For the 20th consecutive season, the ZiPS projection system is unleashing a full set of prognostications. For more information on the ZiPS projections, please consult this year’s introduction and MLB’s glossary entry. The team order is selected by lot, and the next team up is the Seattle Mariners.

Batters

Julio Rodríguez is a great marquee player to have in any lineup, so no complaints there. Nor will you see me express concerns about Cal Raleigh behind the plate; the relatively down projection on the depth chart at catcher is due to Seby Zavala rather than the Big Dumper. The problem for the Mariners is that after those two and J.P. Crawford, the quality drops off fairly quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

Rule no. 1 of MLB’s Winter Meetings: Beware of water features. Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, which for the next three days will serve as Vatican City for dudes in quarter zips and running shoes, contains within its expansive halls an artificial river. I’m in the process of putting together a bounty pool to see if we can get a writer to fall in the drink by the end of the week, but so far everyone’s stayed dry.

Nobody has suffered the fate of this legendary unfortunate, who absentmindedly stumbled into a Dallas hotel fountain in 2011, live on MLB Network. I’d like to propose — with the understanding that this might be controversial — that face-planting into a water feature would’ve been a more productive use of Jerry Dipoto’s Sunday evening than what he actually got up to.

The first major transaction of Winter Meetings is as follows: The Seattle Mariners traded outfielder Jarred Kelenic, pitcher Marco Gonzales, and first baseman Evan White to the Atlanta Braves for right-handed pitchers Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips. Read the rest of this entry »

Up in Seattle, the Mariners had a problem. Eugenio Suárez, who the team initially acquired as salary ballast in the trade that brought them Jesse Winker, was due to make $11 million next year – $13 million if you count a buyout on a team option for 2025. This wasn’t a huge problem – Suárez had been solid since joining the team, racking up 7.3 WAR in two seasons – but for a club whose payroll has bounced around between $110 million and $140 million in recent years, it’s a sizable chunk of the puzzle.

What’s more, Jerry Dipoto telegraphed the team’s intention to favor long-term budget sustainability over short-term upgrades in his now-infamous 54% remark. Dipoto apologized for the tone of those comments – “doing the fans a favor” is just not a good way to phrase things – but the broad point was hard to miss. The Mariners are committed to building their team for the long run on their own terms, which seems to mean prioritizing payroll savings and cost-controlled players wherever possible. Read the rest of this entry »

For the second time this calendar year, Luis Urías has been traded in a one-for-one swap for a right-handed pitcher from the 2019 draft class. This time, it’s the Mariners hoping to help the former top prospect turn things around and rediscover the skills that made him an above-average contributor in 2021 and ’22. In exchange, they’re sending 26-year-old Isaiah Campbell to the Red Sox. The righty reliever made 27 appearances for Seattle this past season.

Urías was a highly-touted prospect in the Padres organization in the mid-2010s, but after a slow start to his major league career (an 80 wRC+ and 10 errors in 83 games), San Diego shipped him off to Milwaukee for a change of scenery in November 2019, picking up Trent Grisham in the process. It was with the Brewers that Urías finally broke out; after another poor performance in 2020, he posted a 111 wRC+ and 4.4 WAR across 269 games in 2021 and ‘22. Thus, even with Willy Adames locked in at shortstop, middle infield prospect Brice Turang knocking on the big league door, and veteran third baseman Brian Anderson joining the fray in free agency, Urías looked like a key piece of the team’s future. His glove didn’t stand out at any one position, but he could hold his own at second, third, and short, allowing the Brewers to plug him in all around the infield.

Urías was Milwaukee’s Opening Day third baseman in 2023, but unfortunately, a hamstring injury kept him off the field for all of April and May. He returned to a more crowded infield picture in June: Owen Miller had been red-hot over the past month, Andruw Monasterio was hitting well in his first week of big league action, and Anderson still boasted a 102 wRC+ on the season despite having slowed down after a strong start. Moreover, Turang was struggling but still needed regular playing time if the Brewers were going to keep him in the majors, and Adames was nearing his return from a short stint on the 10-day IL. Urías stumbled that month, going just 8-for-51 with three extra-base hits, and the Brewers – who, at that time, were still in a close division race – had little patience for his struggles. He was optioned at the end of the month in favor of Turang, who was hitting well at Triple-A after a brief demotion of his own.

Ultimately, that would mark the end of the road for Urías in Milwaukee. Seemingly lacking optimism that he could return to form at the big league level, the Brewers flipped him to the Red Sox at the deadline in exchange for 22-year-old
pitching prospect Bradley Blalock. Things got better in Boston, as one could’ve expected. Not only was Urías further removed from his hamstring injury, but his .179 BABIP with the Brewers was bound to improve. He never got back to his peak from 2021 to ‘22, but he posted a 98 wRC+ with the Red Sox over the final two months of the season.

With that in mind, it’s somewhat surprising to see Boston give up on Urías so quickly. After his poor performance in 2023, he isn’t going to earn a sizable raise in arbitration; the projections at MLB Trade Rumors suggests he’ll earn the exact same $4.7 million salary in 2024. Even if he never reaches his full potential, a versatile infielder who can provide league-average production with the bat is a valuable player to have on the roster. Consider Whit Merrifield and Amed Rosario, whom our contract crowdsourcing estimates have earning two-year deals worth $16 million and $18 million, respectively. To that end, it’s not as if the Red Sox are overflowing with infield talent, nor is the free agent market. Rafael Devers has third base on lock, and Trevor Story should be the starting shortstop, but second base remains a question mark. Boston has internal options, but none with the experience or high ceiling of Urías.

