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Grading Every MLB Team’s 2024 Offseason (20-11): Part II

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Josh Hader signing: All-Star closer in tow, the Astros gear up for their own Last Dance - DraftKings Network

Caption: New Houston Astros closer Josh Hader pitching

By Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own raps for the music industry club at BGSU.

March 15, 2024

20. Milwaukee Brewers   (C)

Milwaukee Brewers Unveil New Logo and Uniforms | Ballpark Digest

Major Additions

  • 1B Rhys Hoskins
  • RP DL Hall
  • C Gary Sanchez
  • SP Jakob Junis
  • INF Joey Ortiz

On one hand, the Brewers acquired a few good players on the free agent market this offseason to help their offensive struggles. On the other hand, they lost their top three rotation pieces and 4 of their best offensive weapons, which I think results in an overall net loss. Ace pitcher Corbin Burnes is now an Oriole, Brandon Woodruff is a free agent, and Adrian Houser signed with the Mets. These are obviously huge losses but Milwaukee couldn’t avoid them leaving and they ended up getting a decent haul back with Jakob Junis from San Francisco and reliever DL Hall from Baltimore. Offensively, they lost Carlos Santana and Rowdy Tellez but picked up Rhys Hoskins from Philadelphia which will be a significant defensive and more consistent offensive upgrade at first base. Mark Cahna is now a Detroit Tiger and Jesse Winker is now with the Washington Nationals so the Brewers’ outfield is also depleted. To combat this, the top prospect in their organization, Jackson Chourio, will likely slide into the outfield at some point during the season. Overall, the Brewers will likely take a huge step back this year after winning the division last season but can easily get back on top in a year or two with the additions and prospects that they’ve acquired.

19. Texas Rangers   (C)

Texas Rangers Logo and symbol, meaning, history, PNG, brand

Major Additions

  • RP Kirby Yates
  • RP David Robertson

Fresh off their first-ever World Series title, Texas loses some significant players from their roster including catcher Mitch Garver, starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, and relievers Will Smith and Aroldis Chapman. The Rangers did a great job at replacing their relief pitching losses by getting Kirby Yates from the Braves and David Robertson from the Marlins. They have top pitching prospects Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker, and Brock Porter in their farm system but they are far away from being ready for MLB, and adding another starting pitcher to their veteran pitching staff this offseason would have been helpful with Montgomery gone.

18. Oakland A’s   (C)

Oakland A's team name origin

Major Additions

  • SP Ross Stripling
  • SP Alex Wood
  • INF Abraham Toro
  • OF Miguel Andujar

The A’s were definitely the worst team last year but they made minor improvements with their pickups in the offseason. They are still very much in a rebuild and can’t afford big free agents so the Toro and Andujar signings were about the best they could do for offense. Both players are relatively consistent hitters who could also give a little pop to the top of the A’s lineup. While Wood and Stripling aren’t household names, they will be much more reliable 3rd and 4th starters than Trevor May and James Kaprielian were. The A’s also didn’t lose many players and slide towards the middle of the rankings with a solid C because the players they got won’t help them get significantly better right away.

17. Cincinnati Reds   (C+)

File:Cincinnati Reds Cap Insignia.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • 3B Jeimer Candelario
  • SP/RP Nick Martinez
  • RP Emilio Pagan
  • RP Frankie Montas

Similar to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati is notorious for spending very little money on free agents in the offseason. This season was a little different as they paid for 4 major additions to the team. The young Reds pitching staff and talented prospects in the Reds infield will be bolstered by veteran corner infielder Jeimer Candelario and the relief pitching staff will get huge boosts from Martinez, Pagan, and Montas. In my opinion, the biggest fault for this Reds’ offseason was that they overpaid for the quality of the players they were getting instead of making one huge free-agent splash that could have helped them more in the future seasons.

