2018 MLB Spring Training Look At All Teams-Trades-Rumours-Injuries ETC. !

[StarDust Bum]

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

TOR at DET 01:05 PM
TOR +105

NYY at PIT 01:05 PM
NYY -111

WAS at MIA 01:05 PM
WAS -132

ATL at HOU 01:05 PM
HOU -172

TB at BOS 01:05 PM
BOS -156
U 8.5

STL at NYM 01:10 PM
STL +105

COL at CIN 03:05 PM
COL -111

TEX at CHC 03:05 PM
TEX -105
U 9.5

SD at OAK 03:05 PM
OAK -116

CLE at ARI 03:10 PM
ARI -125
O 9.5

CHW at SEA 03:10 PM
SEA -132
O 9.5

MIL at LAA 03:10 PM
LAA -116
U 9.5

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

Six top prospects for the Boston Red Sox:

1) Jay Groome, P— When your #1 prospect has a 3-9 career record, that says a lot.

2) Michael Chavis, 3B— Hit .250 in 67 games in the Eastern League LY.

6) Darwinzon Hernandez, P— Three years in, hasn’t escaped A-ball yet.

7) Sam Travis, 1B— Ht .263 in 76 big league AB’s last season.

20) Hector Velasquez, P— Had 2.92 ERA in 25 big league IP last season.

23) Brian Johnson, P— Struck out 21 batters in 27 big league IP last year.


**********

Armadillo: Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) Oregon 89, Arizona 83 OT— Most intense regular season college basketball game I’ve seen in years; Arizona was out to win for its suspended coach, with an us-against-them mentality, but they ran out of gas in overtime, and lost despite 28 points, 13 rebounds from Deandre Ayton.

Sean Miller has a weird contract at Arizona; he gets $10.3M if he is fired for cause, but only $5.15M if he is fired without cause. Either way, if Arizona fires him because of this mess, he ain’t gonna have to work anymore.

With all this FBI stuff going on, will the IRS go after the families who took payoff money and didn’t pay taxes on it? If coaches are losing their jobs, I hope they do go after the families.

12) Shaquille O’Neal’s son is a big time high school recruit this year who had committed to play at Arizona. He de-committed Saturday, which is probably good news for LSU, Shaq’s alma mater.

11) Virginia 66, Pitt 37— Halftime score: Virginia 30, Pitt 7. I’m not making that up. 30-7. Pitt was 1-22 from the floor in the first half. One basket, 22 shots. No bueno.

Sean Miller is a Pitt alum and from the Pittsburgh area. You wonder if they would hire him once Arizona shows him the door, which could happen soon. Given Arizona’s NCAA troubles, probably not.

10) Kansas 74, Texas Tech 72— Jayhawks clinched at least a tie for their 14th consecutive Big X title, which is extremely impressive. Don’t think they had the best team in the league this year but that does not matter, since they’ve won the most games.

9) Creighton 89, Villanova 83 OT— The huge grin Creighton coach Greg McDermott wore in the last few seconds of this game said a lot; the Bluejays are going to the NCAA’s.

Villanova split its last six games; they’ll be a shaky #1 seed when NCAA tournament brackets come out in two weeks.

8) If you read this space regularly, you know I’m a big fan of the Showtime series Billions. Learned last night that Paul Giamatti, the actor who plays prosecutor Chuck Rhoades, is the son of the late baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti.

Has to be a way they can work Pete Rose into an episode to bust Chuck’s chops.

7) William & Mary 114, Charleston 104 OT— Cougars scored 1.30 ppp and lost, which almost never happens. Teams combined to shoot 21-47 on arc. W&M blew a 16-point second half lead but made 33-38 on the foul line.

If seeds hold in CAA tourney, these teams would meet in the semifinals.

6) So far this season, 105 of 351 D-I teams have taken 40%+ of their FGA’s from behind arc; eight years ago, only 33 teams took 40% of their shots behind the arc.

279 of 351 teams have taken 33.3% of their shots behind the arc; eight years ago, only 149 teams did. College basketball has largely become a 6-6 and under sport.

The increase in 3-pointers means more long rebounds, more loose balls— success in shooting 3-pointers is tough to sustain from game-to-game. It creates hugely erratic performances from more and more teams. Makes the sport much harder to handicap.

5) Oregon State 79, Arizona State 75— Beavers led by 9 with 2:36 to go, ASU tied it with about a minute left, but never scored again. Bobby Hurley was going off on one of the refs as the game went off the air. Sun Devils are 7-9 in the Pac-12, after a 12-0 pre-conference mark- they have no inside game, and their guards played lot better in December than they are now.

4) Seton Hall 81, St John’s 74 OT— Red Storm played six guys in an overtime game; four of their five starters played more than 40:00— their only sub played 23:00.

3) Jacksonville Jaguars gave QB Blake Bortles a 3-year, $54M contract, so they’re out of the market for a new quarterback.