It’s certainly possible the Red Sox are planning to pursue Rosario, Merrifield, or Tim Anderson, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has already spoken about the internal options, and it looks like Enmanuel Valdez is likely to be the starting second baseman on Opening Day. Valdez hit for a 102 wRC+ in 49 games last season, playing second base and a sprinkle of shortstop, and presumably, the Sox think they can get similar production to Urías at a pre-arbitration salary. Veteran utilityman Pablo Reyes (another former Brewer) and speedy shortstop prospect David Hamilton figure to get some reps at the keystone as well, especially the right-handed Reyes, who could serve as the short side of a platoon with the lefty-batting Valdez.

If the Red Sox have faith in Valdez (or a plan to sign an upgrade), this isn’t a bad move. After all, while Urías is only a year removed from a 110 wRC+, there are reasons to be concerned about his bat. His best skill is his plate discipline; from 2021-22, he posted a walk rate 23% higher than league average and a strikeout rate 9% lower than the average hitter. His 0.53 walk-to-strikeout ratio ranked among the top 20 qualified hitters in the National League. Strangely enough, his 11.9% walk rate in 2023 was actually a career high, but it’s difficult to imagine that the way he got there was sustainable. While Urías swung significantly less often in 2023, he was far more likely to swing at pitches outside the strike zone. As a result, he posted a career-high called strike rate and a career-high whiff rate. By and large, hitters should keep the bat on their shoulders more often, but if a hitter is going to be selective, he has to be selective in the right way. Moreover, his slightly above-average power fell off too, and even if you want to blame it all on his injury (he hit the ball harder as the year went on), Urías has developed something of a reputation as an injury-prone player. Over the last two years, he has gone on the IL with strains to his hamstring, calf, and quad.

What’s more, it’s not as if the Red Sox gave up Urías for nothing. Seattle has developed a stable of talented pitchers in recent years, and Campbell was only expendable because the Mariners are so confident in their pitching depth. Indeed, Campbell, the first big league player born in Portugal since Frank Thompson of the original Washington Nationals, put up promising numbers in 2023, pitching well enough at Double-A to earn the call to join one of baseball’s best bullpens in July. Although his career got off to a slow start due to the lost 2020 season and an elbow surgery in 2021, the righty quickly established himself as a legitimate big league bullpen arm after pitching to a 1.57 ERA and 3.04 FIP over the last two minor league seasons. His pitches are a little difficult to classify; what Pitch Info calls his slider, Baseball Savant calls a sweeper, and what Baseball Savant calls a slider, Pitch Info calls a cutter. Regardless of what you call it, however, his cutter/slider is a true weapon. He threw it about 38% of the time in 2023, holding big league batters to a .139 wOBA and .217 xwOBA. The pitch modeling systems agree that it’s a plus pitch, and combined with his high-spinning four-seam fastball, which sits 95 and tops out at 97.4 mph, Campbell has what it takes to hold down a spot in Boston’s bullpen. The Red Sox have some solid arms at the back end of their ‘pen, but they need depth, and this move helps to accomplish that goal.

As for the Mariners, they certainly didn’t need Urías – they already have a pair of right-handed utility infielders in José Caballero and Dylan Moore – but it’s clear that Seattle likes versatility and reclamation projects. Their 40-man roster already features several utility men, including Caballero, Moore, and Sam Haggerty, and Jerry Dipoto is no stranger to shopping for bounce-back candidates. Several players to get meaningful playing time in recent years have been in this middling bat/versatile glove mold, including Abraham Toro and Josh Rojas, who is penciled in for starting second base duty in 2024.

Those names might not inspire a ton of confidence, but still, the appeal of a player like Urías is clear. Besides, as the Mariners discovered this season, the safe choice isn’t always so safe – just look at how the Kolten Wong trade worked out. With that in mind, it’s no surprise Dipoto went in the opposite direction this time around. In fact, this could work out quite well for the Mariners, as long as they treat it like the gamble it is. Evidently, the Red Sox weren’t willing to risk a mere $5 million on Urías, and the Mariners could reap the rewards of spending a little extra cash to take him on. Besides, even if Urías isn’t anything more than a league-average bat and the weak side of a second base platoon, he isn’t a bad pickup, given the dearth of middle infield options on the free agent market.

That said, it’s worth stressing that while this might be a productive gamble, it’s certainly not the offensive upgrade the Mariners need to compete with the Astros and Rangers in the AL West. It remains to be seen if this trade is a sign of the Mariners flexing some financial muscle by scooping up a player another team didn’t want to pay or if it indicates that Dipoto plans to spend another offseason shopping in the bargain bin instead of pursuing more expensive options. Seattle could really benefit from adding a corner outfield/DH bat in free agency, and they have the payroll space to do so (they’re about $35 million below last year’s luxury tax payroll), but this front office has never spent big on a free agent position player before.

The Mariners are taking on the uncertainty in this trade, but ultimately, it’s the Red Sox who are taking a bigger risk. Boston, a team with no clear answer at second base, gave up a young, cost-controlled infielder who was a two-plus win player as recently as 2022. If Urías bounces back with the Mariners, Breslow could end up looking foolish in his very first trade as CBO.

Over the past 10 years, Urías has gone from unheralded international signing, to top prospect, to big league bust, to breakout hitter, to reclamation project. This is already the third time he’s been traded in his big league career. With that in mind, it can be hard to remember that he’s still young; Urías won’t turn 27 until next June. Indeed, he’s younger than NL Rookie of the Year finalist James Outman. In other words, he still has time on his side. His days as a top prospect are far behind him, but his top prospect potential hasn’t disappeared, and the Mariners will hope to help him reach that ceiling in 2024.

