Jesse Spector over at the NY Daily News has been running an interview series with bloggers from around the web, called “Blogger Nine Innings.” I participated in the most recent edition, representing the THT Live crew. Questions ranged from personal blogging experiences to this winter’s busy off-season. If you’re looking for a diversion from all […]

There has been plenty of work published regarding the value of draft picks, most recently the work done by Victor Wang. Wang’s previous studies (part 1 and part 2 ) on the draft were a major help for me in conducting this study. He was recently honored by Beyond the Boxscore for the Best Novel […]

As we all know, catcher defense is difficult to quantify and probably even more difficult to predict. Nevertheless, one of a catcher’s most important jobs behind the plate is to prevent base runners from swiping bases. Dan Turkenkopf’s article over at Beyond the Boxscore about a month ago projected catchers’ block percentages for the upcoming […]

Some links for the fast-approaching weekend…. This one is for all you Rich Lederer fans out there. Think that player salaries always go up? Not so fast. Shawn Hoffman at BP examines the relationship between player salaries and America’s GDP, concluding that the free agent class of 2012 should start cashing in while the best […]

With a plethora of free agents all finding new homes, the amount of players on the free agent list is dwindling fast. Players now off the board include: Jim Edmonds (Brewers), Miguel Batista (Nationals), Randy Winn (Yankees), Chad Tracy (Cubs), Tim Redding (Rockies) Fernando Tatis (Mets), Xavier Nady (Cubs) and Josh Fogg (Mets), Orlando Cabrera […]

Thanks to a lack of support for those suspected of steroid use in their Hall of Fame pursuits, a set number of players have used their squeaky clean record in a push for Cooperstown. We can now add Kenny Lofton to that list based on his comments upon being elected to the Cleveland Indians Hall […]

Jon Garland inked a one year deal worth $4.7 million with the San Diego Padres. The deal holds a $6.75 million mutual option for 2011. It’s startling that no other team was interested in Garland at that price. Garland isn’t an ace, but he’s a nice back of the rotation starter to have. For San […]

Random fact: The Angels were 33-44, with 85 ties, after the first inning. They finished the season with a 97-65 record, which means that they were 64-21 after the first inning. They were not only slow starters during the season, they were slow starters during their games. The team with the worst first-inning record was […]

The Oakland Athletics have signed RHP Ben Sheets to a one year deal worth $10 million, an allocation of assets both uncommon for the club and yet intriguing. Oakland has been trying and failing to sign several players, namely Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro, so the fact that the A’s had $10 million (Sheets can […]

This Thursday, I’ll be departing for Havana. I’m taking part in Cubaball, an annual cultural exchange tour of Cuba, focusing on baseball and history. Our group (comprised of about 20 Americans and Canadians) will watch six baseball games, visit numerous historic sites in Havana and elsewhere on the island, meet Cuban ballplayers and various others, […]