harmony

If I had to join one poster from this forum's motley crew to watch baseball, I would choose the gentle soul of Kimmi.

I wish David Price a speedy recovery but manager John Farrell's statement merely said the lefthander would be re-evaluated after 7 to 10 days of treatment: https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/837783159655784452/photo/1 Farrell called it a "best-case scenario" although the best-case scenario would be something like it was a false alarm, a pinched nerve remedied by two hours of physical therapy with Price expected to make his scheduled start on Sunday. The Red Sox would be in a more comfortable position if David Price's contract had the John Lackey clause that granted an extra year of team control at minimal salary in the event of a season-ending injury. Seattle righthander Felix Hernandez, who is younger than Price, has that clause in his current seven-year contract: http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2013/2/11/3976794/felix-hernandez-seattle-mariners-contract-extension-elbow-injury Hernandez has at least three years remaining on his contract coming off two down seasons. But again let's hope Price comes back strong this year.

Today's news was good news indeed. Nevertheless I would stop short of calling it "tremendous" news, that "it's safe to say the team avoided disaster" or to state definitively that "the Big Three remains intact": http://www.overthemonster.com/2017/3/3/14808892/david-price-injury-no-surgery-exhale ... although I hope all those assertions prove to be true.

I wish David Price a speedy recovery but I'm trying to distinguish today's news from this Red Sox news of last March: https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2016/03/22/red-sox-reliever-carson-smith-get-more-tests-forearm/9Brp2oFNmaX3T2PoNhsXHM/story.html But again I hope the issue is minor and that Price performs well throughout the remaining years of his Red Sox contract.

The White Sox have requested waivers on infielder Brett Lawrie: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/03/whitesox-release-brett-lawrie.html Lawrie is only 27 years old but I'm not sure what he has left.

Regardless of David Price's plight, the Red Sox should probably add to the starter-depth dog pile that currently includes Kyle Kendrick, Brian Johnson, Roenis Elias and Henry Owens. Spreading the risk across eight sub-starters is probably wiser than spreading the risk across only those four. This week Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto made his 40th trade to acquire more rotation depth in 23-year-old righthander Chase De Jong, the 2016 Texas League Pitcher of the Year. De Jong joins Chris Heston, Rob Whalen, Dillon Overton and Max Povse as rotation depth acquired this offseason to complement Ariel Miranda, Cody Martin and Andrew Moore. I think of Miranda as a poor man's Eduardo Rodriguez or a rich man's Roenis Elias. Like Rodriguez, Miranda was a southpaw dealt by the Baltimore Orioles at a trade deadline. Like Elias, Miranda is a 28-year-old Cuban lefthander. Miranda finished the 2016 season in the Seattle rotation with an ERA of 3.54 in 11 appearances, including 10 starts, and has looked strong in two Spring Training starts. The lefty is likely to be the first option if a member of Seattle's five-man rotation falters. Which could happen. Felix Hernandez, James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma, Drew Smyly and Yovani Gallardo come with varying degrees of injury concerns. A year ago Seattle traded for two American League East starters -- Wade Miley and Nate Karns -- with disappointing results. Nonplussed, this offseason the Mariners traded for two more AL East starters -- Smyly and Gallardo -- with hopes of better results. I apologize for going off on a tangent. After writing the post above I read this Seattle Times piece quoting the Mariner GM about the new acquisition, Chase De Jong: http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/after-the-initial-shock-of-being-traded-right-hander-chase-de-jong-is-excited-to-join-the-mariners/

Seattle shortstop Jean Segura replaces Hanley Ramirez on the Dominican roster: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/217666870/jean-segura-added-to-dr-roster-for-2017-wbc/ The Mariners perhaps have the most to lose with their players in the World Baseball Classic: http://sports.mynorthwest.com/247363/the-mariners-lose-another-to-the-wbc-what-this-means/ Seattle's 2-3-4 hitters -- Jean Segura, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, who last year combined for 15.2 fWAR -- will be teammates for the Dominican Republic. The Mariners will send three-fifths of their starting rotation: Felix Hernandez (Venezuela), Drew Smyly (United States) and Yovani Gallardo (Mexico). Shutdown closer Edwin Diaz is on the Puerto Rico roster. Of course, injuries could happen in Spring Training as well as in the World Baseball Classic.

With Thursday's blowout, the Red Sox evened their Spring Training run differential: http://www.espn.com/mlb/standings/_/sort/pointdifferential/seasontype/pre I agree that Spring Training stats are pretty much meaningless.

