The first four summer events of the summer concert series have been announced. They will be:
- Weezer: June 7 vs. Seattle, 4:10
- The O'Jays: June 21, vs. Houston, 4:10
- Imagination Movers: July 27 vs. Toronto, 1:40
- The Wiggles: September 7 vs. Baltimore, 1:40
We're also starting to get quotes from spring training, and that means it's time for Best Shape Of His Life articles. Or in Matt Moore's case, similarly good shape to 2010, 2011, and 2012, but perhaps better than 2013. You see, Matt Moore used to work out with Pro Advantage Training in Arizona, and he was really good, and threw really hard, really easily. Then he stopped, and his velocity and control both got worse. So now he's back to the old routine. Grand.
Joe Maddon had some nice things to say about Bedard, even if he did cite record:
You’d like to think that putting him in front of our defense is going to make [his numbers] even better. I never knew he’s so gregarious. The guy is affable. He talks, he’s funny. You never got that watching from a distance. I like his personality; I think he fits in well here. He could be better than a .500 pitcher. He was the guy that I thought typified within our division, and it’s why he’s so good, because he was able to throw something other than a fastball in a fastball count for a strike. He was uncanny at that. That’s why I thought he really ruled when he was with Baltimore."
He also ruled in Baltimore because his fastball was way better, but I won't quibble. I like Bedard a bit more than the next guy, I think.
Apparently, Zobrist's back is okay:
Zobrist says there's no more back pain, just a matter of loosening it up. Still goal of being ready to play exhibition games by Friday
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) February 24, 2014
Ryan Romano at Beyond the Box score has done some digging into park factors. What's The Trop like? It suppresses everything except for triples, which it seems to induce. However, triples are the most volatile part of a park factor, so don't read too much into that.
At Shin-Soo Choo's urging, the Rangers will now use the same visual training system as Evan Longoria.
Here's a review, at The Hardball Times, of Dirk Hayhurst's new book, Bigger Than the Game: Restitching a Major League Life. I liked his first book, but wasn't a huge fan of number two. I'll read this one, though. It focuses on the 2010 season. If enough people buy it, he'll write another, and that will be about his time in the Rays system in 2011.
David Laurila spoke with Luke Scott.
The Yankees gave Brett Gardner a four year, $52 million extension, with an option for a fifth year.
Beyond the Box Score has aggregated the industry top 100 prospect lists into one.