16. Kansas City Royals   (C+)

File:Kansas City Royals Insignia.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • CP Will Smith
  • RP Seth Lugo
  • 2B Adam Frazier
  • SP Michael Wacha
  • OF Hunter Renfroe
  • MI Garrett Hampson
  • SP Chris Stratton

The Royals have had one of the sneakiest good off-seasons. They lost franchise legend Zack Greinke to free agency but he is the only starter who has been removed. Meanwhile, on the additions side they have significantly improved their poor pitching staff with veteran starters Michael Wacha and Chris Stratton and top tier relievers Seth Lugo and Will Smith. Adam Frazier will also pair well defensively with Bobby Witt Jr. in the middle infield and Garrett Hampson is another defensive presence that could add infield depth. Lastly, Hunter Renfroe will help provide some pop in the middle of the lineup. Going forward, the Royals will have to figure out a way to blend these off-season veteran additions with the young prospects that they’ve acquired over the past few seasons.

15. St. Louis Cardinals   (B-)

File:St. Louis Cardinals insignia logo.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Sonny Gray
  • SP Lance Lynn
  • SP Kyle Gibson
  • SS Brandon Crawford
  • RP Andrew Kittredge

St Louis had one of the worst pitching staffs in the league last season and they made it a top priority in the offseason to improve it. Adding Gray from Minnesota, Gibson from Baltimore, and Lynn from Los Angeles (Dodgers) gives them a much improved starting rotation along with Miles Mikolas and Drew Rom. They have also gained a quality relief pitcher from the Rays in Andrew Kittredge and a veteran presence for the young offense to turn to in 3-time World Series champion shortstop Brandon Crawford. The Cardinals only lost Adam Wainwright to retirement and Tyler O’Neill to Boston this offseason. Wainwright was 40-years-old and would likely not have been as productive anymore; and as good as O’Neill can be, he was slumping last year and had a horrible relationship with the St Louis front office. While the pitching staff is way better now, another problem is that they are all over 34 years old, making another pitching rebuild inevitable in the near future for St. Louis.

14. Atlanta Braves   (B-)

Atlanta Braves - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Chris Sale
  • OF Jarred Kelenic
  • RP Reynaldo Lopez

The Braves have one of the best rosters in MLB so there’s not much else they needed to get this off-season, but they are betting on players who had unique situations last year. First, they got Boston’s starting pitcher Chris Sale who was one of the best pitchers in the league throughout the mid-2010s but has been battling numerous arm injuries over the past 3 seasons with Chicago and Boston. He is reported to be fully healthy for the first time since 2020 and will be needed as a 5th starter with Michael Soroka now on the White Sox. Second, they are taking a flyer on former top Mariners’ prospect, outfielder Jarred Kelenic, who will replace Eddie Rosario in the outfield depth chart. Atlanta hopes he begins to fulfill his original hype as a prospect. The flame-throwing Reynaldo Lopez will also be sufficient in replacing Kirby Yates at the back end of the bullpen. The Braves had a solid offseason but can’t move into the top 10 on this list without a major star signing like some of the other National League playoff teams did.

13. Boston Red Sox   (B-)

Boston Red Sox Logo PNG Transparent & SVG Vector - Freebie Supply | Boston red sox logo, Red sox logo, Red sox

Major Additions

  • SP Lucas Giolito
  • OF Tyler O’Neill
  • 2B Vaughn Grissom
  • CP Liam Hendricks

The Red Sox made some major moves this offseason to help better their position in the gauntlet of the AL East. First, they signed former White Sox/Angels starting pitcher Lucas Giolito who would likely have been their number 1 or 2 pitcher until having Tommy John this past week. They lost Sale and James Paxton but Giolito would be much better at this stage of his career than both of them. Boston also gained the second-best relief pitcher on the free agent market in Liam Hendricks which means they will likely cut Kenley Jansen which could potentially open them up to signing Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell as another free agent bonus to their pitching staff. Boston also lost DH Justin Turner and outfielders, Alex Verdugo and Adam Duvall. To combat this loss they signed Tyler O’Neill from the aforementioned Cardinals. O’Neill has struggled hitting for average the last couple of seasons but this could be a product of the poor relationship with the St Louis management and the clear lack of effort that O’Neill gave as a result, similar to the James Harden situation. If Boston can get him to play like he did in 2021 when he hit .286 with 35 home runs and 80 RBI’s, then they will have yet another power bat in a lineup with an already powerful top half. The weakest spot for Boston last season was 2nd base where Emmanuel Valdez played a mediocre defense and a sub-par offense. With Trevor Story moving to shortstop after the Xander Bogaerts’ trade to San Diego, former Brave Vaughn Grissom will likely slide into the second base spot. Grissom is only 23 and has a lot of upside to be an everyday player for the Red Sox in the future. Overall, Boston had an above-average offseason but didn’t hit on a huge free agent like the top two AL East teams did.

