A.J. Pollock And The Dodgers Would Be A Perfect Match

Now that the Dodgers moved on from MLB bad boy, Manny Machado, and dealt away two more of their best players to the Reds this offseason, no doubt they need to acquire more good hitters or 2019 is going to be a long one for a team that has lost in back to back World Series appearances in 2017 and 2018.

David Adler of MLB.com reports:

Sure, the Dodgers have a lot of outfielders, even after trading Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig. But A.J. Pollock would still fit right in.

Los Angeles is now interested in Pollock -- the top free-agent position player aside from Bryce Harper and Manny Machado -- according to reports this weekend from MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal. And that makes perfect sense.

Pollock wouldn't be quite as flashy a signing as Harper, but he won't be as expensive, either, and he'd provide value in different ways. He's easily the next-best thing if the Dodgers are looking to upgrade their outfield entering 2019.

Here are three reasons why Pollock and the Dodgers would be a good match.

He'd balance the lineup

Pollock isn't a better hitter than Harper, but he is a strong right-handed bat, and the Los Angeles lineup currently skews a little left-handed after sending Puig and Kemp to the Reds in December. Pollock could combine with Justin Turner and Chris Taylor to provide some counterbalance to the Dodgers' powerful lefty trio of the returning Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy.

Pollock has a career 113 wRC+ (meaning he's been 13 percent better than league average offensively), and he's coming off a 110 wRC+ in 2018. He had some encouraging underlying numbers, too. Pollock's 40.5 percent hard-hit rate was his highest under the four seasons of Statcast™ tracking ("hard-hit" being an exit velocity of at least 95 mph). And 10 percent of his batted balls qualified as barrels -- the most dangerous level of contact quality, based on exit velocity and launch angle, encompassing the batted balls most likely to be home runs or extra-base hits. That was also a personal best.

MLB average hard-hit rate was 35.4 percent, and league average barrel rate was 6.7 percent. The only current Dodgers regulars who had a hard-hit rate of at least 40 percent in 2018 are Muncy and Pederson. The only one with a barrel rate of at least 10 percent is Muncy.

There's also the matter of Pollock's speed, which gives him an extra dimension. Pollock's average sprint speed was 28.2 feet per second last season, more than a foot per second better than the 27 ft/sec MLB average and just behind the fastest current Dodgers -- Bellinger (28.9 ft/sec), Taylor (28.7 ft/sec) and Andrew Toles (28.6 ft/sec). That also plays into the outfield, because …

He's a defensive upgrade
Pollock has the speed and range to cover center field -- and the Dodgers might have the luxury of putting him in the corners, too, depending on how committed they are to Bellinger in center. The point is, adding Pollock would let the Dodgers run out a strong across-the-board defensive outfield that they often didn't have in 2018, without sacrificing offense.

To read more of the breakdown on Pollock go HERE.

Cubs Star Kris Bryant Is Healed And Ready For Action In 2019

The Cubs are most likely not one of the mystery teams going for Bryce Harper right now.

Chicago third baseman, and close friend of Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant spoke to  ESPN on this past Friday. As the story goes, the 2015 National League MVP was less than confident that Harper would join the Cubs.

"I know Bryce, I don't know if he's going to be here," Bryant told NBC Sports Chicago on Friday. "I definitely don't talk to him about it, he's a good friend to me, but I never bring it up to him because I want to be a good friend to him and not talk about baseball when he doesn't want to talk about baseball, but whatever happens, I wish both of them (Harper and Manny Machado) luck."

But maybe Bryant is bluffing. Others in the baseball reporting community don't necessarily buy everything that comes out of Bryant's mouth. 

Jay Cohen AP sportswriter additionally reports:

If Kris Bryant knows anything about where Bryce Harper is going in free agency, he is staying quiet for the moment.

Bryant does know at least one thing that should delight fans of the Chicago Cubs.

''The shoulder is perfectly healed. Feels great,'' Bryant said. ''Everything about it feels right back to where I was before.''

A healthy Bryant could go a long way to helping erase the sting of a disappointing finish to last season. Chicago blew a five-game lead in the NL Central in September, lost to Milwaukee in a tiebreaker for the division title and then was eliminated by Colorado in the NL wild-card game.

Bryant and company had to watch as the Brewers and Rockies celebrated on consecutive October days at Wrigley Field.

''It's kind of good for us to go through that, get our teeth kicked in a little bit on our field, game 163 and then the wild-card game,'' Bryant said Friday on the first day of the Cubs' annual fan convention.

''I think ultimately we'll all learn from it, and yeah, come out with a chip on our shoulder definitely.''

Bryant was working on another good season last year before he made two trips to the disabled list because of inflammation in his left shoulder. The 2016 NL MVP finished with career lows in games played (102), batting average (.272), home runs (13) and RBIs (52).

''There was a lot going on,'' Bryant said. ''It was just kind of hard to get it to heal when you take a week off and it's like 'OK you're feeling better let's see what you do with some swings,' rather than the offseason, you kind of dedicate a whole two months to just working out and getting it stronger and kind of letting everything settle down.

''I think that's what I really needed.''

When Bryant is on top of his game, he remains one of the majors' most dangerous hitters. He hit .292 with 39 homers and 102 RBIs three years ago, helping the Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908.

Center fielder Albert Almora Jr. said Bryant ''grew a lot as a person and as a teammate'' last year.

