As reported yesterday by Troy Renck and relayed by Russ, the Rockies signed Ryan Spilborghs to a two-year, $3.25-million deal to avoid arbitration. That leaves Jason Hammel and the two late-inning relievers left to strike a deal.
Also avoiding arbitration were Chad Qualls and Aaron Heilman of the D-Backs.
Iannetta
Rockies catcher Iannetta hoping for rebound - The Denver Post
Renck checked in with our favorite Rhode Islander (and I mean player, RIRF). Along with two quotes, one interesting fact Renck uncovered is Iannetta's actual nickname in the clubhouse. It's not Doom, Dreamy, Destructobum or Demonic Antichristian. It's...Sponge. I'm guessing that won't catch on here, but at least it suggests a quality in CDI we would like to see. As for the quotes:
"[The contract] was totally unexpected after the way I played," Iannetta said. "This takes a load off. I am the kind of person that worries about what is going to happen next. Now, I am not going to press as much."
We can only hope the Sponge (wait, am I really doing that?) knows himself well enough and will indeed not press.
"I can't stress enough that I have not lost confidence in Chris," Tracy said.
Jim Tracy may be just as instrumental in deciding Iannetta's playing time as Iannetta himself, so this is an interesting proclamation, given it is borderline undeniable that Tracy lost confidence in Chris last season. Lip service or honest confidence?
Tulowitzki
One of MLB.com's lead stories is on the next wave of shortstops making a splash, a grouping of five in which Tulo finds himself second behind Hanley Ramirez and ahead of Yunel Escobar, Jose Reyes and Erick Aybar. Jim Tracy speaks again, this time about his shortstop:
"At the real old age of 24, this guy is going to be around for a while. And there are a lot of things about that person that's very, very special. This is a franchise player that you're talking about."
Unfortunately for the Rockies, Tulo was born in 1984, so he is NOT 24.
More links after the jump.
Umpires ratify labor agreement | MLB.com: News
The new agreement will be in effect until the final day of 2014.
The thought process behind the Bill James system - THT
The Bill James projection has been called "optimistic" by many analysts and bloggers, including myself. One of the men who run calculations for James, Ben Jedlovic, says there is one main reason:
We are admittedly optimistic with playing time projections, especially in the Handbook edition of the projections. The thought is to give the reader an idea of what we think a player can do if given a full season of plate appearances. We could project Jason Heyward for 200 ABs with a couple homers, but that doesn't tell you much about what we think of his ability.
Around the Blogosphere
SB Nation - Sports News, Scores and Fan Opinion Powered by 236 Sports Blogs
The home SBNation site currently features two blogging stories in the Baseball section. One is from Purple Row. Thanks again Clint and RMN.
Introducing DiamondView 2.010 - Beyond the Box Score
BtB's Justin Bopp has reworked his Diamond View creation, mostly playing with the data. It doesn't look much different.
And lastly, if you truly want to READ AND LEARN, BtB is running a voting of the best articles from the last year. If you think we do in depth work at Purple Row, these 30+ articles will make your brain bleed
BtB Sabermetric Writing Awards: Voting on Best Primer or Review Article - Beyond the Box Score
Vote on the Best Primer or Review Article award!
BtB Sabermetric Writing Awards: Voting for Best Novel Research Project - Beyond the Box Score
Vote on the Best Novel Research award!
BtB Sabermetric Writing Awards: Voting for Best Applied Research Article or Project - Beyond the Box Score
Vote on the award for best applied research article or project!