So, I guess a lot happened yesterday. Let's step through all the important things written over the past 24 hours or so.
Another strong salvo from Beyond the Box Score:
- Robinson Chirinos may not be hitting right now, but he's made a case for himself as a big leaguer with some incredible catcher defense.
- Joseph Werner debuts his prospect comparison system. It's interesting. I really do wish he would more completely spell out his methodology, though.
- What should you expect from any given draft pick? Stephen Loftus answers in a very well-reasoned post with a compelling graph, which I've stolen and placed below to induce you to go read the article.
via cdn1.vox-cdn.com
Many Rays fans are waiting for that upcoming big TV contract that will turn the Rays into contenders in the free agent market, but as Wendy Thurm points out, those deals don't always work out well for the team.
Miles Wray has written a good review of The Pecos League, a Fox Sports miniseries on independent league baseball, showing that criticism is not dead in online sports journalism (did any one say it was? did anyone say it was alive?).
Ben Lindbergh on catchers (this time Yadier Molina) is always a must-read.
This is old, and it's probably already been linked here, but I just saw it. Jason Hanselman did some very interesting work on the aging curves for hitters' swings.
If you feel like you missed something, check the roundup of the deadline trades.