![]() MLB has a nice little feature on the cameras and their use up for your viewing pleasure.If you’ve ever peed in a suburban powder room, you know the line. While the Astros were the early adopter, they have quickly become ubiquitous behind practice mounds throughout the major leagues. High-speed cameras became the new hotness after comments by Justin Verlander on how they had helped him improve upon his move to Houston. Tigers pitching coach Rick Anderson wants him to leave well enough alone. Alcantara has apparently been tinkering with a splitter in an effort to get more whiffs. For the most part, the young reliever relies on an absolute bowling ball of a sinker, and doesn’t really have much to back it up. Coupled with a very low BABIP, this doesn’t exactly argue for future success. He racked up a tidy 2.40 ERA in 30 innings of work last summer, but a very low strikeout rate. Reliever Victor Alcantara burst on the scene last season in a relief role. They ask the question on everyone’s mind: can Miguel Cabrera return to form after two injury-plagued seasons? Tigers fans fear they know the answer to this question already. Yahoo Sports has their preview of the 2019 Tigers up. Anthony Fenech has the story for the Detroit Free Press. Peterson mashed a three-run homer against his former club, and then robbed the Braves of one in left field. Lakeland newsĭustin Peterson, a fourth outfield candidate the Tigers picked up on waivers from the Atlanta Braves late last season, sought and produced a little vengeance on Thursday. Phillies manager Gabe Kapler and his players got the Bryce Harper news the old fashioned way. Zach Kram looks at the implications of the contract for other players and the game in general. Sports Illustrated examines the other offers Harper turned down. Other Harper stuffĭan Szymborski digs into ZIPS projections to argue that, even on pure baseball value, this isn’t a bad move by the Phillies. Another factor impacting Harper’s contract may have been the expectation that the designated hitter will come to the National League sometime in the new few years, helping the Phillies keep an aging slugger in the lineup into his late-30s. But the point of the game is to win, and the Phillies want to win big sometime in the next six or seven years before things come unglued. Still, any commitment of this magnitude carries substantial risk. The front part of this deal isn’t an issue, even if you’re less than impressed with Harper as a star-caliber player jersey sales alone will probably pay for the first year of his contract. Harper also returns value with his marketability, which brings a bit of extra value to the Phillies’ side. It’s difficult to gauge how the terms will look in retrospect, but that yearly salary will probably look less onerous a decade from now. Harper will average close to $25.4 million in salary per year, and the contract appears to be somewhat front-loaded. The reasonable average annual value (AAV) of the contract actually makes it rather palatable. Their fanbase had already grown irate with Harper before the announced deal sent them pinballing back into epic heights of hubris. Realmuto, the game’s best two-way catcher, it would have been a major disappointment had the Phillies not come away with at least one of Harper or Machado. Their ownership had promised the fanbase a huge offseason. “He wants to tell players: ‘Come play with me.’ He knows it will help winning more if he’s with one team the whole time.”Īs Michael Baumann wrote for The Ringer, this was a deal the Phillies had to get done. “He wanted to go to one city, stay there, build a brand and identity and recruit players,” Boras said. As the New York Times reports, Boras made perfectly clear that Harper was looking to set up shop long-term. ![]() We will have to wait for particulars to see if there is a full no-trade clause, but that also seems certain. Harper apparently asked for and received no opt-out clauses in the deal, so this is a commitment without built in escape hatches. Harper’s deal represents a marriage between the two parties, as he and the Phillies are very likely going to be together through 2032. On the other hand, Harper’s annual salary will be considerably lower than Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado, and even Miguel Cabrera will earn in 2019. That’s five million more than Giancarlo Stanton’s 13-year extension with the Miami Marlins, the previous record holder. Interestingly, what the pair seemed to want most was that status, agreeing to a straightforward, $330 million deal over 13 seasons. ![]() Super-agent Scott Boras held out all offseason, knowing that his client would eventually get what he wanted. Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies have reached terms on a long-term deal that amounts to the most lucrative contract in North American sports history. ![]() Our long national vigil is at an end, folks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |