MLB Trade Deadline

Players Out of Options in 2010

Johnny — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:54:23 +0000

MLB Trade Rumors has put together a list of players without any options left for the 2010 season. Players without options remaining must clear waivers before being sent to the minors.

2014 Hall-of-Fame Class

Johnny — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:43:58 +0000

The list of first-time ballot-eligible players for the 2014 Hall-of-Fame class is going to be incredible. Eligible players include:

Greg Maddux, RHP
Tom Glavine, LHP
Frank Thomas, DH/1B
Jeff Kent, 2B
Moises Alou, OF
Luis Gonzalez, OF
Mike Mussina, RHP
Hideo Nomo, RHP
Kenny Rogers, LHP

Maddux and Glavine are sure fire first ballot Hall-of-Famers. Thomas and Kent might have to wait, but they will get in. Of the other five, Mussina has the only real chance of getting in.

My 2010 Standings, Awards, and Playoff Predictions

Johnny — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:00:15 +0000

AL East	W	L
New York Yankees	98	64
Boston Red Sox	92	70
Tampa Bay Rays	90	72
Baltimore Orioles	78	84
Toronto Blue Jays	70	92

AL Central	W	L
Minnesota Twins	86	76
Chicago White Sox	83	79
Cleveland Indians	76	86
Detroit Tigers	76	86
Kansas City Royals	71	91

AL West	W	L
Texas Rangers	84	78
Los Angeles Angels	82	80
Oakland Athletics	81	81
Seattle Mariners	77	85


NL East	W	L
Philadelphia Phillies	94	68
Atlanta Braves	89	73
Florida Marlins	80	82
New York Mets	79	83
Washington Nationals	73	89

NL Central	W	L
St. Louis Cardinals	86	76
Chicago Cubs	82	80
Cincinnati Reds	79	83
Milwaukee Brewers	79	83
Houston Astros	74	88
Pittsburgh Pirates	70	92

NL West	W	L
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	77
Colorado Rockies	84	78
Arizona Diamondbacks	83	79
San Francisco Giants	80	82
San Diego Padres	69	93

Yes, the three best teams in the AL play in the East. Yes, the Padres, Pirates, Royals, and Blue Jays will be terrible (but less so the Jays, they just have the tough luck of playing in the AL East). Both West divisions will have four teams battling for first all season. The Braves will catch fire at the end of the season with youngsters Hanson and Heyward leading the way, and just barely scrape out playoff series wins over the Phillies and then the Yankees to win the World Series.

Awards:

AL MVP — Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

NL MVP — Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals

AL Cy Young — Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox

NL Cy Young — Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves

AL Rookie of the Year — Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers

NL Rookie of the Year — Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves

AL Manager of the Year — Ron Washington, Texas Rangers

NL Manager of the Year — Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves

Playoff Predictions:

Divisional:

Yankees over Rangers

Red Sox over Twins

Phillies over Dodgers

Braves over Cardinals

League Championship:

Yankees over Red Sox

Braves over Phillies

World Series:

Braves over Yankees

AL East	W	L
New York Yankees	98	64
Boston Red Sox	92	70
Tampa Bay Rays	90	72
Baltimore Orioles	78	84
Toronto Blue Jays	70	92

AL Central	W	L
Minnesota Twins	86	76
Chicago White Sox	83	79
Cleveland Indians	76	86
Detroit Tigers	76	86
Kansas City Royals	71	91

AL West	W	L
Texas Rangers	84	78
Los Angeles Angels	82	80
Oakland Athletics	81	81
Seattle Mariners	77	85


NL East	W	L
Philadelphia Phillies	94	68
Atlanta Braves	89	73
Florida Marlins	80	82
New York Mets	79	83
Washington Nationals	73	89

NL Central	W	L
St. Louis Cardinals	86	76
Chicago Cubs	82	80
Cincinnati Reds	79	83
Milwaukee Brewers	79	83
Houston Astros	74	88
Pittsburgh Pirates	70	92

NL West	W	L
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	77
Colorado Rockies	84	78
Arizona Diamondbacks	83	79
San Francisco Giants	80	82
San Diego Padres	69	93

2010 MLB Calendar

Johnny — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:56:19 +0000

Here is a schedule of a few important dates/events you should know for the 2010 Major League Baseball season:

February 1-21 — Salary arbitration hearings in St. Petersburg, Fla.

February 18 — Voluntary reporting date for pitchers, catchers, and injured players.

February 23 — Voluntary reporting date for other players.

March 2 — Mandatory reporting date for all players.