12. Houston Astros   (B)

File:Houston Astros cap logo.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • CP Josh Hader

Houston didn’t make many moves this offseason, but the one they did was giant as they signed the most dominant closer in MLB, Josh Hader, to a 5-year deal. Hader actually started his career with the Houston minor league system but never reached the majors with them before being traded to the Brewers for a package deal that included former all-star outfielder Carlos Gomez. The Brewers clearly won the trade as Gomez declined while Hader quickly became one of the most intimidating pitchers in all of baseball to face over the next 7 seasons in Milwaukee. Even after losing Hector Neris to Chicago, Houston should now have one of the best relief staffs by adding Hader to a bullpen with another all-star, Ryan Pressly. Houston is still outside of the top 10 in terms of their offseason however because they lost Michael Brantley to retirement and will now have a major hole that they did not address in the outfield.

11. New York Mets   (B)

File:New York Mets Insignia.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Sean Manaea
  • SP Luis Severino
  • INF Joey Wendle
  • OF Harrison Bader
  • SP Adrian Houser

The Mets had the weaker of the two off-seasons in New York, but it may be a good thing that they for once did not spend a ton of money on free agents. That strategy did not work out at all last season as they massively underachieved, finishing in 4th in the NL East. Trading much of their pitching staff at the trade deadline last year, the Mets did not lose anyone of significance in this year’s off-season. To round out the starting rotation they got Manaea from San Francisco, Severino from the Yankees, and Houser from Milwaukee. These are all solid signings who only raise real concerns regarding their frequent injuries. The Mets also mildly improved their offense by adding infield and outfield depth in Joey Wendle and Harrison Bader.

2023 MLB Breakout Stars in Review

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Caption: Luis Castillo pitching for Seattle this season.

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

September 30, 2023

In my previous articles, I reviewed my picks for who would be the breakout star for each team for the 2023 MLB season. I got through three divisions in that one leaving me the other half of the league to discuss. Let’s see how I did.

American League East

Red Sox: Starting off the second half of my reviews are the Boston Red Sox. Boston had a mixed bag of talent entering this season. Some young stars as well as a few established names like Rafael Devers, even after losing shortstop Xander Bogarts in free agency. I chose Triston Casas to be Boston’s breakout star this season and I think he was a good pick. I predicted he would slash .270/.380/.450 with 18-20 homers as well as 80+ RBI. As of today, Casas is slashing .263/.367/.490 with 24 homers and 65 RBI through 132 games. I think he has been able to make a big impact on Boston this year and should be there for years to come.

Orioles: The Baltimore Orioles had a huge crop of talent to choose from that could have been their breakout star. If you’ve followed the Orioles this season, you know the young stars like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Kyle Bradish have all had amazing seasons putting up 4+ WAR around the board. Unfortunately for me, I thought that Grayson Rodriguez would put up great numbers. I predicted that he would go 10-6 with a 2.80 ERA and be getting votes for AL Rookie of the Year. So far this year, Grayson is 7-4 with a 4.35 ERA. A far cry from what I had anticipated, but as is the case with a lot of young pitchers, it takes a few season for them to truly hone their craft and begin to dominate.

Rays: The Rays were another team that gave me lots of options. Thank goodness I didn’t choose Wander Franco. I also considered choosing Shane Baz, but instead I went with Pete Fairbanks, expecting him to be the full time closer for Tampa. I expected him to throw at least 60 innings with a 2.50 ERA and 30+ saves. As of today Fairbanks has thrown 45.1 innings through 49 games, an ERA of 2.58 and 25 saves. I think this pick was another success, he has almost hit the saves mark I set in almost 20 fewer innings than I anticipated and has kept his ERA very close to 2.50.

