Royals left fielder Alex Gordon turns 28 and he is celebrating with a little more money in his birthday card. The Royals avoided arbitration by signing Gordan to a one year deal worth $4.775 million. He made $1.4 million last year when he hit .303 with 45 doubles, 23 home runs, 87 RBIs, and 17 steals…very good offensiven numbers. On top of that, Gordon won an American League Gold Glove Award, thanks to a team record 20 assists in left field. It was his first full season as an outfielder, after a switch from third base.
Cards sign Cora to minor league deal
February 7, 2012 By
The Cardinals signed 36 year old infielder Alex Cora to a Minor League deal which includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training. If Cora makes the 40 man roster, Cora will earn $800,000
Cora played all four infield positions for the Washington Nationals, while hitting .224 in 91 games last season. The utility infielder has a career batting average of .243 in 1,273 games during 14 Major League seasons and has also played for the Indians, Mets, Red Sox and Rangers.
Missouri State baseball picked #1 in MVC preseason poll
February 1, 2012 By
Led by seven returning regular starters and a deep veteran pitching staff, the Missouri State baseball squad has been tabbed the Missouri Valley Conference favorite by the league’s coaches in their annual preseason poll, which was announced Wednesday. Additionally, senior second baseman Kevin Medrano and sophomore pitcher Nick Petree earned spots on the preseason all-conference team.
NL Central changes with Pujols and Prince gone (PODCAST)
January 26, 2012 By
The National League Central just became a tighter race when an expected free agency announcement came down that Prince Fielder was leaving Milwaukee and signed with Detroit for nine years. While it seems as though every team in the division has a lot of questions, with Albert Pujols and Fielder out of the picture, NL pitchers should breathe a little easier.
On this Pressbox Podcast, I spoke with Justin Hull. He’s the afternoon host at WSCO Radio in Appleton/Green Bay and I’ve been on his show several times during the baseball season to talk Cardinals/Brewers baseball. We talk about what the division will look like and if these nine and ten year deals that Pujols and Fielder signed are really bad deals for those teams.
Justin and I also think that in the long run the Cardinals and Brewers will be OK and suffer no long term fallout for not signing these marquee players.
AUDIO Pressbox Podcast with Justin Hull (18:00)
Cardinals lock up closer Motte with one year deal
January 26, 2012 By
There were so many players who contributed to the Cardinals wild finish during the 2011 regular season, but can anyone question the fact that if Jason Motte didn’t step up as a closer in the final month of the season, that this team would have been cooked?
The Cardinals solidified the back end of their bullpen by avoiding arbitration with Motte by agreeing to a one year deal worth $1.95 million for the 2012 season.
