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MLB - Kansas City Royals Sign Francisco Pena

11/17/2013

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Today, the Kansas City Royals signed Francisco Pena. Being a minor league free agent who's never really hit at any level, Pena does have a good defensive reputation and has thrown out plenty of attempted base-stealers in the past (30% in 2013). Ordinarily, a guy like Pena would get a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League spring training. However, because of the dearth of good catching on the free agent market, the Royals gave Pena a Major League contract, adding him to their official 40-man roster. It's unknown what he's guaranteed besides the usual 40-man roster bonus.

Pena is the son of former Royals Manager and current Yankee bench coach Tony Pena, a fantastic defensive catcher himself, so he certainly has the pedigree. He'll battle with Brett Hayes and George Kottaras for the back-up catching job in Kansas City behind Salvador Perez. It is important to note that Perez has had trouble staying healthy, so the backup catcher job actually is quite important for that team. Kottaras is a patient guy with some pop and Hayes just has some pop. It should be an interesting position battle to watch come Spring Training.

Scott Seabol - MLB Baseball Player Bio

11/16/2013

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by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Not many people probably remember Scott Seabol. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 88th round in 1996. That's an absurdly late pick, honestly; I don't think the draft EVER goes that far anymore. He had a couple of big minor league seasons in the Yankees organization before being called up in 2001. He received only 1 at-bat as a pinch hitter and made an out on a ball in play.

In 2002, he had a sub-par year in the minors and was let go by the Yankees after the season. The Brewers signed him as a free agent and was released in May after 25 pretty bad games in the minors. The St. Louis Cardinals picked him up and he mashed at AAA for the Memphis Redbirds for the rest of 2003, 2004, and 2005 with an OPS consistently around .900. He was called up in 2005 and got into 59 games as a bench player and didn't do much. The Cardinals let him go in December.

In 2006, the Marlins signed Seabol and put him at AAA Albuquerque where yet again mashed to the tune of a .998 OPS in 71 games. He was let go in July in order to pursue an opportunity in the Korean Baseball League. Seabol's time in the KBO wasn't good: in 47 games, he hit just .163/.237/.301 with 6 HR.

Apparently, though, the Marlins still wanted him back at AAA in 2007, where he had a .943 OPS in 139 games. This afforded him an opportunity in the Japanese baseball leagues with the Hiroshima Carp. His first year with the Carp went OK, but he only had a .755 OPS. The next season he was terrible with only a .628 OPS and returned home after the season to retire.

It's fair to say that Seabol deserved better chances in his playing career. He just never got a fair shake, honestly, by MLB teams. He seemed to be a defensive-neutral player at both first and third base and could certainly hit for a good deal of power. It's hard to say he was a true 4-A player - someone that's too good for AAA but not good enough for the Majors.

The main issue for Seabol is that he seemed always blocked in what ever organization he signed with. He just had tough luck, though he made OK money at AAA. He had a decent baseball playing career and at least got his cup of coffee in the Majors.

The good news for Scott Seabol is that he actually would later become a coach in the Yankees minor league system. In 2018, he was named the hitting coach of the Single-A Charleston RiverDogs.

I wish you well, Scott Seabol, and hope life is treating you well!

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

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MLB - 2013 Cy Young Awards Announced

11/13/2013

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Tonight, MLB announced the winners of the American League and National League Cy Young Awards. The National League winner was, by no shock whatsoever, Clayton Kershaw, who is by far the best left-handed pitcher in baseball. It's his second Cy Young award in his young career. Kershaw had 2013 season worth 6.5 WAR, right on par with his 6.6 WAR 2011 season. His 1.83 ERA in 2013 was his best yet, and was backed up the lowest walk rate of his career yet (1.98 BB/9). It was pretty obvious that he'd win this award.