This week’s 40-man roster deadline was less eventful than usual (we only had one trade on deadline day), but as always, a number of young players became big leaguers in a certain sense, and teams had no choice but to indicate what they think of lots of fringe prospects who they either did or did not choose to roster. This day of clerical activity is the culmination of the efforts of the players themselves, the people in player development who have helped turn them into big leaguers, and the scouting and decision-making portions of each org that put their stamp of approval on the prospects. Is any one move here as impactful as signing a Yoshinobu Yamamoto or a Matt Chapman? No, but when your favorite team experiences a rash of injuries in June, whether or not they have the depth to scrap and compete is often dictated by the people and processes that surround this day. I’m more focused on analyzing roster depth, fit and flexibility in this space than on scouting players (especially when they’re star prospects you already know well). I’ll have a separate post on the National League. Read the rest of this entry »

This post is part of a series covering the 2024 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Managers/Executives/Umpires ballot, covering candidates in those categories who made their greatest impact from 1980 to the present. For an introduction to the ballot, see here. The eight candidates will be voted upon at the Winter Meetings in Nashville on December 3, and anyone receiving at least 75% of the vote from the 16 committee members will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 21, 2024 along with any candidates elected by the BBWAA.

Lou Piniella

Lou Piniella spent even more years managing in the majors (23, between 1986 and 2010) than he did playing the outfield (18, between 1964 and ’84). To both, “Sweet Lou” brought a flair for the dramatic and a fiery intensity — his dust-kicking, hat-stomping, base-throwing tirades became the stuff of legend — as well as tremendous baseball acumen. Like fellow Contemporary Baseball candidate Davey Johnson, he won championships in both phases of his career, but his failure even to reach the World Series a second time as a manager cast a long shadow on every successive stop. Unlike Johnson, however, he came close to election, missing by just one vote on the 2019 Today’s Game Era Committee ballot from which Harold Baines and Lee Smith were elected. Read the rest of this entry »

As the professional baseball career of Nelson Cruz flashes before my eyes, no single image emerges to define his legacy. He served as a leader in the clubhouse, was devoted to off-the-field humanitarian efforts, proudly represented his Dominican homeland, consistently hit the baseball so hard that he earned the nickname Boomstick, and did all of it at a high level for more years than any aging curve would have dared to predict.

Last week, after 19 seasons in majors, Cruz announced his retirement on The Adam Jones Podcast. He also addressed the second-most important topic pertaining to his career: the origin of his nickname. Back in 2009, while playing as himself in a video game for some sort of promo event, Cruz hit a home run and referred to his bat as the Boomstick. The name circulated amongst fans and stuck. Read the rest of this entry »

On Wednesday night, the Rangers scratched their names off of one of baseball’s most undesirable lists: the franchises that had never in their history won a World Series. Major League Baseball is known for its historical championship parity; the sport’s 23 seasons without a repeat champion is the longest streak in the four major American sports leagues, and the Rangers became the ninth unique World Series champion in the last 10 years. But heading into Wednesday’s Game 5, six of the 30 MLB clubs — a full 20% — had never reached the promised land. On Thursday morning, it was down to five: the Brewers, Padres, Mariners, Rockies, and Rays. With the Rangers happy to leave that club, who should we expect to be the next to follow?

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re not a Mariners fan — or even if you are — there is a pretty decent chance you don’t know that Gabe Speier, along with Toronto’s Tim Mayza, made the most appearances among junior-circuit southpaws during the regular season. And not only did Speier come out of the Seattle bullpen 69 times, he performed admirably far more often than not. The 28-year-old nephew of former big-league infielder Chris Speier logged a 3.79 ERA and a 3.35 FIP with 64 strikeouts and just 48 hits allowed in 54-and-two-thirds innings.

This isn’t his first appearance in Sunday Notes. Back in August 2015, I quoted the then-20-year-old shortly after he’d been traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Detroit Tigers as part of the Rick Porcello–Yoenis Cespedes deal. I asked the itinerant hurler — the Mariners are his sixth organization — how he’d describe his path from late-round draft pick to reliable big-league reliever.

“It’s been crazy,” replied Speier., whom Boston took in the 19th round of the 2013 draft out of Goleta, California’s Dos Pueblos High School. “My path has included being traded many times, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve made a lot of friends in every organization I’ve been in, and I’ve learned a lot from many different coaches. Seattle was another fresh start for me, and I feel like I’m a good spot here.”

Speier came into into the season having made 41 big-league appearances, all with the Kansas City Royals from 2019-2022. He put up decent numbers in that four-year span— a 3.83 ERA and a 4.23 FIP over 40 innings — but that was while shuttling between KC and Triple-A Omaha. By and large, the 5-11 lefty was a 4-A reliever without a firm foothold in MLB relevancy.

When we spoke this summer, I asked Speier what’s behind his newfound success.

“A lot of it is them telling me my stuff is big-league stuff and that I just need to throw it in the zone,” was his reply. “I know that’s Pitching 101, but while it was always in the back of my mind that I needed to get ahead of hitters, and stay ahead, the Mariners put it in the forefront of my mind. That’s been the main goal since I got here. It’s kind of become my main identity, that I’m going to pound the zone.”

The numbers show that he did just that. Speier issued just 1.81 walks per nine innings, fourth lowest among relievers who threw at least 50 innings. And he wasn’t exactly tossing cookies over the middle. His 10.54 strikeouts per nine innings were higher than the three pitchers who finished in front of him for walk rate.

