Hey now, you’re a Fall Star!
Anne Rogers has the latest from the GM meetings.
Picollo: “We like Brady a lot. We thought he made significant strides this year. He continues to add to his repertoire to help him navigate lineups. And he’ll continue to do that. So Brady’s a lock in our rotation. When you look at our top four, Brady is in it. We’d like to have him because you can never have enough depth.”
There’s been a lot of talk about Singer’s trade value, both internally and externally. A Super Two player, Singer still has two more seasons of control even though he’s entering his third year of arbitration and is due a good raise, with his 2025 salary projection in the $8 million range. The 28-year-old is a solid and reliable starter, something all teams covet. He also just turned in a great ‘24 season, with a 3.71 ERA and 3.1 WAR, according to Baseball Reference. So it’s interesting that Picollo would go so far as to say Singer is a “lock” in the rotation.
David Laurila at Fangraphs talks to general managers about starting pitcher innings.
“Without question,” said Picollo when asked if he’d like to see this year’s 911 innings replicated. “The deeper your starting pitchers can go on a consistent basis, the less taxed your bullpen tends to be. If you manage contact better… of course, Seattle was very different in that they strike a lot of guys out. We’re more contact-oriented and play good defense. It fits how we’re built with our position players.
“I don’t know what the right number is. Years ago, the magic number was 1,000, and now it’s probably closer to 800. And you want a bullpen with versatility — you’re built well with middle relievers, back-end guys, left-handers, right-handers. If your starting pitching is good, you have a better chance to have success with your bullpen.”
David Lesky writes about Evan Sisk being added to the 40-man roster.
The reason he didn’t get much of a chance, even when the Royals bullpen was so bad, is that the metrics are a bit concerning. He’s mostly a sinker/slider guy. Last year, he threw the sinker 41.4 percent of the time and the slider 31.9 percent of the time. He also has a cutter that he threw 11.8 percent of the time, a four-seamer he threw 8.1 percent of the time and a curve he threw 6.3 percent of the time. And he threw two changeups, at least according to Baseball Savant. He did two things well, and they’re the only two things that really matter. He got whiffs, particularly with his slider and curve, and he limited hard contact with every pitch but his four-seam fastball.
Oh, and he DESTROYED lefties. He allowed a .093/.186/.105 line against them in 97 plate appearances. He gave up one extra base hit to them in 97 plate appearances.
Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone, and Luinder Avila are named Fall Stars in the AFL.
The Yankees pick up the option on manager Aaron Boone.
The Phillies promote Preston Mattingly, son of Don, to their GM position.
Jarren Duran and MJ Melendez are among the players eligible for Super-2 arbitration.
Mookie Betts will play the infield next year.
Among the teams to reach out to free agent Juan Soto are…the Rays?
Clayton Kershaw undergoes foot and knee surgery.
Mike Axisa at CBS Sports wonders which teams can follow the Royals’ blueprint.
The Cardinals will gauge trade interest in Nolan Arenado and are moving Willson Contreras to first base.
Angels infielder Zach Neto has shoulder surgery and may miss the start of next season.
ESPN strikes a deal with the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Kansas almost blows a 20-point lead but holds on to defeat North Carolina.
Why are foods banned in other countries on U.S. grocery shelves?
Forty-three monkeys are on the loose in South Carolina.
Election night TV coverage viewership dropped significantly this year.
Your song of the day is Daryl Hall & John Oates with I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do).