Daily Clips
November 17, 2017
LOCAL
Royals could have five selections in top 50 of 2018 MLB Draft
November 16, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
Here is a time-lapse video of new grass being put down at Kauffman Stadium
November 16, 2017By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
NATIONAL
Trio turns down qualifying offers from Royals
Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain now free to sign elsewhere
November 16, 2017By Jason Beck/MLB.com
Competitive Balance rounds set for 2018 Draft
November 16, 2017By Jonathan Mayo/MLB.com
MLB tells teams they’ll look into the issue of ‘juiced’ baseballs
November 14, 2017By Kristie Ackert/New York Daily News
MVP: Stanton by a nose, Altuve towers over AL
November 16, 2017By Richard Justice/MLB.com
Nine free agents reject qualifying offers
November 16, 2017By Anthony Castrovince & David Adler/MLB.com
Hot Stove Buzz: Ohtani posting issue remains
November 16, 2017MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
November 17, 2017 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Royals could have five selections in top 50 of 2018 MLB Draft
November 16, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
Major League Baseball has unveiled the order of the Competitive Balance rounds for the 2018 draft, and the Royals will have a selection in the “A” portion, which follows the first round.
The Royals, for now, are set to draft No. 36 overall with their selection in Competitive Balance Round A — though that order is subject to change based on teams gaining compensation picks and losing picks for free-agent signings. The Royals hold the No. 18 overall pick in the first round.
The competitive-balance round picks — a mechanism to emphasize parity — go to any team that falls in the bottom 10 in revenue or bottom 10 in market size.
The Royals could also gain three additional draft picks if free agents Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain sign elsewhere. All three players were given a one-year qualifying offer of $17.4 million. All three elected to decline the offer and seek a multi-year deal on the open market.
If all three players sign for more than $50 million with another team, the Royals would receive three compensation picks immediately following the first round. If a player signs for less than $50 million, the pick would slot after Competitive Balance Round B, which follows the second round.
The Royals are still seeking to re-sign first baseman Hosmer, while deals for third baseman Moustakas and center fielder Cain appear less likely.
In one scenario, however, the Royals would own five selections in the first 50 picks of the draft if all three players leave and sign for more than $50 million, which is expected.
The extra picks could help the Royals kickstart a rebuilding phase that is expected to begin in 2018. Yet they are also important for another specific reason: The additional picks will help boost the club’s allotment of signing bonus money, which is now capped based on a slotting system. While teams must adhere to the caps, they are able to spread the money out among draft picks. As a result, the high number of picks could allow the Royals to offer high bonuses to multiple selections, which could help them acquire multiple players who profile as first-round talents.
Here is a time-lapse video of new grass being put down at Kauffman Stadium
November 16, 2017By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
What do you think Royals fans?
The Royals put the finishing touches on their new field at Kauffman Stadium, as 110,000 square feet of a bluegrass blend was put down this week. The sod came from Green Valley Turf Farm in Littleton, Colo., which is more than 600 miles away.
Thirty trucks were used to send the 600 rolls of grass to Kauffman Stadium, the team said, and each roll of grass weighed 1,800 pounds and was 180 square feet. Below the grass, there is 600 linear feet of new irrigation with 100 heads to water the grass and the warning track. There was 5,500 tons of sand used, as well as 2,800 tons of pea gravel, 500 tons of warning track material and 275 tons of infield material.
In short, it was a big project. However, the old field was torn out and the new one was put in place in about eight weeks.
The Star’s John Sleezer’s spent three days shooting video of the installation of the sod, and he made this great time-lapse video, which you can see above (click link for video).
NATIONAL
Trio turns down qualifying offers from Royals
Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain now free to sign elsewhere
November 16, 2017By Jason Beck/MLB.com
The free-agent trio of Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain did not accept qualifying offers from the Royals, leaving them free to sign with any team they choose. It does not, however, rule out a return to the Royals.
What it means for the Royals is a compensation pick in next year's Draft for each player who signs with another club. Where that pick falls in the Draft order depends on size of the contract, according to the new system established under the collective bargaining agreement.
Since the Royals receive revenue-sharing funds through Major League Baseball, based on revenues and market size, they would receive a pick between the end of the first round and the beginning of the Competitive Balance Round A for each of the players who signs a contract with another team for more than a total of $50 million. Any player who signs for less than a total of $50 million would net the Royals a compensation pick at the end of Competitive Balance Round B.
If any of those players returns to the Royals, the team would not receive a pick.
