harmony

In June of this year Seattle shortstop Jean Segura signed a five-year, $70 million extension through the 2022 season with the Mariners buying out his final year of arbitration. Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts has two more arbitration years before entering free agency following the 2019 season. This year the 27-year-old Segura has posted 2.2 fWAR in 89 games while the nearly 25-year-old Bogaerts has posted 1.8 fWAR in 107 games: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=ss&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0 Since the start of the 2016 season Segura has posted 7.2 fWAR in 242 games while Bogaerts has posted 6.6 fWAR in 264 games: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=ss&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0 How much will agent Scott Boras be asking on behalf of Bogaerts?

Trivia: The Miami Marlin outfield this year has posted 10.3 fWAR, third best in the majors, while the Red Sox outfield has posted 7.7 fWAR, eighth best in the majors: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=of&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

http://www.fangraphs.com/coolstandings.aspx

Carson Smith's fastball averaged 92.9 mph in his breakout 2015 season: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=13172&position=P#pitchtype ... and for his career.

Probably of interest only to this Seattle fan, but Red Sox reliever Carson Smith and Mariner reliever Shae Simmons appear to be on parallel tracks: righthanded relievers, born less than a year apart, each with three more years of team control, back in action in the minors after Tommy John surgery. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=605476#/gamelogs/R/pitching/2017/MINORS http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=623406#/gamelogs/R/pitching/2017/MINORS https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2017/2/16/14621942/40-in-40-shae-simmons Of course the 6-foot-6 Smith towers over the 5-foot-11 Simmons. I hope each has a successful return.

I'm wondering whether Matt Kory will join Dave Cameron, Jeff Sullivan and Rob Neyer for the EclipseFest at a short-season Class A game in Keizer, Oregon, on August 21: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-and-effectively-wild-are-going-to-eclipsefest/ I'll be there. Sullivan and Neyer live in my town as well; Cameron lives in my state.

The best American League records since May 28: Houston - 37-25 Seattle - 37-27 Cleveland - 36-27 Boston - 37-28 Kansas City - 36-28 It's hard to count any of those teams out ... yet.

Baseball Prospectus columnist Matthew Kory maintains his optimism regarding the Red Sox: http://boston.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/08/08/an-optimists-view/ Kory lives in my town.

If Rick Porcello passed through waivers this month, or if Seattle made a successful waiver claim, would the Red Sox pull Porcello back off waivers or try to work out a deal with the Mariners? If the Sox were willing to deal, what Mariners players would be wanted? Would cash change hands? The Red Sox probably are not in a position to trade an established starter but Porcello's $21 million annual salary has luxury tax implications through 2019.

My friend who has seen home games of all 30 MLB teams is at National Park tonight (and will see a second game there this weekend). I saw a game there with him in 2010 (and also saw the final preseason game against the Orioles in 2008 the night before the first official MLB game there).

I have a friend who has seen a home game of all 30 MLB teams, completing the trick in September 2013 when I joined him for a game in Toronto. My friend is now backtracking to see the new stadiums of teams that have built since his last visit. He returned to Minnesota last year and this season visited Houston, Miami and Atlanta. If I'm not mistaken, the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis is the only current stadium he has not visited. In 2010 we saw MLB games at six East Coast stadiums, starting with Fenway Park, in eight days (we also saw three plays and toured the Gettysburg Battlefield). The previous year we saw MLB games in four Southwest stadiums in only three days. After watching our Trail Blazers on a Friday night, we flew to Long Beach Saturday morning, saw the Red Sox play the Angels that afternoon and the Padres host the Giants that evening. After attending a 7 am Easter Mass, we flew to Phoenix to see the Diamondbacks host the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon before flying back to San Diego. The following day we were in attendance for the Dodgers' home opener against the Giants. I still have not seen MLB games in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa Bay and Houston. I have not seen the new stadiums in Minnesota (although I attended games at the two previous venues), St. Louis and Texas.

I am not sure but I think Mookie Betts has come up to bat with no one on base 311 times in 107 games (and up to batter with runners in scoring position 190 times in 90 games). The 311 and 190 plate appearances combine to match his 501 plate appearances for the season. The 2017 American League splits are not so pronounced: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=b&lg=AL&year=2017 Moon beat me to it again.

https://d1gzvc2c13psez.cloudfront.net/sites/2/2014/04/att-pk.jpg When my daughter started college in the Bay Area three years ago I thought I would see at least one game a year at AT&T Park. But I have not been there for probably seven years. Kimmi, you are the talksox poster I would most like to sit next to at a ballgame.

Go down to Bases Occupied: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=BOS&year=2017 https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=bettsmo01&year=2017&t=b

I remember when tickets at AT&T Park were hard to get but the secondary market has tickets starting at $6 for an afternoon San Francisco Giants game I hope to see in September. Still my favorite stadium.

I straddled both professions for more than a decade before abandoning journalism.

Is that the Writers Guild of America East? https://www.wgaeast.org/ Just curious. I would think that a guild member would be particularly sensitive to cut-and-paste offenses on the internet.

Expressed like someone who has never written anything of commercial value. Some folks are good enough to get paid for what they write. FanGraphs pays its writers with revenue generated primarily through advertising. The advertising rates are set according to the number of hits each site (and each page) receive. A full-scale cut-and-paste deprives the site of those hits and the resulting advertising revenues. No one forces anyone to click on a link but don't ask for a handout.

I am a Seattle fan who is occasionally criticized on this forum for providing links to articles that cast the Red Sox is a less-than-positive light. Objectivity is a heavy cross to bear. To be precise, I did not (and never do) cut and paste. I ethically provided a link so that the site would receive a hit for anyone who accessed the column through my link.

FanGraphs columnist Dave Cameron discusses Rafael Devers and Fenway Park: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/we-need-to-talk-about-rafael-devers/

Commentary on Eric Hosmer's worth on the free agent market: https://www.royalsreview.com/2016/7/14/12189516/eric-hosmer-could-be-seeking-ten-year-200-million-deal https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2017/5/26/15688710/eric-hosmer-royals-kansas-city-free-agency-stats-purists ... and an analysis with an interesting comparison with Mitch Moreland: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/a-leaderboard-of-interest-to-potential-bidders-for-eric-hosmer/

Even with Rafael Devers' 0.7 fWAR, the Red Sox have posted a negative 1.8 fWAR at third base since the start of the 2015 season: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=3b&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0 ... ranking a distant, distant last among the 30 MLB teams.

wRC+, which takes into account BABIP, has Danny Valencia at 96 this year and 103 for his career while Mitch Moreland is at 92 this year and 98 for his career. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=6364&position=3B http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3086&position=1B#core Valencia's poor defensive reputation can be attributed largely to his play in previous years at third base and in the outfield. This year Valencia has posted a UZR/150 of 0.6 in 845 innings at first base while Moreland has posted a UZR/150 of 1.4 in 818 innings at first base. Valencia and Moreland each have four Defensive Runs Saved at first base this season, according to The Fielding Bible: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=6364&position=3B#fieldingadvanced http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3086&position=1B#fieldingadvanced We can probably agree that neither Valencia nor Moreland presents an attractive option for 2018.

No love for Danny Valencia (who has pretty much matched Mitch Moreland's production this year)?

ZiPS, Steamer and FanGraphs Depth Charts have modest rest-of-season projections for Rafael Devers: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=17350&position=3B#core ... highlighted at bottom of Dashboard. An Instagraphs system has optimistic long-range projections for Devers: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/projecting-rafael-devers/