caulfield12

Now, with that last article as a base or reference point, the stakes are even higher. Following the logic of the argument made, now (and in the off-season) is the best time to act, taking on contracts without giving up much in terms of talent (especially prospects close to the majors, which we don't have much of anyway)... So it's clear that the Indians already started on this process (Bourne, Swisher, Reynolds) and the White Sox would be well-suited to follow in their wake unless they want to be left behind. There are some different directions they can go... 1) Dump everything they possibly can, that list especially includes Rios, Keppinger and Ramirez (along with Crain/Thornton), with some hesitation about dealing Danks or Dunn depending on the financial circumstances and what we would have to give up to avoid eating salary (for example, Erik Johnson, Trayce Thompson, Hawkins, etc). 2) Amongst the group of Viciedo/Beckham/Flowers (yikes)/Gillaspie/Santiago and Jose Quintana.....decide which ones you want to extend out into free agency 1-2 years and which ones to go year to year with. Maybe you end up having to trade one of Santiago/Quintana if you're not going to spend as much (see possibility 3 below). 3) Keep Peavy, Rios, Dunn, Ramirez and Danks and spend spend spend in the off-season in an attempt to repair the starting line-up, both offensively and defensively. 4) Decide if DeAza's "fixable" or cut your losses...as he's still probably worth more to the White Sox than to another team for 2014.

In Cleveland, and other cities that have trouble drawing big crowds to the ballpark, there is an ongoing dynamic --similar to the chicken or egg conundrum-- that goes something like this: If few fans show up for games, the team doesn’t have money to sign good players, but if the team isn’t any good, many fans aren’t interested in going to games.  SHARE (2)  TWEET (2) ⋆ RECS (2) 65 COMMENTS There's some truth to that scenario, but it largely misses the point, because the real money doesn't come from tickets sales, or beer and hot dogs. The real money in baseball comes from television. There are two sources of television revenue for each MLB team, the national contract and the local contract. The national contract is negotiated by MLB. It includes the rights to nationally televised games on particular afternoons and evenings, the All-Star Game, and the postseason. These are the games that are on FOX, ESPN, TBS, and the MLB Network. The money from the national TV deals is split evenly by all thirty teams, no matter how many of their games are actually shown across those national networks. The local contract is negotiated by the individual team, a deal negotiated with whichever company’s offer they like the best. For the Indians, that’s SportsTime Ohio (which was created and is owned by the Dolan family). The money from each team’s local TV deal is mostly kept by the team. The Indians have been getting somewhere between $25-30 million from their local TV contract in recent years. Not long ago, that would have put them in the bottom half of all teams, but not dramatically behind many teams. Recently though, there has been a massive shift in the amount of money networks have been willing to pay. In 2010, the Rangers announced a new deal with Fox Sports Southwest that will pay them ~$150 million a year. In 2011, the Angels announced an almost identical deal with Fox Sports West, they’ll also be getting ~$150 million per season. Those figures dwarf the Indians’ sum. Even accounting for the revenue sharing portion of each team’s local contract (one third of the money is pooled), the Rangers and Angels are each pocketing an extra $80 million a year, compared to the Tribe. Starting next year, the Houston Astros will be getting $85 million a year and the San Diego Padres will be getting $75 million. Up the coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers are near a new TV deal that is expected to be in the ballpark of $200 million a year. Sit back and think about that for a minute… $200 million! The New York Yankees are being paid $90 million a season by the YES Network, seemingly a rare instance in which they’re not the wealthiest team in baseball. The Red Sox are paid $60 million by NESN, which seems like small potatoes compared to some of the other figures I’ve mentioned. Of course, the Yankees own over 30% of the YES Network, whose profits were reportedly ~$450 million in 2011. The Red Sox own 80% of NESN, also a very profitable corporation. Both ownership groups are bringing in far more money than the team is officially paid for television rights, money that isn’t a part of MLB’s revenue sharing pool. The Yankees could run a $400 million payroll and still turn a profit. At $30 million a year, the Indians are way behind a lot of other teams. Of course, as I said, SportsTime Ohio is largely owned by the Dolan family. The network, which televises other sporting events of interest to Ohioans, certainly brings in more than $30 million a year. How much of that additional profit might be going into the ball club, no one can say. How much of it should go into the team is up for debate. In any event, STO isn’t earning what the YES Network does, because Cleveland’s TV market is far smaller than New York’s. The Indians will always lag behind in local television revenue, and the discrepancy may only get wider with time. The national TV contracts, as I said, are divided evenly among all thirty teams. There’s been big, big news on that front recently, as FOX, ESPN, and TBS all signed new deals with Major League Baseball in the last few weeks, deals that substantially increase the amount of money coming into baseball. The new contracts will put an additional $740 million into baseball (annually) which works out to almost $25 million for each team (the new contracts all run through 2021). On one level, this impacts every team identically, because the money going to each of them from the new contracts is identical, but on another level, this money impacts small market teams far more than large market teams, because an additional $25 million is a much bigger difference to them. ESPN’s payroll data lists the Yankees as having had a $195M payroll in 2012. An extra $25M would lead to a 13% increase. The Oakland A’s payroll was $49 million, the new money would allow for a 51% increase. Now, that’s an over simplification, because teams won’t necessarily funnel all of the new money into big league payroll. It may go into improved facilities, scouting, and infrastructure. Still, it should be clear that a team like Oakland can use the money to bring about much greater change than a team like the Yankees. The Indians 2012 payroll was listed at $66 million, so an extra $25M would lead to a 38% increase. That money doesn’t kick in until 2014, but the time to spend is now. Eventually, player salaries will catch up with the higher revenue streams. Owners may pocket some of the money initially, perhaps to pay themselves back for prior losses (though I question if anyone is truly losing money through its ownership of an MLB team). Eventually though, players and their agents, along with fans, will push for the money to be spent on payroll. At that point, while the Indians should be able to carry a slightly higher relative payroll, the major advantage of additional money will be lost. The Dodgers are one team that’s clearly already spending the money they see on the horizon, since their new ownership group took over, they’ve acquired a number of huge contracts, in hopes of making a quick turnaround. I would like to see the Indians work out a long-term deal with Jason Kipnis, see if they can buy out a couple years of his free agency, even though it’s a ways away. They should be aggressive in acquiring other players this off-season too. It isn’t the deepest free agent class, but this is a good time to sign solid players to contracts that will likely look very reasonable once salary inflation kicks in by 2015. This off-season is an opportunity to get a jump on more conservative teams, the Indians should make competitive offers to the top available pitchers, make aggressive offers to teams that are looking to trade valuable players, even if it means taking on salary. Spend as though the new TV money is already here, rather than a year away, before the market corrects itself and salaries climb across the board. http://www.letsgotribe.com/cleveland_india...impact-salaries