The decision by the three not to accept the one-year, $17.4 million offers -- the mean salary of MLB's 125 highest-paid players -- was not a surprise. Though five players accepted such offers over the previous two offseasons, no player had done so over the three previous years of the system.
All three Royals are expected to garner ample interest on the free-agent market. The Royals, too, could dip into the market to try to retain at least one of them. Hosmer, in particular, could be an option to stay put, but the All-Star and Gold Glove Award first baseman also looms as one of the most productive hitters available on the market at a prime age, having just turned 28 last month.
Competitive Balance rounds set for 2018 Draft
November 16, 2017By Jonathan Mayo/MLB.com
With the conclusion of the 2017 regular season, the preliminary order for the 2018 Draft took some shape, thanks to the reverse order of the standings. The Tigers and Giants finished tied with the worst record in the Major Leagues last season, but Detroit was awarded the No. 1 pick in the 2018 Draft by virtue of having a lower winning percentage in 2016.
After the Tigers and Giants, the next eight picks go to the Phillies, White Sox, Reds, Mets, Padres, Braves, A's and Pirates. Those 10 picks are protected and therefore cannot change.
Next up to determine Draft order will be what happens with qualifying-offer free agents signing deals. That will have some impact on what the first round beyond those top picks looks like. The deadline for the nine free agents who were offered qualifying offers passed on Thursday, and all nine rejected the offer. That means the six teams that extended the offers (the Royals had three, the Cubs two, while the Cardinals, Indians, Rays and Rockies each had one qualifying-offer free agent) will obtain compensation picks should the free agents sign with other clubs.
There are several qualifications regarding where in the Draft those picks will come, based on the size of the contract each free agent signs and whether the team losing the free agent is a revenue-sharing recipient, based on its revenues and market size. The Draft order will be updated as these signings take place.
Then there are the Competitive Balance Rounds, A and B, once again slated to take place after the completion of the first and second rounds, respectively. The Competitive Balance Rounds are no longer determined via lottery. Instead, in 2017, all teams that fell in the bottom 10 in revenue or bottom 10 in market size got a pick in Round A, after the first round, or Round B, following the second round. Using a formula that takes revenue and winning percentage into account, six teams were awarded Round A picks, with eight teams getting picks in Comp Round B.
In 2018, the groups of teams switch places, meaning there will be eight Comp Round A picks and six in Round B. Major League Baseball re-ran the aforementioned formula, and while no teams dropped out because they are no longer in the bottom 10 in revenue and/or market size, the order in each round has changed.
The Pirates, Orioles, Padres, D-backs, Royals, Indians, Rockies and Cardinals all picked in Round B in 2017. They move up, in that order, into Round A for 2018. That currently falls in picks 31-39, with the Rays sneaking in for pick No. 32 as compensation for not signing No. 31 overall pick Drew Rasmussen in 2017. The Round B order will be: Marlins, A's, Rays, Reds, Brewers and Twins.
The order and current pick numbers of Competitive Balance Rounds A and B are below. Pick numbers are subject to change based on trades (Competitive Balance Round picks can be traded) and qualifying offer free-agent signings. Click here for the complete Draft order, including updates due to free-agent signings.
Round A
31. Pittsburgh Pirates
32. Tampa Bay Rays*
33. Baltimore Orioles
34. San Diego Padres
35. Arizona Diamondbacks
36. Kansas City Royals
37. Cleveland Indians
38. Colorado Rockies
39. St. Louis Cardinals
* Compensation for not signing Drew Rasmussen in 2017
Round B
70. Miami Marlins
71. Oakland Athletics
72. Tampa Bay Rays
73. Cincinnati Reds
74. Milwaukee Brewers
75. Minnesota Twins
MLB tells teams they’ll look into the issue of ‘juiced’ baseballs
November 14, 2017By Kristie Ackert/New York Daily News
All season, pitchers, pitching coaches and managers were charging that balls that were seemingly different than the ones that MLB used before the 2015 All Star Game. They seemed harder some charged, the seams were harder to grip and causing blisters, pitchers complained.
Fans charged that the ball was "juiced," MLB denied it.
But even MLB wanted some evidence to back that up apparently.
Monday, the GMs received a presentation from MLB on how they are looking into the issue, Mets assistant GM John Ricco said.
"They talked to us about the committee they put together that is currently in the midst of studying it," Ricco said. "They have put together a high-level panel of physicists and scientists to study the ball and early returns are there really not much has changed.
"But we'll see what they say at the end."
This season, 41 players hit 30 or more home runs. MLB teams combined to hit 6,105 homers, easily surpassing the previous record of 5,693 from 2000.