Throwing strikes is obviously a big part of Pitching 101 — it always has been, and always will be — but at the same time, this is 2023 and the Mariners are an analytically-inclined organization. One would expect that they had more ideas up their proverbial sleeves when they brought Speier on board. According to the November 2022 waiver-wire acquisition, that’s not necessarily true.

“I had never been with an organization where the analytics were a main part, so I was kind of expecting them to be like, ‘Oh, if you change your grip here you can get more movement,’ or whatever,” said Speier. “But that wasn’t the case. They basically just told me that my stuff was already good, so I just needed to throw it in the zone. The way I’m going about that is by creating a bigger target instead of trying to be perfect. There is location involved — I’m not trying to just throw it down the middle — but instead of picking corners, I’m kind of picking thirds.”

He’s also been pitching effectively in the big leagues. As recently as a year ago, he wasn’t sure another opportunity to do so was in the cards.

“I got sent down last [June] and really struggled in Triple-A,” said Speier, whose numbers with Omaha included an ugly 14.51 ERA over 30 appearances. “I didn’t know if I was going to make it back to the big leagues. Thankfully the Mariners picked me up and gave me a shot. Like I said, it’s kind of been a crazy path.”

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Hank Aaron went 5 for 6 against Carroll Sembera.

Carroll Hardy went 8 for 18 against Joe Nuxhall.

Corbin Carroll is 6 for 11 against Yu Darvish.

Jamey Carroll went 6 for 10 against Will Smith.

Baby Doll Jacobson went 6 for 10 against Ownie Carroll.

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Asked in late August about pennant races, Dusty Baker said that while he watches the scoreboard and roots for certain teams, what happens in other games is beyond your control — all you can do is try to play good consistent baseball and see who comes out on top. In the same sit-down with reporters, the 74-year-old veteran of 26 managerial seasons brought up how he’d been in pennant races as a young manager. I asked him if he approaches things any differently now.

“No,” replied Baker, whose Houston Astros went on to capture the AL West title on the final day of the season and are now on the doorstep of the World Series. “It’s the same. A race is a race. Anybody ever ran a race, anybody ever ran track, [knows] a race is a race. You just do what you can do. As a young manager, like I said, my first year [1993 with the San Francisco Giants] was exciting. You’re extremely tired in a race like this, emotionally tired. You’re just hoping to find the most energy, the most consistent energy… I like a good fight.”

Following up, I asked Baker if the excitement is any different now that he’s experienced it so many times over the years. His answer was classic Dusty.

“Nah,” said Baker, who won a World Series as an outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981, and [finally] his first as a manager with the Astros last year. “I like to win. I’m spoiled by winning. It’s no different now than when I was a kid. That’s why I asked to be traded from the Braves as a young player: I was tired of losing. It was the same way when I was playing Cowboys and Indians. I wanted to be the Native Americans, because I was tired of watching TV and seeing the Indians lose all the time. I’m serious.”

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A quiz:

Who holds the record for most home runs by a player who spent his entire big-league career with only one team?

The answer can be found below.

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NEWS NOTES

Jin Wong, who has been with the organization for two-plus decades, most recently as an VP of Baseball Administration/Assistant GM, is reportedly leaving the Kansas City Royals. Wong has served multiple roles since coming to KC in 2020.

Mike McCarthy won’t be returning to the Oakland Athletics coaching staff next season. The 35-year-old, analytically-inclined instructor — interviewed about his craft here at FanGraphs in August 2022 — was the club’s bullpen coach this past season.

The Tampa Bay Rays have promoted Blake Butera to Senior Director of Player Development. The 31-year-old Boston College product has been a minor-league player, coach, manager, and assistant field coordinator in the organization.

Jeff Peterek, a right-handed pitcher whose big-league career comprised seven appearances for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1989, died last weekend at age 60. The Michigan City, Indiana native went 0-2 with a 4.02 ERA.

Bob Priddy, who pitched for six big-league teams from 1962-1971, died in late September at age 83 (per Baseball Player Passings). A right-hander who posted a 4.00 ERA over 536 innings, he recorded nine of his 24 wins, and 12 of his 18 saves, with the Atlanta Braves.

Pete Ladd, a right-handed reliever who logged 17 wins and 39 saves while playing for six big-league teams from 1979-1986, died earlier this week at age 67. The Portland, Maine native had 25 of his saves with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1983. He made one appearance in the 1982 World Series.

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The answer to the quiz is Mike Schmidt, who hit 548 home runs while playing exclusively with the Philadelphia Phillies. Mickey Mantle (536 with the New York Yankees) and Ted Williams (521 with the Boston Red Sox) have the next highest one-team-only totals.

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Which former manager is more worthy of the Hall of Fame, Jim Leyland or Lou Piniella? I posed that question in a Twitter poll a few days ago, and the result wasn’t nearly as close as I’d expected it to be. More on that in a moment.

Both are the on the recently-announced, eight-person, 2024 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Managers/Executives/Umpires ballot, which my colleague Jay Jaffe broke down earlier this week. There are two other managers on the ballot as well, but while Cito Gaston and Davey Johnson are likewise solid candidates, Leyland and Piniella having the most managerial wins among the foursome made them a logical poll matchup. Counting the postseason, those totals are Piniella 1,858, Leyland 1,813, Johnson 1,397, Gaston 912.

More than raw win totals matter when assessing a managerial career, and it bears noting that Gaston has two World Series championships on his resume (and was the first Black manager to win a Fall Classic) while the others have just one. Again, both he and Johnson are likewise strong candidates.

