MLBits: The A’s Need a New Ball Park Location (Again), Palmeiro’s Return, Boone, Rangers, More

Dec 06, 2017

Try to think about something other than Ohtani.

Try to think about something other than Ohtani …

Back in September, we found out that the Oakland A’s had decided on a location for their new ball park, a site near Laney College on a piece of land owned by Peralta Community College, and the A’s seemed pretty excited about it:

Our vision is to build a new ballpark for Oakland at the Peralta site. Join the conversation at https://t.co/vLuiX01aT0 #RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/oW8b0CthwM

— Oakland Athletics 🌳🐘⚾️ (@Athletics) September 13, 2017

But on Tuesday, the Peralta Community College District board of trustees directed their Chancellor to end the talks with the A’s and instead focus on what’s best for the college and its students/faculty. The A’s, understandably, were a bit bummed:

A's STATEMENT: We are shocked by Peralta’s decision to not move forward. All we wanted to do was enter into a conversation about how to make this work for all of Oakland, Laney, & the Peralta Community College District. We are disappointed that we will not have that opportunity.
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) December 6, 2017

According to Craig Calcaterra at NBC Sports, there are a couple of other sites in mind, but they are either less convenient or less compelling than the Peralta site. And, yes, this does actually matter quite a bit. If you remember back to our conversations about MLB expansion, the commissioner made it clear that he would not press forward with any of those plans until the A’s and Tampa Bay Rays new stadium projects were settled. This may have just knocked those talks back.

Here’s a real life title at The Athletic right now: Rosenthal: He’s 53 and hasn’t played in the majors since 2005, but Rafael Palmeiro is eyeing a comeback, and redemption. Palmeiro ended his career as one of five players to reach both 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, but also, as I’m sure you know, as a somewhat-shunned user of performance enhancing drugs. But now, he’s legitimately trying to make his way back to the Majors and even says he won’t try to first prove himself in an international or independent league first, “If I go to spring training with a legitimate chance to make the team, I won’t have to go to the minors.”

According to Ken Rosenthal, one anonymous GM said he wouldn’t even look at Palmeiro, but Orioles GM Dan Duquette wouldn’t rule it out, adding that it would be an interesting story and “If you can hit, then you can hit.” LOL. Okay, man. Let’s see what you got. Plenty more at The Athletic.

This is a very interesting look at the evolution of the trade market in recent years:

Chris Antonetti, Indians president of baseball operations, with some insight on how MLB's trade market has evolved in recent seasons… pic.twitter.com/h1yfjIhilB
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) December 5, 2017

Basically, with more improving and widely-accepted methodologies for evaluating players than ever before, teams are struggling to find different value for players in other organizations (which means deals are more difficult to pull off). So now, trades only happen when one team is “selling,” has a surplus of talent, and/or is looking to the future more than the present. It’s an interesting distinction and not one of which I’ve previously considered.

Earlier today, the Yankees introduced their 33rd manager in franchise history at Yankee Stadium, and he’s thrilled to be there:

https://twitter.com/BryanHoch/status/938454251235405824

I couldn’t begin to comment fairly on Boone’s strategic or philosophic baseball beliefs – I simply don’t know enough about them – but I will say he doesn’t strike me as a better option than Joe Girardi.

He did do an AMA on Twitter earlier today though, but all of the questions/answers were mostly food (hotdog =/= sandwich) or movie (Die Hard = Christmas movie) related. Since I agree with him on both of those calls, I’m guessing we’ll see eye-to-eye on bunting too.

The 2018 ZiPS projections for the Texas Rangers have come out, and Shohei Ohtani is not on the list! Damn it, Michael, that doesn’t mean anything yet. Former Cubs free agent target and recently signed Ranger Mike Minor is projected though, and it looks pretty good (even if he’s not nearly as dominant as last season): 66.0 IP, 26.4 K%, 8.6 BB%, 3.68 ERA, 3.69 FIP. Of course, all signs point to him starting, not relieving, so this might all change soon.

And finally, I think Ben Affleck’s stock as a baseball fan rose ever so slightly in my book today:

Ben Afflek Delayed Production of ‘Gone Girl’ for FOUR DAYS, Because He Wouldn’t Wear a Yankees Hat https://t.co/6J7rS7nL7g pic.twitter.com/JSenmudYGv
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) December 6, 2017

written by

Michael Cerami

Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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