Blue Jays: For Toronto, I selected an unorthodox pick in the catcher/outfielder combo, Daulton Varsho. He was traded to the Jays in the off-season and I expected him to have a breakout year alongside the other second-generation stars the Blue Jays have (Vladdy, Bichette, and Biggio). Daulton’s father Gary was an outfielder in the MLB for eight seasons and was a coach and manager around the league for another eight. I expected Daulton to bat .265 with 30 homers and at least 25 stolen bases. Looking back, expecting him to be in the 30-30 club was a bit wishful. But Varsho had a decent season, batting .220 with 20 homers and 16 stolen bases. While his average fell a bit flat, his homers and stolen bases give me a good outlook for Varsho’s future in the league.

Yankees: I predicted that Oswald Peraza would have a breakout year for New York and make himself a spot in the Yankee middle infield for many years to come. I expected a slash line of .275/.350/.400 with 50 RBI and no fewer than 25 stolen bases. Peraza had quite a disappointing year, only playing in 47 games to date (a long ways from the 80+ I expected) and is slashing .195/.273/.551 with 14 RBI and only 4 stolen bases.

National League East

Nationals: The Nationals have been bad this year. There’s no other way to say it. But, I looked for starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore to be a high spot for the club to look to. I predicted Gore would throw 150 innings with 200 K’s and an ERA around 3.40. Gore has struggled with going deep in games as well as recently being placed on the 15 day injured list. This season he has thrown 136.1 innings striking out 151 batters along the way with a 4.42 ERA. His K/9 rate has me feeling good about my prediction going forward as I believe Gore just needs more experience at the MLB level to figure out how to lower his ERA.

Marlins: For Miami, I predicted their breakout star to be someone who has struck fear into my heart for over a year with his impossible-to-hit-against card in MLB The Show 22, Edward Cabrera. I expected Cabrera to be a part of a nasty Marlins rotation that never completely came to fruition with 150+ innings, a 14-6 record and an ERA of 3.00. Unfortunately, Cabrera has struggled like most young pitchers do and has a 7-7 record with a 4.24 ERA in only 99.2 innings. He has really had troubles going late into games but I expect that to improve with age.

Phillies: The Phillies have had a great season and at the moment are looking forward to making a playoff run as they have already clinched a spot. I looked for outfielder Brandon Marsh to have his breakout season with them. I predicted Marsh to bat .270 with 130+ hits and to keep his fielding percentage elite. As of now Marsh is batting .276 with 110 hits, and while his fielding has suffered a bit to the tune of 5 errors this season. Nonetheless, Marsh is having a heck of a season and I look for him to become an all-star in the very near future.

Mets: The Mets spent a ton of money this off-season just to be fighting to stay out of last place in September. But, I predicted that one of their new imports, Kodai Senga would have a dominant first season in the MLB and he proved me right. I expected Senga to throw 100 innings with 125 strikeouts and a 2.75 ERA and as of today Senga has thrown 166.1 innings, struck out 202 and held an ERA of 2.98. Senga has probably been my best prediction in this whole series putting up absolute ace-level numbers this season. I think signing him was the best move the Mets made all off-season.

Braves: The Braves are annoyingly good and are going to continue being that way for the foreseeable future, which is unfortunate news for any fan of a team in the National League not from Atlanta. I predicted their 2022 Rookie of the Year winner to continue having a great start to his career and be their breakout star in Michael Harris II and again he did not disappoint. I looked for Harris II to slash .300/.400/.500 with 25 homers and at least 20 bags swiped. So far this season he is slashing .292/.330/.806 with 18 homers and 20 stolen bases on the dot. Now while he hasn’t had quite as good a year as I anticipated, he has been an incredibly valuable piece of one of the most dominant teams of all time in the 2023 Braves.

American League West

Athletics: Oakland, where to start. First and foremost, from every baseball fan we are sorry. I predicted starting pitcher Paul Blackburn to be the breakout star for Oakland this season, looking for him to make 25 starts and go 12-8 with a 3.50 ERA. As of today, Blackburn is 4-7 with a 4.43 ERA through 20 starts. In a season marred with letdowns for the A’s, this was no different.