2) Upsets of the Day:
Wyoming (+9.5) 78, Fresno State 68
Creighton (+7.5) 89, Villanova 83 OT
Tenn-Martin (+7) 72, SE Missouri 66
Indiana State (+6) 66, Bradley 64
Valparaiso (+5) 69, Drake 64
Arkansas (+5) 76, Alabama 73
Louisville (+4) 75, Virginia Tech 68

1— Baseball streak that will never, ever be topped; in 1980, Oakland’s Rick Langford threw 22 straight complete games, one of which went 14 innings. He went 19-12, 3.26 for the season in 35 starts, throwing 290 innings.

[StarDust Bum]

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

02/25/2018 0-0-0 0.00% +0

02/24/2018 10-7-0 58.82% +955

02/23/2018 6-13-0 31.58% -4145


SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

NYY at PHI 01:05 PM
NYY -132

TB at MIN 01:05 PM
MIN -132

ATL at WAS 01:05 PM
ATL +135

HOU at STL 01:05 PM
STL -111
O 8.5

BAL at BOS 01:05 PM
BAL +115
O 8.5

MIA at NYM 01:10 PM
MIA +130
U 8.5

KC at OAK 03:05 PM
OAK -132

CHC at SF 03:05 PM
SF -125
O 9.5

COL at TEX 03:05 PM
COL +105

SD at LAA 03:10 PM
LAA -135
O 9.5

LAD at SEA 03:10 PM
SEA -120
U 9.5

MIL at ARI 03:10 PM
ARI -132

ALL SELECTIONS ARE OPINIONS ONLY

[StarDust Bum]

Spring training roundup focus on Twins
February 25, 2018

The Minnesota Twins have powered up their lineup.


Free agent slugger Logan Morrison and the Twins reached agreement on a $65 million, one-year deal, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday.


The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract was subject to a physical.


Morrison had a career-high 38 home runs and 85 RBIs for the Tampa Bay Rays last season, mostly as a first baseman.


The 30-year-old Morrison has also played the corner outfield spots. With Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler in left field and right field and Joe Mauer at first base, Morrison is likely to be the primary designated hitter for a team that earned an AL wild-card spot last season.

AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUES:


NATIONALS 9, BRAVES 3


Max Scherzer allowed one run, on a homer by Dansby Swanson, in two innings and struck out three for Washington. Bryce Harper went 0 for 3 in his first spring game. Matt Wieters homered for the Nationals.


Scott Kazmir walked two in one inning for Atlanta.


METS 10, MARLINS 3


Yoenis Cespedes hit a three-run homer in his second at-bat of the spring for New York. Cespedes singled his first time up and scored on new teammate Todd Frazier's double. Robert Gsellman started and allowed one hit in two innings.


Miami starter Tyler Cloyd lasted just four outs and gave up five runs and seven hits.


RED SOX 7, ORIOLES 1


Xander Bogaerts singled and scored for Boston. Mookie Betts fanned in all three at-bats for the Red Sox. Gabriel Ynoa allowed a run and struck out four in a two-inning start for Baltimore.

ASTROS 7, CARDINALS 3


Gerrit Cole struck out two in two perfect innings in his Houston debut. World Series MVP George Springer hit an RBI double and scored on a single by Alex Bregman. Yadier Molina homered for St. Louis.


YANKEES 8, PHILLIES 3


Jordan Montgomery pitched two shutout innings for New York. Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola gave up three runs on four hits in two innings.


The Phillies said infielder Will Middlebrooks broke his left leg when he collided with a teammate chasing a popup Saturday. The 29-year-old played for Texas last year, and was in camp on a minor league contact.

PIRATES 8, TIGERS (SS) 8, 9 INNINGS


Nicholas Castellanos homered and Jeimer Candelario doubled and scored for Detroit's split squad. Alfredo Reyes had an inside-the-park homer for Pittsburgh.

TWINS 5, RAYS 4


Kyle Gibson retired all six batters he faced in a start for Minnesota. Tampa Bay starter Blake Snell struck out four in two perfect innings. C.J. Cron homered and doubled for the Rays.

TIGERS (SS) 6, BLUE JAYS 3


Matthew Boyd allowed one run on two hits in a two-inning start for Detroit. Kevin Pillar singled and scored on a double by Randal Grichuk for Toronto.

CUBS 12, GIANTS 10


San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner gave up two earned runs on four hits, and also struck out five. Giants newcomer Andrew McCutchen had an RBI single and scored on Buster Posey's two-run double.


Kyle Schwarber got two hits and stole two bases for Chicago.


MARINERS 2, DODGERS 0


Los Angeles star Clayton Kershaw threw a perfect inning, throwing just 11 pitches. The Seager brothers - Corey of the Dodgers and Kyle of the Mariners -faced each other for the first time in their big league careers.

WHITE SOX 8, REDS (SS) 5


Matt Davidson homered, singled and drove in four runs for Chicago. Eugenio Suarez had a double and two-run homer for a Cincinnati split squad. Starter Luis Castillo allowed one hit in two shutout innings for the Reds.


RANGERS 4, ROCKIES 2


Rougned Odor walked twice, stole a base and scored for Texas. Rangers starter Matt Bush gave up one hit in two shutout innings. Chad Bettis allowed only a walk in two scoreless innings for Colorado. Trevor Story tripled for the Rockies.


ATHLETICS 4, ROYALS 4, 10 INNINGS


Paulo Orlando doubled and scored for Kansas City. Jed Lowry doubled for Oakland.

INDIANS 2, REDS (SS) 2, 9 INNINGS


Cincinnati ace Homer Bailey gave up two hits with three strikeouts in two shutout innings for a Reds split squad. Jason Kipnis homered for Cleveland. Indians starter Trevor Bauer pitched two perfect innings and fanned three.


ANGELS 2, PADRES 1


Garrett Richards allowed one hit - a solo homer by Austin Hedges - in two innings for Los Angeles. He struck out three.

BREWERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1


Milwaukee newcomers Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain both had hits and each drew a walk. Jhoulys Chacin allowed a hit and a walk in a one-inning start for the Brewers. Ketel Marte had two hits for Arizona.

[StarDust Bum]

Monday’s 6-pack

Six top prospects for the Chicago Cubs:

1) Aramis Ademan, SS— Still only 19; he hit .262 in his first two years of A ball.

4) Victor Caratini, C— Hit .254 in 59 big league AB’s last summer.

5) Alex Lange, P— Went 30-9 in three years pitching for LSU.

9) Jen-Ho Tseng, P— Went 6-1, 1.80 in nine AAA starts LY.

12) David Both 2B/3B— Versatile guy hit .270 with 14 HR’s in Southern League LY

30) Jake Stinnett P— Maryland alum is a converted third baseman.

Quote of the Day
“We think we have a better draft when we’ve had an opportunity to see these young players play at an elite level before they come into the NBA. On the other hand, I think the question for the league is: In terms of their ultimate success, are we better off intersecting with them a little bit younger? Are we better off bringing them into the league when they’re 18, using our G League as it was designed to be, as a development league, and getting them minutes on the court there?”
Adam Silver

Monday’s quiz
Whose picture is on the $20 bill?

Sunday’s quiz
The late Martin Landau played the law professor in the poker movie, Rounders.

Saturday’s quiz
Quinnipiac University is located in Hamden, Connecticut.


**************************************


Monday’s List of 13; Wrapping up a sports weekend

13) I’m still kind of wondering how Aaron Boone lands a job managing a major league baseball team in New York City, when he has never managed anywhere before, ever.

Dealing with the NYC media is a task in itself; maybe I question that part of it more than the actual X’s and O’s of baseball, which I‘m sure Boone will handle just fine.

Same thing goes for Davey Martinez in Washington, who are expected to make the playoffs again this season. Wouldn’t you want a more experienced guy to handle a really good team?

12) One of the best parts of March is that there is almost constant baseball on TV, mostly replays of spring training games from earlier in the day. Season is starting earlier this year, so exhibition games started earlier too. Excellent.

It does bug me when TV guys appear bored to have to work these games. I know they don’t mean anything, obviously the real games aren’t for another month, but John Kruk on the Phillies’ TV games is a big disappointment, and FP Santangelo on Nationals’ game is like an 8-year old with a live microphone. Its your job, pretend you care about doing it well.

11) New Mexico 91, UNLV 90- Very fun game to watch; Rebels were only 4-7 on arc, 28-40 on foul line. Very bitter loss when you miss 12 foul shots and lose by one. #10 on New Mexico hit the game-winning 3-pointer; he is 31-61 on the arc for the season.

On New Mexico’s last possession, UNLV took freshman star McCoy out and put Diong in, because Diong is a better defender. When McCoy is deciding whether or not to go to the NBA this spring, the fact that his team takes him out on defense on the most important possession of the game should tell him that he’ll make a lot more money (eventually) if he stays in school for another year and gets bulkier/stronger before he gets drafted into the NBA.

10) Duke beat Syracuse 60-44 Saturday night, but were just 2-18 on arc against Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. Blue Devils had been 30-72 on the arc in their previous three games.

9) Last year, the Dodgers played only 45 games where their starting pitcher was working on 4 days’ rest, the fewest in the majors. Next fewest were Bronx (53), Astros/Padres (64) and the Nationals (67).

8) Red Sox/Tampa Bay play 10 times before May 1st this season; Boston TV guys were pretty much assuming on air Saturday that the Red Sox will kick their butts and get off to a fast start this season. Tampa Bay dumped a lot of its better players this winter.

7) There are 15 big league teams training in Arizona, 15 in Florida, so at least one team has to play split squad games every day, to even the schedule out.

6) Logan Morrison turned down $20M for two years from the Indians, winds up signing a 1-year, $6.5M deal with Minnesota that best-case, could become two years, $16.5M. Brilliant!!!!

5) Houston 109, East Carolina 58— Houston led this game 62-13 at halftime. East Carolina will be hiring a new coach soon; sounds like it is a difficult rebuilding job.