The Red Sox split a four-game series with the Seattle Mariners in August 2016 despite being outscored 11-10: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/2016-schedule-scores.shtml

Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi tops SB Nation's list of 2017 American League Rookie of Year contenders: http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2017/3/2/14772526/al-rookie-of-the-year-contenders-benintendi-giolito-judge-cotton-mlb

I hope David Price regains full health soon but today's news is concerning. FanGraphs columnist Craig Edwards looks at the potential impact if Price misses the season: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/if-the-red-sox-lose-david-price/#more-246708

Small sample size. Another rookie corner outfielder, Seattle's Mitch Haniger, posted an identical 0.6 fWAR in an identical 34 games last year but FanGraphs Depth Charts projects Haniger with a 2017 WAR of only 1.2 in 490 plate appearances as a right fielder (and 1.2 WAR in 525 plate appearances overall).

Lefthanders Eduardo Rodriguez and Fernando Abad are on WBC rosters as well, according to the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2017/02/27/wbc-presents-classic-conundrum/DzYZUaMDjoPqfWfd0uibuI/story.html

Even with his defensive shortcomings, Kyle Schwarber is projected with a 2017 WAR of 2.2 in 504 plate appearances as a left fielder (and 2.5 WAR in 544 plate appearances overall), according to FanGraphs Depth Charts: http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=17#LF Andrew Benintendi is projected with a 2017 WAR of 1.7 in 525 plate appearances as a left fielder (and 1.9 WAR in 560 plate appearances overall): http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=3#LF Steamer and ZiPS project Schwarber with 2017 WAR of 2.7 and 1.5 while projecting Benintendi at 1.4 and 2.1: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=16478&position=C/OF http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=17901&position=OF Steamer600, which assumes 600 plate appearances for each player, projects Schwarber and Benintendi with 2017 WAR of 3.1 and 1.6, respectively. http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=17&lg=all&players= http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=3&lg=all&players= When Benintendi was taken with the seventh pick of the June 2015 draft he was four months younger than Schwarber was when the latter was taken with the fourth pick of the June 2014 draft.

I would note that I provided Bill James' optimistic projections for Blake Swihart after I acknowledged that I was surprised by the pessimistic projections from FanGraphs Depth Charts, Steamer and ZiPS.

Thank you for the feedback. I will keep the comments in mind if I post again.

I don't know for sure but I suspect the Cubans don't make their own HDTVs. If the Cubans don't make their own HDTVs, they're in good company: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2014/10/22/americans-make-tvs/17680951/ http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2016/mar/14/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-us-doesnt-make-tvs-anymore/

http://www.martinoticias.com/a/cuba-television-digital-fallas/125978.html

Blake Swihart's bat would be ready for left field if FanGraphs Depth Charts, Steamer and ZiPS projected Swihart with Kyle Schwarber's projected 2017 wRC+ of 123, 124 and 121. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=16478&position=C/OF Instead, FanGraphs Depth Charts, Steamer and ZiPS project Swihart with 2017 wRC+ of 82, 87 and 77. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=13176&position=C

Kyle Schwarber, who is nearly a year younger than Blake Swihart, could still develop as a catcher but probably won't get the chance because his bat is currently ready to play other positions. Swihart could develop as a catcher but his bat probably is not ready to play at other positions.

I entered this discussion about Blake Swihart because I was surprised by his bearish projections from FanGraphs Depth Charts, Steamer and especially ZiPS. I provide projections from all sources I can find. Objectivity is a heavy cross to bear.

I hope Petco Park drains before the World Baseball Classic moves to San Diego on March 14: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5t90vjVAAI4IO-.jpg:large My wife and daughter were in San Diego today for my daughter's recruiting trip but they did not mention the weather. Their return flight has been delayed by 30 minutes so I'll have late-night pickup duties at the airport.

The hometown crowd also includes Red Sox consultant Bill James and his optimistic 2017 projections for Blake Swihart: http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2016/11/boston_red_sox_2017_projection.html The projected on-base percentage is surprising in light of Swihart's .328 career mark buoyed by a likely unsustainable BABIP of .357.

Major League Baseball reportedly is a strong advocate of the World Baseball Classic. The owners and the players union worked out the details in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Baseball America reports: http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/2017-world-baseball-classic-notebook/#17wVzYa4ScT8P2xx.99 http://nesn.com/2016/11/mlb-mlbpa-new-cba-agreement-winter-meetings-2016/ http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/morosi-2017-world-baseball-classic-could-be-barometer-of-mlb-labor-relations-030514 The owners and players are holding up their respective ends of the agreement. My union negotiates with management for days off; the players union has negotiated with management for job-related outside activity.

Have any players violated "contracted obligations" by playing in the World Baseball Classic? Would a team violate "contracted obligations" by forbidding a player's participation in the World Baseball Classic? I suspect the aggrieved party would enforce the contract if a violation arose. The Seattle Mariners know the risk of WBC participation but have given their blessing this year to Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Edwin Diaz, Yovani Gallardo, Tyler O'Neill, Sam Gaviglio, Pat Venditte, Sebastian Valle, Emilio Pagan and possibly Drew Smyly.