2016 MLB Spring Training Thread

[cartman]

Pitchers and catchers start reporting today!

NATIONAL LEAGUE
TEAMS			SITE			P&C	FULL SQUAD
Arizona Diamondbacks	Scottsdale, AZ		Feb. 18	Feb. 23
Atlanta Braves		Lake Buena Vista, FL	Feb. 20	Feb. 25
Chicago Cubs		Mesa, AZ		Feb. 20	Feb. 24
Cincinnati Reds		Goodyear, AZ		Feb. 18	Feb. 23
Colorado Rockies	Scottsdale, AZ		Feb. 19	Feb. 25
Los Angeles Dodgers	Glendale, AZ		Feb. 20	Feb. 25
Miami Marlins		Jupiter, FL		Feb. 19	Feb. 22
Milwaukee Brewers	Phoenix, AZ		Feb. 21	Feb. 25
New York Mets		Port St. Lucie, FL	Feb. 19	Feb. 26
Philadelphia Phillies	Clearwater, FL		Feb. 18	Feb. 23
Pittsburgh Pirates	Bradenton, FL		Feb. 19	Feb. 23
St. Louis Cardinals	Jupiter, FL		Feb. 18	Feb. 23
San Diego Padres	Peoria, AZ		Feb. 19	Feb. 24
San Francisco Giants	Scottsdale, AZ		Feb. 18	Feb. 23
Washington Nationals	Viera, FL		Feb. 20	Feb. 25
AMERICAN LEAGUE
TEAMS			SITE			P&C	FULL SQUAD
Baltimore Orioles	Sarasota, FL		Feb. 19	Feb. 24
Boston Red Sox		Fort Myers, FL		Feb. 19	Feb. 24
Chicago White Sox	Glendale, AZ		Feb. 19	Feb. 23
Cleveland Indians	Goodyear, AZ		Feb. 19	Feb. 23
Detroit Tigers		Lakeland, FL		Feb. 19	Feb. 23
Houston Astros		Kissimmee, FL		Feb. 19	Feb. 23
Kansas City Royals	Surprise, AZ		Feb. 19	Feb. 23
Los Angeles Angels	Tempe, AZ		Feb. 19	Feb. 24
Minnesota Twins		Fort Myers, FL		Feb. 22	Feb. 27
New York Yankees	Tampa, FL		Feb. 19	Feb. 25
Oakland Athletics	Mesa, AZ		Feb. 21	Feb. 26
Seattle Mariners	Peoria, AZ		Feb. 20	Feb. 25
Tampa Bay Rays		Port Charlotte, FL	Feb. 21	Feb. 26
Texas Rangers		Surprise, AZ		Feb. 19	Feb. 24
Toronto Blue Jays	Dunedin, FL		Feb. 22	Feb. 26 

[stevew]

It seems like there'd be some hitting guru out there who would attempt to fix either/both of Pedro Alvarez and Dom Brown. Both are still unsigned. With power being an issue league wide both could provide value

[Easy Mac]

I'd be surprised if the Braves full squad reports before October 3. It will probably be only pitchers, and maybe catchers, before then.

[Atocep]

RIP Tony Phillips.

Your career started about 20 years too early.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Atocep

RIP Tony Phillips.

Your career started about 20 years too early.

Holy shit, didn't realize how good he was at getting on base.

[cartman]

One fan hit a home run yesterday during the Rangers season ticket promotion.

http://deadspin.com/rangers-fan-hits...his-1760370339

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Making sure that ring is going to fit!!!!

[albionmoonlight]

Why do pitchers and catchers report before everyone else?

[cartman]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Why do pitchers and catchers report before everyone else?

A couple of trains of thought on that. One is that pitchers need a bit more time to get their arms ready for the upcoming season. Another is that there are a lot more pitchers to evaluate in spring training versus players at a particular position. So there is extra time needed to take stock of the pitching situation compared to first base or left field.

[stevew]

MLB, union ban rolling blocks by baserunners

No more thug sliding.

