Mike Johrendt Articles - Page 18

Traded to the Milwaukee Brewers all the way back in December 2015, starting pitcher Freddy Peralta has shown impressive glimpses of the kind of pitcher that he can become, which has made the franchise proud that they went out and acquired him. And while his performance on the diamond has been much more than the […]

As if the New York Yankees were not yet sick and tired of the injury bug chasing them into the 2020 season, news of Luis Severino’s arm injury being much worse than it was first expected to be makes for a much more difficult start to the franchise’s Spring Training. After being shut down last […]

After having already shelled out extensions to first baseman Jose Abreu and outfielder Luis Robert among others this offseason, the Chicago White Sox look to be wanting to extend more of their young core before it becomes too expensive. According to James Fox of FutureSox.com, the White Sox are currently engaged in discussions with third […]

Even after going through a name change, it has been 10 seasons since the Miami Marlins have produced a team that has finished a regular season with a record that is .500 or above, an astounding number of seasons that have been filled with futility. And even with Derek Jeter at the helm helping run […]

The 2020 MLB offseason has seemed to slow down a bit lately, as the amount of needle-moving transactions seems to be running dry, ever since the Mookie Betts deal went through that sent him from Boston to the Los Angeles Dodgers. But with how active the San Diego Padres have been reported to be on […]

After the team brought in utility man Brock Holt for a one-year deal with a club option for 2021 on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Brewers are looking to implement one of the most flexible rosters in all of baseball. Every position player (sans for their catchers, at least on a regular basis) has the capabilities to […]

Even with as exhilarating of an offseason as we have had so far for all baseball fans, the ups and downs of the MLB offseason have made the 2020 regular season need to get here even faster. From the cheating scandal with the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox, to the players speaking out […]

Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows in the sports of baseball, and regardless of how much or how little money you spend, unforeseen circumstances can still fall upon any MLB franchise at any given time. From an unfortunate and freak injury of a player (Jonathan Lucroy missed time in 2012 while with the Milwaukee […]

By setting the record for the quickest tenure by a manager for the New York Mets in their storied history – no MLB games managed before parting ways – Carlos Beltran has placed a target on his back. But his mistreatment of the game that has given him everything and then some speaks to a […]

In the midst of the recent release of wide-reaching changes for the MLB postseason that are being discussed, the sport of baseball is seemingly straying further and further away from what has made it such a beloved sport, and more importantly, one that brings people from different walks of life together. From being America’s Pastime […]

In a shocking twist that could turn the fortunes of the sport of baseball and the MLB on its head, a reported change is coming to the structure of how the MLB postseason picture plays out. And shockingly enough, the motive behind it seems to be a financial one. According to Joel Sherman of the […]

As is very clearly seen in not just the sport of baseball but in each and every professional sport, money talks very loudly and clearly when it comes to teams determining their best courses of action moving forward. With the recent trade of Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers […]

In 2019, the Chicago White Sox were one of six MLB teams that had a payroll south of $100 million – four of those six teams did not make the postseason, with the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays being the two exceptions. For a team that plays in a large market but is overshadowed […]

In 2019, the Cincinnati Reds had first baseman Joey Votto ($25M), left-handed starting pitcher Alex Wood ($9.65M), and right-handed starter Sonny Gray ($7.5M) as their three highest-paid players on the roster. In 2020, the Reds have Votto ($25M), right-handed starter Trevor Bauer ($17.5M), and right fielder Nicholas Castellanos ($16M) as their three-highest paid players. Safe […]

While the MLB season is right around the corner, not everything is sunshine and rainbows for players. Injuries, unfortunate dry stretches, and just bad play can take a player that is looking to put together a solid season and turn them into someone who is sitting on the bench or even worse, out of a […]

This past winter saw droves of MLB players test their value on the open market, and while the previous offseason saw players get frozen out of what they should have been paid, this winter saw players be able to finally recoup some of that lost value from last offseason. According to Spotrac, over $3 billion […]

Every year, there always seems to be a set group of MLB players that chose that season to break out of the expectations placed on them and force that bar even higher than it already was. In the sport of baseball, being a streaky player, even for just one month of the season, can dictate […]

In the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, 37 of the 75 players that made the American and National League rosters were attending this game for the first time as a player, meaning that 49.3% of all players were making their All-Star debuts. A testament to how certain players are able to put their best seasons together […]

March 26, 2020, marks the first day of the MLB season that all 30 MLB teams will suit up and play baseball that counts towards their final record, a sign that everyone made it through the winter. While each and every year seems to be starting sooner and sooner, the sport of baseball truly does […]

A look into how the American League is set up came out recently. For the National League, a good amount of the teams have a ton of strong prospects in their system, but only six of the top 20 prospects are on NL teams. With the San Diego Padres leading the pack in terms of […]