Rangers: The Texas Rangers have had a great year and have been battling the Astros for first place in the AL West all year long. I predicted catcher Jonah Heim to continue making a name for himself as a premier catcher in the American League. My predictions for Heim in my previous article were that he would play 130 games, have a 30% caught stealing percentage and a 3+ WAR. This season Heim has had a 30% caught stealing percentage, played in 125 games and has a 2.8 WAR. Not to pat myself on the back, but *pat pat pat pat* I think I nailed this one.

Angels: The Angels have been an exciting team to watch as they have had arguably two of the greatest players of all time on the same team – Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Unfortunately, again, for the team, this was another disappointing season as they look to miss the playoffs. At the beginning of the season, I predicted that Jo Adell would have a breakout season for the Halos. I expected Adell to slash .250/.300/.350 with 18 homers as well as 50 RBI and 20 stolen bases. To date, Adell has a slash line of .208/.263/.581 with 6 RBI and zero stolen bases. Adell has been sidelined for most of the season with an oblique injury which has really dampened his ability to get stats, but as you can see his slash line had him on pace for a really productive season.

Mariners: For Seattle, I predicted that a former Cincinnati Reds player would finally make waves and get his flowers for being as dominant as he has been. Luis Castillo was my selection to breakout for the M’s. I expected Castillo to go 15-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 180 innings, have 200 strikeouts, and win the AL Cy Young award. While his season hasn’t been quite up to those standards, he has had an amazing year nonetheless, going 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA, 194.1 innings and 215 punch-outs. Really the only aspect of my prediction that he didn’t meet was the record and even that is a flawed stat for starting pitchers. He still has a really good chance at winning a Cy Young Award this year.

Astros: The Astros have had another very good season and actually have some competition in their division for the first time in a while as they are currently pushing to keep their wild card spot. The Rangers have a 2.5 game lead over Houston in the division but I still expect the Astros to cause problems in the postseason. I predicted that Chas McCormick would be their breakout player. He is a very good hitter who has proven that he can send the ball to all areas of the field on top of the fact that he has a handy glove in the field. I expected Chas to slash .275/.360/.390 with 8-10 homers and 120 hits and he actually exceeded my expectations. Today he is slashing .278/.359/.499 with 22 homers and 110 hits. He has had a great season and gave me another correct prediction to add to my count.

This has been a hectic baseball season and it’s only going to ramp up for the postseason. I am happy to announce that of the 15 teams here, I believe 8 of my predictions were correct! Adding that to my total from the first half of this retrospective (7), that leaves me with 15/30 correct predictions! And as we all know, if you can bat .300 in the MLB that’s a great career.

Setting the World on Fier

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By Griffin Olah

November 21, 2019

Griffin is a second-year undergraduate BGSU student from North Ridgeville, Ohio. He is a Sport Management major and a Spanish minor. His primary sports interests are baseball and football, both collegiate and professional, but he is also interested in basketball, MMA, boxing and hockey

Since baseball’s inception, teams have looked for a leg up over their opposition. Whether that is the development of signs from coaches, the shift or stealing signs, it is expected and even encouraged that teams innovate new ways to win. The Astros, however, have taken it to a new level. Earlier this month, former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers dropped a bomb on the unsuspecting baseball world: the World Series winning team in 2017 cheated.

In 2017, reports came out that the Boston Red Sox were using an unapproved Apple Watch in the dugout. Naturally, that revelation turned to thoughts of cheating, and the opponent did nothing to dismiss those. The New York Yankees, arch rivals of the Red Sox tossed in accusations that the Sox were stealing signs from their catcher. The MLB launched an investigation into the team, and found them guilty of cheating. On September 15, 2017, Commissioner Rob Manfred fined the Red Sox for their scandal and created a new discipline protocol to deter future teams (Davidoff, 2019).