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 04:10 PM) I think it makes more teams players for free agents, but I really don't think it will raise salaries as much. I don't know if the luxury tax is going up, and I don't think teams want middle relievers making eight figures a year. Plus, I think some teams have already dipped into that money.the Sox are in good shape to field a competitive team next year if that is their plan, as long as they don't totally gut the team. They can sign some free agents or make trades that take on cash. If they gut the team except for Sale, it is going to be a while. Define gut....Ramirez, Rios and Peavy gone? Or also the likes of Beckham and Viciedo, to the point where the entire starting line-up is different for 2013?

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 03:43 PM) I keep seeing people bring up the $25M that teams will be receiving from TV revenue next year. Most seem to think that this will allow the Sox to go out and spend more money next off season. My question is this: Since every team is getting the some amount, will it really matter to the White Sox? I remember an experiment on supply & demand we did back in school where everybody was given $100 to spend on necessities & luxuries-essentially bidding for the goods. Then everyone was given $1000 to spend in the same way. At the end nobody really had any more to show for the extra money, we all just paid more for the same stuff. I’m sure some teams, probably Miami, will pocket a good chunk of that money, but if say 25 teams put it all toward payroll, will they all just pay more for the same players? There's definitely going to be an inflationary effect in play. With all those dollars chasing fewer the same amount of talent (or even less, if you look at the free agent class), it's not going to be a HUGE advantage to the Sox. That money would be better spent on hiring more scouts, improving the minor leagues, upgrading our Dominican facility....building one in Venezuela, for example (there used to be almost 20 teams down there with academies and now it's back down to 6-8 with tensions increasing under the Castro regime)...or even Brazil. Or China. They need to start being more innovative and finding those niches they can get out in front of and exploit proactively. If they're going to go crazy and sign 3-4 bats (like the Mariners did with Morse, Morales, Bay and Ibanez), then that's fine. However, if they're only going to sign ONE guy, I'd rather they just completely sucked again next year and invested the money elsewhere.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 03:26 PM) Going off that, do you think we see a transition in 1B mentality? No longer are teams concerned about guys that are going to hit 30-40 HR a year and instead they look for high OBP and good defense? That's probably a stretch. It depends on what type of talent you have at other positions, for example, the Dodgers carried James Loney for a long time at 1B, but there were always naysayers because he wasn't a huge power threat (and he's having a fine season for TB this year). There are many other examples, in the past, like Mark Grace. Even with the crackdown on PED's, you have to get power from somewhere, and it's still most likely be from the corners (LF/RF/3B/1B) and the DH spot. That has changed to an extent with 2B emerging as a new power position, and 3B falling off... There will always be a place on NL rosters for players that are DH's but don't fit into any other position, the Billy Butler's and Adam Dunn's of the world. Either there or in LF. If you look at all the "power" shortstops of 10-15 years ago, guys like Garciaparra, Jeter, Tejada and A-Rod...well, it's pretty obvious that a lot of the power there was coming from steroids. As mentioned in the previous reply, teams are going for athletic up the middle players (in our case, Tim Anderson, who could just as easily end up in CF or 2B) with the renewed focus on speed and defense and OBP, as power numbers are generally down and pitching has trended up in the last 2-3 season. So you focus on CF/SS/2B and catcher, then work your way outwards with players who have hit tools but can't hold down those positions adequately. So, for example, if we go with a Conor Gillaspie at 3B, and aren't getting any homers from SS, that means we HAVE to get some power from CF to counterbalance it.

