December 2,2013.
~ Deadline Day : Today is the last day for teams to offer contracts to players who are eligible for arbitration. On the Red Sox (aside from Andrew Bailey) there are five other players who are eligible. Four will receive tenders: Mike Carp, Andrew Miller, Junichi Tazawa and newcomer Burke Badenhop. On the bubble is Franklin Morales. Morales has been dealing with various injuries which have resulted in a drop in his velocity. He pitched very poorly in the ALCS and was not used in the World Series. He will turn 28 this offseason but the Red Sox can hold on to him probably for less than $ 2 million. There are also unconfirmed reports this morning the Red Sox will tender Andrew Bailey in the hope he could be ready in July if anything happens to Koji Uehara.
~ 'DUMB' assessment from MLB : It makes you wonder how we got into the 'steroid era' in the first place ? Back in 2012 MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred addressed the issue of the high rate of ADD in major league players as compared to the rest of the nation. "Our population doesn't look like the nation. We are younger. We are higher income, and there's no question attention is a key part of what these athletes do. So the idea that we would have a higher incidence rate than the general rate is really not that surprising."
~ Chipper is 'chipper again' ! : Chipper Jones was invited to throw out the first pitch of the ALDS against the Dodgers. Jones had spent the days leading up to the game on the radio predicting that the Dodgers would win in 4 games (they did). When the time came for the ceremonial pitch none of the Braves would catch his pitch. Jones had to throw to the mascot. This prompted last night's 'tweet' directed at former Braves starter Tim Hudson who has now signed with San Francisco :
What if Huddy takes the mound for the first time in SF next yr, and no one is there to catch the 'first pitch'? Maybe the mascot? #karma
~ Tanaka might be coming to USA after all: MLB and Japanese baseball has been working very hard this offseason to negotiate a new posting system. Some suggested changes reported during the GM's meetings a few weeks ago was that the winning team would pay an 'average' of the top two bids on a posted player but fining teams that bid on a player but fail to sign him. David Waldstein of the New York Times tweeted yesterday that a deal could be reached soon as the sides have narrowed it down to three possible outcomes. If a deal is struck look for the Tanaka sweepstakes to 'heat up' quickly. The Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants and Rangers are all in the race.
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