Top News:
ESPN.com:
Molina wins 7th straight Gold Glove — St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina joined Ivan Rodriguez and Johnny Bench in Rawlings Gold Glove lore, while the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles repeated their golden trifectas Tuesday. — Molina won his seventh straight Gold Glove award …
Discussion:
Fox Sports, MLB.com, Fish Stripes, Talking Chop, Red Reporter, Lookout Landing, Camden Chat, Lone Star Ball and ESPN
RELATED:
Rob Neyer / Fox Sports:
NO, GOLD GLOVE VOTERS STILL AREN'T PAYING ATTENTION — The Gold Glove Awards make more sense than they used to ... but they don't make that much sense, still. — As I'm sure you'll recall, last year Rawlings was gracious and sensible enough to (finally) inject some machine intelligence into the process …
Tracy Ringolsby / MLB.com:
Third baseman's 22-game stretch tied for third-best hitting streak in Rockies history
Third baseman's 22-game stretch tied for third-best hitting streak in Rockies history
Discussion:
Write 'em Cowboy
Mark Saxon / ESPN:
Dodgers hire Farhan Zaidi as GM — LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers will name Oakland Athletics assistant GM Farhan Zaidi, a Berkeley-educated economist, as their next GM, baseball sources confirmed to ESPNLosAngeles.com Tuesday night. — The news will be officially announced later this week.
Discussion:
Associated Press
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Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Dodgers To Hire Farhan Zaidi As GM, Add Josh Byrnes To Front Office — The Dodgers will name former Athletics assistant GM Farhan Zaidi the team's new general manager this week, according to a tweet from Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Zaidi, 37, had been with Oakland for ten years and was promoted just before last season.
Discussion:
Dodgers Digest, True Blue LA and Athletics Nation
Jon Heyman / CBSSports.com Sports News …:
Cubs, already a big free-agent player, are targeting Russell Martin — The Cubs, already the leader in free agency after landing marquee manager Joe Maddon for a $25-million, five-year deal, are going to target top free agent catcher Russell Martin, sources connected to the team said.
Tim Dierkes / MLB Trade Rumors:
Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2015 — As explained in this series of posts, Matt Swartz and MLB Trade Rumors have developed an accurate model to project arbitration salaries. We've heard from many MLB teams and agencies that reference the projections in their work.
Discussion:
School of Roch, True Blue LA, Bless You Boys, Royals Review, CBSSports.com, Beck's Blog and U-T San Diego stories
Fox Sports:
ISSUES WITH THE MLB QUALIFYING OFFER SYSTEM … The qualifying offer system in Major League Baseball was a well-intended and generally well-executed addition to the CBA prior to the start of the 2013 season. Ultimately, the system helped remove draft pick compensation attached to most free agents.
Discussion:
Twinkie Town
Mike Puma / New York Post:
Giants slugger Michael Morse on Mets' radar — After eliminating Michael Cuddyer from their list of potential free-agent pursuits, the Mets still have other outfield targets they may consider. — Michael Morse is one such name who fits the Mets' criteria, according to a person with knowledge of the club's internal discussions.
Discussion:
Metsblog and New Jersey Online
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Marc Carig / Newsday:
Rockies' qualifying offer to Michael Cuddyer decreases Mets' interest in outfielder
Rockies' qualifying offer to Michael Cuddyer decreases Mets' interest in outfielder
Discussion:
NY Daily News, New York Post, Amazin' Avenue and Metsblog
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Alfonso Soriano Announces Retirement — Longtime big leaguer Alfonso Soriano has annunced his retirement from the game, reports Hector Gomez of Dominican outlet Listin Diario (via Twitter). The 38-year-old played in parts of 16 MLB seasons, including thirteen as a full-time regular.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Pinstripe Alley and MLB Daily Dish
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Korean pitcher Hyeon-jong Yang, possible Yankees target, to be posted: source — Yang, who throws a fastball that sits between 92-95 mph, as well as a curveball, slider and changeup, projects as a No. 3 starter in the big-leagues, although he could develop into a No. 2, according to a scout who has seen him throw.
Discussion:
Bless You Boys, MLB Trade Rumors and HardballTalk
Austin Laymance / MLB.com:
Former big league lefty Halsey dies at 33 — Brad Halsey was selected by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2002 Draft. (Getty) — Former Major League left-hander Brad Halsey died on Tuesday at the age of 33, according to a tweet by Halsey's agency, O'Connell Sports.
John Schlegel / MLB.com:
Kershaw finalist for NL MVP, Cy Young Award — MLB Network names Clayton Kershaw, Andrew McCutchen and Giancarlo Stanton as the finalists for the 2014 National League Most Valuable Player — With the biggest piece of team hardware handed out, the most coveted individual awards are being prepared …
Discussion:
Fish Stripes and Let's Go Tribe
Tom Jones / Tampa Bay Times:
Maddon's departure from Rays to Cubs feels shady — This whole thing stinks to high heaven. — It smells rotten and it looks shady and it feels dirty. — No matter how you slice it, it all just feels wrong. — Joe Maddon is gone. It's official now. The Cubs introduced him as their manager Monday.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
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Carrie Muskat / MLB.com:
New skipper plans to reach out to former manager Renteria
New skipper plans to reach out to former manager Renteria
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus and Bleacher Report
