Latest news with #WinterMeetings
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yankees-Braves Trade Proposal Would Swap Anthony Volpe for $35 Million All-Star
Even as more baseball fans embrace analytics and sabermetrics, consider New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe the prime example of why certain metrics don't always tell the whole story. Advanced statistics have favored Volpe since his 2023 debut, with him posting 8.2 bWAR over his first 364 games. However, the 24-year-old shortstop doesn't always pass the eye test, with his .228 career average and .672 OPS often infuriating the Yankees' loyal fanbase. Advertisement The Yankees have stuck by Volpe throughout his struggles, from missed opportunities at the plate to inconsistent fielding. But if the Yankees ever considered moving in another direction, they'd be wise to call the Atlanta Braves about a potential Volpe-Ozzie Albies swap. To be clear, there have been no credible trade rumors thus far regarding either player. Volpe entered Tuesday with a career-high .745 OPS over 192 plate appearances, and his 1.5 bWAR trails only Aaron Judge (3.7) among Yankees hitters. Albies, a three-time All-Star and lifelong Brave, owns a .225 average, five homers, and 17 RBI in 47 games. The 28-year-old has posted 0.2 bWAR and a career-worst .616 OPS across 204 plate appearances on a Braves team finally finding its momentum—and that in itself could inspire Atlanta to propose a bold trade. Advertisement Albies only has two seasons remaining on the seven-year, $35 million extension he inked in 2019. However, the Braves—or, alternatively, any team that acquires Albies in the coming months—have two team options, each with a $4 million buyout. Trading Volpe, who is under team control through 2028, is incredibly dangerous. The Yankees don't have reliable depth behind Volpe, and the thought of moving starting third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera to short ended last week following a severe ankle injury. Albies has only played second base in the majors, which would likely force Jazz Chisholm back to third. Chisholm, a natural second baseman, primarily played the hot corner after joining the Yankees last summer. Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie AlbiesBrett Davis-Imagn Images Although Chisholm has experience at shortstop, he hasn't played there since 2021. It's unclear whether or not he'd consider moving back to shortstop if the Yankees acquired Albies. Advertisement Trading Volpe also opens the door for top prospect George Lombard Jr. to take the reins at shortstop as early as next year. That's excellent news for Yankees fans, even as Lombard struggled to a 6-for-33 start at Double-A Somerset. The thought of Albies in pinstripes is tempting, especially with the two club options. However, it wouldn't be worth giving up Volpe, at least not this season. Now, if the two teams were to have that conversation at the Winter Meetings, that's a much different conversation... Related: Braves Trade Proposal Sends Former No. 4 Prospect to Mediocre Blue Jays Related: Radio Host Makes Major Aaron Judge Accusation Amid Juan Soto's Actions
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Pete Rose's path to Hall of Fame: 5 things to know about Era Committee process
If you didn't look closely, you might have gotten the impression this week that Pete Rose got elected — or at least rubber-stamped — to enter baseball's Hall of Fame. Not so fast! Not only has Rose not been elected, but also he hasn't even won the New Hampshire primary yet. In truth, all MLB commissioner Rob Manfred did this week — by reinstating Rose and the other deceased players who had been on the sport's permanently ineligible list — was open a path for Rose to appear on a Hall ballot for the first time. Advertisement Does that seem hard to comprehend? It's a fact. Rose may have been suspended from baseball way back in 1989. But in all those years, he never made it onto the baseball writers' ballot or the ballots of any version of the Veterans Committee, simply because he always was ineligible for the Hall … Until now. So even though that has finally changed, his likely election day — via the Hall's Classic Baseball Era Committee — is still nearly 1,000 days away. Obviously, that means a lot of things have to happen between now and then. Would you find it helpful to know what those things are — and how that election will work when Rose's time finally comes in December 2027? We can help with that. Here are five things to know about the Hall of Fame committee process that now awaits Pete Rose. The questions are already flying, because of course they are. Is Johnny Bench on the committee? Is Tony Perez on the committee? Is Mike Schmidt on the committee? Will the committee be stacked with nothing but members of the Pete Rose Fan Club? Or could it be the opposite? Will the committee be overloaded with folks who have an ax to grind? All right, breathe in and breathe out. Here's an important