Daily Notes, Ft. Tateyama’s Screwball, For Everyone

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

1. Three Very Recent Transactions
2. GIFs of Enthusiasm: Yoshi Tateyama’s Screwball
3. SCOUT Leaderboards: Australian Baseball League

Three Very Recent Transactions
Tateyama Re-Signs with Texas
The Texas Rangers have re-signed right-handed reliever Yoshinori Tateyama to a minor-league contract, reports MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Over two major-league seasons, the soon-to-be 37-year-old Tateyama pitched 61.0 innings, posting this precise line: 23.7% K, 6.6% BB, 37.5% GB, 3.01 SIERA, 88 xFIP-, 0.2 WAR. Also, he throws a screwball ca. 6% of the time last season — an example of which spectacle one can see below.

Miami Signs Polanco, Polanco Signs with Miami
Did the Miami Marlins sign Placido Polanco to a one-year, $2.75 million deal, or did Polanco consent to sign a deal for that same amount with Miami? One might never know. In either case, however, Polanco will play for the Marlins this season — and will likely do so as that club’s starting third baseman.

McGehee Signs with Rakuten, Also
Only about a week after Andruw Jones did the same thing, infielder Casey McGehee has signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan — or so pretends Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. Also according to Newman — around whom, again, one must always remain vigilant — McGehee’s deal is for a year and $1.3 million.

GIFs of Enthusiasm: Yoshi Tateyama’s Screwball
The author is plagiarizing himself when he presents these two GIFs of Yoshi Tateyama’s screwball from late September.

First, for a called strike to Yoenis Cespedes:

And, second, to induce a swinging third strike from Brandon Moss:

SCOUT Leaderboards: Australian Baseball League
Below are the current SCOUT leaderboards for the Australian Baseball League. (Ages as of July 1st, 2012. Players listed with most recent team. Click here for more on what is SCOUT.)

SCOUT Leaderboard: Australian Baseball League Hitters
Below is the current SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Australian Baseball League. SCOUT+ is calculated using regressed home-run, walk, and strikeout rates, where 100 is average and above 100 is above average.

SCOUT Leaderboard: Australian Baseball League Pitchers
Below is the current SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Australian Baseball League. SCOUT- is calculated using regressed strikeout and walk rates where 100 is average and below 100 is above average.