Major League Baseball Players’ Association chief Michael Weiner held his annual All-Star Game press conference this morning. That is news in and of itself, in light of Weiner’s battle with brain cancer that has now sidelined him to a wheelchair. But even in his weakening condition, Weiner made news on the Biogenesis front.

Weiner: Biogenesis penalties aren’t mandated by MLB drug policy, the 50-100-life scale in agreement.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) July 16, 2013

I followed up and Bill Shakin replied.

@hangingsliders Commissioner’s “just cause” discretion. — Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) July 16, 2013

Why is this big news? Because the plain language of the Joint Drug Policy says that a player who violates the policy by use or possession of a performance enhancing substance is subject to the same discipline as a player who tests positive. As I explained in the post MLB and Biogenesis: A Primer, Section 7.A of the Joint Drug Policy states:

A player who tests positive for a Performance Enhancing Substance, or otherwise violates the Program through the possession or use of a Performance Enhancing Substance, will be subject to the discipline set forth below. (emphasis mine) 1. First violation: 50-game suspension; 2. Second violation: 100-game suspension; 3. Third violation: Permanent suspension from Major League and Minor League Baseball.

Weiner, with Bill Shakin’s clarification, appeared to say that if the Biogenesis investigation turns up evidence of a player’s use or possession, the league would proceed under the “just cause” provisions of the Joint Drug Policy and the Collective Bargaining Agreement. I explained those provisions, as well, in the Primer post and further in last week’s post entitled “Is Selig Preparing To Use The Nuclear Option?” Essentially, the just cause provisions give the commissioner the power to discipline a player if he acts against the best interests of baseball.

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Much of the time, the pitcher who starts the All-Star Game is very deserving, and is very obvious. It may not be the most-deserving pitcher mind you, but the selection is generally someone good enough that the selection is not worth arguing. This year is such a year: Both Max Scherzer and Matt Harvey rank second in their respective league in WAR, and are close enough to the front runners (Felix Hernandez and Adam Wainwright) as to make the differences negligible. But that hasn’t always been the case. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at some of the starting pitchers who weren’t quite as deserving.

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Honorable Mentions
#50 to #46
#45 to #41

We move away from high salary, high risk players into a group of players on the opposite end of the spectrum. While the players below might not be seen as superstars yet, they all possess significant potential and have some very appealing contracts.

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The mid-season Top 50 prospects list is here as we celebrate the most exciting players at the minor league level. There is lots of room for debate and I’m excited to hear what others have to say about the players listed below. For a refresher, check out the pre-season Top 100 prospects list here.

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If it seems like there’s always a lot of talk about all-time records in the earlier months of seasons, there’s a good reason why. With less and less of a season complete, the sample sizes are smaller and smaller, and over smaller sample sizes, one will observe greater statistical volatility. Basically, it’s easier to be on a record pace after a month or three than it is after five months or six. The trouble with on-pace statistics is that they fail to factor in regression, and regression is a part of our reality. Sometimes record paces are kept up, but most often they aren’t after a player starts to play more like his normal, non-record-setting self.

This season, we’re hearing about some records that might fall, and these days there’s a lot being written about Chris Davis‘ pursuit of the “legitimate” home-run record. But one of Davis’ teammates is also pursuing a long-standing record, as Manny Machado is approaching the single-season record for doubles. Earl Webb’s record isn’t as sexy as Roger Maris‘ was, and still is in some corners, but Machado’s pursuit has drawn attention to itself as Machado the player establishes himself as one of the game’s elite young talents.

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of the Daily Notes.

1. SCOUT Leaderboards for the Atlantic League
2. Unhelpful Video: Andy Marte Pitching Once

SCOUT Leaderboards for the Atlantic League
Introduction
For four consecutive years between 2003 and -06, Atlanta third-base prospect Andy Marte appeared on Baseball America’s top-100 prospect list — three of those times, within the top-15 overall. He hit 21 home runs in the Class-A Sally League as just an 18-year-old. A few years later, at age 21, he recorded 20 more home runs and a very promising 64:83 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 460 Triple-A plate appearances.

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Mobile Application Developer, Baseball Operations – New York Yankees (Bronx, NY)

Primary Responsibilities:
• Assist in the development of our next-generation scouting application
• Analyze existing systems to extract requirements
• Develop an application architecture/design
• Integrate with existing analytics tools, web-applications, and databases

Qualifications and Experience:
•Proficient in mobile web development technologies: HTML5, CSS3, jQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch, and/or other mobile-optimized JavaScript frameworks.
• Knowledge and experience in native application development (iOS, Android, Windows) and the use of native application wrappers such as PhoneGap, Appcelerator, etc.
• Experience developing backend SOAP/REST web services in .NET/C#
• An understanding of mobile UI/UX design concepts, and a demonstrated ability to deliver an outstanding user experience in a mobile environment
• Strong SQL skills developing complex queries, stored procedures, functions in Microsoft SQL Server or other relational databases
• Experience in handling the entire lifecycle of mobile application development (requirements, design, code, test, debug, deploy, and maintain)
• Ability to decompose existing systems, extract functional requirements, and develop an application architecture with minimal technical guidance
• Ability to work independently with strong worth ethic and communication skills
• Bachelors degree in Computer Science or equivalent
*Full-time telecommuting available under the right circumstances.

This description is intended to describe the type of work being performed by a person assigned to this position. It is not an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities required by the employee. The New York Yankees is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The company is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment.

Note: When you apply for this job online, you will be required to answer the following questions:

1. Do you have experience in handling the entire lifecycle of mobile application development (requirements, design, code, test, debug, deploy, and maintain)?

Apply for this position

When Major League Baseball announced the 143 — or however many they ended up taking — players that had been picked to play in this summer’s All-Star Game last week, I noticed a few names that were missing. Not names that necessarily deserved to be there based on how they had performed so far this year, but names that you’d have expected to be easy picks before the season started. There are some pretty terrific players who weren’t selected to be part of this summer’s festivities.

The collection of names got me wondering whether it would be possible to build a roster of guys who didn’t get an invite to the All-Star Game that could compete with the AL and NL squads head to head. In other words, if I assembled a line-up from the leftovers after MLB was done selecting its All-Stars, could I field a team that was just as good?

So, I shot Dan Szymborski a note and asked if I assembled a line-up of players, would he use his rest-of-season ZIPS projections to simulate match-ups between my squad of outsiders and both All-Star squads. He said he would, so now I just had to figure out if there were enough pieces left to build a roster that could compete after MLB skimmed off the top.

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Ben and Sam talk about the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game, then discuss Chris Davis’ comments about the home run record.

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