Stark On Holliday, Relievers, Relocation
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com —
The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark...
Stark compared 2009 April attendance to 2008, excluding the New York teams given their new stadiums. He found virtually no change, overall. One anonymous agent complained that Bud Selig "overdramatized the potential financial losses so as to limit and to artificially control spending on free agency."
The Royals may need a bat, but Stark says they're unwilling to discuss any of their best or most advanced prospects in trades.
Stark talked to one exec about Billy Beane's Matt Holliday situation. If Holliday's power outage continues, could he become a July salary-dump candidate? If ...
Marlins Make it Rain
The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog —
The Cubs open a four game set versus the suddenly popular Florida Marlins who are riding a two game win streak and are first in the NL East. They are just 3-7 over their last 10 though and are fifth in the NL in runs scored (Cubs are 9th) and 10th in runs allowed (Cubs are 8th), so maybe the Cubs bats can start waking up.
Wittenmyer tweets that Aramis Ramirez will avoid the disabled list for at least another day and the lineup for tonight will be: Soriano, Riot, Fukudome, Lee, Bradley, Fontenot, Hill, Miles and Marshall. Also, be sure to check the left sidebar under Quick Links for Wrigley Webcams to see if the game will happen or just below that for ...
There's No Place Like Home: Cubs vs. Marlins, Thursday 4/30, 7:05 CT
Bleed Cubbie Blue —
... just before Opening Day, that the hitters expected to hit 3-4-5-6 in the lineup would have made 51 combined starts out of a possible 80; that Ryan Dempster would be walking people like he did in 2001; that Kevin Gregg would have a 5.62 ERA, and that the Cubs would have let go their only relief pitcher with an ERA of 0.00. What would you have said the team record would have been? About 5-15, right? So 10-10, given the circumstances, isn't too bad.
Is MLB attendance down in 2009? Yes, Jayson Stark says, but look how much:
Guess how much lower the ...
April MLB Attendance Figures Surprisingly Strong
Cubicle GM —
One of the major offseason, spring training, and early season story lines for the MLB season was how the downturn in the economy would impact baseball. The worry was that high unemployment and tightening budgets would lead to a significant drop in ticket sales, with some projecting a 20%+ drop in attendance numbers. I discussed much of this in my ‘ Early Season Storylines’ ...
Standing Room Only
WCBias | West Coast Bias Sports Blog | West Coast Sports News by West Coast Sports Fans, Covering Los Angeles Lakers, Dodgers and All Things West Coast —
I got a semi-nice Yankee ticket promo guide in the mail the other day and it got me thinking, how many of these things did they send out? GS and I went to a grand total of ONE Yankee game in 2007, so it’s not exactly like I should be on the George-Costanza-mass-mailing-list, right? Seriously, how many did they mail? A billion? These things are 81 pages, by the way–that is longer than some books I’ve read recently. You’d think with all of that publicity and marketing they’d at least fill up their stadium, but apparently a $2,500 price point is a bit of a deterrent , so the club has gone with what they are calling a “ promotional strategy ” to ...
Today's Couple of Stories
Fish Chunks —
Maybin answers the kids' questions. (MLB) The Mets' delaying tactics irk Larry, but Andrew's not being rushed; Hanley wasn't swinging and Ronny was bunting. (SunSentinel) Jayson Stark states the Fish are looking for a reliever, and then mentions about a dozen names. (ESPN) ...
Holliday Goes Yard, Yay!!!!….
The Ghost of Moonlight Graham —
Holliday is struggling in Oakland
Matt Holliday hit his first HR of the season yesterday in the A’s 4-2 win over the Texas Rangers. This normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but this was Holliday’s first HR in 107 ab’s dating back to last season. Ouch. Holliday was a great power hitter in Colorado (who isn’t) and now ...
Buzz: The Value of Matt Holliday
MetsBlog.com —
Jayson Stark of ESPN.com wonders how the A’s will handle OF Matt Holliday, who hit his first home run of the season last night.
The popular belief is Oakland acquired Holliday in the off-season with the intention of either keeping him to contend in 2009, or trading him at the deadline in July.
Holliday is eligible to be a free agent at the end of this season, and is batting .236 with 11 extra base hits in the 165 at bats since September 1 of last season.
Stark quotes a league executive who believes Holliday’s price will continue to drop, be it as a free agent, or in a trade, with ...
10 Things We Learned In April….
The Ghost of Moonlight Graham —
The first month of the baseball season is in the books and even though most teams played only 22 or 23 games we have learned a lot in a very short period of time. Here are the top 10 things we learned in April.
10. There will be no 84′ Tigers this year. The 1984 Tigers got off to a 35-5 start and essentially clinched the division the first ...
Baseball Beginning to See Effect of the Economy
The Big Lead —
Baseball Attendance Declines: MLB attendance has dropped 5.2 percent from last season. The Yankees are down 11.9 percent. The Tigers have lost 27 percent. The Nationals have dropped 35.2 percent. Though, the Zack Attack has titilated the Royals faithful. KC attendance has risen 15.1 percent. These numbers seem more pessimistic than Jayson Stark’s end of April column. Is something screwy with the figures, or is the economy showing as the novelty withers in May? (USA Today)
