Ray’s Ramblings: HOF & Straily Deal

J.P. Arencibia retired. He hit 80 homers in his career including two in his first major league game.

Wednesday I wrote about how the Tigers were looking to bolster their outfield depth. We’ve got some clarity there. Anthony Gose has been designated for assignment after the Tigers added Mikie Mahtook from the Rays for cash considerations or a PTBNL. I kinda like the skills with Mikie, but the results have been mixed. He crushed it as a rookie with a .970 OPS in 41 games before face planting in epic fashion last year with a .523 mark over 65 games. I can’t see him getting a starting spot with the Tigers, but file away the name in your memory banks just  in case he gets a shot at significant playing time.

Kole Calhoun is getting paid after signing a 3-year, $26 million deal to extend his contract with the Angels. There is also an option for $14 million for the 2020 season. The deal buys out his last three years of arbitration and would buy out his first year of free agency if the 2020 option is picked up. Calhoun is coming off yet another solid season with a .340 wOBA and 118 wRC+.

Jason Hammel is still looking for a contract with someone. Apparently, there are all types of concerns about his wonky elbow. He had some discussions with the Mariners in December, but obviously nothing has materialized.

Dan Straily was dealt to the Marlins Thursday in exchange for RHP Luis Castillo, RHP Austin Brice and OF Isaiah White. The two pitching prospects are nice gets for the Reds who sent out a 28 year old starter in Straily who is under control through the 2019 season (he’s arbitration eligible from then til now). Straily went 14-8 last season for the Reds with a career best 191.1 innings, 3.76 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He also allowed 31 homers last season, the most in the NL (tied with Max Scherzer), and really didn’t pitch appreciably different than he had previously. Check it out.

Moving to Miami should be a bonus to Straily who is obviously homer prone (Park Effects shows that Cincinnati was 4^th most homer filled spot last season while the Marlins Park was 26^th). Things won’t be better than last season, and even with the park advantage gained, they could still be slightly worse.

The Player Profile Series, in the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide, is up and running. We will have videos and articles on players like: Rick Porcello, Jake Arrieta, Danny Duffy, Felix Hernandez, Andrew McCutchen, Randal Grichuk, Adam Duvall, Gary Sanchez and so many more. To gain access to the profiles, and the rest of the Guide, click on the link that will take you to the on-going greatness.

HOF THOUGHTS

I gave my thoughts on who I thought should be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  Here is how the voting played out.

Some quick thoughts.

A player needs 75 percent of the votes to make the Hall. That was 332 votes in 2016.

This was the third time that five players received more than 70 percent of the vote.

This was the 9^th time three men were elected.

There have been 12 players selected the last four years. That’s the most in a four-year span since the first four years of balloting (13 from 1936 to 1939).

Jeff Bagwell played first base and had a 30/20 season and two 40/30 seasons. He reached base 331 times in 1999, the most ever for a right-handed batter. He owns a 149 OPS + for his career, the 37^th best mark in baseball history.

Tim Raines is the only player ever with 100 triples, 150 homers and 600 steals. He’s also the only one to have four seasons with 50 extra base hits and 70 steals. Speaking of 70, he stole 70 in 6-straight years, the longest streak in baseball history.

Ivan Rodriguez is the 52^nd player voted in during his first year. He won 13 Gold Gloves, the most ever for a catcher. He made 14 All-Star teams and won seven Silver Slugger awards.

Trevor Hoffman fell five votes short. He will get in next season (have to think).

Vlad Guerrero had an impressive 71.7 percent rate in his first year of eligibility.

Roger Clemens received 54.1 percent of the vote.

Barry Bonds received 53.8 percent of the votes, that’s 44.3 percent more than he received last year.

Players need five percent of the vote to remain on the ballot. That means Jorge Posada is gone. Posada won four championships, made the All-Star team five times, was a Silver Slugger five times and had 20 homers eight times. Pretty shocking as a Yankee with that resume that he’s gone after one year.

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).