announcement: We have no idea who will serve on that committee. That's three era-committee elections from now. So the Hall of Fame is two years from even beginning the process of considering the makeup of that particular committee. Here is what we know: Rose first has to make it through a screening committee — made up of members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. That group, known as the Historical Overview Committee, will decide if he will even appear on the ballot. Rose isn't eligible for consideration any sooner because he played most of his career before 1980. So he can only be considered by the Classic Era Committee — and the committee election schedule was laid out years before this news. Advertisement Now let's assume he clears that first hurdle — which seems likely, but is not guaranteed. He then would be voted on by the era committee in early December 2027, near the site of baseball's Winter Meetings. Let's repeat: We have no idea who will be voting that day. But we can at least tell you where those voters will be coming from in the baseball universe. If recent history is any indication, the 16-member committee is likely to have six Hall of Fame players on it. Those players are usually, but not always, men who played in the same era as the players they are considering. The other 10 members are longtime baseball executives and a handful of baseball writers/historians. Normally, the breakdown would be seven executives and three writers/historians, but that can vary. Got it? Now here come the even bigger questions. There are a lot of layers to that topic. So let's divide it into three subquestions. What does the committee do on election day? (Full disclosure: I was a member of the Classic Baseball Era Committee that elected Alan Trammell and Jack Morris in December 2017. So I can explain this process without revealing any specifics.) The committee doesn't just show up and vote. It meets for hours, in person. There is a long — sometimes very long — discussion of every candidate on the ballot. It's a good guess that when Rose's turn comes, they should bump back those dinner reservations because that might take a while. Only after all that talking and debating does the committee vote. The members are instructed not to confer with each other beforehand and not to reveal whom they voted for afterward. There are only three slots on each ballot. And to get elected, Rose would need votes from 12 of the 16 voters. The committee members learn later that night which player or players they elected. The public doesn't get the big news until the next day. Advertisement Who decides who's on the committee — and does that matter? A group of the Hall of Fame's executives, historians and researchers are involved when it comes time to pick who will serve on the committee. The Hall's board of directors has to approve those choices. Then the Hall reaches out to the people on its list about a month before the election. But the outside world doesn't learn the names of the committee members until they're revealed publicly four days before the election. The idea is to shield the committee members from potential lobbying, 'helpful' advice and outside pressure of any sort. Good luck on that in this election. Can the makeup of the committee literally determine the outcome? Welcome to the hottest-button topic in every one of these elections. As soon as the names of the committee members are announced, every amateur Hall of Fame historian out there will start digging in on the voters, their history, their connections, and how they think the vote is stacked. There once was a time when there were excellent reasons for that. Would the controversial election of Harold Baines, in a 2019 era-committee election, have happened if Tony La Russa and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf had not been on that committee? We can't say for sure. But let's just say that's not a wacky conclusion. So in recent years, it appears the Hall has taken greater pains to avoid those sorts of conflicts of interest. If that trend continues — and the committee is not packed with former teammates and golf buddies of the people on this ballot — it means there is almost no chance that Tony Perez or Mike Schmidt will be voting on Rose in 2027. That's an excellent concept in any election that happens in a small room, behind closed doors. It's the best idea of the century in an election where the Hit King would be on the ballot. Advertisement So now it's important to remember … Are you familiar with math? Are you familiar with elections — of all shapes and sizes? It's just that math — the 75 percent part — that makes election to the Hall of Fame so difficult and membership so exclusive. If you're running for dog catcher and you get 73 percent in a November election, you know what they call that? A landslide. If you're on a Hall of Fame ballot and you get 73 percent, you know what they call that? Better luck next year. So let's start there. Can you even get