:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66212371/1173425761.jpg.0.jpg)
It’s Wednesday and the links are as fresh as ever.
In Mariners news...
- Help out a local Little League!
Sad news in the Southend Seattle Little League baseball world. The kids storage shack was ransacked by thieves of supplies, metal & valuables. Can you help them rebuild for the season? https://t.co/SMy0qhaXp5 #LetTheKidsPlay
— Kevin Zelko (@Msbeervendor) January 28, 2020
- Come join us!
Excited to be returning to the @Mariners Refuse to Abuse 5k this year and to be organizing team @LookoutLanding! Sign up to run or walk with us, or simply make a meaningful donation if you can't be there in person:https://t.co/8TF8CIZRXX
— Brittney Bush Bollay (@BrittneyBush) January 28, 2020
- Ken Griffey, Jr. spoke out about the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
Around the league...
- The WBC will be back next spring.
The World Baseball Classic will be returning in 2021, details on the qualifying rounds were announced today by #MLB -- qualifying will be held in Tucson, AZ with 12 teams split into two pools from March 12-25th. pic.twitter.com/pkRik2dhj2
— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) January 28, 2020
- The Astros are strongly considering Dusty Baker to become their next manager.
- Kris Bryant’s arbitration case was one of the winter’s biggest dominoes, years in the making. Today Jeff Passan reports Bryant has lost his case against service time manipulation by the Cubs with an MLB-appointed arbitrator, meaning he’ll remain two years from free agency.
- It looks like we’re getting somewhere.
A bipartisan group of US Representatives have introduced a Sense of Congress resolution stating that the current (160 MiLB teams) format should be retained.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) January 28, 2020
From the release: pic.twitter.com/Pptw9N1MCd
- The Reds could begin the year without their stud third baseman.
Eugenio Suárez today had surgery to remove loose cartilage in his right shoulder, an injury suffered recently in a swimming pool. His physical activity will be limited at beginning of spring training. We anticipate him to be ready to play near the beginning of the regular season.
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) January 28, 2020
- Mike Axisa wonders how different baseball could be by the end of the decade.
- PopSci talked to a few scientists, NASA workers, and baseball historians on how easy sign-stealing can be with technology, and how foolish the Astros were to have an audio component.
- The Red Sox got their first baseman back.
Free-agent 1B Mitch Moreland signs one-year, $3M deal with #RedSox, source tells The Athletic. Salary of $2.5M in 2020 with $3M club option or $500,000K buyout for ‘21.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 28, 2020
- An Astros fan charted 2017 audio for all the team’s home PAs, broken down by player. The full thread of tweets, and their site linked therein, shows the methodology and the limitations, but isolates trash can sounds to see which players most often were receiving that particular cue.
Astros players trashcan bangs.
— Tony Adams (@adams_at) January 29, 2020
See all the data at https://t.co/kVtisgUo74. pic.twitter.com/n9qqapcIZD
- Meanwhile, a former Mariner finds a home.
Left-hander Wade LeBlanc and the Baltimore Orioles are in agreement on a minor league contract, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN. LeBlanc should have a good shot at a rotation spot with Baltimore and would make $800,000 if he cracks the roster.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 29, 2020
- Ben Clemens at Fangraphs tries to dissect the defensive ability of Fernando Tatis, Jr.
Anders’ picks...
- Another neat Kobe story (Hayward later went on to publicly deny he did this on purpose, so take that as you will).
There’s a moment from Kobe’s final game that few people saw and nobody really remembers … but @miketirico won’t ever forget it. pic.twitter.com/prJGObG58y
— The Ringer (@ringer) January 28, 2020