4) Unfortunate news from the WCC: San Diego Toreros are having a terrific season this year at 18-12, finished .500 in WCC for first time in 10 years, but coach Lamont Smith was arrested at the Oakland Airport Sunday on three counts of domestic violence.

3) Championship Week is actually two weeks and it starts tonight with the Atlantic Sun tournament being played at campus sites. Florida Gulf Coast is favored to win the tournament.

2) One of the most interesting bubble teams for March Madness is Nebraska; they’re 22-9, 13-5 in Big 14, but the league is down this year and the Cornhuskers’ non-conference schedule is #281, which makes them likely to miss the NCAA tournament.

Lot of interesting debate on Twitter about Nebraska; no one has ever been 13-5 in the Big 14 and missed the NCAA’s. Until maybe now.

1– Sunday night in Iowa City, Jordan Bohannon intentionally missed a foul shot, ending his streak of 34 consecutive made free throws, which was tied for the school record with Chris Street, who was killed in a snowy car accident January 19, 1993 during his junior season. Street is an Iowa legend; his parents still have season tickets to Hawkeye games.

Bohannon did this with 2:15 left and Iowa leading Northwestern 73-65 in their regular season finale. He left the shot short, off the front rim, and pointed to the sky. Pretty cool gesture.

[StarDust Bum]

date w-l-t % units record

02/25/2018 7-10-1 41.18% -1990

02/24/2018 10-7-0 58.82% +955

02/23/2018 6-13-0 31.58% -4145

all selections are opinions once the season starts i only select dogs and totals.

[StarDust Bum]

Free agents to play exhibitions against Japanese amateurs
February 26, 2018

Baseball free agents will play two exhibition games this week against a Japanese amateur team.

The Major League Baseball Players Association says the games against JR East will take place at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The games will be open to media and scouts but not the public.

More than four dozen players remain unsigned among the 166 who exercised their right to become free agents last November. The players' association opened a training camp for free agents at the IMG Academy two weeks ago.

JR East is sponsored by Japan Railway, and players are considered amateurs who are paid as company employees.

The players' association announced the games Monday.

[StarDust Bum]

Red Sox, J.D. Martinez finalize $110M contract
February 26, 2018

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) J.D. Martinez is finally a member of the Boston Red Sox.

The five-year, $110 million contract that Martinez agreed to with the club a week ago was finalized on Monday, when he was introduced at a news conference at JetBlue Park. After hitting 45 home runs in 119 combined games last season for the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks, Martinez became the most prominent position player on the free agent market.

The Red Sox took extra time with the medical evaluation, with particular attention paid to a right foot injury that Martinez suffered last year. That led to some language changes to protect the Red Sox over the life of the deal, but the 30-year-old Martinez was deemed fully healthy for 2018.

****************************

Orioles, Pedro Alvarez agree on minor league contract
February 26, 2018

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) The Baltimore Orioles and designated hitter Pedro Alvarez have agreed on a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

The 31-year-old former NL home run leader will receive $1 million if makes the major league roster and can earn up to $2 million in performance bonuses. This is the third straight year Alvarez has signed with the Orioles and his second consecutive minor league deal.

Last season, Baltimore tried converting Alvarez to the outfield at Triple-A Norfolk, but the experiment was abandoned. He hit .313 with a home run and 4 RBIs in 14 games after a September recall.

Alvarez shared the NL lead with 36 homers for Pittsburgh in 2013. He is a .238 lifetime hitter in eight seasons with Pittsburgh and the Orioles.

[StarDust Bum]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

TOR at TB 01:05 PM
TOR +110
O 8.5

BOS at PIT 01:05 PM
PIT -105
O 8.5

STL at MIN 01:05 PM
MIN -116

WAS at ATL 01:05 PM
WAS +115

DET at BAL 01:05 PM
BAL -147
U 8.5

CLE at MIL 03:05 PM
MIL +105
O 9.5

OAK at CHW 03:05 PM
OAK +110

KC at SF 03:05 PM
SF -156
U 9.5

SEA at CHC 03:05 PM
SEA +100

LAD at TEX 03:05 PM
TEX +110
U 9.5

LAA at SD 03:10 PM
SD +105
O 9.5

PHI at NYY 06:35 PM
NYY -175

[StarDust Bum]

Spring training roundup: Mariners ace Hernandez hit by liner
February 26, 2018

This was not how Felix Hernandez hoped to start spring training.

Slowed by injuries last year, the Seattle ace was struck in his pitching arm by a line drive Monday and forced to leave his exhibition debut.

The Mariners said a precautionary X-ray of his right forearm was negative. Hernandez was listed as day-to-day and will be re-evaluated Tuesday.

Hernandez was hit by a liner from Victor Caratini of the Chicago Cubs. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner immediately grabbed his arm and didn't chase the ball on the infield grass.

Hernandez went down to a knee, hopped up and walked around in obvious pain. He headed to the dugout with a trainer holding his arm, and Caratini gave him a tap of encouragement.

The 31-year-old Hernandez spent considerable time on the disabled list last season because of shoulder trouble. He was 6-5 with a 4.36 ERA in 16 starts.

