Arizona Diamondbacks Finalize Three-Year Deal
With Mark Reynolds

post from The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on 19 March 2010 10:21:49 AM. © The Ghost of Moonlight Graham

I never really thought Mark Reynolds strikeouts were an issue and apparently the Arizona Diamondbacks don’t think so either. Yesterday, the Diamondbacks officially signed the slugging third baseman to a new deal.The Diamondbacks signed Reynolds to a three-year contract worth $14.5 million. The deal also includes an $11 million club option for 2013. Here is [...]

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ee-year-deal-with-mark-reynolds/

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Updates

post from Dear (Tommy) John Letters on 19 March 2010 10:05:19 AM. © Dear (Tommy) John Letters

1) I apologize for the inconsistent posts, but the hotel internet is painfully slow. I'm talking Jamie Moyer Change-up slow.2) We get 7 or 8 HBO channels here, but I can't seem to get the timing right to actually watch a movie in its entirety. They do run the same movies over and over, so I have been able to pick up bits and pieces and try and fit them together. It's kind of a fun test and it

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What's really wrong with Joba

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 19 March 2010 10:04:04 AM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

Anybody else notice a significant decline in the speed of Joba?s fastball over the last year and a half? Joba Chamberlain burst onto the scene in 2007 with a fastball averaging over 97 MPH according to the PitchFX charts at Fangraphs touching 100 MPH on occasion.
The graph below from Fangraphs shows how for most of 2008 his fastball was still pushing the 100 MPH mark. He began 2008 in the bullpen picking up where he left off in 2007 by punishing hitters whenever he came into the game.

Then the transition began to convert him to a starter. In the beginning, he was impressive as a starter also. Though his innings were limited to around 5 per game when the infamous ?Joba Rules? were put into effect. Then, toward the end of the season he was forced out of a game in Texas and was shut down for a few games with shoulder tendinitis. Since then his average speeds have come down and we haven?t seen him consistently come close to those higher speeds again. So did this mid year transition ruin Joba either mentally or physically?

Something changed. For all of 2009 he was a starter and the stats show that the average speed of his fastball declined to under 93 MPH. We saw occasional glimpses of a dominant starter but nothing consistent. He was converted to the bullpen for the playoffs and did make a contribution in that role. But we still didn?t see the dominance and those pre-August 2008 speeds again.

Lets say he holds back as a starter in order to conserve energy to pitch most of the game, and that explains the lower average speeds. But if that was the case, why didn?t he bring back the 97+ MPH fastball for those relief stints in the post season? The Joba Rules limited his innings so he should still have had something left in the tank. He knew he would only throw an inning at most each game. Surely the adrenaline alone should have had him pushing 100 MPH in the World Series. It's early but so far in spring training we haven't seen much of a change from 2009.

So what?s up? Are the Joba Rules or the debate about whether he should be a starter or reliever messing with his head? Could the success have affected him? Maybe he isn?t working hard enough to stay in shape like he was when he first came up. Is he now being affected by that lack of time in the minors? Or has he never been able to fully recover after walking off the mound in Texas? I'm not sure what it is, but let's get the guy with the 97 MPH+ fastball and that wicked slider back. That's the pitcher the Yankees need Joba to be. But will we ever see him again?

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Friday Rockpile: Huston Street's MRI results turn
out negative; Plan B at first and Plan C, D() at closer

post from Purple Row on 19 March 2010 10:03:54 AM. © Purple Row

More photos » David Zalubowski - AP

6 months ago: Colorado Rockies pinch-hitter Jason Giambi hits an RBI-single against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the eighth inning of a baseball game in Denver on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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Twitter / Jon Heyman: mri on huston street's sho ...
Street's MRI results came back negative.

Giambi excited for season - The Denver Post
Jason Giambi wants the season to start because he wants to bat when real games are on the line. And he's part of Plan B should Todd Helton ever be out for an extended period of time this season. Giambi would share first base duties with Brad Hawpe and Melvin Mora in that case.

Paige: To close, Corpas must be '07 model - The Denver Post
With Huston Street out for an indeterminate period of time, Woody Paige informs us that Jim Tracy would like Manny Corpas to step up and take the closer position. Thing is, Corpas needs to be in his '07 form. Or something. All those rays emanating from Skipper Sunshine are distracting.

Hardball in the Rockies: Buchholz will face hitters Saturday
Despite the day in the headline, Thomas Harding reports Taylor Buchholz will throw live batting practice today.

Baseball Prospectus | Contractual Matters: NL West Projected Payrolls (Subscription Required)
Jeff Euston looks at the projected payrolls of the NL West teams and breaks down their future commitments. For the Rockies, Euston writes:

"In addition to Helton, GM Dan O’Dowd has signed eight players to contracts of three years or more, providing the club an affordable core of young talent for the near future."

PADRES ANALYSIS: Status of Gonzalez remains in limbo
Twitter / Dan Hayes: Hear #Padres not intereste ...

Adrian Gonzalez is willing to take deferred money to stay in San Diego, but the Padres don't want to go that route if they need to pay interest on the money.

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Friday Links (19 Mar 10)

post from Ducksnorts on 19 March 2010 09:31:47 AM. © Ducksnorts

We’re a little behind, so some of these might be stale. Just pop ‘em in the oven, they’ll be crispy again in no time…The PresentTeam looks to Ready to end high turnover at batting coach (NC Times). Good luck with that when folks[...]

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A tale of two in new cities

post from Philliesflow.com on 19 March 2010 09:03:35 AM. © Philliesflow.com

Polanco isn’t the only veteran to come to Philadelphia in recent years. Pedro Feliz and Raul Ibanez both became regulars for the Phillies after long careers playing for other teams with dramatically different results.Feliz was miserable, hitting 259/306/393 as a full-time player over more than a thousand at-bats in 2008 and 2009 combined. [...]

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Atlanta Braves Fan Confidence Poll

post from Talking Chop on 19 March 2010 09:00:00 AM. © Talking Chop

Every other Friday this off-season Talking Chop presents the Atlanta Braves fan confidence poll. This poll and therefore your confidence level should encompasses several areas of the team. These areas include, but are not limited to, the team’s ownership, current management, talent, minor-league system, general playing ability on the field, and of course during the off-season, how our off-season is going. The poll will stay open for 48 hours, and then the results will be posted and graphed against the previous weeks.

Tc2010coverimg-sm_medium

After you vote remember to pick up your copy of the Talking Chop 2010 Baseball Annual.

Click here to get the first every 200+ page annual dedicated exclusively to the Atlanta Braves.

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Phillies Brad Lidge Might Not Be Ready By Opening
Day

If in spring training last season, you had told me the Philadelphia Phillies would be without closer Brad Lidge for the first week or two of the regular season, I would seriously be worried.Now if you told me Lidge might miss one or two weeks at the start of season, I would say so what, [...]

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ready-by-opening-day/

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Split-squad preview

Let?s play two! The Yankees are splitting up again to play Detroit at home and Tampa Bay on the road. Here are the lineups: Home vs. Detroit Derek Jeter SS Nick Johnson DH Mark Teixeira 1B Alex Rodriguez 3B Robinson Cano 2B [...]

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http://www.lennysyankees.com/2010/03/split-squad-preview.html

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Drug confessions will take Washington down

By James BaileyWhen the Ron Washington coke-gate story broke earlier this week I figured he would be gone by this time next year. The Rangers stuck by their manager last summer when he came clean about his ?one time? cocaine usage, even declining his offer to resign. He?s got a 2010 contract and the team [...]

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http://www.hardballcooperative.com/?p=1964

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