sports
Michael Rand started RandBall with hopes that he could keep lies from conquering the minds of the weak. So far, he's only succeeded in using the word "redacted" a lot. He welcomes suggestions, news tips, links of pure genius, and pictures of pets in Halloween costumes here, though he already knows he will regret that last part.
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Posts about Professional baseball
Friday (Other AL Central pitching staffs keep improving) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 14, 2012 - 9:48 AM
The Tigers kept Anibal Sanchez. They almost certainly overpaid (5 years, $80 million), but they kept him. And that means yet another AL Central rotation improved.
The Royals added Ervin Santana, kept Jeremy Guthrie and traded for James Shields and Wade Davis.
The Tigers have Sanchez, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and, of course, Justin Verlander.
The White Sox have Chris Sale and Jake Peavy at the top of their rotation.
All of which is a very short way of saying: competing in 2013, if you are the Twins, keeps looking tougher and tougher.
TFD: Torii Hunter isn't too happy the Angels signed Josh Hamilton
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 13, 2012 - 5:05 PMTorii Hunter signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Angels in 2007, reaping the benefits of the team's wealth. This offseason, he was apparently told money was a little tight; he signed a 2-year, $26 million deal with the Tigers. So when Josh Hamilton -- also an outfielder -- nabbed a 5-year, $125 million deal with the Angels today, Texas wasn't too thrilled -- and neither was Hunter. Per this tweet:
I was told money was tight but I guess the Arte had money hidden under a Mattress. Business is business but don't lie.
— Torii Hunter (@toriihunter48) December 13, 2012
He followed it up with this tweet, but it was probably too late:
Great signing for the Angels. One the best players in baseball.
— Torii Hunter (@toriihunter48) December 13, 2012
Thursday (The real costs of sports) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 13, 2012 - 9:39 AM
We also know this sentiment doesn't just apply to sports. All sorts of other businesses and associated costs (and profits) have exploded. The money has to come from somewhere, but we don't quite have a grasp of how it all adds up (or doesn't add up).
If you are interested, then, in a detailed look at just that thing -- a rather sobering look, in many cases -- then we direct you today to this very long but quite interesting Sports On Earth piece by Patrick Hruby. It should be noted that a lot of what he writes is not new -- but it is in a more mainstream sports space than you normally find such things, and it combines a comprehensive overview with a boatload of specifics in a way we had not previously seen.
It is, at the very least, a great starting point for a larger discussion of sports and money as we know them. If you have long thought there was a tipping point for sports, money and how consumers view the big picture somewhere in the future -- even in the distant future -- Hruby's piece and Will Leitch's shorter look at sports and the cable TV system will only reinforce that idea.
Tuesday (Three thoughts about the Twins and Kevin Correia) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 11, 2012 - 8:44 AM
1) Did we say pitch to contact is dead? What we meant is it's dead in the future, when those power arms are ready. For now, Correia slots into the back end of the Twins' rotation as a classic strike-throwing, low-strikeout guy. As he has found more consistent success over the past two years, Correia's strikeout totals have dipped below five per nine innings. But his walk rate has also been very tood (2.3 one year, 2.4 the other). One red flag, though, is that he has been throwing in a ballpark in Pittsburgh friendly to pitchers the past two years (though the odd thing is that in his All-Star year of 2011 he was waaaaaay better on the road than at home). Another red flag is that he has been a National League pitcher his whole career. We saw what happened last year when Jason Marquis, a career NLer, switched leagues. It wasn't pretty.
2) This signing underscores the slide of Nick Blackburn. Because if you look at just the raw numbers over the past couple years, Correia is "Decent Nick Blackburn." That is to say -- roughly a .500 record, low walks, low strikeouts and at least functional innings in the back of the rotation. Blackburn, under contract still for $5.5 million in 2013 -- about what Correia will make, one would assume based on the two-year deal -- would have rendered this signing unnecessary if he was still at 2008-2010 levels.
3) If the Twins are going to sign two free agent pitchers, which they really need to do, this had best be the lesser of the two moves. Correia is at least an upgrade over some of their internal options, but he doesn't seem to have a ton of upside aside from eating 180-200 innings. Their other signing needs to at least have the potential to be a No. 2 starter -- when on, when healthy, when whatever -- because there is still money for Terry Ryan to spend, there are still a few pitchers available that fit, and there is a fan base that wants to see the Twins at least try to be competitive in 2013 even if this is a bridge year to the future.
Weekend Links with Jon Marthaler: Rebuilding Twins and Ron Gardenhire's job status
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 8, 2012 - 10:56 AM
Jon Marthaler bakes up a delicious batch of links for you every weekend. Other times, you can find him here. Jon?
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Denard Span has been traded, Ben Revere has been traded, and one assumes that Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham probably are not buying green bananas at the moment; yes, the Great Twins Rebuilding Project appears to be more or less in full swing. With that in mind, it's probably important that we get on top of the argument that will likely dominate the airwaves: should Ron Gardenhire be given a contract extension, or should he be allowed to begin his inevitable second career as a television analyst for professional bowling?
Barring a number of breakout seasons from young hitters, and possibly the free-agent signing of Sidd Finch to fix the rotation, the Twins are shaping up to play another year without a post-season run. There have been many fans who've wanted Gardenhire fired for years for various supposed crimes, but even the most ardent Gardy supporters cannot ignore a team that's lost 195 games in two seasons. Moreover, it's fair to ask whether Gardenhire is the man to oversee a youth movement. The manager is famously hard on young players; I seem to remember him blaming Jason Bartlett for, at various points, defensive mistakes, offensive ineptitude, lack of "fire in the belly," and in one memorable rant, for construction delays at the Large Hadron Collider in Europe.
It's tempting to remember Gardenhire's first team, the 2002 AL Central winners, as a bunch of young pups that the manager molded into a fighting unit, but the 2002 team was basically the same as the 2001 team that Tom Kelly had nearly wrenched to a playoff berth. Though every starter on that team was under 30 years old, virtually every player was in his third or fourth professional season. That team was, in some ways, where the 2016 Twins are shaping up to be -- still young, but with plenty of games under their belt.
My advice is to decide now which way you're going to go. I'd say 85 wins would be a heck of an accomplishment for the Twins in 2013 -- 85 being the number that Kelly's 2001 team won in his final season as manager. If Gardenhire can clear that bar, then he should stay for certain, I'd say. And if not -- why, let's start that rumor mill. Let's start throwing out names: Paul Molitor, maybe... Ozzie Guillen's not doing anything ... hey, maybe Jake Mauer! ... What about if Mike Grant doesn't get the St. John's job -- wait, I'm getting my rumor mills confused...
On with the links:
*Parker Hageman breaks down starter Vance Worley, who figures to be the only major-league manifestation this year of the Span and Revere trades.
*The Economist is not so quick to glowingly eulogize Marvin Miller, the former head of the MLB Players' Association. While the players did end the odious reserve clause under Miller's leadership, the magazine points out that these gains did nothing for either young players or - especially - minor-leaguers.
*I want nobody but Chuck Klosterman examining the larger implications of the Popovich/Spurs/rest day/NBA imbroglio.
*Katie Baker on the current state of the NHL lockout is a must-read. Key quote, and key thing to understand about the negotiations: "For all the sound and fury, it seems clear the question of who will come out ahead in this deal has been settled: Almost all of the meaningful movement to this point has come from the players' side."
*And finally: Here's why the UFC is the only sport that's actually being killed by its TV contract. (NOTE: language warning for that, only because UFC president Dana White's quotes are printed verbatim.)
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