[MrBug708]

Good. Hated the rule. Too many legal dirty slides

[Neuqua]

Dexter Fowler re-signed with the Cubs on a 1 year $8 million deal. Mutual option for $9 mill next year.


Think that's great value.

[RainMaker]

The QO is a real pain in the ass to some players.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by stevew

MLB, union ban rolling blocks by baserunners

No more thug sliding.

Well done, MLB!

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

Dexter Fowler re-signed with the Cubs on a 1 year $8 million deal. Mutual option for $9 mill next year.


Think that's great value.

That doesn't include bonus money - Dex is getting $13 this year.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The QO is a real pain in the ass to some players.

There needs to be a way to scale the offers.

For example, 1st round pick protection is a 1 year deal with a player option for a 2nd year.

Then maybe a 3rd round pick for just a 1 year QO.

I understand the intent of the QO, but the leverage needs to be balanced a little. A lot of these guys are good players, but not worth 1st round picks to teams that aren't looking for a final piece. Tony Clark has stated that it's something that needs to be looked at so it should be addressed somehow in the next agreement.

[lungs]

How about teams not surrendering picks to sign a guy? But the team losing a player gets a supplemental pick.

[stevew]

Give players a longer deadline to refuse the QO. It can be pulled after Dec 31st, say.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hosmer open to long term deal with Royals.

http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article...al-with-royals

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Good news for Salvy and the team. Another cornerstone locked down for the foreseeable future.

http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article...ee-on-new-deal

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Three games on MLB Network today. Ready for some baseball!

[Peregrine]

Mallex Smith with two stand-up triples in the first inning!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Great stuff from Salvy.....

@JeffPassan One cool part of Salvador Perez's new deal: He'll donate $1M to Kansas City's new Urban Youth Academy and the field will be named after him.

[MrBug708]

That does seem to be the big thing to do these days

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Dyson out 4-6 weeks. Looks like an Orlando/Eibner platoon to start the season in RF.

[cartman]

Good to see Jurickson Profar back out on the diamond. It has been almost 3 years since he's played in the field after dealing with shoulder issues.

My Rangers looking good in spring training

[JPhillips]

An incredible photo!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

An incredible photo!

The next photo shows the bat handle spinning around behind his head. They can't extend the nets far enough IMO.

Christopher Horner on Twitter: "@BiertempfelTrib The two frames showing just how close the bat was to the boy's head. https://t.co/7VwnfWp8L1"

[Easy Mac]

Say what you will, but that kid was the only one brave enough to look that bat square in the eye and try to take it on head first.

Seriously though, that's why you watch the game and not your phone.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Say what you will, but that kid was the only one brave enough to look that bat square in the eye and try to take it on head first.

Seriously though, that's why you watch the game and not your phone.

I agree. I mean for Christ's sake if you are going to sit that close pay attention and put away your damned phone.

[vex]

Yeah, totally his fault. :sarcasm:

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Say what you will, but that kid was the only one brave enough to look that bat square in the eye and try to take it on head first.

Seriously though, that's why you watch the game and not your phone.

The kid was actually taking a picture and had just dropped the phone to his lap in reaction to a bat flying at his head. To be fair, there's hundreds of people at every game trying to catch an action shot with his phone. Can't blame the kid for that.

[stevew]

I make a point of not sitting in the line drive kill zone or the bat breaking zone. But I mainly just go to AA baseball these days so I can usually sit 6 rows behind home and pay like $9 and have a nice fence right in front of me.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Pretty funny.

The Royals were escorted out of Tim Lincecum's secret throwing location - CBSSports.com

[JonInMiddleGA]

So ... Adam LaRoche abruptly retires for "personal reasons". Those reasons now being revealed as the Sox GM telling him to have his 14 year old son around / in the clubhouse less.

I can probably see both sides of the issue itself but walking away from $13m is a gutty call afaic, props to him for having the guts to make that sort of decision.

