Baseball Chatter 02/19

Dellin Betances wanted $5 million, and the Yankees were willing to pay him $3 million. It went to arbitration and Betances lost. What happens next is the good part…

Yankees president Randy Levine then decided to hold a press conference to let everyone know that Betances’ Betances’ agents at Excel Sports Management were trying to use Betances to “change the marketplace” for setup relievers by rewarding them with salaries suited for closers. Levine added that would be like him claiming “I’m not the president of the Yankees, I’m an astronaut.”

Ah, but you are an astronaut Mr. Levine:

Levine claiming that Betances asking price of $5 million “had no basis in reality,”  leaves almost no chance of Betances pursuing a new contract with the Yankees. In fact, I see a trade coming…

So then, Rick Shapiro, a senior union executive tells Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:

“For the president of the Yankees to say the things he said is totally unprecedented in salary-arbitration history, an absolute disgrace to the arbitration process and to all of Major League Baseball.

“The only thing that has been unprecedented in the last 36 hours is that a club official, after winning a case, called a news conference to effectively gloat about his victory – that’s unprecedented.

Love it !! Go Shapiro!!

Francisco Liriano has worked on adjusting his release point to match what he’d done during his most successful years in Pittsburgh

Lonnie Chisenhall is slated to platoon with Brandon Guyer in right field this season,

Tyson Ross probably won’t be on a mound until mid-March

Glen Perkins threw a second bullpen session yesterday, but could still open the year on the disabled list. This  recent surgery along with a decline in stuff and effectiveness could prevent him from seeing save opportunities this season.

The trade rumors centering around Andrew McCutchen were “more smoke than fire,” according to general manager Neal Huntington.

Justin Smoak manning first base and Steve Pearce handling left field on an everyday basis would be the “best-case scenario” for the Blue Jays this year, according to general manager Ross Atkins

David Peralta was in for a big season in 2016 before lower-back pains and a nagging wrist injury that limited him to 88 games, his lowest career total. Regression also showed in a .251 batting average, more than .060 points down from the previous season.

Clay Buchholz is 23-28 with a 4.60 ERA in 83 games over the past three seasons. He went 8-10 with a 4.78 ERA after being demoted from the starting rotation for carrying a 6.35 ERA into the final weekend of May. Perhaps moving to the National League, exchanging his navy cap for a red one and getting outfitted in red pinstripes for the first time will be the right recipe for Buchholz to become a consistent big league starter again. OR NOT

Terry Francona will  stay with Cody Allen as closer. Andrew Miller will continue to be his troubleshooter. It’s a formula that worked well last season down the stretch and in the postseason. “I do like the idea of Cody finishing games and Andrew facing the meat of the order,” said Francona.

Jon Singleton is in major league spring training as a non-roster invitee. Under the terms of the five-year extension signed in June 2014, He will make $2 million this season no matter where he plays.

THE EFFECTOR

Ryan Madson doesn’t know if he will close or if manager Bob Melvin will hand Casilla the ball in the ninth inning. Melvin doesn’t know either. Or if it will be Casilla. And Madson is OK with it, no matter how it goes.

“Some of the biggest leverage situations are in the eighth inning, the seventh inning. And I enjoy pitching in the big leverage situations because that’s a rush. When you’ve pitched in 500 games, you want that fun rush feeling.”

The only other major-league pitcher known to have had the same injury (stress reaction in his right scapula) as Michael Wacha was Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy

Adrian Beltre suffered a calf strain. It shouldn’t affect his Opening Day status, but he may have to skip out on the World Baseball Classic.

Toronto Manager John Gibbons says Devon Travis has a chance to be one of the best hitters in all of Major League Baseball.

Yoan Moncada‘s son is only two years old, but he’s bat flipping like he’s 10 times that age.

 

Making my baseball debut at 2 1/2 years old @joeybats19 got nothing on me! #smallerballer #redsox #2 #moncadita @ymoncada19 @whitesox

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  • New Jersey governor Chris Christie had some things to say about the Phillies. The team’s twitter account didn’t let it slide.

 

 

 

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