TJ Rollercoaster

The Cleveland Guardians announced the death of owner Larry Dolan on Monday. Dolan, who purchased the team in 2000, was 94. Dolan's ownership of the club was the longest tenure in the franchise's history. “We are saddened by the loss of our Dad, but lucky to have him as part of our lives as long as we did,” Guardians chairman and Dolan's son, Paul Dolan, said in a statement. “He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who was passionate about his family, work, our community and his love of our local sports teams, including owning the Cleveland Guardians." A native of Cleveland Heights, OH, Dolan bought the team through a family trust from Richard Jacobs for $323 million. Forbes' most recent valuation of the team in March of 2024 listed the Guardians at $1.35 billion, the 24th-most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball. Under Dolan, the team reached the playoffs on three occasions and reached the World Series in 2016 where it lost to the Chicago Cubs in seven games. Dolan was the brother of Charles Dolan and the uncle of New York Knicks and New York Rangers owner James Dolan.

At some level, I think it's a deep-rooted fear that they'll glimpse a female athlete, their lizard brain will go "she's hot!", then find out the athlete was transsexual, so they'll then think that makes them a homosexual

And to those who disagree with the Trump administration - think about what you are going to do, or try to do, to counter MAGA fascism and the oligarchy. What are your own 'red lines'? And do not post those thoughts anywhere on the Internet.

In a 'Where are they now' type of thing... TORONTO (AP) — Former All-Star closer Fernando Rodney has signed to pitch for the Hamilton Cardinals of Ontario’s Intercounty Baseball League for the 2025 season. https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/former-all-star-closer-fernando-rodney-signs-with-hamilton-of-ontario-s-intercounty-baseball-league-1.2211541

From Tankathon

From the Fangraphs blog about today's deals... regarding Evan Silva: As for Detroit, the decision to trade Canha feels straightforward. They’ve fallen out of the playoff race, but they didn’t want to trade Tarik Skubal (rightfully so, in my opinion). That means the only thing left to do is send out players on expiring contracts and get whatever you can for them. Canha fits that bill, and he was never going to command a huge haul, so they took what they could and moved on. Silva is an interesting prospect, though his value is capped thanks to a switch to the bullpen last year. He needed it; a high-effort delivery means he can touch the upper 90s despite a diminutive frame, but he struggled with strike throwing in A-ball. He’s a full-time reliever in Double-A this year, and while his walk rates still aren’t pretty, he’s striking out 30% of opponents to make up for it. He has good secondary stuff and is still only 21. He might be a whiff-reliant multi-inning reliever in the majors; he was logging two-inning stints fairly often for the Giants. He’s somewhere on the 35+/40 FV borderline.

From MLBTradeRumors.com 6:11pm: Pitching prospect Eric Silva heads back to Detroit, per Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (on X). 6:10pm: The Tigers are trading outfielder Mark Canha to the Giants, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (X link).

Canha traded to the Giants

or Two Cam.. which becomes Toucan...

Former major league infielder, coach and instructor Mike Brumley was killed in a car crash on Saturday night. He was 61. Brumley made his major league debut with Chicago in 1987 and later played for the Detroit Tigers (1989), Mariners, Red Sox (1991-92), Houston Astros (1993, 1995) and Oakland Athletics (1994). https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40366468/former-infielder-coach-mike-brumley-killed-crash-61

It's one thing if you're a defense-first outfielder on a team with a dynamic offense (see Milt Cuyler). It's another thing if you're a defense-first outfielder on a team that struggles to score runs (see Kimera Bartee)

Since this was Milwaukee, do you think the compensation would be Miller's or a micro-brewery product?

Jays just got no-hit by Ronel Blanco of Houston - a 30 year old reliever making just his 8th start of his career

Where's Bert's 6 runs?

In his career, Dylan is 10-1 vs. the Tigers, with a 2.07 ERA. Tigers batted .214 against him. He has 43 career wins - 23% of his career wins have come against the Tigers - enjoy the NL West Dylan!

Why limit it to just one!

Orioles have signed Craig Kimbrel, looks like the Yankmes are going to acquire Juan Soto

As noted above, from MLBTradeRumors Three-time All-Star and 1984 World Series champion Willie Hernandez has passed away at the age of 69 after a yearslong battle with a heart condition, per a report from La Primera Hora — a newspaper in Hernandez’s native Puerto Rico. The former American League MVP and Cy Young winner (both in a standout ’84 campaign) had been dealing with heart troubles for around 15 years, his wife tells La Primera Hora. Hernandez himself told Matt Schoh of the Detroit News back in 2019, after throwing out the first pitch during the Tigers’ season opener, that he nearly died in 2007 while having a pacemaker installed in his heart.

There has to be a better nickname than 'Killer J's' for that trio

Where's Bert's 14 runs?

Wonder if you could set up a grid, where the answer in each of the 9 squares was "Edwin Jackson" (Yes, I know it's against the rules)

Jerry saw it too

From Damar's apparent marketing rep

Expanding on what MCS said

From Fangraphs Top Rangers prospect list https://blogs.fangraphs.com/texas-rangers-top-50-prospects-2022/ 22. Mason Englert, SP Drafted: 4th Round, 2018 from Forney HS (TX) (TEX) Age 22.6 Height 6′ 4″ Weight 206 Bat / Thr S / R FV 40 Tool Grades (Present/Future) Fastball Slider Curveball Changeup Command Sits/Tops 40/40 50/50 45/45 50/55 35/55 90-93 / 95 Englert doesn’t have electrifying stuff, but he has a bevy of viable (mostly east/west operating) pitches and surprisingly advanced command for someone who didn’t pitch at a pro affiliate until almost three years after he signed due to a TJ and the pandemic. Englert has efficiently thwarted A-ball hitters to the tune of a 27% K%, a 7.5% walk rate and a FIP close to 3.70 throughout each of the last two seasons, and is in position for a promotion to Double-A (or perhaps a Fall League assignment) as a way of stress-testing his fringe stuff against better hitters ahead of a potential 40-man addition. Englert splits the plate with his tailing sinker and sweeping slider, he can change speeds off of those with his changeup and curveball, and he will occasionally run his fastball up the ladder for whiffs. He has a high floor, and is very likely to play some kind of medium-impact role on a big league staff. The backend starter/swingman fit feels most likely, though Englert’s style of pitching brings Paul Sewald to mind.