As for the poll, Leyland received a hefty 74.9% percent of the votes cast, while Piniella garnered just 25.1%. What that might mean when the official votes are tabulated on December 3 during the Winter Meetings is anyone’s guess.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Hanshin Tigers will face the Orix Buffaloes in NPB’s championship series, which begins next weekend. The Tigers, which had the Central League’s best record, beat the Hiroshima Carp to advance. The Buffaloes, which boasted the Pacific League’s best record and will be looking to defend their title, beat the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Kazuma Okamoto led NPB players in home runs this year with 41. The 27-year-old Yomiuri Giants third baseman/first baseman slashed .278/.374/.585.

The NC Dinos defeated the Doosan Bears 14-9 in the KBO’s wildcard game. Ho-cheol Seo went 3-for-4 with a home run and six RBIs for the winners, who go on to face SSG Landers in the next round beginning today.

Si-hwan Roh led KBO players in home runs this year with 31. The 22-year-old Hanwha Eagles third baseman slashed .298/.388/.541.

Samad Taylor has nine hits in 29 at-bats for the Mexican Pacific Winter League’s Yaquis de Obregon. The 25-year-old infielder/outfielder made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in June and logged a dozen hits in 60 at-bats.

Derrick Loop has made three scoreless relief appearances for Charros de Jalisco. The oldest pitcher in the Mexican Pacific Winter League at age 39, the southpaw is in his 18th professional season, including six in affiliated ball stateside. Loop led Sunday Notes on October 16, 2016.

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Bobby Scales joined the Detroit Tigers radio team as a part-time analyst this past season, working alongside esteemed play-by-play voice Dan Dickerson for a selection of road games. Before entering the broadcast booth, the 40-year-old University of Michigan product played professionally for 14 seasons — including parts of two with the Chicago Cubs — and he also spent time in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s front office. It was during his tenure as the team’s director of player of development that he gave an opportunity to an independent-league pitcher who two years earlier had gone un-drafted out of Ohio State University.

“We needed pitching really bad at the lower levels;” Scales said of the 2013 signing. “I had an intern named Andrew Mack — I think he’s with the Red Sox now — and I asked him to put together a spreadsheet of guys who were leading indie ball in all of these different categories. From there we saw that Drew Rucinski was punching everybody out, so we started asking, ‘How is he doing it?’ We had a rudimentary scouting stuff in place for indie ball when I was with the Angels, the reports were good, and I saw a little bit of tape.

“He was with the Rockford Aviators,” continued Scales. “I talked to his manager, and from there I pulled the trigger. I signed Rucinski on a Tuesday, he flew out on Wednesday and did a little knock-the-rust-off touch and feel when he got on the ground, and then we started him on Friday. This was in A-ball with Inland Empire. He punched out seven or eight, and from there he just kept getting better.”

The following year, Rucinski was promoted to Double-A Arkansas where he went 10-6 with a 3.15 ERA in 26 starts. In July of that season, Scales got a call from Jerry Dipoto, who was the Angels’ GM at the time. The big-league club needed another arm in the bullpen, and what could he give him on Rucinski? A few days later, the righty out of indie ball made his MLB debut.

Nine years later, Rucinski’s resume includes 45 big-league games, 159 more in the minors, and (from 2019-2022) another 121 with the KBO’s NC Dinos. He made four starts this year with the Oakland Athletics before undergoing season-ending back surgery in July.

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FARM NOTES

Chase Petty had a 1.72 ERA and a 2.32 FIP between High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga. The 20-year-old right-hander in the Cincinnati Reds organization logged 66 strikeouts and allowed 63 hits in 68 innings. His FIP was the lowest among minor-league pitchers who threw at least 60 innings.

Enniel Cortez went 4-1 with a 1.58 ERA and a 2.64 FIP in the Dominican Summer League. The 17-year-old right-hander in the Milwaukee Brewers organization had 49 strikeouts and walked just five batters in 45-and-two-thirds innings. Cortez was signed out of Tola, Nicaragua in January.

James Triantos is 22-for-51 with three doubles, four triples, and two home runs for the Arizona Fall League’s Mesa Solar Sox. A second-round pick in 2021 out of Vienna, Virginia’s James Madison High School, the 20-year-old infielder in the Chicago Cubs system slashed .285/.363/.390 at High-A Sound Bend this season.

Carson Williams is 14-for-48 with two doubles for the Arizona Fall League’s Peoria Javelinas. Drafted 28th-overall by the Tampa Bay Rays out of San Diego’s Torrey Pines High School. the 20-year-old shortstop slashed .254/.351/.506 with 23 home runs for High-A Bowling Green.

Braden Nett has 16 strikeouts, and has allowed six hits and two runs in 13 innings, with the Javelinas. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the San Diego Padres in 2022, the 21-year-old Troy, Missouri native had a 4.46 ERA over 40-and-a-third innings this year between the Arizona Complex League and Low-A Lake Elsinore.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

At NW Baseball History, Amanda Lane Cumming wrote about how baseball games lasting too long is an opinion that dates back more than a century.

Trevor May lambasted understandably-abhorred Oakland A’s owner John Fisher while announcing his retirement earlier this week. Michael Nowels has the story at The Mercury News.

A Washington DC intersection is set to be renamed for Mamie “Peanut” Jackson, a two-way player with the Indianapolis Clowns who was the first female pitcher in the Negro Leagues. Stacy Jackson has the story at Black Enterprise.

MLB.com’s Mandy Bell had some pointed questions for Cleveland Guardians front office decision-makers Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff.