At the same time, however, a far larger scheme was underway, which can now implicate 3 different MLB managers. In Houston, the Astros had a few veteran additions off to a slow start. It was then that a slumping addition who is yet to be named and a team official concocted the plan: they were going to electronically steal signs. Throughout the season, the Astros perfected the system: using a camera placed in center field to pick up the signs from the catcher, sending it to a laptop in the tunnel, where a staff member banged on a trash can to signal the coming pitch to batters (Passan, 2019). 

Fast forward to today, where the Astros are almost a certifiable dynasty. They’ve been to the past 3 World Series, hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy only in 2017. Mike Fiers, a pitcher on that World Series team had just given an interview to The Athletic where he detailed how the Astros stole signs during all home games at Minute Maid Park in 2017. The baseball world exploded, shrapnel strewn all across the baseball landscape. Did the Astros cheat their way to a championship? Who ran this whole operation? Was Alex Cora, former bench coach and current Red Sox manager, involved? What about former Astros DH turned Mets manager Carlos Beltran? Information was at a premium, and nobody could pay the price.

The media, of course, jumped at the bomb Fiers threw into the world. Every major sports news outlet was looking into the Astros allegations, and the MLB opened another investigation almost immediately. Some sources tried to prove or disprove the allegations. Most, however, either ignored, or misused statistical evidence. One ESPN article cited the Astros success on the road, both in win-loss records and batting lines (Schoenfield, 2019). While these are good surface-level stats, they don’t tell the full story. Home and away splits can illustrate the differences between the Astros’ play in Minute Maid Park and away from it, but sign stealing won’t show up as a large impact on traditional stats. If one was to look at isolated power (ISO) and strikeout rate (K%), the numbers would tell a different story. Stealing signs is going to give the hitter an upper hand, that part is undebatable, but that advantage may not be evident in hits. ISO is simplified to slugging percentage minus batting average, which shows the player’s raw power (Slowinski, 2010). The MLB average ISO is .140, with higher values showing that players are hitting the ball harder for more extra bases and home runs (Slowinski, 2010). The Astros in 2017 paced baseball with a .196 ISO as a team, .56 higher than average (“Major League Team,” 2019). The Astros also bested the league in K%, which shows the percent of at-bats where batters struck out, with 17.3%, which was only 1.2% lower than the second place Indians (“Major League Team,” 2019).

Most articles, however, strayed away from making judgements. They simply relayed the information and waited to learn more before going after the Astros’ rings. Some, however, made sure to point to the Astros’ checkered past. During the 2018, reports from Cleveland and Boston of a uniformed Astros employee recording the dugouts made the MLB first investigate the Houston franchise (Passan, 2019). This came along with allegations from that same year of Astros players clapping signals to tell the batter what the coming pitch was ( Passan, 2019). While the past of the Astros is important, constant reminders and retelling can sway opinions. If the narrative that the Astros are cheaters is pushed by the media, an investigation into the allegations can become difficult. Fans make up their notions of what happened, and those fan ideals can destroy a franchise.

While gathering information is vital in the process, making sure it is properly relayed is important. Statistics are among the few ways, along with video, to show the Astros have stolen signs. If their numbers are drastically higher, which some advanced stats like ISO show, then maybe there is creedence to Fiers’s claims. Those numbers, however, have to be given and shared with the public, as opposed to selective stats like batting average that can paint an incomplete and biased picture of the problem. The media has done a good job overall so far in their coverage of the Astros, but as always, some things could be better. It just so happens that with advanced sign stealing techniques, advanced and traditional stats could be the problem

References

Davidoff, K. (2019, November 21). Rob Manfred: Statement puts Astros in ‘serious’ sign-stealing trouble. New York Post. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2019/11/21/rob-manfred-the-statement-that-puts-astros-in-serious-sign-stealing-trouble/

Major League Team Statistics. Fangraphs. Retrieved from https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2017-01-01&enddate=2017-12-31&sort=4,a

Passan, J. (2019, November 12). Ex-Astros pitcher Mike Fiers: Team stole signs with camera. ESPN. Retrieved from https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28066522/ex-astros-pitcher-mike-fiers-team-stole-signs-camera

Schoenfield, D. (2019, November 12). What you need to know amid Astros sign-stealing accusations. ESPN. Retrieved from https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28066847/what-need-know-amid-astros-sign-stealing-accusations

Slowinski, S. (2010, February 15). ISO | Sabermetrics Library. Fangraphs. Retrieved from https://library.fangraphs.com/offense/iso/

Who’s in the Wrong? Curt Schilling or ESPN?