Fair enough. Maybe I'm trying too hard to be excited about SOMETHING this baseball season, as it's certainly not coming from the White Sox, other than watching Chris Sale. FWIW, I'm not even sure what we can trust in terms of numbers anymore. Someone else said if he had these results over one full season plus (Mike Trout), then we could talk. Still, there are lots of rumors and whispers about Mike Trout and PED's, but who knows? Of course, the comeback to that is that undoubtedly a good number of Latin American players (where making it in the big leagues means the difference between life and death almost) are tempted to use PED's at one point or another. Now you could also conversely say Puig is set for life and Mike Trout, and the end of this season, will have only made about $2.2 million, including his signing bonus....and that Trout would have more motivation to cheat than Puig (with his $42 million), but all we can do is let the games play out and let history decide. And, as far as the Clemente comp, you're right. I was just comparing RAW PHYSICAL tools. Clemente was much smaller (wiry), and more of an XB hitter (especially triples in Forbes Field) than a pure 30-45 HR power guy. 5'11", 175-185, vs. 6'3", 245. Maybe it's just the sheer electricity and dynamic nature of their games....where you can't take your eyes off them because you're waiting to see what happens next. Nothing to do with all of his off-the-field humanitarian work, the Roberto Clemente Sports City in San Juan, etc. And yes, there's always the chance he goes all Joe Charboneau/Kevin Maas/Mark Fidrych, etc.

And the ONLY player we conceivably could have kept that would have dramatically improved our position in the standings (assuming he put up the same numbers as he has in Pittsburgh) in 2013 is Francisco Liriano, and there might have been 2 or 3 people on entire board who wanted to keep him for this season.

Indians about to take over first place. Despite everything that's happened this season, the Royals are still legitimately in the race again as well.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 01:10 PM) I get it, so someone else said that he is the next Clemente, so we all have to believe it now. It isn't "trust your eyes and instincts", it is "well someone in the print media said it, so I am not the only one saying it therefore it must be true" Since nobody wants to believe me, then they can trust/verify on their own. Up to you. If you want to be a skeptic, you'll be right more often than not. Believe whatever you wish to believe. It's a free world. There's no "proving" he's going to be anything until he goes out and does it. There will always be Doubting Thomases, lol. But you're going to be on the wrong side of history.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 12:47 PM) It's Monday, it was the best I could think of. But I'd say it's about as good of a comp as Roberto Clemente is. It would be nice if I was the only person in all of the world doing that. But, alas, I am not. Whereas I can guarantee nobody in the print media is comparing him to someone who doesn't even play his position and who had very limited power... The only relevant comparison between the two is discipline in terms of not swinging at everything in the vicinity of home plate and not walking very much, so far.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 09:06 AM) Angel Berroa One .789 OPS and nothing close to it afterwards and that's a good comp?

