Update from Perseus 10:15 AM Well, it looks like the Upton Brothers will be united in Atlanta after all. According to MLBTR, the Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed, in principle, to a deal that would send Justin Upton to the Braves. Mark Bowman of MLB.com provided the terms of the trade: The Braves get Upton and third baseman Chris Johnson while the D-Backs get third baseman Martin Prado, right-hander Randall Delgado, shortstop prospect [...]

Sports Illustrated released a list on Tuesday about a baseball phenomenon called the “Year-After Effect.” It’s been also referred to by the more widely known “Verducci Effect”, named after the SI journalist. But it was actually based on principles and protocols established by Rick Peterson, the former pitching coach, who was at Oakland at the time along with GM Sandy Alderson. Peterson believed pitchers 25 and under should not exceed an innings increase of more [...]

A Japanese pitcher, a catcher and a pitching coach walk into a bar.  Think you understand where this joke is going?  No?  Well, the protagonists of the joke didn’t understand it either.  But come Opening Day, they’ll have a better chance of getting it. According to Jayson Stark of espn.com, baseball owners have approved a new rule that would allow interpreters to join managers and pitching coaches on trips to the mound.  The new rule [...]

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos indicated yesterday that recently acquired Josh Thole will begin the season with Triple-A Buffalo while another former Met, Henry Blanco, will serve as J.P. Arencibia‘s backup. Blanco, 41, was recently signed to a non-guaranteed, one-year deal, “Blanco has not been guaranteed the job at all,” Anthopoulos explained. “That’s why he’s on a non-guaranteed contract. But again, if it works out that Blanco’s the backup and Thole ends up being optioned down here, organizationally [...]

The smell of fresh cut grass on a summer day is still one of my favorite smells in the world. That smell has the ability to draw memories that are buried deep in my subconscious mind, like a super powered magnet draws a needle from a haystack. Anyone who’s played this great game of baseball knows exactly what I mean. People will tell you similar stories about any memories they have. Certain sights and sounds [...]

Two notable rule changes will take place this season. One will be that translators are now allowed to come with coaches during mound visits. The other will be the banishment of the fake-to-first, throw-to-third move. I want to analyze both, but before I do it’s important to be cognizant of the sensitivity surrounding the former. I write this with a complete understanding that many fans will be a part of the just-learn-English crowd. Albeit, that’s [...]

The Seattle Mariners have acquired Michael Morse from the Washington Nationals in a three-team deal that included the Oakland Athletics. The breakdown of the deal is as follows… Mariners receive: Michael Morse, 1B/OF Athletics receive: John Jaso, C Nationals receive: AJ Cole, RHP / Blake Treinen, RHP / PTBNL from Oakland Something to point out, and rather interestingly, is that the trade represents a bit of a homecoming for two of these players, as MLBTR [...]

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports that free agent reliever Rafael Soriano has agreed to a two-year, $28 million contract with the Washington Nationals. As a result of the signing, the Nationals will have to surrender the team’s first round pick in the 2013 amateur draft, while the Yankees will receive a compensatory pick sandwiched between the first and second rounds. Soriano was one of three remaining free agents with draft pick compensation attached. All three of them (Soriano, Kyle [...]

As I was driving home the other night, I was listening to Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on the MLB Network Radio channel on XM. They were discussing with Jill Painter, the L.A. Daily News sports columnist, the Baseball Hall of Fame vote which took place Wednesday. This is the same Jill Painter, member of the Baseball Writers Association of America who thought it made perfect sense to cast one of her Hall of Fame [...]

It seems like whenever a process that has worked for years has a fluke year, everybody wants to change the system. The problem with the Hall of Fame is not the fact nobody got in this year, it’s the fact the writers are not given a clear criteria with simple guidelines. The people who vote for the most part do take it as serious as they should. I don’t think we’ll ever see a change [...]