OHTANI'S A HIT

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani had a much better big league debut as a hitter than he did as a pitcher.

After patiently drawing walks in his first two plate appearances, Ohtani hit a sharp RBI single up the middle in his first spring training start as a designated hitter for the Los Angeles Angels.

''I was happy to get that first hit out of the way but I was also happy with my first two at-bats,'' the 23-year-old said through a translator after getting on base three times against three different San Diego pitchers.

His first Cactus League at-bats came two days after his first start on the mound. The Japanese newcomer allowed a home run and didn't make it through his scheduled two innings against Milwaukee.

AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUES:

ASTROS (SS) 8, METS 7

Noah Syndergaard and Justin Verlander provided the first real pitchers' duel of the spring. Syndergaard threw 11 pitches of at least 100 mph over two perfect innings, striking out two. Syndergaard, who missed five months of the 2017 season with a strained lat, matched his longest outing in a big league game since April 20, 2017.

Verlander struck out four of the six batters he faced. Hector Rondon gave up four runs on four hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Houston prospects Kyle Tucker and J.D. Davis each hit their second home runs of the spring.

RED SOX 13, PIRATES 2

Andrew Benintendi scored twice and Rafael Devers got two hits for Boston. Pittsburgh starter Ivan Nova struggled, but Jameson Taillon pitched two shutout innings and struck out three.

MARLINS 11, ASTROS (SS) 0

Miami starter Jose Urena gave up one hit in two innings. Houston starter Francis Martes allowed three runs and three hits in 1 1/3 innings.

TWINS 5, CARDINALS 4

Minnesota starter Phil Hughes allowed one hit in two innings. Erick Aybar got two hits for the Twins.

Michael Wacha threw two hitless innings for St. Louis.

RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 4

Chris Archer started off with two shutout innings for Tampa Bay, fanning two. Toronto shortstop Lourdes Gurriel, the 24-year-old Cuban-born brother of Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel, had two hits.

BRAVES 2, NATIONALS 1

Julio Teheran threw two scoreless innings for Atlanta. Rex Brothers got the save but gave up a home run to Moises Sierra in the ninth.

TIGERS 8, ORIOLES 6

Baltimore starter Kevin Gausman was tagged for five runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings. Jonathan Schoop and Trey Mancini homered for the Orioles.

Michael Fulmer gave up one hit in two innings for Detroit.

DODGERS 9, RANGERS 6

Kyle Farmer had three hits and three RBIs for Los Angeles. Mike Minor, who signed a $28 million, three-year deal with Texas, threw only 17 of 36 pitches for strikes.

DIAMONDBACKS (SS) 7, ROCKIES 4

Arizona slugger Paul Goldschmidt hit his first home run of the spring. Colorado pitchers Kyle Freeland and Harrison Musgrave both got roughed up.

MARINERS 9, CUBS 9, 9 INNINGS

Chicago starter Tyler Chatwood opened with a scoreless inning. Dee Gordon homered for Seattle.

WHITE SOX 7, ATHLETICS 6

Michael Kopech struck out three in two shutout innings for Chicago. Oakland starter Kendall Graveman gave up four hits in two innings. Stephen Piscotty, traded from St. Louis to the A's over the winter, hit a double.

DIAMONDBACKS (SS) 5, REDS 2

Robbie Ray worked two scoreless innings in the start, fanning three for Arizona. Catcher Alex Avila homered and flipped over a dugout railing for a catch. Cincinnati starter Robert Stephenson couldn't make it out of the second inning, giving up two homers.

BREWERS 7, INDIANS 6

Milwaukee starter Junior Guerra gave up a run on three hits in two innings. Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin threw two scoreless innings.

ROYALS 10, GIANTS 6

Whit Merrifield homered, doubled and drove in two runs for Kansas City. San Francisco's Derek Holland struck out four but surrendered two runs on two hits.

PADRES 10, ANGELS 4

Wil Myers, starting in right field to make room for San Diego newcomer Eric Hosmer at first base, struck out twice in three at-bats.

[StarDust Bum]

date w-l-t % units record

02/26/2018 8-10-1 44.44% -1640

02/25/2018 7-10-1 41.18% -1990

02/24/2018 10-7-0 58.82% +955

02/23/2018 6-13-0 31.58% -4145

all selections are opinions once the season starts i only select dogs and totals.

[StarDust Bum]

Tuesday’s 6-pack

Six top prospects for the Chicago White Sox:

1) Eloy Jimenez, OF— Hit .353 in 18 games in the Southern League LY.

2) Michael Kopech, P— Has 344 strikeouts in 269 career IP

5) Dane Dunning, P— florida alum has 2.76 ERA in two years in A ball.

9) Zach Collins, C— Supposedly a good hitter, but hit .229 in first two years.

9) Gavin Sheets, 1B— Wake Forest alum is son of former big leaguer Larry Sheets

13) Carson Fulmer, P— Vandy alum was 3-1, 3.86 in seven big league games (5 starts) LY.