In the American League, the potential winner was a bit more unclear. It was the 21-3 Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers that inevitably took home the hardware. He did have quite a season, well beyond the 21 wins. He himself had his best season yet, and amassed 6.4 WAR. His 2.90 ERA was actually higher than his FIP (Fielding-Independent Pitching) of 2.74. Scherzer was the real deal this season, building on what had been a very good 2012. He's in line for a huge raise next season, and will be hitting the free agent market right afterwards, unless the Tigers lock him up soon. The Cy Young award just gives him one more reason to ask for an even higher raise.

These awards were well-deserved. Yu Darvish had a shot at the AL Cy Young, but Scherzer did outperform him enough to take it home.

MLB - Ben Cherington Wins the 2013 Sporting News Executive of the Year Award

11/11/2013

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Ben Cherington (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

As someone who analyzes every move that Major League Baseball teams make, I find the goings on at the General Manager meetings very fascinating. After all, General Managers in baseball have a lot of power and are seen as the architects of the teams that are put out onto the field. This year, the choice for the Executive of the Year, chosen by Sporting News magazine, seemed fairly obvious: Ben Cherington of the Red Sox. It's been pretty widely understood that Ben Cherington is a very good baseball man, and while 2012 was a disaster, it's pretty fair to say that said season wasn't really his fault. But 2013 was very much a product of his hard work and the great organization that he has been building around him.

In early 2012, it seemed apparent that Cherington wanted then-Toronto bench coach Torey Lovullo to take the vacant managerial job after the much-maligned Terry Francona had been let go. But it seemed to be the opinion of John Henry and Larry Lucchino that the obvious choice was Bobby Valentine, who was famous for being a jerk and while supposedly a smart baseball man, not a particularly good manager. It would seem to myself and many other people that the Valentine hiring was forced upon Cherington. After 2012, Henry and Lucchino decided to give Cherington more free reign, but we all know that Cherington's best move came in August of 2012 in the midst of that atrocious last-place finish.

That move, of course, will forever now be known as the "Trade of the Century" with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a move that changed the destinies of both franchises. The Red Sox were able to dump Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez and receive massive salary relief and a few young players. So far, actually, the trade has worked out splendidly for both parties involved, with Gonzalez and Crawford having rebound years and only Beckett failing miserably. But the ability for the Red Sox to literally dump over $200 million of future contract money on the Dodgers and be able to rebuild the team from the ground up proved much more valuable for the Red Sox. While I could delve deeply into the numbers in evaluating this trade from a statistical standpoint, I will say this: the Red Sox signed a bunch of under-rated players and won a World Championship while the Dodgers expanded their payroll, played pretty well, and lost to the Cardinals in the playoffs. To say that Cherington's move netted Boston a World Championship would be, of course, quite accurate.

Also, Cherington got his wish to have Torey Lovullo on his staff, but instead, as the bench coach for former Toronto manager John Farrell. Of course, Farrell was still under contract with the Blue Jays, which meant that there had to be a deal worked out. The Blue Jays decided to let Farrell go if they acquired shortstop Mike Aviles, as well. The Red Sox were totally fine with that idea (already having Stephen Drew in their sights) so they got the manager that they sort of always wanted anyway. They got Lovullo as a bonus, as well as the legendary infield coach Brian Butterfield and former bullpen coach Juan Nieves to be their new pitching coach.

Farrell's highly analytic approach to the game along with Butterfield's defensive positioning genius turned out to be a great combination. Nieves worked very well with the pitching staff and Farrell's own pitching coach experience no doubt proved invaluable for his old students Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. But, of course, Cherington's make-over of the team, made possible by the "Trade of the Century" netted them very useful players like Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, David Ross, Jonny Gomes, and Stephen Drew. Ryan Dempster, so far, seems to be the only signing that's looked a bit questionable so far. They also signed the upbeat, and very underrated, Japanese reliever Koji Uehara and traded for Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan to solidify the back end of the bullpen.