[ISiddiqui]

Barry Bonds beat Giancarlo Stanton and other Marlins in a HR derby - CBSSports.com

At 6-foot-6, 240 pounds, 26 years old and with 181 homers in 2,567 career at-bats, Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton might just be the most powerful man in baseball. Of course, he just lost a friendly batting practice home run competition to his hitting coach ...

Ouch, but recall who the hitting coach is...

Yes, Barry Bonds hit 762 career homers and those of us who watched him on a regular basis from 2001-04 can attest that he seemed to hit a home run almost every time he swung the bat. But he retired after 2007 and is now 51 years old.

Though yeah, Bonds is 51. Dude could probably still DH somewhere and hit 30 HRs

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

So ... Adam LaRoche abruptly retires for "personal reasons". Those reasons now being revealed as the Sox GM telling him to have his 14 year old son around / in the clubhouse less.

I can probably see both sides of the issue itself but walking away from $13m is a gutty call afaic, props to him for having the guts to make that sort of decision.

The kid had his own friggin locker in the clubhouse. That seems like overkill.

[stevew]

Regardless of how much money you have, walking away from 6-7M after taxes is questionable. It's not like it's a dangerous game.

[sovereignstar v2]

Is this kid clubhouse-schooled then or what?

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Is this kid clubhouse-schooled then or what?

That would be my first question.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Is this kid clubhouse-schooled then or what?

I saw something that he's in school but is allowed to be out and also travel with the team if he brings homework with him. There was also a quote from Laroche from a couple years back saying something like "we're not really big on school." Who knows how serious that was or if it's being taken out of context being applied to the situation.

I think Williams' comments were very reasonable:

"I don’t think he should be here 100 percent of the time—and he has been here 100 percent, every day, in the clubhouse. I said that I don’t even think he should be here 50 percent of the time. Figure it out, somewhere in between."

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Barry Bonds beat Giancarlo Stanton and other Marlins in a HR derby - CBSSports.com



Ouch, but recall who the hitting coach is...



Though yeah, Bonds is 51. Dude could probably still DH somewhere and hit 30 HRs

He wouldn't pass the drug tests.

[frnk55]

^

[JonInMiddleGA]

Chicago White Sox players considered boycott to support Adam LaRoche

Sources told Ravech that White Sox manager Robin Ventura intervened and persuaded the players, who were united in support of LaRoche, to play the game

That doesn't sound like the whole "it was probably on some players nerves" narrative that some were trying to spin yesterday.

Maybe they should have just barred Ken Williams from the clubhouse instead.

[Logan]

I mean, it's their clubhouse so if they truly all were cool with it, good on them. But "14 year old allowed in the clubhouse every day" seems like a weird battle line to draw when it comes to actually boycotting.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

I mean, it's their clubhouse so if they truly all were cool with it, good on them. But "14 year old allowed in the clubhouse every day" seems like a weird battle line to draw when it comes to actually boycotting.

With this, I think it just sort of takes on the feel of Williams overreaching. Maybe not in terms of the authority to make the move but in the sense of creating a problem where maybe there really wasn't one.

That usually doesn't work out all that well.

[molson]

It's a pretty great deal for the White Sox, isn't it, to get that salary off the books for a player that was terrible last year? Maybe more GMs should try this strategy.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by molson

It's a pretty great deal for the White Sox, isn't it, to get that salary off the books for a player that was terrible last year? Maybe more GMs should try this strategy.

Yes my immediate thought was: what can we do to piss off Ryan Howard enough to retire?

[stevew]

I'm sure Drake LaRoche will spend plenty of time in the clubhouse if he's close to his dad and grandfather in terms of ability. Hopefully he's not like shitty uncle Andy

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by stevew

I'm sure Drake LaRoche will spend plenty of time in the clubhouse if he's close to his dad and grandfather in terms of ability. Hopefully he's not like shitty uncle Andy

Any LaRoche was a great baseball player, he was only shitty compared to other professional baseball players.