March 2-11 — Teams may renew contracts of unsigned players.

March 17 — Last day to place a player on unconditional release waivers and pay 30 days termination pay instead of 45 days.

March 31 — Last day to request unconditional release waivers on a player without having to pay his full 2010 salary.

April 4 — Opening day, New York Yankees at Boston, active rosters reduced to 25 players.

June 7-9 — 2010 Amateur Player Draft in Secaucus, New Jersey.

July 13 — All-Star game in Anaheim, California.

July 25 — Hall of Fame inductions in Cooperstown, New York.

July 31 — Last day to trade a player without securing waivers (trade deadline).

August 15 — Last day to sign selections from 2010 amateur draft who have not exhausted college eligibility.

August 31 — Last to acquire players eligible for playoff rosters (waiver trade deadline).

September 1 — MLB active rosters expand from 25 to 40 players.

November — Free agent filing period, first 15 days after World Series ends.

December 6-9 — Winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

December 12 — Last day for teams to offer 2011 contracts to unsigned players.

My 7 Favorite Baseball Blogs and Sites

Johnny — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:33:16 +0000

Places like ESPN.com and MLB.com are great sources for baseball news and scores, but they don’t always go as in-depth as they could. Here are 7 of my favorite niche baseball sites. I frequent these blogs and sites several times a day. They cover topics such as trade rumors, prospects, statistics, and more. You’ve probably heard of a few, but certainly not all of them. So here are my 7 favorite baseball sites:

MLB Trade Rumors — By far the best source for trade and free agent rumors. The site is run by Tim Dierkes and is always the first place to find the latest rumor news. They post several stories a day (almost too much to keep up with), and provide several other features such as a weekly chat and a weekly blog rundown.
Fangraphs – There are two aspects that I love about Fangraphs: their blog and their stats. Fangraphs provides awesome analysis with their daily blog posts, and they have statistics for every player that you won’t find anywhere else — stats like UZR, wOBA, and WAR.
Cot’s Baseball Contracts — Cot’s Baseball Contracts has the most thorough and up-to-date contract details for every player of every team. If I ever want to find out how much a player is getting paid or how long until he becomes a free agent, I head to Cot’s.
Baseball Reference — Baseball Reference is another great source for finding player and team statistics. They also have nearly every Minor Leaguer’s stats.
Minor League Ball – John Sickels is constantly sharing his take on the top prospects in baseball. Right now, he’s going through his top 20 prospects for every team. If you want to learn about the top prospects in the game, John has the skinny.
Circling the Bases — Another great sources for the latest rumors. Good writing and interesting topics come with each blog post.
MLB News and Rumors — Why bothering visiting all of these sites when I can visit just one? MLB News and Rumors takes the RSS feeds from the top baseball blogs and sites and puts them into one place. They have sections for news, prospects, rumors, analysis, and more. They even have pages for each team’s top blogs. The site is also a great source for finding new baseball blogs.

That’s it. I hope you enjoy these websites as much as I have.

More 2010 MLB Projected Standings

Johnny — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:55:53 +0000

The CAIRO 2010 projected standings are out. There are very few surprises here. The predictions have the Chicago White Sox finishing in front of the favored Minnesota Twins in the AL central.

2010 PECOTA Projected Standings

Johnny — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:11:49 +0000

The 2010 PECOTA projected standings were released by Baseball Prospectus. There are a few surprises — such as the Yankees missing the playoffs, the A’s finishing atop their division, and the Nationals finishing in third.

Top Farm Systems in Baseball

Johnny — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:43:00 +0000

Frankie Piliere ranks each MLB team based on the prospects in their farm systems. Here’s the list.

The Tampa Bay Rays com in first, followed by the Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s. The San Diego Padres come in last, just behind the Houston Astros.

Top 100 Prospects in Baseball

Johnny — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:39:22 +0000

Frankie Piliere over at AOL Fanhouse ranked his top 100 Minor League prospects. This first list includes prospects 1 through 25. The second list includes prospects 26 through 100.

The Atlanta Braves have the most prospects in the top 100 with 6. The Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers have 5.

Minor League Signings

Johnny — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:48:02 +0000

The Colorado Rockies signed outfielder Jay Payton and catcher Paul LoDuca to Minor League deals.
The Houston Astros signed outfielder Cory Sullivan to a Minor League contract and invited him to spring training.
The Toronto Blue Jays acquired right-handed reliever Merkin Valdez from the San Francisco Giants for cash considerations. Valdez will compete for a spot in the Blue Jays bullpen.