Quote of the Day
“Like I said, I retweeted on Twitter, you’re going to make me cry. It’s emotional even thinking about that, that his parents felt that, buried him in my jersey was something that he wanted. I take pride in what I’ve done in this state and what I’ve meant for the youth. I appreciate it.”
Dwyane Wade, after hearing one of the kids who died in the Florida school shooting was buried wearing a Wade Miami Heat jersey

Tuesday’s quiz
Whose picture is on the $50 bill?

Monday’s quiz
Andrew Jackson’s picture is on the $20 bill.

Sunday’s quiz
The late Martin Landau played the law professor in the poker movie, Rounders.

***********************

Tuesday’s List of 13: Nobody asked me, but…….

13) There are reports out of Los Angeles that the Dodgers are having $$$ problems and are looking for minority investors (25%??). You’d think the Dodgers are one team that wouldn’t have money problems, but these are weird times– you never know.

Dodgers paid over $48M last year to players who never played for them, otherwise known as dead money.

12) Thinking ahead; since the NCAA’s went to 68 teams, the 11-seeds who advance with Tuesday/Wednesday play-in wins are 8-6 vs spread in their first-round games that they play on short rest. 13 of those 14 teams were underdogs; Tennessee (-4) covered as the lone favorite in the next round, back in 2014.

11) Red Sox were 15-3 in extra inning games last year, most extra inning games played in the major leagues last season.

10) Five major leaguers played every game last season:
Joey Votto, Freddy Galvis, Rougned Odor, Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar.

Galvis and Hosmer left their 2017 teams and will be teammates on the Padres this year.

9) Golfer Justin Thomas has won 7 of the last 31 PGA tournaments he entered.

7 of the last 15 PGA tournaments went to a playoff, but hey, Eldrick Woods finished 12th.

8) Quinnipiac lost seven of its last eight games heading into the MAAC tournament, but three of those seven losses were in double overtime. Mike Dunleavy’s son Baker is the coach there; this is his first season. Teams are shooting 40.8% behind the arc vs Quinnipiac this year, 4th-highest %age against any team in the country.

7) JD Martinez will make $22M a year for the Red Sox; he has played more than 123 games in a season ONCE in his career!!!!

If JD Martinez spends 120+ days on the DL with Boston, Red Sox will get some salary relief later in his contract. Martinez knocked in 104 runs in 119 games for Detroit/Arizona LY, which is a lot of production, but he does get hurt a lot.

6) Conference tournament knowledge: #1 seed has won the last seven Big Sky tournaments. Last four Atlantic 14 tournaments were won by teams seeded #3 or worse.

5) NC State won its last four basketball games; in those games, backup G Sam Hunt made 14-17 behind the arc. Hunt has had an interesting career; he played a year at Jacksonville, then two years at North Carolina A&T- in those three seasons, he made 34.3% of his 3-pointers. This year, playing as a senior in the ACC, Hunt is making 41.8% (46-110) behind the arc.

4) Los Angeles Rams got CB Marcus Peters from the Chiefs, sending 2nd/4th round picks to KC. Rams also get a 6th-round pick in the deal.

3) It is weird to me that the Big 14 tournament is this week instead of next week; having it in New York City doesn’t matter much to me, since TV is TV, but having it at the same time as Arch Madness and the MAAC tourney and the WCC is just so different.

2) Doing some conference tournament research: over the last six years, in the semis/finals of the OVC tournament, the underdogs are 12-5 vs spread- one game had no line. Favorites are 15-8-1 vs spread in the first two rounds.

1— Colleges who have already fired their basketball coach:
Charlotte
Colorado State
East Carolina
Eastern Kentucky
Ole Miss
Cal-Riverside
UTEP

[StarDust Bum]

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

PIT at ATL 01:05 PM
ATL -132

DET at PHI 01:05 PM
DET -105
O 8.5

MIA at WAS 01:05 PM
WAS -182

BAL at TB 01:05 PM
TB -125

NYY at TOR 01:07 PM
TOR +100

HOU at NYM 01:10 PM
HOU -125
O 8.5

TEX at LAD 03:05 PM
LAD -175

OAK at CLE 03:05 PM
OAK +150

CHW at CHC 03:05 PM
CHC -147
U 9.5

CIN at MIL 03:05 PM
MIL -135
O 9.5

ARI at SF 03:05 PM
SF -132

LAA at COL 03:10 PM
LAA +110

[StarDust Bum]

Spring training roundup: Napoli joins Indians, others wait
February 27, 2018

The Cleveland Indians gave Mike Napoli a much more familiar uniform.

The Indians reunited with Napoli on Tuesday, agreeing on a minor league contract with the popular slugger whose powerful swing and clubhouse leadership were key to Cleveland reaching the 2016 World Series.

Napoli had been on the roster to play in Bradenton, Florida, with a group of free agents still looking for jobs. Tyler Clippard, wearing a black jersey with a white players' union logo, pitched two hitless innings in a 2-0 win over amateurs from the East Japan Railway Company.