three of your four best friends to agree where to get a refreshing beverage after work? It's hard, right? But stay with us. There's even more math. And the odds are about to get longer. In April 2022, the Hall changed this system to make it even more challenging for players on era-committee ballots to get elected. One change was the shrinking of the ballot from 10 candidates to eight. So it's more difficult just to get on the ballot. The even more impactful change is that committee members now are allowed to vote for no more than three candidates. That's down from four. So why does that make it harder? Your third-grade math teacher probably could explain it better, but think it through. There are now only a maximum of 48 total votes — down from 64. So start calculating how challenging it is, in that setting, for more than one candidate to be elected, let alone three or four. Take the 2023 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee election, just as an example. Fred McGriff got elected unanimously. So he took up 16 of the 48 total votes in the room all by himself. That left just 32 slots for seven other candidates — in a field where those candidates normally have fairly similar credentials. Now let's say the 13 non-media/historian members of the committee all had a favorite opponent they knew they wanted to vote for. See how this gets trickier? Advertisement All of a sudden, we're down to 19 total votes left in the room — so if a second player is going to get elected, he needs to show up on nearly every remaining spot on all those ballots. Oh, it can happen — as the election of both Dick Allen and Dave Parker in December proved. But don't even try to calculate the odds of electing three players. That's now highly unlikely. So the chances of any single player — or multiple players — getting elected are always going to be dependent on … Let's all agree that for most fans, that December 2027 Classic Era Committee election is going to be thought of as The Pete Rose Election. But you know who might disagree with that idea? What about the friends and family of the late Luis Tiant. … Or the loyal supporters of Steve Garvey. … Or all the folks who were pulling for the men who didn't get elected this past December, the last time this committee met: Tommy John, Ken Boyer and two fascinating Negro League figures, Vic Harris and John Donahue. And that's not all. It's not hard to come up with the names of other intriguing pre-1980 candidates: Bobby Grich … Curt Flood … Graig Nettles … Rusty Staub … Roger Maris … Bill Freehan … not to mention … Shoeless Joe Jackson! Shoeless Joe was also summoned from the corn fields and brought back to ballot life by the commissioner's ruling this week. So suppose he's also a candidate in this very same election? As we've laid out for you, the more is not the merrier. (An aside: Don't start banging out angry comments here about other overlooked not-in-the-Hall favorites like Dale Murphy, Lou Whitaker, Keith Hernandez and Dwight Evans. They're all under the auspices of the Contemporary Era Committee, not this one. That committee focuses on post-1980 candidates.) So sure, Rose is the most famous and most significant name likely to show up on that ballot. But he's not alone. And he's not automatic. And for one more reminder of that … It was only about two and a half years ago, in December 2022, that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens appeared on one of these committee ballots for the first time. How'd that work out? Advertisement In their 10th and final spin through the writers' election cycle, they were each reeling in nearly two-thirds of the vote and within 40 votes of getting elected. Less than a year later, when their second-chance cycle kicked in with their first appearance on the Contemporary Era Committee ballot, they never even got their names hung on the leaderboard. McGriff — the poster boy for the Clean Sluggers of America — sailed in unanimously. Don Mattingly (eight votes), Curt Schilling (seven) and Dale Murphy (six) were next. But Bonds and Clemens, PED era poster boys, got so little support, the Hall lumped them into a group whose vote totals weren't even released, because they didn't even muster four votes apiece. Also in that neighborhood: Albert Belle and a fallen member of the 3,000-Hit, 500-Homer Club, Rafael Palmeiro. The members of that committee followed orders and never said publicly why they voted the way they did. But is it that hard to guess? Doesn't seem that hard. So at the very least, Bonds and Clemens serve as helpful reminders of two important lessons that will apply to the Hit King election in 2027: A) Controversy and massive attention are nothing new in these elections — and the Hall of Fame has been there, done that and handled whatever came with it. B) You think the Hit King is a lock to get elected that day, just because he got more hits than anyone who ever played in the big leagues? Bonds and Clemens are here to reinforce a lesson you should probably write down and store in your phone. It goes like this: There is only one thing we truly know about these elections … and that is that we don't know anything about these elections … until they happen. (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Diamond Images / Getty Images)