The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli wrote about how Kim Ng was a reluctant trailblazer, and why her Miami Marlins exit makes her even more impressive (subscription required).

The Fielding Bible has a sortable leaderboard for Defensive Runs Saved.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

George Frazier made three relief appearances for the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1981 World Series and was charged with a loss in all three, including the Game 5 clincher. The title was LA’s first since 1965 when they beat the Minnesota Twins in seven games, a Series in which every winning pitcher hurled a complete game.

Stan Musial had 24 hits, 25 walks, and one strikeout in 103 plate appearances against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944.

Jigger Statz recorded 4,093 professional hits in a career that spanned the 1919-1942 seasons. Born Arnold John Statz in Waukegan, Illinois, the outfielder logged 536 hits with the Chicago Cubs, 179 with the Brooklyn Robins, 22 with the New York Giants, and 3,356 with the Pacific Coast League’s Los Angeles Angels.

Minnie Minoso slashed .339/.405/.539 with 40 doubles, 10 triples, and 20 home runs for the Pacific Coast League’s San Diego Padres in 1950. The PCL played a 200-game season that year with the Padres finishing 114-86, four games behind the pennant-winning Oakland Oaks. The San Francisco Seals finished 100-100.

Barry Bonds slashed .359/.526/.821 with 22 home runs in 255 career plate appearances versus the Milwaukee Brewers.

The San Francisco Giants traded Bobby Bonds to the New York Yankees in exchange for Bobby Murcer on today’s in 1974. Bonds, who was subsequently traded five more times in as many years, had 32 home runs and a 151 wRC+ in his lone season with the Yankees. Murcer hit 34 home runs with a 126 wRC+ over his two seasons with the Giants.

The Oakland Athletics beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 in Game 7 of the World Series on today’s date in 1972. Gene Tenace, who homered four times in the series, had a run-scoring single in the first inning and a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning.

On today’s date in 2011, Albert Pujols homered three times to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 16-7 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 3 of the World Series. Each of the bombs came from the sixth inning on.

Players born on today’s date include Wilbur Wood, a knuckleballer who averaged 22 wins and 348 innings pitched with the Chicago White Sox from 1971-1974. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-born southpaw had averaged 80 appearances, 11 wins, and 17 saves working out of the ChiSox bullpen the previous three seasons.

Also born on today’s date was Chick Lathers, an infielder who saw action in 70 games for the Detroit Tigers between the 1910 and 1911 seasons. A native of Dearborn, Michigan, Charles Ten Eyck Lathers recorded the first of his 29 big-league hits off of White Sox Hall of Fame right-hander “Big Ed” Walsh.

Ryan Noda was a 22-year-old Toronto Blue Jays prospect coming off his first full professional season when he led Sunday Notes on December 15, 2018. Drafted in the 15th round out of the University of Cincinnati a year earlier, Noda had logged 20 home runs and a .421 OBP with then-Low-A Lansing, prompting me to compare him to former Bearcat Kevin Youkilis. With the caveat “I’m not close to being in his class,” he told me that he modeled his game after Joey Votto.

Five years and two organizations later, Noda is now a big-leaguer himself. Selected by the Oakland Athletics out of the Los Angeles Dodgers system in last winter’s Rule 5 draft, the left-handed-hitting first baseman proceeded to put up solid numbers with MLB’s worst-performing club. In 495 plate appearances, Noda logged a team-best .364 OBP and slugged 16 home runs with a 123 wRC+.

“I don’t mind those two comps at all,” Noda replied when I reminded him of our bygone conversation. “I certainly wouldn’t mind having either of their careers, either.”

It’s probably safe to say that Noda won’t go on to match, or even approximate, what Votto has accomplished over his storied career. Channeling Youkilis, who was 27 years old — Noda’s current age — when he established himself as a big-league regular could be another story. The erstwhile corner infielder averaged 20 home runs with a .385 OBP and a 127 wRC+ in his seven-season prime.

Stylistically speaking — Youkilis being a righty aside — would he comp himself more to one than the other?

“Not really,” said Noda. “But I do take both of them into account with how I go about hitting. I’m trying to get a pitch to drive and from there hopefully driving it. In this game, patience is important — and not just at the plate. It’s a long season, and if you can stick to what you do best, even when you’re going bad, you can be successful.”

Noda and I were at Fenway Park when he spoke those words, which brought to mind yet another comp. I asked him how familiar he is with 23-year-old Red Sox rookie Triston Casas.

“Not too much,” Noda responded. “I know he’s a good ballplayer and that he can swing it well. It will be interesting to see him play over the years and watch how similar we maybe are. But again, I don’t know too much about him.”

Casas had a 13.9% walk rate to go with 24 home runs and 129 wRC+ in 502 plate appearances this season. Noda had a 15.6% walk rate to go with his aforementioned 16 home runs and 123 wRC+ over 495 plate appearances. With the caveat that Casas is three years younger and has a first-round pedigree — Boston drafted him 26th-overall in 2018 — there are definitely some similarities. If Casas goes on to meet expectations, Noda wouldn’t mind having his career either.

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Bryce Harper is 20 for 49 against Julio Teheran.

Brian Harper went 18 for 44 against Dave Stewart.

Tommy Harper went 21 for 56 against Dave McNally.

Terry Harper went 11 for 18 against Bruce Ruffin.

George Harper went 32 for 71 against Grover Cleveland Alexander.

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Left on the cutting-room floor from Thursday’s interview with former Seattle Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara were his reflections on the club’s fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft. With the 131st-overall selection, Seattle took a third baseman whose collegiate career comprised all of 51 games and 229 plate appearances.