Peavy and Alexei Ramirez to the Dodgers... Hanley moves back to 3B to take Uribe's spot.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 07:29 AM) Hamilton, Stephenson, and Cingrani are probably close to untouchable. Would personally love if Hahn could pry away Stephenson though. Jesse Winker is also a guy worth targeting. If you could somehow get Travieso thrown in there as buying low, that'd be great too. So the rumors are off of Billy Hamilton and towards pitching? WHY? We need hitters desperately, not more pitchers, unless they have the potential to be elite guys.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 08:43 PM) Here's another guy we should ship now. Get a fair offer and boom, deal him. He's been utterly fantastic, but is it two straight bad outings? Deal him before his arm gets tired or something. Thank you in advance, Mr. Hahn. Alexei Ramirez had a bad outing. Crain was the victim of three balls that weren't hard hit...but yeah, that was his first legit earned run that wasn't compromised by the defense.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 07:21 AM) So they just compared all of his features to the best players in the majors. That's not unrealistic or anything, is it? I;m sure they could do this same thing for a bunch of other, lesser known players, and the comparisons would still hold true. He's been great. We'll see if he keeps it up. They usually don't. At some point, you have to trust your eyes and instincts. Comparisons to Chris Shelton and some of the names being thrown around in this thread, like Karl Tuffy Rhodes, c'mon.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 05:19 AM) If I had to pick right now... I'm still taking Cargo over Puig. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/...carlos-gonzalez So basically, you're saying you want a guy whose AVERAGE OPS (cumulatively) over the past 3 seasons away from Denver is .747. Good one. Might as well pick DeAza over him, too.

