MLBits: Marlins President Fires Back, Hamels Gives Back, Passing On “The Shift,” More

Dec 19, 2017

Can we talk about ‘Star Wars’ yet? I wanna talk about ‘Star Wars.’ Go see it already. What are you waiting for?

Baseball stuff …

After a group led by Derek Jeter bought the Miami Marlins earlier this year, they began tearing the roster down to the studs, trading Dee Gordon to the Mariners, Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees, and, most recently, Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals. In response to the white flag waiving, catcher J.T. Realmuto recently requested a trade out of Miami … and that was followed with unhappiness on the part of Christian Yelich, too.

In response to those responses, President of Baseball Ops Michael Hill released the following statement:

Michael Hill of the #Marlins just issued this statement in response to an inquiry on Yelich and Realmuto. It reinforces the notion that the two players have zero leverage beyond being unhappy with the teardown in Miami. pic.twitter.com/VDfCYZJB3C
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 18, 2017

First of all, I’d like to say that I get where both sides are coming from. Truly. Sometimes rebuilds are necessary, and sometimes players don’t want to be part of rebuilds. Of course, Yelich and Realmuto don’t really have a say in the matter, because that’s how contracts/team control works. If they weren’t both really good players, they wouldn’t be nearly as vocal and no one would be paying attention. At the same time, when are the Marlins going to get their sh*t together? This is FAR from the first controversy of the new administration and it comes after a previous administration that was known for more bad than good. On top of that, this “rebuild” seems to be more about shedding money than maximizing returns and planning for the future (the returns in these trades have been awful). So, you know, get it together, Miami. Craig Calcaterra discusses it further at NBC Sports.

Per multiple reports, all 30 Major League teams are expected to receive around $50M in the first quarter of 2018 thanks to the sale of the league’s streaming arm – BAM Tech – to Disney. Maybe now the Marlins can keep one or two of their players.

Now, THIS is what I’m talking about, baseball:

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels donates 32,000-square-foot mansion and 100 acres of land to camp for children with special needs and chronic illnesses. https://t.co/bQWVwa6JLt
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) December 18, 2017

You cannot expect every single player to be an “Anthony Rizzo” or, in this case, “Cole Hamels,” but you can celebrate the guys who are. “There are tons of amazing charities in southwest Missouri,” Hamels said in a news release shared by USA Today. “Out of all of these, Barnabas really pulled on our heartstrings. Seeing the faces, hearing the laughter, reading the stories of the kids they serve; there is truly nothing like it. Barnabas makes dreams come true, and we felt called to help them in a big way.”

If you head over to Anaheim to see two-way superstar (and near-Cub) Shohei Ohtani play this season, you’ll see a brand new 9,500 square foot video board in right field, featuring 7.7M LEDs – making it the third largest video display in baseball. They’re adding a number of other video boards, as well, totaling 23,000 square feet of SCREEN. “While putting a perennial contender on the field remains a top priority, the fan experience is very important to Angels Baseball,” said Angels Club President John Carpino. And here I was thinking that watching a perennial contender was the fan experience.

At Baseball Prospectus, Russell A. Carleton discusses why recent baseball thinking on “the shift” might be all wrong. And it’s a particularly interesting discussion when you consider that Joe Maddon used to be among the league leaders in defensive shifting, but has turned the Cubs into one of the least shifting teams in recent years. Would it surprise you – at all – to learn that the front office discovered something similar and relayed that to Maddon, who listened to “the nerds” and quietly stopped shifting? No. That would actually make a ton of sense.

I've heard of defensive shifting, but when is enough, enough?! pic.twitter.com/WmMgsWwQa9

— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) December 18, 2017

Yesterday, a long-time baseball era came to a close, when Adrian Gonzalez spent his final day in a Braves uniform:

https://twitter.com/BleacherNation/status/942857611984154624

And finally, from Baseball is Fun: last season, the Mariners had a single inning with FIVE errors, leading to six runs. It was the most errors in a single inning since 1977 (Cubs, of course) and a new franchise record. It is also very painful to watch.

This Must Be the Sloppiest Inning in Baseball History: Mariners Commit Five (!) Errors in the First https://t.co/XRneEJZNJG pic.twitter.com/TcpSHoAylQ

— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) December 19, 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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MLBits: Marlins President Fires Back, Hamels Gives Back, Passing On “The Shift,” More

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