In the end, they replaced guys that had become clubhouse cancers with character guys. While people may say character can be overrated in terms of baseball analysis, the 2013 Red Sox proved that clubhouse chemistry (as it was in 2004) is in fact a big deal. The thing is, from Cherington's perspective, he signed the guys he did for the baseball players they were. The good character attributes just happened to be a bonus, and of course, they were considered. Joel Hanrahan didn't work out, as he blew out his arm, clearly being more damaged goods that they had initially realized. One of the guys they traded for him, Mark Melancon, actually ended up becoming the Pirates closer due to Jason Grilli's injury. Ryan Dempster started off well, but was quite mediocre the rest of the way. In fact, after his incident with throwing at A-Rod multiple times, he really didn't pitch much at all (mostly due to the the presence of the Jake Peavy trade). He's on the books for about $13 million next year, too, making Dempster probably the only bad move he's made so far. The Hanrahan trade might count, too.

But what went right so far outweighed those negatives. Of course, as is extremely well-documented now, Koji Uehara ended up becoming the closer and having one of the best closer seasons in a very long time. Also, Cherington had been brilliant enough to had a games finished clause to Uehara's contract, and that netted him a SECOND year of Uehara at $4.5 million, a bargain considering how the free agent market is shaping up this off-season. Also, while the Napoli negotiations were a bit crazy, as the Red Sox went from offering a 3-year $39 million deal all the way down to a $5 million with incentives that inevitably totaled $13 million, the gamble paid off beautifully. Victorino, known for his injury history with his back and hamstrings, was a bit of a head-scratcher signing to some people, as well. Of course, Victorino has been quite underrated for some time, and as it turned out, he was always meant to bat from the right side, as he discovered late last season when an injury hampered his ability to hit from the left side. He hit so well right-handed that it's possible he'll give up switch-hitting entirely, and actually far exceed his expectations. What he was signed to do, though, he did and more. He was easily the best defensive outfielder in baseball last year, and it wasn't close.

Jonny Gomes proved to be an excellent platoon partner for the surprising breakout Daniel Nava. He's always been a guy with decent pop, but he's better suited to batting against lefties. He isn't a great defensive outfielder, although he made some highlight reel plays this season. He only produced about 1 WAR overall, but was fantastic in the playoffs and is well-known as a fantastic clubhouse guy. David Ross is a very underrated catcher who could start for a lot of teams, and he would've been more valuable had it not been for his concussion issues, and proved to be a solid back-up for Saltalamacchia.

Also, the only real trade the Red Sox made this year was for Jake Peavy. The Red Sox had coveted Peavy for awhile, but wanted the White Sox to kick in some money. The White Sox wouldn't budge without receiving at least Will Middlebrooks from the Red Sox. But with the Tigers' Jhonny Peralta being suspended for PED's, the Tigers found themselves without a shortstop and decided to join the trade party. In the end, the Red Sox parted with only Jose Iglesias and a couple of low-minors arms for Jake Peavy, who is also signed for 2014. While Peavy was lousy in the playoffs, he was solid for the Red Sox during the stretch run, and it's very possible Peavy's struggles were due to his being over-hyped for the playoff starts - as adrenaline rushes have been known to do. He'll probably be fine for 2014. The emergence of Xander Boegarts made Iglesias expendable, and while he'll probably be a great Tiger for years to come, the Red Sox got the starter that they so desperately needed to replace a mediocre Dempster for the stretch run. That move worked out just fine.

Overall, you have to give Cherington an A for his team-building efforts. The Red Sox already had a solid core of Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and even John Lackey, who returned to his Angels form in 2013. They have great young talent in Will Middlebrooks, Felix Doubront, Jackie Bradley, Jr, and of course, Xander Boegarts. Going forward, Cherington knows he has a dynasty sort of core locked up for awhile. He'll have to figure out how to replace Ellsbury, who will very likely leave, but he's likely going to bring back at least Napoli and likely Saltalamachia (or bring in Brian McCann). In any case, he'll always have 2013, and hopefully, the pieces fall again just as well for 2014. He has very few holes to fill and some decent prospects on the farm.

MLB - Kansas City Royals Sign Francisco Pena

Scott Seabol - MLB Baseball Player Bio

MLB - 2013 Cy Young Awards Announced

MLB - Ben Cherington Wins the 2013 Sporting News Executive of the Year Award

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