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by Brendan Ripley-Barasch

Curt Schilling has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. The former Major League Baseball pitcher has served as a baseball analyst for ESPN since 2010, but this past Wednesday was fired from the network because of the “transphobic” comments that he posted on Facebook.

                                                                            Image via awfulannouncing.com

To give a little background, Schilling first entered the public eye in 1988 when he debuted for the Baltimore Orioles as a right-handed pitcher. The former second round pick then went on to play for the Astros, Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox over the course of 19 seasons. During his career, Schilling won three World Series titles (including being named co-World Series MVP in 2001) and was a six-time All-Star. Arguably the most memorable part of his MLB tenure came in game 6 of the 2004 ALCS when he was on the Red Sox and pitched while having a torn tendon in his ankle causing blood to become visible through his sock, this game is now known as “the bloody sock game.”

Sadly these are all just memories and now the former MLB star is seen as transphobic by many. As stated earlier, Schilling was let go by ESPN because of a post he shared on Facebook, it was a picture of a man dressed as woman  and read, “Let him in! To the restroom with your daughter or else you’re a narrow minded, judgmental, unloving, racist bigot who needs to die!!!” He also added a comment that said, “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.” This post was obviously a response to the recent uproar caused by North Carolina passing a law which restricted public restroom and locker-room use to individuals based on birth sex. In simpler terms, people are angry that a person who was born a man but has since changed genders to a woman, will still be forced to share a locker-room with men even though they are a woman now.

This actually is not the first time that Schilling has been disciplined by the network for comments he made about popular social issues. In August of 2015, Curt was suspended from ESPN after he posted a meme on twitter that read, “It’s said ONLY 5-10% of Muslims are extremists…In 1940, ONLY 7% of Germans were Nazis, how’d that go?”

With all of this said, is it wrong for ESPN to fire Mr. Schilling because he expresses his personal beliefs? Some will argue that a man is entitled to his own opinion and he should not have to keep it to himself when we live in a country that takes pride in their freedom and where the First Amendment of our Constitution protects our freedom of speech. This is true but technically in the First Amendment it states that only the government cannot restrict freedom of speech from anyone. So actually ESPN did not infringe on his First Amendment rights and legally has the power to fire him if they wish.

Many of the stories that have been written about Curt Schilling and his recent termination state that what he said and more importantly how he said it was wrong but also credit him with starting a public conversation concerning a very popular issue. In an article from The New York Post titled “Curt Schilling got fired for his Common Sense on Bathrooms,” author Linda Chavez is inspired from Schilling to ask an important question. She writes, “Are Americans being intimidated into accepting public behavior that many feel threatens them — namely, allowing biologically male or female individuals to use public bathrooms that are designated for the opposite sex?” While this was a pretty “raw” way of giving his opinion on this certain topic of discussion, it has caused more and more people to start talking about something that may be looked at as a “sensitive” subject.

The statement ESPN issued regarding Schilling’s dismissal reads as follows, “Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.” In an article titled “Curt Schilling’s Crassness, Not Politics, Got Him Fired From ESPN” from forbes.com, author Alex Reimer claims that the analyst was only fired because of the way he gave his opinion, not the opinion itself. He writes, “Curt Schilling isn’t being persecuted for his right-wing views. He’s being persecuted for the crass and crude ways he expresses them.” This is very interesting and makes one think that if he had stated his views in a more appropriate way would he have still been let go?

It is unclear whether the public will ever know if the former pitcher was let go because the network thought his views were offending or if it was only because of the way he said it. One thing that is clear is that Schilling will not be a part of ESPN’s staff moving forward. Following his termination, Schilling was quoted as saying, “I’m not transphobic, I’m not homophobic.” So the question I have now is that if a different analyst, who doesn’t have a history of being outspoken, would have said something similar (in a gentler way) would he or she have been fired?