''It's a situation where a player that is universally respected in our organization, he shouldn't be in that camp,'' Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Napoli's deal is contingent upon him passing a physical at the Indians' complex in Goodyear, Arizona. He hit .193 with 29 home runs and 66 RBIs for Texas last season.

The Indians don't have a roster spot for the 36-year-old Napoli, but Francona wanted to give him an opportunity to showcase himself.

Francona spoke to designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and first baseman Yonder Alonso and told them Napoli wasn't going to challenge for their jobs.

''If we end up helping him out, then we've done a good thing,'' Francona said. ''If anybody deserves it, it's Nap. He did as much as anybody to help us get to the point we could play in a World Series.''

Clippard finished last season with Houston.

''We know that my year last year was a bad year, but at the end of the day, how bad was it? And it wasn't as bad as some that got significant contracts,'' the 33-year-old righty said.

Alejandro De Aza, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Nolan Reimold were among those in the starting lineup. Neil Walker is taking part, too.

The camp is similar to the one run by the union at Homestead, Florida, following the end of the 1994-95 players' strike. Dave Gallagher attended then as a player and signed with Philadelphia. Now he is a coach under manager Bo Porter.

''They start to lose hope,'' Gallagher said. ''And it's a little bit humiliating.''

Top free agents have skipped the camp to continue working out on their own, a group that includes pitchers Jake Arrieta and Alex Cobb and third baseman Mike Moustakas.

AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUES:

ORIOLES 2, RAYS 1

Tampa Bay starter Nathan Eovaldi pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings and struck out two in his first game since August 2016, when he had his second Tommy John surgery. Preston Palmiero, son of former Orioles star Rafael Palmiero, was a defensive replacement.

TIGERS 11, PHILLIES 6

Derek Norris went 3 for 3 with his second home run for Detroit. Rhys Hoskins hit his second homer for Philadelphia.

MARLINS 2, NATIONALS 2, 9 INNINGS

Miami starter Dan Straily struck out three in two scoreless innings. Gio Gonzalez gave up a hit over two innings and Tommy Milone fanned three over two fast innings for Washington. Bryce Harper doubled for the only extra-base hit.

PIRATES 3, BRAVES 3, 9 INNINGS

Mike Foltynewicz pitched two hitless innings for Atlanta and defensive whiz Johan Camargo homered. Jose Osuna had two hits for Pittsburgh.

CARDINALS 6, RED SOX (SS) 1

Shortstop Yairo Munoz got three hits for St. Louis. Brock Holt had two hits for a Boston split squad.

RED SOX (SS) 3, TWINS 2

Sam Travis hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth for Boston's other split squad. Byron Buxton had two hits for the Twins, and starter Jose Berrios threw a scoreless inning.

YANKEES 9, BLUE JAYS 8

Rookie third baseman Miguel Andujar hit his third spring homer, Danny Espinosa also connected and Austin Romine doubled twice for New York. Former Yankees catcher Russell Martin homered for Toronto and Marco Estrada worked a clean inning.

ASTROS 8, METS 2

Jake Marisnick doubled and drove in two runs and Brad Peacock had a solid outing in his two-inning start for Houston. Mets starter Steven Matz gave up five runs in the second inning. Tim Tebow struck out and went 0 for 2 as a Mets DH.

GIANTS 14, DIAMONDBACKS 12

Brandon Belt got three hits and Evan Longoria drew two walks for San Francisco. Starter Jeff Samardzija gave up two runs and four hits in 1 1/3 innings. Arizona's Archie Bradley allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings.

CUBS 6, WHITE SOX 5

Jon Lester made his spring debut and worked 1 2/3 innings, striking out three allowing a run on one hit. J.A. Happ hit the Cubs' second leadoff home run of the spring. Hector Santiago threw three innings of clean relief, striking out four. Jose Abreu doubled and Matt Davidson hit his second home run.

BREWERS 6, REDS 3

Adam Duvall hit a two-run homer for Cincinnati. Eric Thames got his first hit of the spring for Milwaukee and Eric Sogard and Nick Franklin each drove in three runs.

INDIANS 16, A'S 8

Corey Kluber struck out three and gave up a run over two innings in his spring debut. Jason Kipnis homered twice and drove in four runs and newly signed Yonder Alonso doubled for Cleveland. Oakland reliever Yusmeiro Petit gave up a home run in his inning of relief.

ROYALS 14, MARINERS (SS) 9

Kansas City starter Wily Peralta gave up four earned runs and four hits in one inning. Whit Merrifield tripled and doubled. Andrew Moore, vying for a spot in the Seattle rotation, had a rough spring debut, giving up six runs on seven hits in 1 1/3 innings.

RANGERS 4, DODGERS 4, 9 INNINGS

Rougned Odor doubled, walked and stole his second base of the spring. Joey Gallo doubled in a run and scored for Texas. Kenta Maeda debuted with two solid innings for Los Angeles.

ANGELS 5, ROCKIES 2

Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 3 in his second game as the DH for Los Angeles. Matt Shoemaker worked 2 1/3 innings, scattering three hits and a run. Colorado starter Jon Gray allowed three hits and two runs over two innings.