“We needed a senior, because we’d spent money,” McNamara told me. “Patrick Kivlehan was a safety on the Rutgers football team. He played both baseball and football. The amazing story about Kivlehan is that he didn’t play college baseball for his first three years. I remember flying in and talking to the coach at Rutgers. I asked him, ‘How did he make the team?’ He said, ‘He asked if he could try out for the team. I told him we had a spot, but he was probably never going to play.’ Well, what happened is that Rutgers’ third baseman tore a hamstring and Kivlehan ended up playing third base and almost winning the Triple Crown in the Big East. We took him in the fourth round and he got to the big leagues. He played with Arizona and Cincinnati, and I think San Diego.”

The Mariners traded Kivlehan to the Texas Rangers in December 2015 as part of a five-player deal, reacquired him six months later in exchange for Justin De Fratus, then released him in early August. The Padres picked him up, and Kivlehan made his MLB debut a few weeks later. He went to log a 84 wRC+ over 250 plate appearances in what was ultimately a modest big-league career.

The player taken one pick after Kivlehan has had a notable career that took awhile to get off the ground. The Baltimore Orioles selected Christian Walker 132nd overall out of the University of South Carolina, only to place him on waivers five years later after 31 nondescript big-league plate appearances. Then came a four-week rollercoaster that eventually landed the slugging first baseman in his current home. The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds both claimed, but then waived, Walker before the Arizona Diamondbacks inked him to a contract on the eve of the 2017 season. The rest is history. Hitting in the middle of the D-Backs lineup, Walker has 69 home runs and a 122 wRC+ over the past two seasons.

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A quiz:

Which pitcher holds the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise record for strikeouts in a single season? (A hint: he also has the franchise’s second-highest single-season strikeout total.)

The answer can be found below.

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NEWS NOTES

Brad Ciolek, who has been serving as Baltimore’s director of draft operations, is leaving the organization and will be joining the Washington Nationals. Ciolek has overseen the last five Orioles drafts, which include the selections of Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad, and Adley Rutschman,

Toronto Blue Jays coach Luis Rivera has decided to retire. The 59-year-old former big-league infielder had coached and managed in the Jays system since 2010.

Casey Cox, who pitched for the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers from 1966-1972, and then briefly for the New York Yankees, died earlier this month at age 82 (per Baseball Player Passings). The right-hander’s best season came in 1969 when he went 12-7 with a 2.78 ERA.

SABR’s Larry Dierker chapter will hold a dual in-person/Zoom meeting tomorrow (Monday October 16) beginning at 7pm with former Astros announcer Bill Brown the guest speaker. More information can be found here.

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The answer to the quiz is Bob Veale, with 276 strikeouts in 1965. A year earlier, the hard-throwing southpaw logged an NL-best 250 strikeouts, the second-highest total in Pirates franchise history.

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The Houston Astros advancing to their seventh consecutive LCS ranks right up there with the 1990s Atlanta Braves and multiple decades of New York Yankees American League supremacy. The grownup sons of the expansion Colt .45s are eight wins away from a third World Series title since 2017.

The Brooklyn Dodgers deserve some love here. Shortly before being relocated to Los Angeles in 1958, “Dem Bums” reached the World Series five times from 1949-1956. and their win totals in the three years they fell just short were 89, 97, and 92 (in what was then a 154-game-schedule). The winningest of those not-quite seasons was famously painful — Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard ‘Round the World capping a four-run bottom of the ninth inning for the New York Giants. Four years after that soul-crushing 1951 defeat, Brooklyn won its only World Series by beating the Yankees in seven games. Johnny Podres was on the mound for the 2-0 clincher, while Gil Hodges drove in both runs.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NPB’s postseason got underway on Saturday with the Chiba Lotte Marines beating the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 8-2. Twenty-one-year-old wunderkind Roki Sasaki threw three scoreless innings for the winning side, while 2018 Atlanta Braves first-round pick Carter Stewart was tagged with the loss.

NPB’s other first-stage contest saw the Hiroshima Carp edge past the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 3-2 in 11 innings with a pair of former MLB pitchers getting the decisions. Nik Turley was credited with the win, while J.B. Wendelken was tagged with the loss. Game 2 of each best-of-five, first-stage matchups are today.

Update: Hiroshima defeated DeNA 4-2 and will go on to play the Central League champion Hanshin Tigers in the next round. SoftBank beat Chiba Lotte 3-1, setting up a deciding Game 3 to determine who goes up against the Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes.

Yuki Matsui, who will reportedly be exercising his international free agent rights this offseason, made his 500th NPB appearance in his final game of the regular season The 27-year-old Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles southpaw had 39 saves and a 1.60 ERA this year.

Seunghwan Oh recorded his 400th KBO save, and his 522nd professionally, on Saturday. The 36-year-old Samsung Lions right-hander’s resume includes 80 saves in NPB and 42 more in MLB.

Erick Fedde went 20-6 with a 2.06 ERA for the KBO’s NC Dinos. The 30-year-old former Washington National right-hander had 204 strikeouts and 134 hits allowed in 174-and-two-thirds innings.

Dong Ju Moon went 8-8 with a 3.72 ERA over 118-and-two-thirds innings for the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles. The 19-year-old right-hander went six scoreless in his last start of the season.