Boston Globe
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
The Red Sox' Garrett Crochet and Braves' Chris Sale paired in marquee matchup of lefthanders
Crochet is a tall lefthander who was the 11th pick of the 2020 draft by the White Sox. He started out as a reliever, went into the rotation, became an All-Star, and then was traded to the Red Sox at the Winter Meetings for four prospects. Sale is a tall lefthander who was the 13th pick of the 2010 draft by the White Sox. He started out as a reliever, went into the rotation, became an All-Star, and then was traded to the Red Sox at the Winter Meetings for four prospects. Advertisement Their stories aren't exactly the same. Crochet played only parts of four seasons with Chicago and Sale had seven. But it's pretty close. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Now they'll be sharing the same mound on Friday night at Fenway Park when Crochet and the Red Sox face Sale and the Atlanta Braves to open a three-game series. For Sale, it will be his first time pitching at Fenway since Sept. 22, 2023. There should be a big reaction from the fans. Sale was 46-30 with a 3.27 earned run average for the Sox from 2017-23. He was a two-time All-Star who finished second in the Cy Young voting in 2017. He is best remembered for coming out the bullpen at Dodger Stadium to clinch the 2018 World Series by striking out Justin Turner , Kiké Hernández and the villainous Manny Machado . Advertisement A series of injuries derailed Sale's career over the five seasons after that and he was traded to the Braves for infielder Vaughn Grissom before the 2024 season. Sale is since 19-6 with a 2.72 ERA. He was the National League Cy Young winner last season. Sale had a slow start to this season but has allowed only five earned runs over 24⅓ innings in his last four starts. 'It's going to be a fun night,' said Sox manager Alex Cora . 'Obviously, hate to face Chris, but it's what we have. I think it's going to be a special night for him coming back to Fenway to pitch and I know Garrett is excited about it, too.' Crochet is 4-2 with a 1.93 ERA in nine starts. He has allowed four earned runs over 19 innings in his last three starts. Where Crochet and Sale differ most is with their approach. Sale trusts his catcher to call the game. Crochet dives into data and advance scouting. 'He has a pretty good idea going into meetings what he wants to accomplish,' Cora said. 'With Chris, it's the other way around, simplify it and go after you.' New uniforms to debut Via social media, the Red Sox hinted their new City Connect uniforms will debut on Friday. Leaked images have shown jerseys in the same shade of green as the left field wall at Fenway Park. It would be the second City Connect uniform for the Sox, who debuted a yellow-and-blue look in 2021 that was a tribute to the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Advertisement The uniforms came to be accepted, especially because the Sox had an uncanny knack of winning when they wore them. The team had the option of retiring the uniform but it remains in the rotation. On-base issues Jarren Duran has a .298 on-base percentage and hasn't drawn a walk in 59 plate appearances dating back to April 30. But Cora said he plans to stay with him as the leadoff hitter. 'It's only [45] games into the season,' Cora said, 'He's been chasing a lot.' … Trevor Story hasn't had a double since April 13. The shortstop is hitting .115 with a .332 OPS in his last 19 games dating back to April 22 … The Braves beat the Nationals, 5-2, at home on Thursday. They have won three of four to get to 22-22. Atlanta has yet to get over .500 this season … Former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo , who signed with the Braves on March 20, has hit .247 with a .628 OPS over 24 games since being called up from Triple A Gwinnett. Peter Abraham can be reached at
Forbes
19-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
One Game, One Trade Shows The Gulf Between Guardians And Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates fans are angry. An hour before the home opener on April 4, a plane flew over PNC Park imploring owner Bob Nutting to sell the team. The fans have tired of Nutting's tight-fisted ways, especially following an offseason in which the Pirates made no significant roster moves. The Pirates are off to an 8-13 start and in last place in the National League Central. They failed in their attempt to win three games in a row for the first time this season when they lost 10-7 to the visiting Cleveland Guardians on Friday night. While it is still early, the Pirates are playing like they are on the way to the franchise's 29th losing season in the last 33 years. The latest