After the John Smoltz debacle of last night, you would have thought that the Red Sox would have been on the hunt for starting pitching. Apparently not. Apparently, the Red Sox are more than willing to continue ahead with two aces and three No. 6 starters while waiting around for Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield […]

Ah, the Saber-sphere is all abuzz with talk of regression to the mean.  Regression to the mean is a fairly simple concept.  If, over the past four years, you have a player who has had HR/PA rates of 2.8%, 1.9%, 2.3%, and 2.4%, then suddenly, his rate goes to 7.3%, what should you expect in […]

One of the more under-the-radar deals of the off-season involved two low-budget teams looking to gain ground in the NL East. On Novemeber 11th of last year the Marlins sent Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen to the Nationals for Emilio Bonifacio and two prospects. The Marlins avoided having to go to arbitration with two players […]

The Chicago Cubs have re-called outfielder Sam Fuld from Triple-A. At 27 years old, Fuld’s prospect status is dwindling. Except for a brief stint with the Cubs in 2007, he has spent parts of the last three seasons with Chicago’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates and has been successful at every level of his professional career […]

Texas Hold ‘Em is a game filled with odds, but the numbers are pretty simple. If you have a 35% chance to hit your flush on the turn when someone raises you 45% of your stack, you don’t have the odds to call. However, odds become finicky when you get more and more productive on […]

Rolen (Keith Allison) Despite the frantic trading deadline already just about a week over, people continue to express their bafflement at the Cincinnati Reds’ trade of 3B Edwin Encarnacion and minor league hurlers Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart to the Toronto Blue Jays for 3B Scott Rolen. Oh sure, the Reds gave up a sizeable […]

The game of baseball is seemingly getting younger. Teams are putting more of an emphasis on player development, as they realize the value of young cost-controlled players versus aging free agents. With young players comes inexperience, and sometimes an inability to immediately hit or pitch effectively at the major league level. This causes some fans […]

Matusz starts of his major league career (Icon/SMI) Today against the Tigers, another top pitching prospect for the Baltimore Orioles made his major league debut. I already looked at Chris Tillman’s recent debut hereand he showed very good stuff; however, Matusz was considered just a step below him on BA’s most recent prospect rankings, being […]

Matusz (Samara Pearlstein) With the recalling of Brian Matusz, Matusz is now the fifth player from the 2008 draft to debut in the major leagues. He does so with a mid-90s fastball with an above average curve and slider, with his changeup as his best pitch, according to Matusz himself. Matusz throws from the 3/4 […]

I try to be fair and unbiased when I write here, but for all those who don’t already know: I’m a die-hard Yankees fan. So I’m watching tonight’s Yankee game against the Blue Jays, in which the pitching matchup is grizzled veteran Andy Pettitte versus grizzly-bearded Roy Halladay. During the broadcast, the announcers came up […]