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Dixie Howell holds three obscure big-league records. Per his B-Ref bio page, the Harold, Kentucky native is the last relief pitcher to hit two home runs in the same game, having done so with the Chicago White Sox on June 16, 1957. Moreover, all five hits he had that season — a double, a triple, and three home runs — went for extra bases (Rick Wrona subsequently tied Howell’s most-hits-sans-a-single record in 1994 while playing with the Milwaukee Brewers). Howell also holds the record for the longest time between when he first pitched in the majors and when he got his first victory. He made his MLB debut in 1940 and wasn’t credited with a win until 1955.

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FARM NOTES

Alexander Albertus slashed .310/.471/.468 with five home runs and a 152 wRC+ in 170 plate appearances between the Dominican Summer League and the Arizona Complex League. A native of Oranjestad, Aruba, the 18-year-old infielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization drew 38 walks and fanned just 19 times.

Cesar Quintas had a .516 BABIP in 168 plate appearances with Giants Orange, one of two San Francisco entries in the Arizona Complex League. The 20-year-old outfielder fromValencia, Venezuela slashed .372/.506/.473 with one home run and a 159 wRC+.

Jakob Marsee has 19 hits, including nine for extra bases, in 38 at-bats for the Arizona Fall League’s Peoria Javelinas. The 22-year-old outfielder in the San Diego Padres system slashed .274/.413/.428 with 16 home runs this year between High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio. Marsee is a former Central Michigan University Chippewa.

Carter Howell has seven hits, including a triple and a pair of home runs, in 21 at-bats with the Arizona Fall League’s Scottsdale Scorpions. The 24-year-old Fargo, North Dakota-born outfielder in the San Francisco Giants system swatted 10 taters and had a .295/.369/.442 slash line between Low-A San Jose and High-A Eugene.

Liam Hicks is 16-for-28, including four doubles, for the Arizona Fall League’s Surprise Saguaros. The 24-year-old, Toronto, Ontario-born catcher in the Texas Rangers organization slashed .275/.414/.373 with four home runs between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco.

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The following paragraph is included in Jonathan Mayo’s Smart, Wrong, and Lucky: The Origin Stories of Baseball’s Unexpected Stars:

“It begs the question, of course. If the Padres area scout and regional crosschecker had him in as a second rounder, if a national crosschecker saw him, if the the scouting director came in to see a private workout, all of which occurred according to Campbell, how on earth did Mookie Betts become a San Diego Padre?”

Betts, as has been well chronicled, lasted until the fifth round of the 2011 draft when he was taken by the Boston Red Sox with the 172nd-overall pick. The Padres, who had the 173rd pick that year, had taken eight players earlier in the draft, including four supplemental first-round selections. None of them have come close to matching Betts’s accomplishments.

Mayo addresses that part of the backstory, as well as how Betts ultimately landed in Boston, in his must-read book.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

MLB.com’s Michael Clair wrote about how power-hitting Japanese high school phenom Rintaro Sasaki will reportedly bypass the NPB draft and, with MLB in mind, instead attend college in the United States.

Dan Connolly offered some observations from the Orioles’ postseason press conference, and opined on the Mike Elias-Brandon Hyde partnership, at Baltimore’s WHAR.

True Blue LA’s Eric Stephen wonders if Clayton Kershaw has thrown his last pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Covering the Corner’s Matt Dallas looked back at the 1949 Cleveland Indians, who failed to defend a World Series championship. More than seven decades later, the fanbase awaits its first title since 1948.

Over at Bless You Boys, Patrick O’Kennedy gave us an offseason calendar covering not only the Detroit Tigers, but also MLB as a whole. From the GM Meetings to the non-tender deadline to the Rule 5 draft, it’s all here.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

Including the postseason, NLCS managers Torey Lovullo and Rob Thomson have a combined 672 managerial wins. ALCS managers Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy have a combined 4,379 managerial wins.

Lance Lynn allowed 48 home runs in 186-and-a-third innings (including the postseason). Sonny Gray allowed 10 home runs in 193 innings (also including the postseason).

Mookie Betts is 6-for-48 with two extra-base hits over his last three postseason series. Trea Turner is 18-for-42 with 10 extra-base hits over his last three postseason series.

Ronald Acuña Jr’s combined runs scored-RBI total during the regular season was 255. Matt Olson’s combined runs scored-RBI total was 266.

The league-average team totals for stolen bases and caught-stealings this year were 117 and 29 respectively. The most-league-average team was the Seattle Mariners, with 118 stolen bases and 30 caught-stealings. The New York Mets swiped 118 bases and were caught just 15 times.

Arizona Diamondbacks batters combined for 36 sacrifice hits this season, the most of any team. Atlanta Braves batters combined for two sacrifice hits this season, the fewest of any team

Minnesota Twins pitchers combined to allow 443 walks with a franchise record 1,560 strikeouts. Pitchers for the 1991 World Series champion Twins combined to allow 488 walks with 876 strikeouts.

Bob Gibson got the win as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees 7-5 in World Series Game 7 on today’s date in 1964. The Boyer brothers both homered — Clete for the losing side and Ken for he victors — as did Lou Brock, Mickey Mantle, and Phil Linz.

On today’s date in 1975, Luis Tiant went the distance as the Boston Red Sox edged the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 in Game 4 of the World Series. El Tiant threw 163 pitches while scattering nine hits and four walks. The Reds stranded eight runners, including two in the bottom of the ninth.

Players born on today’s date include Tommy Toms, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 18 games for the San Francisco Giants from 1975-1977. The Charlottesville, Virginia native went 0-1 in each of the three seasons, and was credited with one save.

Also born on today’s date was Jim Command, a third baseman who went 4-for-25 while getting cups of coffee with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1954 and 1955. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native’s lone home run was a grand slam off of Brooklyn Dodgers right-hander Carl Erskine.