defeat stung more than most. It provided a first-hand look at offseason trade gone bad and only increased the fans' desire for general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton to be fired. The duo has been on the job for six years and a rebuilding process has gone on too long in the eyes of most fans. Guardians right-hander Luis L. Ortiz allowed two runs in five innings to get the win while striking out eight. Meanwhile, losing pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski was rocked for five runs in four innings and failed to record a strikeout. The Pirates traded Ortiz and two left-handed pitching prospects to the Guardians in a three-team deal during the Winter Meetings in December that also included the Toronto Blue Jays. The Pirates got first baseman Spencer Horwitz from the Blue Jays and hoped he would bolster a feeble lineup. The Pirates could use Ortiz, especially with right-hander Jared Jones expected to miss a significant portion of the season with an elbow injury. Without Ortiz, the Pirates turned to Mlodzinski, a converted relief pitcher, to fill out their starting rotation. Mlodzinski is 1-3 with a 7.41 ERA in four starts. Horwitz has not contributed anything after undergoing right hand surgery just before the start of the spring training. The Pirates are hopeful he may be able to begin a minor-league rehab assignment within the next 10 days. With Horwitz sidelined, the Pirates have been caught shorthanded at first base with Enmanuel Valdez making 10 starts, Endy Rodriguez making nine and Jared Triolo making two. Valdez and Triolo are utility infielders and Rodriguez's primary position in catcher. Somehow, the Pirates don't have a first baseman on their major-league roster. Thus, watching Ortiz set down the last eight batters he faced after fighting a case of nerves early in the game had to be tough for the Pirates to watch. Conversely, the smile on Ortiz's face after the game when asked the importance of beating the Pirates showed how happy to be with the Guardians. That is understandable as he moved from one of the worst organizations in baseball to a franchise that won the American League Central last season and has been to the postseason six times in the last nine years. The two small-market franchises are located just 130 miles apart but the gulf appeared so much wider again Friday night. 'Just special because... this is not an easy game,' Ortiz said of the significance of the win. 'We have to get back to it and fight through the fickleness. I think that's what made it special. 'A lot of emotions. I think a bunch of time has passed since the trade and onto the season. A lot of familiar faces, guys that I know that I came up with. But still, I'm on the mound, my job is to get outs and attack, and that's what I tried to do today.'
New York Times
01-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Garrett Crochet's extension could just be the start of Red Sox locking up their core
When the Boston Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet at the Winter Meetings in December, they did so knowing he had two years under team control before hitting free agency. With the asking price for elite starting pitching steadily climbing in recent years, there was added urgency to secure him to a long-term extension before that price skyrocketed and he could entertain offers from other clubs. Advertisement Merely to acquire Crochet marked a major investment for the Red Sox, who had to include their two most recent first-rounders (Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery) in a four-player package. In a short amount of time this spring, he has demonstrated why he was worthy of that investment. As spring training wound down, the Red Sox were prepared to make a significant financial outlay to ensure he stayed in Boston beyond the 2026 season. On Tuesday, that intention became reality when the Red Sox officially announced a six-year, $170 million deal with Crochet. The contract begins next season and runs through 2030 with an option for 2031. Here to stay. [image or embed] — Red Sox (@ April 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM Speaking with the media after the contract was announced, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acknowledged the risk-reward balance of the deal. After all, Crochet has pitched just one season in a big-league rotation. Debuting two months after he was drafted in 2020, Crochet pitched out of the White Sox bullpen in 2020 and 2021 before missing all of 2022 and most of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Despite 32 starts in 2024, he was on a strict pitch limit in the second half, never throwing more than four innings in a start after July 1. 'There's always risk associated with these types of contracts, I think we recognize that,' Breslow said. 