an emergency in the WBC before the Mariners nixed the idea. But don't you just have a feeling he would be great at it? I bet he could throw 90 mph on the black, and who knows, maybe mix in a gyroball.

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2009: 80-82, 3rd in NL Central. Pythagorean record of 78-84.
Key Additions: SPs Randy Wolf and Doug Davis, RP LaTroy Hawkins, OFs Carlos Gomez and Jim Edmonds, C Gregg Zaun
Key Losses: CF Mike Cameron, SS JJ Hardy, IF Felipe Lopez, C Jason Kendall, SP Braden Looper
2010 Projections: PECOTA – 78-84, tied for 3rd in NL Central. CHONE – 81-81, tied for 2nd. CAIRO – 83.8-78.2, tied for 3rd.

Pitching: 2009 – 4.84 FIP (29th in MLB), 5.15 for starters, 4.33 for relievers
2010 – Wolf should provide a big upgrade over Looper, who was one of the worst pitchers in baseball last season. Yovani Gallardo leads a staff that should be better than last year, although less so if the Brewers insist on keeping Jeff Suppan in the rotation. At 42, Trevor Hoffman will hit the wall eventually, but I wouldn't feel confident predicting it will be this year.
Hitting: 2009 – .335 wOBA (9th in MLB)
2010 – The Brewers' 1-2 punch of Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun is as good as just about any in baseball, but they are surrounded by a bunch of question marks. Among those: Can Carlos Gomez and Alcides Escobar hit consistently at the big league level? Can Casey McGehee possibly repeat his out-of-nowhere 2009? What the heck happened to Corey Hart?
Fielding: 2009 – UZR of 9.9 (11th in MLB)
2010 – In Escobar and Gomez, the Brew Crew should have outstanding up-the-middle defense for years to come, although it's not like they were replacing terrible gloves in Hardy and Cameron. Fielder and Braun rightfully are known for their hitting.

Reasons to Watch
1. Alcides Escobar: There seems to be little doubt among scouts that Escobar will be an elite defender at shortstop, and that talent in itself creates a valuable player. The question is if Escobar will hit enough to go up to that next level. He has two things going for him: contact and speed, which helped him hit .304 in 134 MLB plate appearances last season. But Escobar also has never met a pitch he didn't want to swing at (just 4 walks in those 134 PA), and his career high in homers in the minors was eight. At 23 years old, there's time for improvement, but you have to wonder if Escobar will ever provide much more offensively than an empty batting average. With his defense, that could be enough, but the Brewers surely would love to see more.
2. Rickie Weeks: Escobar's potential double-play partner has tremendous talent but has yet to put it all together at the big league level. Injuries have played a role, including last season, when Weeks was lost for the year in May due to a torn tendon sheath in his wrist. Weeks was slugging .517 at the time, so the Brewers will have to hope the wrist is fully healed and won't stand in the way of him picking up where he left off.
3. Yovani Gallardo: After missing most of 2008 due to knee surgery, Gallardo came back strong in 2009, but there was one troubling statistic he will have to address. In 2007, Gallardo walked about 3 batters per nine innings. Last year, that number jumped to about 4.5, the fourth-highest rate of any qualified pitcher. Gallardo increased his ground ball rate, and he strikes out a ton of batters, but he's going to have to correct the walk issue if he is going to develop into the elite starter he should.

Paint By Numbers: Out of all pitchers with 150 innings last season, Suppan's 5.70 FIP was worse than anyone else's, except teammate Braden Looper. The Brewers let Looper go but kept Suppan, who also had easily the worst K/BB ratio in MLB at 1.08. ... Despite pitching just 114 1/3 innings, David Bush managed to lead the majors in HBP, with 15. It was the fifth straight season Bush had reached double digits in that category. ... Casey McGehee spent six seasons in the minors with the Cubs, never reaching an .800 OPS. Chicago released him after giving him a cup of coffee late in 2008, and Milwaukee picked him up. All McGehee did for the Brewers in '09 was have a career season in the majors, notching an .859 OPS and also setting a personal best with 16 home runs in just 394 plate appearances.

Blog Jog: Nicholas Zettel of Bernie's Crew offers 2010 projections for Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks, while Jim Breen thinks fans might be too preoccupied with Carlos Gomez to turn a critical enough gaze on Corey Hart. ... Brew Crew Ball's Kyle Lobner has a comprehensive team roundup on the Brewers' only off day of Spring Training. ... Brewed Sports takes FanGraphs' Marc Hulet's theory on fifth starters and applies it to the Brewers' situation.

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Baseball, perhaps more than any other sport, loves its unwritten rules.

One of the most stringent is "Don't show up thine opponent, or expect to get plunked." A guy showboats, and he better watch his back the next time he steps up.

But is it right?

We saw this scenario played out again -- in Spring Training -- yesterday, when Barry Zito nailed Prince Fielder in the back in the first inning. The reason behind it, acknowledged by most everyone except a fine-averse Zito, was Fielder's celebration after a walk-off homer against the Giants last September.

You can see the original offending incident here.

My feeling is that Fielder and the Brewers were having some fun after a dramatic moment on their home field. If you don't want to see that kind of thing happen, don't give up the home run. And if you want to get revenge, strike him out next time.

At least Zito had the sense to hit Fielder in a padded area (not that it's difficult), but it's still something I'd rather not see.

But maybe that's just me. What do you all think?

Retaliation via HBP: acceptable part of the game, or dangerous and silly artifact of another era?

