Top News:
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Mock Draft: The Zero Issue — What you see below is my current mock draft. Instead of big write-ups, which I'm saving for my final mock draft on Monday, these are the notes from calls and texts in my latest mock worksheet with source names removed. I hope it's a fun look at how the sausage is made.
Discussion:
Federal Baseball, The Process Report and ESPN
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Keith Law / ESPN:
Gerrit Cole still the top choice — But prep outfielder Bubba Starling could rise all the way to Seattle at No. 2 — With three days to go until the 2011 MLB draft, it seems as if the names are clearer but the order is foggier. Picks three through five are probably the same names …
Discussion:
The Crawfish Boxes and River Avenue Blues
Jason Mastrodonato / MLB.com:
Hottovy's dream of reaching Majors realized — BOSTON — About two months ago, Tommy Hottovy was just another Minor League reliever throwing Spring Training games when the Red Sox regulars skipped a road trip. — “But in Spring Training, you take a three-hour bus ride …
Discussion:
Boston Globe
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Michael Vega / Boston Globe:
Hideki Okajima looking to move on from Red Sox, not get called up
Hideki Okajima looking to move on from Red Sox, not get called up
Discussion:
Projo Sox Blog, HardballTalk, A Red Sox Fan …, Over the Monster and MLB Rumors
ESPN.com:
Source: Torre, Sabean to talk about comments — Joe Torre, who oversees baseball operations for Major League Baseball, plans to call Brian Sabean regarding comments the San Francisco Giants general manager made in a Thursday radio interview, a source told ESPN on Friday.
Discussion:
ESPN, ESPN, Florida Marlins and MLB
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Larry Granillo / Baseball Prospectus:
Sabean Takes on the Catcher-Collision Problem
Sabean Takes on the Catcher-Collision Problem
Discussion:
HardballTalk, The Big Lead, Purple Row, Brew Crew Ball, The Platoon Advantage, El Lefty Malo, Extra Baggs and Baseball Nation
Henry Schulman / San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Giants' Brian Sabean blasts Cousins
SF Giants' Brian Sabean blasts Cousins
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Getting Blanked, HardballTalk, Fish Tank, Florida Marlins and USA Today
Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times:
Nine of 30 teams reportedly in violation of MLB debt service rules — Dodgers' and Mets' issues are well-known but others are said to carry debt 10 times more than annual earnings. McCourts' personal use of redirected funds makes situation different, consultant says.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Philly.com, Deadspin, The Big Lead, Washington Post and HardballTalk
RELATED:
MLB:
Report: Nine MLB teams out of debt compliance — The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets are widely known to be in financial hot water. — But seven other major league teams, including the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers, are out of compliance with MLB rules regarding debt …
Discussion:
Plain Dealer, We Should Be GMs and Bless You Boys
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Let's play 154! — Shortening the season would ease players' mental and physical burdens, improve play — By our count — and it took a LOT of counting — you can find 158 big leaguers hanging out on somebody's disabled list. — And amazingly, that counts only Rich Harden ONCE.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Bucs Dugout, MLB Rumors and 6-4-2
New York Post:
Pitching will be primary target as Yankees seek to upgrade roster — Perception vs. reality. — It feels like the Yankees offense and bullpen have underachieved this year and that the rotation has been central to success. — Yet, at the exact one-third-of-the-season mark, 54 games …
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily and MLB Rumors
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Chad Jennings / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Off day notes and links: Cousins, center fielders and clutch hits
Off day notes and links: Cousins, center fielders and clutch hits
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Cashman proud of making Draft a priority
Cashman proud of making Draft a priority
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley, The Yankee Analysts and MLB Rumors
John Romano / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays owner Stuart Sternberg tweaks Hillsborough fans who won't cross the bay — TAMPA — Rays owner Stuart Sternberg insinuated Thursday night that baseball fans in Hillsborough County are reluctant to drive to St. Petersburg to watch the Rays play. — During an owners roundtable discussion …
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Jason Beck / MLB.com:
Mono forces Inge to disabled list — Third baseman has been struggling with bat; Santos recalled — CHICAGO — The Tigers have had their share of early-season injuries and maladies, but they got a new one on Friday and had to place third baseman Brandon Inge on the 15-day disabled list with mononucleosis.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports and Bless You Boys
Ben Blatt / Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective:
The Shortest Possible Baseball Road Trip — (You can also read the results from this post in the Wall Street Journal here) — Every year thousands of baseball fans take long multi-city road trips to ballparks across the nation. When planning such a road trip, a normal person would plan …
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
Paul Casella / MLB.com:
Konerko pulled after removal of bone fragments — CHICAGO — White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko was scratched from Friday night's starting lineup after having an operation to dislodge loose fragments in his left wrist earlier in the afternoon at Rush University Medical Center, but was expected to be available for later in the game.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Steve Berthiaume / ESPN:
Defending the win: Correia racks up Ws — We shouldn't have to defend the win. When Felix Hernandez won the American League Cy Young Award last season with only 13 wins (and 12 losses), it was considered something of a landmark moment for the slide rule set; a validation of sabermetric analysis …
Discussion:
The Platoon Advantage and Getting Blanked
Baseball America:
Experts Draft 2.0 — Our draft writers take another crack at the first round … 1. PIRATES (Conor): It's a bit of a muddled year at the top, but my decision still came down to the two players we've had up there for most of the year: Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon and UCLA righthander Gerrit Cole.
Discussion:
The Process Report
George Von Benko / MLB.com:
Victorino returns after stint on disabled list — PITTSBURGH — Center fielder Shane Victorino was reinstated from the disabled list Friday and was in the lineup for the first game of the Phillies' three-game series in Pittsburgh. — Victorino, placed on the disabled list with a right hamstring injury …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Tony Jackson / ESPN:
Sources: Jon Garland headed to DL — CINCINNATI — Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Jon Garland, who hadn't been on the disabled list in 11 years until this spring, is expected to be placed there for the second time this season with a right-shoulder injury, the severity of which isn't immediately known …
Discussion:
True Blue LA, HardballTalk and Baseball Nation
Sam Miller / Baseball Prospectus:
Can Baseball Expertise Be a Bad Thing? — Believe it or not, most of our writers didn't enter the world sporting an @baseballprospectus.com address; with a few exceptions, they started out somewhere else. In an effort to up your reading pleasure while tipping our caps to some of the most illuminating work …
Discussion:
True Grich and baseballmusings.com
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Giants feast on Cards young pitchers — With key injuries starting to test the club and two more regulars going, officially, on the disabled list Thursday, the Cardinals imported a couple of fresh arms and looked to catch a break, and win it, too. — They needed many things to go right.
Discussion:
Hardball Times
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R.B. Fallstrom / Globe and Mail:
Aubrey Huff powers Giants past Cardinals
Aubrey Huff powers Giants past Cardinals
Discussion:
McCovey Chronicles and TSN.ca