Now Warming Up…

Let's start with the Opener.

***When Ichiro Suzuki rescinded the offer for dinner at his house to the one MLB writer who chose NOT to have him on the Hall of Fame ballot, it opened up the discussion again about the anonymity of these votes. As my distinguished colleague, Leo Haggerty, wants to know the reasoning behind the omission of one of the most dynamic players MLB fans have seen.  Ichiro brought hustle like we hadn’t seen since Pete Rose, stellar defense, and a ton of hits (3,089!) to MLB after amassing 1,278 hits during his nine seasons playing in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Orix BlueWave. For the most part, writers omit players based on their own bias and often simply don’t want a player to be inducted unanimously. So, it is wrought with stupidity, from my perspective. When you think of the great MLB players, and imagine that there is only one player in the history of this great game who was inducted into the Hall with 100% of the vote…Mariano Rivera. This makes as much sense as a writer who omits a legendary player like Ichiro Suzuki from his H.O.F. ballot.

Who would you want on your team?

Now to the Set-Up Man.

***The Tampa Bay Rays, with a potential new owner to be voted on by other MLB owners this offseason, should find a way to get a stadium built in Tampa, instead of neighboring St. Petersburg. The idea of making a sequel to the 80’s-style mall known as Tropicana Field, is and was a mistake.  Current owner, Stu Sternberg, clearly wanted to build a new stadium adjacent to the Trop with the intent to sell the team soon thereafter.  Tampa seemingly offered a better agreement that would have been more profitable for the team's long-range goals and economic health. Hopefully, Patrick Zalupski, who currently has a deal in place to buy the Rays, will find a home close to downtown Tampa where the Tampa Bay Lightning make their home and sell out most of their games.

Now the Closer.

***The cost of relief pitching at the trade deadline was as steep as we have seen in many seasons.  Nonetheless, the cost of starters must have been astronomical as bullpen arms were traded across the league, but few starters changed teams.  With MLB teams using their bullpens for approximately 51% of innings, this trend will only continue.  Playoff-bound and playoff-hopeful teams fortified their pens for their October runs.  The Mets, Yankees, and Phillies have significantly improved the back end of their bullpens to get the matchups they like in short series.  Tyler Rogers, the best setup man with an incredible submarine-style pitch, will prove to be the standout of the traded bullpen arms.  Rogers doesn’t throw heat, barely warmth, but pounds the strike zone with the most unique arm angle in MLB.

 "I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while I toss one that ain't never been seen by this generation."- Satchel Paige