Yasiel Puig Should Be an All-Star By Nick Ostiller | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 18 minutes ago Email ShareTweet COMMENTARY | One inning after collecting his fourth hit of the afternoon and 44th of the month, Yasiel Puig stepped up to the plate for the Los Angeles Dodgers last Sunday in search of a home run that would have given him the cycle. He swung with all his might, but struck out and finished the game 4-for-5. Despite this blemish, it's safe to say the Dodgers have struck gold with Puig. A strikeout after four straight hits is acceptable. Not inviting Puig to compete in this year's All-Star Game after what we have seen from him this past month is unacceptable. His 44 hits since being promoted on June 3 are the most ever by a Los Angeles rookie in his first month and second-most all-time behind some guy named Joe DiMaggio. Clearly Puig has proved me wrong after I questioned his promotion in the first place. He hit four home runs that first week and hasn't slowed down, finishing June with a .436 batting clip in 26 games. Okay, 26 games might be a small sample size, but they have been the most exciting 26 games of the season for the Dodgers, a frenzy unparalleled since the days of "Mannywood." In his first week, Puig uncorked a game-ending outfield assist from the warning track on a Monday, hit two home runs on Tuesday and then blasted a grand slam on Thursday. This past week, he delivered two game-winning hits and then capped off his historic month with a triple… on a pop fly that landed behind first base. The All-Star Game is in less than three weeks. Last time I checked, the event is supposed to feature the best talent in the game. Puig is a special talent. The rules also dictate that each team must be represented in the game, probably for marketing and ratings purposes. Despite only playing for one month, Puig has made a case as the Dodgers' best player. He has already equaled the combined home run total of highly paid outfielders Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. The only other position player on the Dodgers who may be as deserving as Puig is Adrian Gonzalez, who in 78 games has 10 home runs and 48 runs batted in. But if Major League Baseball is trying to capture the most viewers by requiring each team to be represented, how many of those viewers would rather see Gonzalez, a methodical, slow-footed veteran, over Puig, an electrifying rookie sensation that half the country has only heard about because the Dodgers play on the West Coast? Another reason why Puig should get the nod is because Bud Selig decided that the game should count, that the winning league receives home-field advantage in the World Series. Whether or not this is a good idea, it brings out the competitive nature of the All-Stars. The players and the coaches truly care about winning the game, which means that the best troops for achieving victory should be deployed. Just because Puig has less big league experience than some of the other players, teams have yet to figure him out and he is undeniably a five-tool baseball player that would give the National League a boost both offensively and defensively. Of course, the decision will most likely come down to Bruce Bochy, the San Francisco Giants' skipper in charge of managing the National League All-Stars on July 16. Bochy has said that Puig's lack of tenure will make it difficult for him to include the Cuban phenom on his roster - either that or because Puig plays for the rival Dodgers. The fact remains that Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, young talents who were named All-Stars last year, began the season in the minors just like Puig this year. Fans already get the opportunity to vote for who they think should start the game, for better or for worse (see: Markakis, Nick). At the very least, Puig should be included in the Final Vote ballot to select the final All-Star in each league. Major League Baseball will need to seriously reevaluate the Midsummer Classic if a player like Puig is left out of the festivities.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_...r-caliber-month http://wapc.mlb.com/lad/play/?content_id=2...468&c_id=la Clever Steve Garvey vote for Puig All-Star write-in campaign OFFICIAL VIDEO....bet the Dodgers' marketing department is in heaven LOS ANGELES - The Dodgers announced today that Yasiel Puig T-Shirt day presented by Time Warner Cable is set for Sunday, July 14 vs. COL at 1:10 p.m. The giveaway is for the first 40,000 fans in attendance on July 14. The Puig T-shirt will be available in sizes medium and extra-large. After his first week in the Major Leagues, Puig was named National League Player of the Week having led baseball with 27 total bases and was tied for the Major League lead with four home runs. His .964 slugging percentage was second-best in the Majors and was the top mark among National Leaguers. Since then, the 22-year-old native of Cienfuegos, Cuba continues to lead the Majors with a .442 batting average and 34 hits, while ranking among the big league leaders in home runs (7, T-5th), RBI (14, T-19th), on-base percentage (.476, 4th) and slugging percentage (.753, 2nd). Puig is hitting .462 (6-for-13) with runners in scoring position. This year's All-Star game ballots are now available throughout the stadium and fans are encouraged to vote in stadium and online at www.mlb.com/vote. Fans can vote for Puig as a write-in candidate on this year's ballot, hoping to make him the second Dodger (Steve Garvey '74) and third Major Leaguer overall (Rico Carty, ATL, '70) to win a starting All-Star spot via the write-in vote. Dodger fans can cast their vote up to 25 times online and can also cast an extra 10 ballots by connecting to their mlb.com account. The game will be held on July 16 at Citi Field in New York. The Dodgers on the 2013 ballot are Adrian Gonzalez (1B), Mark Ellis (2B), Hanley Ramirez (SS), Luis Cruz (3B), Carl Crawford (LF), Matt Kemp (CF), Andre Ethier (RF) and A.J. Ellis ©. Tickets for Yasiel Puig T-Shirt day presented by Time Warner Cable on July 14 can be purchased by visiting www.dodgers.com/tickets, www.losdodgers.com/boletos or by calling 866-DODGERS.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 12:18 AM) Sale. And that's it. Like you said, Crain won't be on the team by then. Francisco Liriano, lol.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 08:03 PM) Gordon Beckham... oh wait. Yeah, because Gordon Beckham can actually run/steal bags, hit for 30-40 homers and came anywhere close to putting up that kind of a stretch. At his best, he was an 825-850 OPS type of guy. But good comparison. And, of course, nobody bothers to pick a player that they would trade him for, lol. I guess it was you who said you'd take the "entire field" against him, right? As I said, would be glad to revisit this at the end of the season or next season or whenever. It was the kind of hot summer day when you could close your eyes and let your mind drift onto a sea of pleasant thoughts. The Dodgers could be in first place at the All-Star break. Yasiel Puig could be the most valuable player of the National League. The Dodgers could tap a kid with a 101-mph fastball for the eighth inning. Yet this was not a hallucinogenic heat wave. This was reality at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, a day anything could happen. Dodger Stadium usher worked to the end "It wouldn't leave," Puig said on television. "I tried to hit it. It just didn't happen." The Dodgers, all but left for dead a week ago, are four games out of first place in the National League West after Sunday's 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers have won eight of their last nine games, and they have gained 51/2 games in eight days. Their lineup is healthy, and so is their offense. This is why Dodgers management paid no heed to cries to fire Don Mattingly, according to co-owner Todd Boehly, who disdained an air-conditioned luxury suite to sit outside and sweat through the whole game. "This is what we were supposed to be, on paper," Boehly said. "That's why all the chitchat that was going on was so off base. We never had the team that we were supposed to be on the field." The Dodgers trail the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks by four games, the second-place Colorado Rockies by two, with 10 of the final 13 games before the All-Star break against those two clubs. "We were just trying to get within striking distance at the break," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "Things went a little quicker than we had planned. Now it's up to us to maintain this level." The Dodgers got seven scoreless innings Sunday from rookie Stephen Fife, who wrapped June with a 2.21 earned-run average, the lowest of any Dodgers starter in the month — lower than Clayton Kershaw (2.65), than Hyun-Jin Ryu (2.70), than Chris Capuano (3.07), than Zack Greinke (3.66). If the Dodgers trade for a veteran starter, Fife could lose his spot in the rotation. "If I can prove I deserve to stay, maybe I will," Fife said. Puig will stay, after 44 hits during his first calendar month in the big leagues. The only player with more: Joe DiMaggio, with 48, in May 1936. Puig had four hits Sunday, his first four-hit game in the majors. He has been so extraordinary that Mattingly did not automatically laugh when a reporter goofily asked whether Puig could maintain his .436 batting average all season. "Honestly, I shouldn't doubt him at all," Mattingly said. "But .440 is a pretty tough clip. You kind of expect him to do something every day." On Sunday, Puig singled twice, scored twice, stole two bases, doubled and hit his first major league triple — a pop fly over the head of Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. "You know things are going good when you get a bloop triple like that," Matt Kemp said jokingly. Seriously, Kemp said, how could you keep Puig out of the All-Star game? "I think he would bring a lot of excitement to the All-Star game," Kemp said. "Everybody needs to see what this kid is doing. It's pretty amazing." [email protected] Twitter: @BillShaikin

