Does he belong in the Hall of Fame Bill King

post from Baseball: Past and Present on 22 November 2011 10:08:04 PM. © Baseball: Past and Present

Claim to fame: King was a fixture on sports broadcasts in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond for four decades. The voice of the Oakland A’s from 1981 until his death in 2005, King did a bit of everything well, also calling Warriors games from 1962 until 1983 and Raider games from 1966 until 1992. [...]

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Marlins Acquire Wade LeBlanc from Padres, Trade
John Baker

post from Fish Stripes on 22 November 2011 09:01:17 PM. © Fish Stripes

Meet your newest Marlins lefty starter. No, not the guy we were talking about yesterday. This is Wade LeBlanc! Disappointing, I know. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

According to a San Diego Padres press release, the Miami Marlins and Padres have agreed to a deal that sends John Baker from the Fish and returns lefty starter Wade LeBlanc (H/T MLB Trade Rumors). Baker was the Marlins' primary catcher for the latter half of 2008 and all of 2009, sharing a platoon role with Ronny Paulino. He was injured for most of 2010, having suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. The Fish were likely to non-tender Baker this offseason, and so a trade does not hurt the Fish much. It will be sad to see Baker go, as he was such a nice guy and I've had a chance to speak to him and his father via Twitter at times. Good luck to you sir, and all the best.

What are the Marlins getting back in LeBlanc? Not a whole lot, honestly, although given the players involved that should not surprise anyone. LeBlanc is a lefty and the Marlins have been coveting a left-handed pitcher for a while. However, in 293 1/3 career innings with the Padres, he has not managed to do anything of interest. He has a career 4.54 ERA and 4.85 FIP while playing half of his games in the most pitcher-friendly park in baseball. He is also an extreme fly ball pitcher; for his career, he has only gotten ground balls in 34.7 percent of his balls in play. With a non-elite strikeout or walk rate, LeBlanc was simply a spare part in San Diego, and there is a good chance he will just be a spare part in Miami.

Perhaps the only advantage of this move is that LeBlanc has only two years of service time total in baseball despite playing in parts of four seasons in the majors. This means that unlike newly expensive options such as Chris Volstad (who is also a non-tender option), the Marlins will not have to pay LeBlanc a whole lot of money to be a fifth starter or long man out of the bullpen. He may not be a good pitcher, but he is a warm body who can pitch to major leaguers without being a complete embarrassment, and sadly the Marlins were missing pitchers of that type after numerous 2011 injuries depleted the team's pitching depth. This resolves nothing, but it does provide said depth.

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adres-trade-john-baker

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Draft pick compensation reduced for 11 (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 22 November 2011 08:11:30 PM. © MLB News Blog

As part of baseball’s new labor agreement, 11 free agents had their draft-pick compensation reduced or eliminated in an effort to increase interest among teams in the marketplace. According to the 1981 statistical formula that is being eliminated, 21 players originally were classified as Type A free agents, which means they would cost a club [...]

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Padres send LeBlanc to Marlins for Baker (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 22 November 2011 07:01:34 PM. © MLB News Blog

The Miami Marlins acquired left-hander Wade LeBlanc from the San Diego Padres on Tuesday for catcher John Baker. LeBlanc went 5-6 with a 4.63 ERA for the Padres last season, winning three of his last four decisions. In parts of four seasons with the Padres, LeBlanc went 17-22 with a 4.54 ERA, starting 52 times [...]

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Marlins acquire Wade LeBlanc for catcher John
Buck

post from Marlin Maniac on 22 November 2011 06:54:45 PM. © Marlin Maniac

The Miami Marlins first move of the 0ff-season is finally upon us. No the Fish did not sign

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Marlins acquire Wade LeBlanc for catcher John
Baker

post from Marlin Maniac on 22 November 2011 06:54:45 PM. © Marlin Maniac

The Miami Marlins first move of the off-season is finally upon us. No the Fish did not sign

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The Pittsburgh Pirates sign Brandon Boggs

post from Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog on 22 November 2011 06:49:15 PM. © Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 28-year old switch-hitting outfielder Brandon Boggs to a minor league deal. Boggs played in 16 games for the Brewers last year and he was 3 for 19 (.158 avg, .746 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in [...]

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The Pittsburgh Pirates sign Shairon Martis

post from Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog on 22 November 2011 06:47:14 PM. © Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog

The Pirates have signed 24-year old righty starting pitcher Shairon Martis to a minor league deal. Martis pitched in 23 games (all starts) in AA-ball last year and he was 8-6 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2009 with the Washington Nationals. [...]

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The Pittsburgh Pirates sign Jake Fox

post from Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog on 22 November 2011 06:45:00 PM. © Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog

The Pirates have signed 29-year old righty swinging C/1B Jake Fox to a minor league deal. Fox played in 27 games for the Orioles last year and he was 15 for 61 (.246 avg, .756 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. He has now played in 193 games in [...]

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Fergie Jenkins 2011 Topps Lineage 4-Card Set!!!

Fergie Jenkins 2011 Topps Lineage 4-Card Set!!! You may recall that one of my goals while attending the baseball card show earlier this month was to score some, if not all, of the Fergie Jenkins cards from the 2011 Topps … Continue reading →

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rd-set/

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