MVP: Stanton by a nose, Altuve towers over AL
November 16, 2017By Richard Justice/MLB.com
You are reminded that you love Major League Baseball because of men like Jose Altuve and Giancarlo Stanton. Because of who they are and what they represent. Because of how they define greatness in such different ways. Isn't that why this sport is different?
If you're 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, you've got a a chance to do special things. That's what Stanton being named the National League Most Valuable Player on Thursday means.
But if you're 5-foot-6, you've also got a chance to achieve greatness in a sport that is more about talent and determination than size. Altuve being named the American League MVP is proof of that.
"That's what I love about baseball, that every single guy can play the game," Altuve said. "There's not a rule you have to be six feet tall to play baseball and become a good player."
Altuve won surprisingly easily in balloting done by the Baseball Writers Association of America, while Stanton finished atop the fourth-closest voting in history.
Altuve collected 27 of 30 first-place votes and finished far in front of Yankees rookie Aaron Judge, 405 points to 279. Indians second baseman Jose Ramirez was third with 237.
Stanton edged Reds first baseman Joey Votto, 302-300. D-backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was third with 239 votes.
Here's how split the NL voters were: Stanton and Votto received 10 first-place votes apiece, but four other players got at least one.
Stanton was as low as sixth on one ballot, and Votto got two fifth-place votes. And then there was Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon, who received at least one vote in the first nine spots on the 10-man ballot.
For Stanton, who missed 131 games with injuries in 2015-16, playing a career-high 159 games was the key. Some had wondered if he'd ever put it all together for a full season.
This was that season. Stanton changed his hitting mechanics, stayed on the field and hit 18 home runs in a 25-game stretch in August to captivate an entire sport by making a run at 60 homers.
"It's almost like a start-from-scratch moment," Stanton said. "You remember the thoughts you had as a kid and when times were good and bad as a pro and in the Minors and everything building up, and you just finally sit and give thanks for that, and I'll have more time to think about everything that's gone on in the seasons over the years and to look forward to a new journey, too."
The last time six different players received first-place votes was 2011 when Justin Verlander won a tight AL race. This was the closet NL race since 1979, when eight players got first-place votes, and Willie Stargell and Keith Hernandez finished in a tie.
Besides that crazy year, there have been only two closer races: 1947, when Joe DiMaggio finished one point in front of Ted Williams for the AL MVP, and 1944, when Marty Marion got one more point than Bill Nicholson in the NL voting.
Altuve being named AL MVP put the appropriate finishing touch on a season in which the Astros won their first World Series and celebrated the induction of first baseman Jeff Bagwell into the Hall of Fame.
"I don't know what to say," Altuve said. "I wasn't expecting this. This is great. I want to thank God, my family that is right outside and all my teammates. I think my teammates made this for me. They made me an MVP and I'm so happy I feel like I want to cry right now. I don't know what to do, but I wasn't expecting this. I want to congratulate Aaron Judge and Jose Ramirez for having a great season."
Altuve won his third batting title in four years by hitting .346 overall and .381 on the road. He hit lower than .300 in just one month and was at his best when the Astros needed him the most.
When shortstop Carlos Correa missed 40 games with a thumb injury, Altuve stepped up with some of his best baseball, hitting .384 with a 1.102 OPS. He lit up Statcast™ this season, leading the Majors with a .372 average on fastballs and leading the AL with a .361 average on breaking balls.
Many thought the AL voting would be closer because the case for Judge, who was named AL Rookie of the Year on Monday, was such an easy one to make. He led the Majors with 8.2 WAR and was second with a 1.049 OPS.
Besides hitting 52 home runs, a new rookie record, Judge hit the hardest home run of the season (121.1 mph) and also the longest (495 feet), according to Statcast™.
If Altuve and Judge separated themselves, it might have come in August when Judge hit .215 and Altuve .441. Or it might have come in situations defined as "close and late" when Altuve hit .441, Judge .215. In the seventh inning and later, Altuve hit .361, Judge .234.
There was an even more vigorous debate in the NL in which the case for Votto was a .454 OBP that was 39 points higher than anyone else's. But Stanton led the NL with a .631 slugging percentage and had a 1.007 OPS (trailing only Votto's 1.032 in the NL).
With the Marlins listening to offers for Stanton, 28, his 2017 season is a reminder that he has the ability to upgrade any lineup.
"It's an interesting feeling and situation for me," Stanton said. "This is the only place I've known. But I also understand the business part of it and the direction that new ownership wants to go and they're feeling it out and we're going to try to figure out a plan here."
Nine free agents reject qualifying offers