 

 

 

Hard Work Pays Off, Just Ask Jeremy Hazelbaker

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by Brendan Ripley-Barasch

It is pretty common to hear a feel-good story about a professional athlete, whether it is about them coming from a low-income family or overcoming a devastating injury. But Jeremy Hazelbaker’s story is a unique one, it is about perseverance, dedication, and dealing with adversity.

                                       Image via http://www.ksdk.com

Currently, baseball analysts are spending their time discussing Trevor Story’s historic start, but one player that has maybe been more impressive than Story is the rookie outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, Jeremy Hazelbaker. Similar to Story, Hazelbaker was only given a shot in the big league this year because of something that happened to another player. For Story, he was given the opportunity because Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes is on paid leave from the MLB stemming from a domestic violence case. In Jeremy’s case, he got his shot because of an injury that Cardinals shortstop Ruben Tejada suffered which opened up a spot for him on the 40-man roster. With that said, let it be known that Hazelbaker certainly earned his spot and it was not only because of the injury. In Spring Training, the prospect showed the team that he was capable of playing all three outfield spots, led the club with two homers, and was one of the top base stealers in the entire league.

This is one of those feel-good stories because not only did the Ball State alum earn a spot on the team on the last day of Spring Training, but also because he had been in the minors for the past seven seasons before finally breaking through this year. Originally a fourth round pick of the Boston Red Sox, the outfielder’s path to the majors included playing in 751 minor-league games where he had 3,104 plate appearances. At this time last year Hazelbaker was sitting at home wondering if he would ever get another chance in professional baseball after he was cut by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The only team to reach out to him after his release was the Cardinals, who signed Hazelbaker to a minor-league contract. He then went from AA to AAA in 2015 sporting an average above .300 at both stops. Hazelbaker was rewarded for his excellent play with a contract that paid him $18,000 a month, more than he had ever been paid before, and an invitation to Big-League camp. He made the most of his chance and as described before, eventually made the Major League club out of Spring Training.

As of Monday, the 28 year-old is batting .394 with three home runs, seven runs batted in, and an OPS of 1.239 through the first two weeks of the 2016 season. Those numbers are eye-popping for any player, let alone one viewed as a career minor-leaguer. The rookie has also earned praise from his teammates through his play. In an article from baseballamerica.com titled After Long Stay In Minors, Hazelbaker Arrives, writer Derrick Goold includes a quote from Randal Grichuk one of Hazelbaker’s fellow outfielders. Grichuk is quoted as calling Jeremy “the greatest hitter ever.” This is definitely a stretch but it is obvious that Hazelbaker has not only earned respect from the coaching staff but also his teammates.

The coverage of the (kind of) young outfielder hasn’t been the same as that of Trevor Story, but I venture to think this player maybe prefers it that way. As he has joined the MLB’s top hitters atop the leader boards, more and more stories are being written about him by the day. Hazelbaker’s story is very appealing to baseball writers because they know that we as fans crave these kind of feel-good tales about players overcoming obstacles to ultimately succeed at the highest level. Similar to myself, Jeremy hails from a very small town. He grew up in Selma, Indiana which has a total population of 858. There is no doubt that this man, who is one of the hottest topics of conversation in baseball, is the talk of the town and is serving as not only an inspiration to all the kids from back home but also to anyone who is at a cross-roads whether in sports or life in general.

It is pretty obvious that the player will eventually slow down in terms of his production but he has certainly impacted many from his dedication and humbleness. In an article from USA Today titled Jeremy Hazelbaker’s big league dream comes true with Cardinals, author Bob Nightengale includes a quote from the player himself where he demonstrates this humbleness. Jeremy is quoted as saying, “this is stuff you think about, even dream about…But at the same time, it’s not something you can prepare for. I can’t thank them enough for giving me this opportunity.” The stories that members of the media have wrote about the player have all been positive ones that emphasize the player’s determination and credit him for finally reaching the big leagues because of his incredible work ethic. It is my hope that Hazelbaker stays consistent throughout the 162-game season and I am confident he will, solely because of the motivation he has gained from his past failures.