PADRES 11, MARINERS (SS) 6

Eric Hosmer made his debut in a Padres uniform and had a hit in three at-bats. Clayton Richard gave up two runs on two hits in the start. Austin Hedges hit his second home run of the spring. Seattle's James Paxton made his spring debut and allowed a hit and a walk over two innings. Jean Segura homered and drove in three runs with two hits.

[StarDust Bum]

Wednesday’s 6-pack

Six over/under wagers for home run totals this season:

39.5— Giancarlo Stanton
35.5— Mike Trout
35.5— Nolan Arenado
34.5— Manny Machado
33.5— Josh Donaldson
33.5— Bryce Harper

Quote of the Day
“Failure is a part of life. It’s part of building character and growing. Without failure, who would you be? I wouldn’t be up here if I hadn’t fallen a thousand times. Made mistakes.”
Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles

Wednesday’s quiz
Where did Mike Krzyzewski play his college basketball?

Tuesday’s quiz
Ulysses S Grant’s picture is on the $50 bill.

Monday’s quiz
Andrew Jackson’s picture is on the $20 bill.

****************************

Wednesday’s List of 13: Mid-week musings…….

13) Starting today, the first of some changes here at the website will take place.

No more daily NHL write-ups; I’ve decided to concentrate on basketball between football and baseball seasons. For now, everything else here stays the same.

12) I’m not making this up: A Pittsburgh-area family is suing Steelers’ safety Sean Davis because he posted a Snapchat video about how slow the service was at the drive-thru window at a Chick-fil-A, where their son works- the son was then “bullied” at school because of the video.

The lawsuit contains claims for libel, cyberbullying, intentional infliction of emotional distress and slander. Davis offered to invite the teenager and two friends to be his guest at a Steelers’ practice, and to go to Davis’ summer football camp in Washington, but the family declined.

Good grief, our country is getting soft.

11) I mentioned Sunday how Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley was going after the refs as they left the floor in Corvallis after the Sun Devils lost to Oregon State Saturday- the Pac-12 nailed him with a $10,000 fine for those shenanigans.

10) If Bronx Bombers’ GM Brian Cashman is so bleeping smart, let him go be the GM of the Pirates or the Rays or the A’s and see how many freakin’ games his team wins. Gets old hearing media types praise Cashman all the time— he is playing checkers with more pieces than most of his opponents- he should win. Since 2001, Cashman’s team has one World Series title, after a run of four titles in five years in the late 90’s.

9) Speaking of Tampa Bay, they may not have an excuse to be cheapskates for too much longer; Rays and Fox Sports Net are nearing a long-term extension to their broadcast deal. From CBSSports.com:

“Fox’s payout is expected to increase to around $50 million in 2019 under the new contract. Over the 15-year life of the deal, which would run through the 2033 season, Fox would pay, on average, around $82 million per year.”

8) Several NBA personnel types told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman that they would advise Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr to play this season, rather than just sit out and wait for the NBA Draft. Porter played 2:00 in the opener and hasn’t played since because of a back problem.

7) Texas declined to sign free agent P Seung-hwan Oh because he failed his physical; Toronto then signed Oh- you wonder what the difference is in the physicals between the two teams.

6) Three US cities with the best TV ratings for the Winter Olympics: Salt Lake City, Denver and Minneapolis.

5) Former big league reliever Andrew Bailey retired from playing and will be the Angels’ instant replay coordinator this season. I’m a curious guy; wonder how much that job pays?

4) Why is Russell Wilson in spring training with the Bronx Bombers? How does his presence there help them prepare for this season? Does he still get paid by the Seahawks if he tears an ACL playing baseball?

3) 20 or so years ago, I bowled in a Thursday night league; had never done it before, haven’t done it since. It was kind of fun, but I was in over my head and didn’t do very well— I didn’t even own my own bowling ball, just used an alley ball every week. But hey, I could watch college games on TV and eat pizza in between my turns.

One night, a guy on the lanes to my right bowled a 300— it was a different league, really good bowlers, and I remember how casual the guy was about bowling a 300. I was excited, I mean the guy just bowled a freakin’ perfect game- couldn’t understand why he just smiled, and got ready for his next game. Best I ever did was a 212; anything over 170 was cause for celebration.

2) According to baseball-reference.com. San Francisco Giants already have $127M in salary obligations for 2020; Minnesota Twins have $0 on the books after 2019.

1— If you’re a kid in West Virginia this week, you were on an unscheduled vacation— teachers went on strike for better pay/benefits, but they’ll be back at work on Thursday.

When I was a junior in high school, our teachers were on strike when school started— problem is, teachers at two other local schools were also on strike, so the teachers would go to the other two schools and be subs to make some $$$, which kind of defeated the whole purpose.

We had a different teacher for every class every day for the whole week; it was chaotic; some kids marched to the district offices to “protest for the teachers” – they just didn’t want to go to class. For those lazy people like me who had no desire to walk anywhere, we just sat in class, did very little and stayed out of trouble. Good times.