MACK – Tuesday Morning Observations

 

Ken Rosenthal                    Ken_Rosenthal

Right-hander Justin Jarvis has signed a minor-league deal with the Dodgers, source tells The Athletic. Jarvis, a fifth-round pick of the Brewers in 2018, was traded to the Mets for Mark Canha in 2023. He split last season between AA and AAA, working as a starter and reliever.

 

Mike Mayer            @mikemayer22

The Mets have signed outfielder Rafael Ortega to a minor league deal. He gets an invite to major league camp.

Ortega played in 47 games for the 2023 Mets.

Mike Mayer                        @mikemayer22

Betting odds to land Corbin Burnes via DraftKings:

+450 Mets

+500 Red Sox

+550 Cubs

+600 Orioles

+750 Padres

+750 Any other team

+800 Dodgers

+850 Giants

+900 Tigers

+1000 Yankees

+1100 D-backs

+1500 Astros

 

New York Porch Sports                @nyporchsport

The Savannah Bananas requested a meeting with Juan Soto.

“They’re real players in this,” Jon Herman reported on his podcast.

 

Spotrac                     @spotrac

Per an AP MLB report, the Yankees will gain about $15M in additional revenue this coming season per their agreement to allow the #Rays to play their home games at Steinbrenner Field.

 

            Matt Weyrich                      @ByMattWeyrich

Largest salaries on the Rays’ payroll for next season:

1. New York Yankees ($15M)

T-2. Brandon Lowe ($10.5M)

T-2. Jeffrey Springs ($10.5M)

4. Yandy Díaz ($10M)

5. Pete Fairbanks ($3.817M)

 

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum                      @baseballhall

The Year of the Pitcher was the year of Bob Gibson, who was named NL MVP OTD in 1968.

Over his last 25 starts of the season, he logged 23 complete games with 13 shutouts. In that stretch, he never worked fewer than eight innings per start.

 

Jim Koenigsberger            @Jimfrombaseball

 

"How can a guy win a game if you don't give  him any runs?"

"Philadelphia fans would boo funerals, an Easter egg hunt, a parade of armless war vets, and the Liberty Bell."

“Right now I feel that I’ve got my feet on the ground as far as my head is concerned.”

Bo Belinsky

 

"No one hit the ball harder than Frank Howard. He was the strongest I ever saw. I saw him hit a line drive off Whitey Ford at the stadium that Whitey actually jumped for, it was hit that low. It ended up  hitting the speakers behind the monuments in dead center. I told Whitey, later that it was lucky he didn't catch it because it would have drug him to death."

Mickey Mantle

 

As Hank Aaron came to the plate in the 1957 WS, Yogi tried to distract him by saying: “Henry, you’re holding your bat wrong. You’re supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark. You're gonna break that bat. You've got to to be able to read the label."

23 year old Hank Aaron calmly replied.

"Didn't come up here to read"

Aaron hit .322 that season

 

"There are some guys you go hitless against and it doesn’t bother you. What you tell yourself is, 'Well, I got a piece of him', or at least 'I fouled one off'. But this guy makes you go 0-for-4 & you feel humiliated. He doesn’t give you a single thing. He strips you naked right there in public. Trying to hit that thing he throws is like trying to hit dead weight"

Orioles Paul Blair on Vida Blue, 1971

39 starts, 24-8 record, 1.82 ERA, 24 complete games, eight shutouts, 301 strikeouts, 88 walks in 312 innings pitched.

 

“We have trouble because we have so many Negro & Spanish-speaking  players on this team. They are just not able to perform up to the white  ball player, when it comes to mental alertness. You can’t make most Negro & Spanish players have the pride in their team that you can get from white players.”

Mgr. Alvin Dark to Stan Isaacs of "Newsday",`64