The Baseball Journal

KBO Baseball returns from coronavirus

In case you haven’t heard, baseball is back, and live games are being played for the first time since the sports world came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. Major League Baseball is not the one playing games, however. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) began airing games live on ESPN Tuesday morning… 1 am in the morning.

If you haven’t heard of the KBO or seen other articles about…

Qualifying offer: Baseball terminology

A qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries from the previous season.  Teams can make a qualifying offer to a pending free agent if he has never received a qualifying offer before AND he was on the roster for the entirety of the previous season.  Players acquired through trade or signed mid season are not eligible to receive qualifying offers.

Qualifying…

Qualifying offers: MLB needs to eliminate them

Qualifying offers in baseball are essentially a short-term solution for a team’s roster as well as a detrimental deal for players seeking long-term contracts.  A qualifying offer is a one-year contract offer worth the average of the top 125 salaries from the previous season. Players are eligible to receive a qualifying offer if they have never received one before AND they spent the entirety of…

Artificial turf fields becoming more popular? #baseball #MiLB #BaseballStadiums

Artificial turf was once a common occurrence at the Major League level, with places like Three Rivers Stadium utilizing non-natural playing surfaces.  Most ballparks now have natural grass, with Tampa Bay and Toronto being the only cities without it.  Is there a reason why artificial turf has almost disappeared from the big league ballparks?  If there is, minor league teams think otherwise…

Free agents with nowhere to report for spring training #baseball #MLB #SpringTraining

Free agents have been able to sign with teams for months. Some signed right away while others waited a while to figure out their new homes.  And yet others are still unsigned as players are beginning to report to spring training with the 2019 season right around the corner.

Yes, every website, blog, and analyst has beaten this topic to death.  And yes, everybody knows that Bryce Harper and Manny…

Rebuilding, rebranding, and ‘The Process’ #baseball #MLB #TheProcess

Rebuilding has always been a thing for sports teams.  It has become a way of life for some franchises in the last decade.  Now, it seems the characteristics of a rebuild have spread to teams who are not so much in the rebuild phase anymore.

The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros endured numerous seasons of preposterous losing to stock pile draft picks; both reaped the benefits with a World Series…

Matt Harvey: Is the bullpen really a ‘demotion’ from Mets? #Mets #MLB #baseball #DarkKnight

Matt Harvey has been the talk of the New York press lately – at least where the Mets are concerned.  However, the papers and everybody who discusses them have been locked onto the fact that Harvey has been relieved of his duties as a starter and sentenced to the bullpen.  Maybe he stays there for the rest of the season and maybe he bounces back to regain a spot in the starting rotation.

The…

Preston Tucker could be Comeback Player of the Year in 2018 #Braves #Baseball #MLB #ChopOn

Preston Tucker might best be known for being the older brother of Astros’ phenom prospect Kyle Tucker.  The 27-year-old Braves’ left fielder is looking to change his primary recognition in the big leagues by showcasing his own talents now that he is getting to play on a daily basis.

Tucker was a 7thround draft choice in the 2011 MLB Draftout of the University of Florida.  The former Gator was a…

Shifts in baseball and defending drag bunts #shifting #buntdefense #orioles #SiscoROY #MLB

Shifts against players have become commonplace in baseball

Shifts in baseball have become commonplace at the Major and minor league level.  They are used tactically to try to prevent hitters from getting on base by placing defenders in more accurate positions.  Essentially, teams want to put defenders where the hitters put the ball in play most often.

This is a simple enough concept, except when…

2018 Season could be as unpredictable as March Madness – or not #MLB #OpeningDay #Baseball #Astros

The 2018 season has yet to begin, but there is a already a huge gap for expectations between the best and worst teams. Every site, writer, and ‘expert’ is making their season predictions, but this is no March Madness bracket packed with upsets. The strong have gotten stronger and the rest have fallen further behind.

Many predictions last year were correct in picking teams like the Red Sox,…

Double dip from the prospects pool #baseball #StartingFromTheBottom #RaysUp #MiLB

If you are a fan of a team that spends dollar dollar bills, it may come as a surprise that most team actually have to draft and develop their own prospects each year. It isn’t plausible to simply fill holes in a team’s lineup or rotation with veteran all-star free agents every year.

This dilemma of big spenders has been dealt with in a roundabout way through luxury taxand revenue sharing amongst…

Recruiting players to create a super squad #AllRise #Yankees #Orioles #SuperSquad

Recruiting is a tactic most utilized by college programs on high school athletes. Many big programs rely on name and recognition alone to garner the attention of top prep products, but even powerhouses have to recruit to keep attracting top-level talent.

Major League Baseball is a different ball game, at least until players have enough service time to become unrestricted free agents. Players are…

Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Millennial 2nd Generation Superstars #MiLB #BlueJays #LikeFatherLikeSon

If you don’t follow the pipelines that lead to the Majors, you might have missed two of the most hyped minor leaguers in recent memory. Family tradition is strong within both of the players that rank among the top prospects in all of minor league baseball.

Bo Bichette is the son of former Rockies slugger Dante Bichette. Bo’s older brother, Dante Bichette Jr. is a fellow farmhand in the Yankee…

FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches #SpringTraining #Nationals #Astros #Baseball

Up until last year, I had been to all of the current Grapefruit League spring training facilities. Two stadiums, Space Coast Stadium in Viera and Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, are no longer in use because their teams decided to upgrade and move in together.

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals now share a complex in West Palm Beach. In the inaugural season it simply was referred to…

Tanking in baseball: Is it as bad as you think? #tanking #MLB #baseball #DraftPicks

Tanking is a hot topic among multiple sports in today’s society. The NBA is most notorious for teams either blatantly exclaiming they are losing on purpose to get the chance at a higher or simply being flat out terrible. In the NFL, some teams may play poorly towards the end of a season once they are out of playoff contention, but it does not seem that teams play lesser players to lower their…

Front-Loaded Baseball Contracts #Baseball #MLB #GetThatMoney #BigBucks

The 2018 off-season got a bad rep for the lack of big signings and a lackluster of free agent deals. As spring training opens, there are still marquee players such as Jake Arrieta and Mike Moustakas who have yet to find a team for 2019. The problem isn’t questionable talent; it is questionable long-term money.

Big contracts are traditionally back loaded, where the player receives more money each…

Split Squad: Baseball Terminology #SplitSquad #SpringTraining #MLB #Baseball

A split squad game at the Major League level usually only occurs during spring training. It refers to a team having two games scheduled in one day; thus the team is split into two squads. Simple right?

When a team is scheduled to play split squad games, there is generally one at home and one on the road. They could both be on the road, but the team is not playing a double header at home. Long…