:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70393843/1260356036.0.jpg)
Hello and welcome to Saturday! Let’s take a look around baseball as we kick off the weekend.
In Mariners news...
- Our own Joe Doyle drops some hype on some of the M’s upcoming international signees.
The Seattle Mariners deal with 17-year-old third baseman Michael Arroyo is expected to be worth $1.2 million, making him the second 7-figure signing in this class. "Pure hitter. A steal for that price."pic.twitter.com/z6PdDCbMZI
— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) January 15, 2022
The Mariners deal with Dominican 16-year-old SS Joaan De Jesus will be "six figures". One scout called De Jesus "stupidly good defensively for his age/size... pretty easily plus glove projection, maybe better. Absurd hands and actions."pic.twitter.com/qPkJGnyLZr
— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) January 15, 2022
Around the league...
- This is a fairly substantial change for the Orioles. It’s hard to know until it happens, but these changes could turn Camden from a hitter’s park into a pitcher’s one.
From the Orioles: Official renderings of the changes in Camden Yards’ left-field dimensions. pic.twitter.com/JeXm3glHA2
— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) January 14, 2022
- J.J. Cooper at Baseball America analyzed the merits of the top 100 prospect solution proposed by the owners for service time manipulation.
- Mark Kotsay’s staff includes some interesting names, including (briefly) former Mariner Tommy Everidge.
Introducing our 2022 Coaching Staff. pic.twitter.com/PbCVrCEUma
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) January 14, 2022
- Former MLB outfielder Melky Cabrera, who somehow never played for Seattle, announced his retirement. Cabrera, who played for 15 seasons, has not played in an MLB game since 2019.
- After conducting some experiments on behalf of Major League Baseball last season, the Atlantic League will go back to using non-robot umpires and will move the mound to its standard distance. Minor league baseball is expected to adopt the robo umps at many levels in future years.