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.
| ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA |
2016 | 3.76 | 4.88 | 5.02 | 4.67 |
Career | 4.24 | 4.78 | 4.79 | 4.48 |
Moving to Miami should be a bonus to Straily who is obviously homer prone (Park Effects shows that Cincinnati was 4th most homer filled spot last season while the Marlins Park was 26th). 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.
Name | 2017 votes (percent) | Years on ballot |
|
| 2017 votes (percent) | Years on ballot |
Jeff Bagwell | 381 (86.2) | 7 |
| Jorge Posada | 17 (3.8) | 1 |
Tim Raines | 380 (86.0) | 10 |
| Magglio Ordoñez | 3 (0.7) | 1 |
Ivan Rodriguez | 336 (76.0) | 1 |
| Edgar Renteria | 2 (0.5) | 1 |
Trevor Hoffman | 327 (74.0) | 2 |
| Jason Varitek | 2 (0.5) | 1 |
Vladimir Guerrero | 317 (71.7) | 1 |
| Tim Wakefield | 1 (0.2) | 1 |
Edgar Martinez | 259 (58.6) | 8 |
| Casey Blake | 0 | 1 |
Roger Clemens | 239 (54.1) | 5 |
| Pat Burrell | 0 | 1 |
Barry Bonds | 238 (53.8) | 5 |
| Orlando Cabrera | 0 | 1 |
Mike Mussina | 229 (51.8) | 4 |
| Mike Cameron | 0 | 1 |
Curt Schilling | 199 (45.0) | 5 |
| J.D. Drew | 0 | 1 |
Lee Smith | 151 (34.2) | 15 |
| Carlos Guillen | 0 | 1 |
Manny Ramirez | 105 (23.8) | 1 |
| Derrek Lee | 0 | 1 |
Larry Walker | 97 (21.9) | 7 |
| Melvin Mora | 0 | 1 |
Fred McGriff | 96 (21.7) | 9 |
| Arthur Rhodes | 0 | 1 |
Jeff Kent | 74 (16.7) | 4 |
| Freddy Sanchez | 0 | 1 |
Gary Sheffield | 59 (13.3) | 3 |
| Matt Stairs | 0 | 1 |
Billy Wagner | 45 (10.2) | 2 |
|
|
|
|
Sammy Sosa | 38 (8.6) | 5 |
|
|
|
|
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 9th 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 37th 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 52nd 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).
Player News
Eddie Rosario has elected free agency.
Rosario refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Gwinnett over the weekend and will head to free agency instead. There’s a decent chance he winds up back with Atlanta on a brand-new minor league deal. The 33-year-old journeyman outfielder has gotten into five games this season between Los Angeles and Atlanta.
Mike Trout (knee) is scheduled to run on an Alter G (zero gravity) treadmill on Monday.
Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters they’ll see how Trout fares before making a decision on his next steps. The 33-year-old generation superstar remains without a definitive return timetable after hitting the injured list back on May 2 with a bone bruise in his left knee.
Rangers promoted OF prospect Alejandro Osuna to Triple-A.
Osuna checked in at 499th overall in Rotoworld’s dynasty rankings back on Opening Day after an impressive showing in spring training. The 22-year-old earns a promotion to the doorstep of the majors hitting .284/.363/.409 with 10 extra-base hits and seven steals in 31 games this season for Double-A Frisco. He doesn’t project as a high-upside fantasy contributor, but he does a little bit of everything well and should be able to carve out a role at the highest level someday.
Justin Martinez (shoulder) will face hitters on Wednesday in a live batting practice session.
There’s an outside chance Martinez is ready to return from the injured list later this week when first eligible, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. The hard-throwing 23-year-old reliever is making steady progress and should be ready to rejoin Arizona’s high leverage mix at some point in the coming days.
Logan Gilbert (elbow) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday.
It’ll be Gilbert’s first bullpen session since landing on the injured list back on April 26 with a flexor strain in his right elbow. The 28-year-old fantasy ace will likely require a couple minor league rehab outings to get back up to speed, but it looks like there’s a decent chance he’s back in Seattle’s rotation at some point in June.
DJ LeMahieu (calf) was not activated prior to Monday’s game against the Mariners.
LeMahieu joined the Yankees in Seattle as they continue their West Coast trip, but he hasn’t been officially activated yet. That figures to happen prior to Tuesday’s contest. The 36-year-old will make his season debut this week after missing the first six-plus weeks of the year recovering from a calf injury.