As the American League fell in the 2019 World Series, teams all across the league were already planning ahead for the 2020 season and beyond. Each has developed a minor-league system of players, many of which have been biding their time as off-the-radar prospects just looking for a shot in the big show. On the […]

Another piece looks to have fallen in the ongoing mess of MLB cheating, as the Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora have mutually agreed to part ways, according to a post made by the Red Sox on their official Twitter account. After having led the team to win the 2018 World Series, Cora was […]

The Minnesota Twins have continued their quest to repeat as American League Central division champions in 2020, signing Josh Donaldson to a four-year deal worth $92 million. According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the former Atlanta Braves third baseman looks to have finally been able to cash in on […]

The 2019 MLB regular season produced a ton of high-octane results from teams that were making strong cases for a postseason appearance. And even for the teams that struggled throughout the season, they still all had one thing in common. Rookies that debuted in 2019 or had their status as rookies carry over from the […]

Reflection is a great way for anyone to get a look at what they have done in the past and see how they have changed going forward into the future. Whether for good or for bad, MLB teams have had one full regular season (plus the playoffs for some) to reflect on the moves that […]

The class of free agents that were free to choose their next teams in the offseason between the 2018 and 2019 MLB seasons was far and away one of the best crops of players that we had seen in a very long time. Heavy at the top with a large grouping of superstars looking to […]

Both small and large market teams love to cash in on their players early on in their careers, helping keep the costs low and the player control fruitful. But for MLB teams across the board, the move of extending their best prospects – even before they play a single inning on the MLB level – […]

By extending two core pieces of their youth movement, the Chicago White Sox are betting on the promise and upside of two of the best prospects to have been in the MLB in a long time, in Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert. And while the team’s determination to field a competitive team this season, their […]

While pitchers become the hottest commodities during the winter months for all MLB franchises, position players become just as important during the off months. And while pitchers can become harder to acquire due to their higher price tags and beefier trade packages, position players seem to be the easier grouping of players to deal with, […]

As the cream of the crop for MLB free agents have pretty much all found their teams for the 2020 regular season and beyond, the focus for teams now shifts towards upgrading through the means of the trade market. While the highest amount of movement in terms of trades occurs at the trade deadline, which […]

With the market of free agents having settled down to only include a select few needle pushers, MLB teams now have to start to look at making trades to upgrade their rosters. As the Atlanta Braves have a lot of pieces in place to continue to keep their window of competition open, they are lacking […]

With all of the reported rumors circulating around the availability of Milwaukee Brewers’ star closer Josh Hader, for a small-market franchise, it is smart for them to at least look into what type of value the All-Star hurler could get this team. Money runs all professional sports, and that is very, very true in the […]

$188.9 million has been added to the payroll of the Chicago White Sox for the next four years, on top of their existing financial commitments – this team is ready to compete for a berth in the postseason. Yasmani Grandal – 4 years, $73 million Dallas Keuchel – 3 years, $55.5 million Gio Gonzalez – […]

For the Toronto Blue Jays, their penchant response to talks of what type of team they are going to be in 2020 have been centralized around building up their core, attempting to become a fringe competitor, but realizing that 2021 or even 2022 may be more in the cards. But with Hyun-Jin Ryu having just […]

There currently are 12 new players on the 40-man roster for the Milwaukee Brewers, signaling a major turnover only one year removed from winning a spot in the Wild Card round of the National League playoffs. While President of Baseball Operations David Stearns seems to always be relying on analytics and statistics to build his […]

With the market of top-tier free agents seemingly dwindling down, teams are going to be forced to go the extra mile to sign them, and it seems as though the Los Angeles Angels, among other teams, are finding that out first hand. While they have been included in most starting pitcher rumors the entirety of […]

A major piece in the trade market may finally be on the move. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Cleveland Indians have told teams that are interested in superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor to submit their final offers by this weekend so the front office can go through all of the offers on the […]

With the National League North division looking to be boasting a plethora of teams that could all be fighting for a postseason berth, it looks as though the Cincinnati Reds are trying to leapfrog some of their divisional counterparts, and use the trade market to their advantage. According to MLB insider Mark Feinsand, the Reds […]

Ichiro Suzuki. Hideo Nomo. Shohei Ohtani. Daisuke Matsuzaka. Masahiro Tanaka. Yu Darvish. Kwang-Hyun Kim. Jae-Hwan Kim. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. Shun Yamaguchi. Ryosuke Kikuchi. Wei-Yin Chen. Tzu-Wei Lin. Jen-Ho Tseng. Wei-Chung Wang. These are just a few names of players that were either born in or played in the MLB from the countries of Japan, South Korea, […]