'At the same time, we're talking about an elite starting pitcher who's 25 years old, and someone we believe will continue to develop and whose best days are ahead of him. Depending on the perspective, he could have only 146 starting innings pitched under his belt. We're looking not just at what he has done, but what we believe he's going to be able to do.' Crochet was one of the best starters in baseball through the first half of last season, earning his first All-Star appearance. And even with the innings restriction in the second half, he finished as one of the best pitchers in baseball. Among pitchers with at least 30 starts, he ranked first in strikeout rate (35.1 percent) and strikeouts per nine innings (12.88) while ranking second in FIP (2.69) and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.33). All of this came on a historically bad White Sox team. Had he pitched similarly for even a mediocre club, those numbers might have been even better. For context, albeit in about 50 fewer innings, Crochet's numbers were in line with those of 2024 Cy Young winners Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale. Skubal posted a 30.3 percent strikeout rate and 2.49 FIP in 192 innings. Sale posted a 32.1 percent strikeout rate and 2.09 FIP in 177 2/3 innings. Advertisement Crochet's numbers at such a young age made locking him up long-term a no-brainer for the Red Sox. 'Certainly, when we acquired the talent, it was very easy to dream about having that type of talent in a Red Sox uniform deep into the future,' Breslow said. 'But it really wasn't until we got to know Garrett, and we got to know (his wife) Rachel, and we saw the way that he interacted with our staff, with the pitching group, with his teammates, the strength and conditioning group and medical group — there's the talent piece of this, and then there's also the commitment that you want to make in the person. And Garrett checked both of those boxes.' Although there wasn't a deal in place when Crochet's Opening Day negotiating deadline passed, Breslow remained engaged with Crochet's agents, knowing the importance of getting to an agreement. 'I think there is urgency to get a deal done when you recognize that this is the type of person that you want to make a commitment to,' Breslow said. 'I don't think it's wise to make a deal out of fear that the price might go up. If a demand goes up, if a price goes up, it's typically because a player is performing, and that's a good thing too, but we recognize that Garrett's in a unique position given his service time, given how quickly he made it to the major leagues and this was an opportunity for us to find common ground, and we're really excited about that.' In Crochet, the Red Sox have a top-of-the-rotation starter for the next six years, a bulldog to lead a staff that featured three homegrown starters last season. Crochet's presence atop the rotation takes the pressure off Brayan Bello and allows him to take the next step in reaching his full potential. It gives Tanner Houck room to build off a breakout 2024 season. Crochet's extension is not only the largest in MLB history for a player with four years of service time, but it's the second-largest deal for a starting pitcher in Red Sox history behind David Price's seven-year, $217 million deal ahead of the 2016 season. Advertisement After years of reduced spending, the Red Sox payroll sits around $250 million, above the $241 million luxury tax threshold. The team plans to stay above that mark. Crochet's extension won't kick in until next season, but it marks the kind of commitment to spending the Red Sox have started to show once again, starting with Alex Bregman's deal at the start of spring training. But the team will need to continue to spend to keep its emerging young core together. With Bello and Crochet under team control through at least 2029, the Red Sox must secure their young position player talent. That could mean extensions for players like Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran or Triston Casas, but it's just as likely the Red Sox will pursue extensions for their prospect core in Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony. Last season, they extended Ceddanne Rafaela on an eight-year, $50 million deal just weeks into his major-league career. Over the weekend, Campbell confirmed the Red Sox have been in talks with his agents about an extension. 'I'm not sure how close or not close it is, but we got some communications on that for sure,' Campbell said. And while Anthony and Mayer have yet to debut, it wouldn't be without precedent for an MLB club to extend a top position player prospect before his big-league service time begins. The Tigers (Colt Keith), Brewers (Jackson Chourio) and White Sox (Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jimenez) have all done so in recent years. 'My hope is that this is another step in charting the course for sustainable organizational health, vying for division titles, for World Series championships year over year,' Breslow said of Crochet's deal. Breslow's aggressiveness in getting Crochet's deal done bodes well for future extensions on the Red Sox to-do list.