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It’s a great time to be a baseball fan, possibly excluding those poor souls in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and a few other places. But as you will see, even those fans have reason for some excitement.

While the scourge of performance-enhancing drugs certainly has not passed on entirely, the game has been blessed with a fresh generation of stars that plays the game clean (so far as we know) and incredibly well.

In an effort to illustrate the stunning collection of young talent already at the Major League level, I will compose an entire 25-man roster of players who have at least 100 plate appearances or 50 innings pitched in the big leagues but were 25 or younger at the start of 2010. Since a player’s prime usually begins around 26, this gives us a look at guys who are likely to be on the upswing.

Today we’ll do the position players, and tomorrow we’ll move on to the pitchers. Feel free to let me know if I missed someone in the comments.

C – Brian McCann, ATL, 25 years old. It’s hard to believe McCann is still 25 (he turns 26 next month), but he made his Major League debut at 21 and was an All-Star at 22. McCann is no Joe Mauer, who is a little too old for this list, but he has an .853 career OPS and the most home runs of any MLB catcher since 2005.

C – Matt Wieters, BAL, 23. Wieters came up last season with tremendous hype, and while his performance wasn’t awe-inspiring, it was solid and encouraging for a 23-year-old catcher getting his first taste of the Majors. Even with his inexperience and position, he was about a league-average hitter.

1B – Prince Fielder, MIL, 25. Fielder isn’t the type of player (big and slow) who is likely to age well, but he sure is fun to watch right now. In a little more than four full seasons, the big man has 160 home runs, and last season he was third in the big leagues with a 1.014 OPS.

1B – Pablo Sandoval, SF, 23. Kung Fu Panda has played mostly third base thus far but is expected to move across the diamond this season after the Giants signed Mark DeRosa. And make no mistake – the guy can flat-out rake. In 717 career at-bats, he’s put up a line of .333/.381/.543 while playing half his games in a terrible hitters’ park.

2B – Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE, 24. This is cheating slightly, as Cabrera played mostly shortstop last season, but second base is the weakest position in this age group and Cabrera played there a lot in 2008. He had a breakout year with the bat in ’09, and while he was a bit lucky, the Bill James projection still has Cabrera OPSing a respectable .779 next season.

3B – Evan Longoria, TB, 24. According to Fangraphs, Longoria was the seventh most valuable player in baseball last season despite being in his second year. How? He’s a solid hitter with good patience and excellent power, and he plays a beautiful third base. Over the past two seasons, Longoria’s Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) of 33.4 is the second-best mark of any player at any position, behind Carl Crawford.

3B – Ryan Zimmerman, WAS, 25. Not a lot of people know about Zimmerman, who has the misfortune of playing for the woeful Nats, and that’s a shame. He isn’t quite Longoria, but he’s awfully close. Last season, he was second to Longoria in UZR at third while putting up a career-best .888 OPS.

SS – Troy Tulowitzki, COL, 25. Hanley Ramirez is slightly too old for this exercise, so Tulo gets the nod here. After a rough, injury-marred 2008, he bounced back in a big way last season. Although he didn’t play up to his capabilities defensively, he had a career year with the bat, producing of a line of .297/.377/.552, with 32 home runs.

SS – Elvis Andrus, TEX, 21. Erick Aybar would also be a solid choice, but Andrus is four years younger and already better defensively. He was third among MLB shortstops in UZR as a rookie last season, and while the bat wasn’t anything special, he has plenty of time to improve in that area.

OF – Matt Kemp, LAD, 25. The Bison made his big league debut in 2006 as an extremely raw package of skills and has developed in leaps and bounds since. He hits for average (.299 career mark), has learned to take an occasional walk, has prodigious power that still hasn’t fully materialized, and is shockingly fast for someone who weighs in around 230 pounds (69 steals the last two years). He’s still not a great center fielder because he takes some bad routes to fly balls, but there are few players in the whole league with a higher ceiling.

OF – Justin Upton, ARZ, 22. Upton was first called up to the Majors as a teenager in 2007 and quickly has become one of the best all-around players in the game. He hit .300 and slugged .532 last season, stole 20 bases and was fourth among MLB right fielders in UZR. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine him as this generation’s Ken Griffey, Jr.

OF – B.J. Upton, TB, 25. Justin’s older brother had an excellent year with the bat in 2007 and a solid one in 2008 but tailed off badly last year, putting up a .686 OPS. He is likely to rebound, however, and if he does he will be extremely valuable, as he already is one of the top few defensive center fielders in baseball.

OF – Andrew McCutchen, PIT, 23. The Pirates don’t have much, but at least they have their center fielder and leadoff man of the future (until they inevitably trade him, at least). McCutchen stormed onto the scene as a rookie with an .836 OPS, 12 home runs, 22 steals and average defense in center after getting called up in early June.

OF – Colby Rasmus, STL, 23. Adam Jones and Denard Span also were great options here, but Rasmus wins via music video tiebreaker. Rasmus is already a top-five defensive center fielder, so it’s just a matter of his bat developing after an unspectacular rookie season. More patience and a better performance against lefties would help, but Rasmus did show his power potential with 16 homers in 474 at-bats.

Here’s a potential starting lineup out of that group.
1. J. Upton, RF
2. M. Kemp, LF
3. E. Longoria, 3B
4. P. Fielder, 1B
5. P. Sandoval, DH
6. T. Tulowitzki, SS
7. B. McCann, C
8. B. Upton, CF
9. A. Cabrera, 2B