harmony

Perhaps a parent, a sibling, a spouse, a cousin, a former coach or a former teammate. Word gets around.

Worst lists are sign a society's dehumanizing decay. Most us would be thrilled to be the worst Red Sox player of all time.

The Google translation of speculative analysis in the Nikkan Sports report dated January 26: https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/mlb/news/202201250000540.html?mode=all

The Google translation of one paragraph from the Nikkan Sports report dated January 26: https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/mlb/news/202201250000540.html?mode=all

Any spending floor should be averaged over at least three years. Money spent in a non-contending season is money that cannot be spent later as a contender. If the non-contending team is under the floor for one season that team must make up the difference by spending at least that much over the limit in subsequent years. As a longtime union member who was forced kicking and screaming into management five years ago, I am not surprised at the slow pace of negotiations. Neither side has reason to cave at this point. Negotiations should produce a resolution when the parties confront a drop-dead date on a timely start of the regular season.

Where does the rumor of Yahoo Japan's aggregator rank in relation to the report from Nikkan Sports, the "Japanese sports publication that has been around since the ‘40s boasting a circulation of almost two million"? https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2022/1/26/22902845/mariners-still-could-sign-seiya-suzuki-according-to-report-one-of-four-teams https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/mlb/news/202201250000540.html?mode=all

Join the 2022 Red Sox team: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/job-posting-boston-red-sox-pro-scouting-assistant/

The Seattle Mariners may trade from their bullpen depth to address more pressing needs. https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/mariners Or not.

Nor does the Seattle Mariners' postseason drought since 2001 but Red Sox fans are generous with their reminders.

The Athletic today posted a lengthy piece based on a recent interview with Seiya Suzuki: https://theathletic.com/3065621/2022/01/13/japanese-superstar-seiya-suzuki-is-determined-to-be-an-impact-player-in-the-major-leagues-now-he-just-has-to-pick-a-team/?source=emp_shared_article Subscription required, but here is a blurb:

Seattle was in third place seven games out of first place on July 27 when the Mariners traded well-regarded reliever Kendall Graveman (and Rafael Montero) to Houston for Abraham Toro and reliever Joe Smith (who outperformed Graveman the remainder of the season). Later that week the M's acquired Diego Castillo for JT Chargois, who outperformed Castillo the remainder of the season. The Mariners finished the season in second place five games behind the American League champion Houston Astros. If Seattle needs to supplement the bullpen the Mariners can do so without paying Lou Trivino $2.9 million for a projected WAR of 0.0 or 0.2. The Seattle Mariners may never advance to the postseason. Until they do.

The additions are Ken Giles, with projected 2022 WAR of 0.4 at ZiPS and 0.3 at Steamer, and Andres Munoz, with projected 2022 WAR of 0.1 at ZiPS and 0.5 at Steamer. Lou Trivino, with projected 2022 WAR of 0.2 at ZiPS and 0.0 at Steamer, won't cut it with his projected 2022 salary of $2.9 million. The Seattle Mariners may well miss the postseason again ... or not.

A year ago Thursday columnist Chad Jennings at The Athletic wrote about five free agents who could have filled a Red Sox need but signed elsewhere: reliever Liam Hendriks, infielder Ha-Seong Kim, lefthander Mike Minor, catcher James McCann and center fielder Michael Taylor: https://theathletic.com/2319123/2021/01/13/red-sox-mlb-free-agency/ Subscription required. Would any of those players made in difference in light of the players each would replace on the 2021 Red Sox roster? Jennings offered his retrospective on Wednesday: https://theathletic.com/3062234/2022/01/12/running-to-stand-still-ever-changing-red-sox-still-stand-on-familiar-ground/

It's confirmation that the Seattle Mariners don't need Lou Trivino. Teams need to identify under-the-radar relievers and then utilize advanced metrics to deploy those relievers properly. Last season the Mariners got a combined 6.2 bWAR (3.8 fWAR) from three relievers -- Casey Sadler, Drew Steckenrider and Paul Sewald -- who were acquired via a waiver claim in September 2020 and as two non-roster invitees in the 2020-21 offseason. In a recent interview with MLB Trade Rumors, Sewald discussed the defined roles of the relievers: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/live-chat-with-mariners-reliever-paul-sewald-12167.html Roles were not defined by inning but by the 1) precise matchups and 2) leverage situation. Seattle got the most from three relievers rescued from the scrap heap by using each reliever only in situations in which each reliever was most likely to succeed. Analytics had more to do with the transformation than any adjustment in mechanics. The succcess led to a 33-19 record in one-run games en route to 90 wins despite a negative 51 run differential. Most projections point to significant regression in 2022 although the Seattle bullpen is expected to add Ken Giles and Andres Munoz. The Mariners would likely pass on Lou Trivino.

ZiPS has issued its 2022 WAR projections for the Oakland Athletics, including a projected 0.2 WAR for Lou Trivino, indeed an improvement over Steamer's 2022 projection of 0.0 WAR for Trivino: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-zips-projections-oakland-athletics/

I can remember when only marquee college football games were televised. The first football game I had attended in years was a mundane matchup last October. The frequent commmercial breaks and resulting dead time made the game almost unbearably boring.

Jon Lester and Tim Lincecum, his high school rival from the Seattle area, had their peak years in 2008 and 2009 when Lester posted 6.1 and 6.2 bWAR while Lincecum posted 7.8 and 7.4 bWAR. Of course, Lester had the longer career, finishing with 44.3 bWAR to Lincecum's 19.9 bWAR.

Apparently minor league wRC+ is league-adjusted but not park-adjusted. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ben-clemens-fangraphs-chat-1-10-22/ Scroll down. Without a park adjustment, did Jarren Duran get a wRC+ boost playing his home games at Worcester's Polar Park?

Once in London I tried to attend a match in The Ashes, the famed cricket series between Australia and Great Britain, but the scalpers would not come down to this cheapskate's prices.

According to one source, football (soccer) worldwide has seven times as many fans as baseball has: https://sportsbrowser.net/most-popular-sports/ Even cricket has five times as many fans as baseball. This Portland resident could never envision Major League Baseball competing with soccer in the Rose City.

That is one factor as the Seattle Sounders or Portland Timbers have represented the Western Conference in the MLS Cup the past seven seasons while outdrawing the Seattle Mariners in per-game attendance most years.

In their shared seasons Major League Baseball already takes a back seat to Major League Soccer in the Pacific Northwest.

Depends on the translation: Koji: "You're going to Boston, right?" Seiya: "No ... I don't know about Boston ..." https://twitter.com/baseballcosmo/status/1479633266177376256?s=20

A clip from a Koji Uehara interview with Seiya Suzuki: https://twitter.com/baseballcosmo/status/1479633266177376256?s=20

Be a member of the 2022 Red Sox team: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/job-posting-boston-red-sox-major-league-strategic-information-assistant/