DODGERS Around the MLB Thread

in all seriousness
about fucken time

Trick pickoff move now a balk in MLB
The Associated Press – 3 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) -- One of the oldest trick plays in baseball is now a balk.

Under a rule change imposed by Major League Baseball, pitchers will no longer be allowed to fake a pickoff to third base and throw to first as a way to dupe a runner on first base into breaking for second. Next season, that move would be a balk. Pitchers can still step off the rubber and fake to third.

The change was approved at the owners' meetings two weeks ago.

The Associated Press first reported the pending rule change last May after the Playing Rules Committee approved the proposal with MLB executives and umpires in agreement. The players' union, though, vetoed the plan.

The collective bargaining agreement allowed MLB to implement the change after a one-year wait.​

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oh how the mighty have fallen
while we've become the yankees
the yankees have become us...
:irish:

Yankees To Sign Juan Rivera ​

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [January 28 at 4:06pm CST]​

The Yankees have agreed to sign Juan Rivera to a minor league deal, Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com reports. Proformance represents Rivera, who began his MLB career with the Yankees.​

Rivera played for the Dodgers in 2012, posting a .244/.286/.375 batting line with nine home runs in 339 plate appearances. The 12-year MLB veteran bats from the right side, meaning he’ll likely compete with Matt Diaz and Russ Canzler for playing time against left-handed pitching. The Dodgers declined Rivera's 2013 option earlier in the offseason, after using him at first base and in both corner outfield positions this past season.​

Rivera played for the Yankees from 2001-03, but didn't get the chance to play full time until 2004, after the Expos acquired him along with Randy Choate and Nick Johnson for Javier Vazquez.​

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Alex Rodriguez the biggest name in a new PED report that could grow into BALCO-like scandal
Jeff Passan | Yahoo! Expert
2 hours 43 minutes ago

A man in south Florida supplied performance-enhancing drugs to more than half a dozen major league players, including Alex Rodriguez, according to a Miami New Times report that officials at Major League Baseball believe will grow into a doping scandal that could rival the BALCO case that tarnished Barry Bonds.

Alex Rodriguez is once again at the center of a possible PED scandal. (AP Photo) The newspaper reported Tuesday morning that Anthony Bosch, a self-styled biochemist seen frequently in Latin American baseball circles, distributed large amounts of human growth hormone, synthetic testosterone and other cocktails of PEDs to players who previously had not been linked, such as Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz.

Some of the players could be subject to a 50-game suspension for a violation of the league's PED policy, a league official told Yahoo! Sports. Three of Bosch's alleged clients – outfielder Melky Cabrera, pitcher Bartolo Colon and catcher Yasmani Grandal – already have been caught and suspended by the league.

Following a relatively quiet period, PED busts spiked in baseball last season. From Ryan Braun's positive test for testosterone – which got overturned because of alleged mishandling of evidence – to the suspensions of Cabrera, Colon, Grandal, Freddy Galvis, Marlon Byrd, Guillermo Mota and Carlos Ruiz, baseball is facing a renaissance of use, one it believes centered in south Florida.

While MLB had investigated wellness clinics and other suspected PED purveyors in the Miami area, it had not uncovered much of the blockbuster information revealed in the New Times story, the official told Yahoo! Sports.

The records of players' use, given to the New Times by a former employee at Bosch's Biogenesis clinic, are especially detailed in the cases of Rodriguez and Cabrera. Rodriguez, referred to as "Alex Rodriguez," "Alex Rod" or "Cacique," received HGH, testosterone cream and insulin-like growth factor, all banned under MLB's PED policy. He also was given "troches," a lozenge that has 15 percent testosterone, and other types of growth hormone, according to the report.

Rodriguez's account was "paid through April 30th" of 2012, according to the records.

Cruz, the slugging outfielder whom Bosch nicknamed "Mohamad," gave Bosch $4,000 in July 2012, the records said, for a regimen that included "troches."

The report also links Washington Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez to Bosch, though the five mentions of him in the records are less specific. While they include a $1,000 charge, Gonzalez's father, Max, said he was the one working with Bosch to lose weight.

Florida state and federal authorities have amped up their inquiries into Bosch in recent months, the league official said, as he operated a number of clinics that catered to athletes as well as the growing group that seeks HGH and testosterone as anti-aging treatments.

Pedro Bosch, a doctor who has worked in Florida for more than 35 years and is Anthony's father, supplied the fertility-drug prescription to Manny Ramirez that prompted his first PED suspension in 2009.

While the Drug Enforcement Agency looked into the Bosches supplying the players, it chose not to pursue a case, according to ESPN.com.

MLB and the players association strengthened the league's PED policy this offseason, instituting random blood testing for HGH and a stronger test for synthetic testosterone triggered by a variation from a baseline testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio the league will keep on every player.

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Mets Met With Michael Bourn
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [January 29 at 11:15am CST]

Michael Bourn is the top unsigned free agent, but it will cost a top draft pick to sign the center fielder. He declined the Braves' qualifying offer earlier this offseason, meaning the team that signs him must surrender a top selection in June (the precise placement of the pick would vary from team to team). Teams seem reluctant to part with their draft picks for Bourn, but agent Scott Boras appears to be seeking a $75MM contract for his client nonetheless. Here's the latest...

• Bourn's camp is working to persuade Alderson that signing Bourn would give the Mets credibility when pursuing free agents a year from now, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports (on Twitter).

Earlier updates

• Mets GM Sandy Alderson and assistant GM John Ricco traveled to Houston last week to dine with Bourn and Boras, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Though the sides didn't engage in intense negotiations over dinner, it’s clear there’s a gap between Bourn's asking price and the Mets' interest level. The Mets don't want to offer more than three years and they wonder if any other team is willing to go beyond the $40MM range.

• It's possible that Bourn could accept a shorter term deal if it includes an opt out clause that would provide him with the option of hitting free agency again a year from now. The Mets "could be amenable" to such a deal, Sherman writes.

• Alderson will not sign Bourn without complete assurances that the Mets get to keep their first round selection, Sherman reports. The Mets' 11th overall pick is unprotected, but the commissioner's office doesn't seem willing to grant the team the exception it seeks. Other clubs are lobbying MLB not to do the Mets this favor, Sherman reports. Though the MLBPA would file a grievance supporting the Mets if Bourn asks the association for support, an arbitrator wouldn't necessarily rule in favor of an exception.

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Yankees Working To Void Alex Rodriguez's Contract
By Zach Links [January 29 at 4:17pm CST]

The Yankees are exploring multiple avenues to void their contract with Alex Rodriguez, several baseball sources told ESPNNewYork.com's Wallace Matthews and Andrew Marchand. Rodriguez was among several MLB stars who were linked to a PED clinic in Miami, Florida. Even if the charges turn out to be true, however, the Bombers may have little chance of getting out from under his contract.

The three-time American League MVP is owed $114MM over the next five seasons. An industry source says the Yankees "are looking at about 20 different things," including whether A-Rod breached the contract by taking medical treatment from an outside doctor without the team's authorization, and the possibility that he may have broken the law by purchasing controlled substances from the clinic.

If the Yankees do take action to 86 the remainder of the third baseman's deal, they can't do anything until the MLB investigation is concluded, according to a source. For his part, Rodriguez has issued a statement denying the allegations.

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