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 11:04 PM) How amazing would it be to get Skaggs + in a deal for Rios when not too long ago the entire league was laughing at us for picking up Alex Rios from Toronto. Now, we are possibly a month away from parlaying a free pick-up in to a couple all-star caliber years and a really good prospect +. Retrospect for the win! The way he's been playing the last two weeks, not aggressive, not running out balls, lackadaisical defense and missing cutoff men (he misplayed another ball on Sunday), he couldn't even get Bozz Skaggs back in return, or Ricky Skaggs.

Kevan Smith has recovered from a slow start to the season and now sporting over an 800 OPS. Overall, perhaps the best catching prospect in the system, although Phegley's more major league ready, obviously.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 04:53 PM) :lol: :lol: He just beat the hell out of Joe DiMaggio's record/s. So who is a better LFer that you would take over Puig, then? CarGo? Dominic Brown? Marte? Justin Upton? 1 Carlos Gonzalez COL 318 63 94 20 6 22 60 15 1 35 92 .296 .363 .604 .967 3.8 2 Domonic Brown PHI 303 43 83 13 3 21 57 8 1 21 63 .274 .321 .545 .866 2.3 3 Starling Marte PIT 312 52 89 15 8 8 26 22 8 13 76 .285 .341 .462 .803 3.5 4 Justin Upton ATL 282 50 69 10 1 15 37 6 1 47 89 .245 .355 .447 .802 1.3 5 Lucas Duda NYM 226 29 53 13 0 11 23 0 3 38 68 .235 .353 .438 .791 -0.3 6 Matt Holliday STL 288 59 77 12 1 11 41 2 1 34 48 .267 .349 .431 .779 0.2 7 Seth Smith OAK 248 34 69 19 0 6 32 0 0 26 64 .278 .351 .427 .779 0.6 8 Nate McLouth BAL 269 48 76 15 1 5 14 24 4 31 34 .283 .360 .401 .761 1.6 9 Alex Gordon KC 312 43 89 14 2 7 42 4 1 28 69 .285 .345 .410 .755 2.3 10 Josh Willingham MIN 246 32 55 13 0 10 37 1 0 39 77 .224 .356 .398 .754 0.4 RK PLAYER TEAM AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS WAR 11 Kelly Johnson TB 226 28 53 7 2 11 39 6 3 24 63 .235 .313 .429 .742 1.3 12 Yoenis Cespedes

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/...b&year=1936 Today, 2 singles, double, triple, 2 stolen bases (4), 2 runs scored Joe DiMaggio in his first month in the majors, May, 1936. 26 GP, 48/126, .381, 400 OBP, 659 SLG, 1.059 OPS Yasiel Puig 26 GP, 44 hits/101 at-bats, .436 batting average, need to update his other numbers at the end of the game, but he'll be close to a 1.200 OPS 14 multi-hit games. Struck out in his fifth at-bat, chased a high fastball up and in going for the cycle.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 03:51 PM) I clicked that bulls*** & it gave the digital susbscriber crap again god wtf they make you log in to read that s***? Phil Rogers? Yeah I'm just not going to read it & still rightly conclude it had one good idea tied to a cinder block & sunken in a river of bad ideas. I'm not logging in, F you Tribune you nazis. Simple solution for that, NY Times, etc. Just take the title of the article, throw it into google search, then you can get it to come up with all the content displayed. If it doesn't work right away, it will the second or third time. LOOPHOLE. Doesn't work for things like baseballamerica "insider" or espn "insider" of course.