''Being hurt, having to be there for the boys when he's limited on the field, was tough for him, but I think he handled it very well,'' Almora said.

While Bryant was in and out of the lineup, Chicago still finished fourth in the NL with 761 runs. But it had one or zero runs in 39 regular-season games. It managed just two runs over 22 innings in its final two games of the year.

Cubs fans had hoped the team might address its inconsistent offense with a blockbuster contract for Harper, but it doesn't sound as if the team has room for such a deal in its budget.

Bryant hangs out with Harper in the offseason sometimes, but he said the Las Vegas natives don't talk about baseball very much. The quiet winter for the Cubs is just fine with him, too.

''Honestly, I understand some of the fan frustration, but as a player that feels pretty good knowing that your owner and your president and GM all trust the team that we have,'' Bryant said. ''That means something to us.''

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Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap

MLB Wants Pitch Clock Implementation In 2019

Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports reports: 

Major League Baseball has plenty of issues on its plate when it comes to negotiations with the MLB Players Association this offseason, but one issue has reportedly reached the top of commissioner Rob Manfred’s to-do list: a pitch clock.

The controversial issue of mandating a hard time limit between pitches was the main priority of MLB officials during a Monday meeting with the MLBPA, according to Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci.

Why MLB would implement a pitch clock

The idea of adding a pitch clock has been kicked around for years by Manfred’s office. The clock is already in use in the minor leagues, but the MLBPA has never been a huge fan of a rule change that most pitchers would find invasive.

Improving pace of play in baseball has quite possibly been Manfred’s No. 1 priority as commissioner and adding the pitch clock would be his most drastic step yet. It’s also likely to be the most effective in cutting down the average length of games.

As Verducci lays out, Manfred has the power to unilaterally implement the pitch clock, but negotiating its implementation with the MLBPA is preferable given how tense labor relations are in a sport that has seen curiously small free agent contracts in the last few years. So Manfred could get the players on board, do it himself or wait to make a change next offseason, which is what he did last year.

How would a pitch clock work?

Per the report, MLB proposed an 18-second time limit between pitches with bases empty and a 20-second limit with runners on, which the MLBPA rejected. It’s unclear if that was the same proposal made on Monday, but it is an indication of what MLB officials have in mind.

Minor league pitchers currently receive a ball added to the count if they violate the pitch clock, though a “soft rollout” has also been reportedly proposed by MLB officials in which players instead receive warnings for the first month or two of the new rule.

Defensive shifts unlikely to see change in 2019

So a pitch clock might be coming to baseball sooner rather than later. What about the other possible big change facing baseball in the possible ban of defensive shifts? Well, according to the report, such a ban is nowhere close to imminent.

Not only did MLB officials not push for any rule changes with defensive shifts, they’re also not allowed to unilaterally implement a rule change like with pitch clocks.

Angels Finalize $8.5M, 1-year contract With Pitcher Cody Allen

The AP reports that Relief pitcher Cody Allen and the Los Angeles Angels have finalized a one-year contract for $8.5 million.

The Angels announced the signing Sunday.

Allen had a career-high 4.70 ERA for Cleveland last season, going 4-6 with 27 saves in 70 games. The 30-year-old righty is the Indians' franchise leader with 149 saves.

The Angels posted a total of 35 saves last year, ranking 12th in the American League. Blake Parker led the team with 14 saves, wasn't offered a contract after the season and signed with Minnesota.

Starters Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill joined with the Angels earlier in the offseason.

Right-hander Miguel Almonte was designated for assignment. Almonte, 25, was 0-0 with a 10.29 ERA in eight games for the Angels last year.

BRYCE HARPER Is Going To Land The Biggest Contract Ever In Pro Sports

I am not surprised when I learned that the Philadelphia Phillies are going to offer MLB star outfielder, Bryce Harper, a massive amount of money to try and score the hottest position player amid the impressive handful of star free agent players looking to lock down big time deals in 2019. 

Although we must keep in mind that Bryce's current team the Washington Nationals already made a strong bid to keep their phenom slugger from going to another team by offering him the largest contract in the history of pro sports. It looks like those two teams are now going to have to go way above the initial 300 million over 10 years offer that Bryce turned down from the Nats without a flinch near the end of 2018. 

The Washington Post's Chelsea Janes reported last year: 

"The Washington Nationals offered Harper the biggest free agent contract in the history of the four major North American sports in late September/2018, and he and his agent turned it down. Think about that sentence for a moment, and glean these two stunning facts from it: First, the Nationals — often described as somewhere between maddeningly selective in their spending and unnecessarily frugal — were willing to give one of their players a record-setting deal."

"They offered Harper $300 million for 10 years in a deal that included no opt-outs, according to multiple people familiar with the terms. The biggest free agent deal in pro sports history by total value had been Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year deal worth $275 million with the New York Yankees in 2007. Giancarlo Stanton’s 2014 deal, which guaranteed him $325 million over 13 seasons, was an extension."

It's said that the White Sox are reportedly emerging as the frontrunner to land Manny Machado. As for Harper, the chances of him staying put in Washington look very strong. That is unless the Phillies throw super silly money at Bryce and it does not make sense for them to do that, because they really need to focus on building their team up with other players using that giant amount of cash. I don't see Bryce leaving the home he has been playing at his entire career so far, and he has some great hitters like the new sensation Juan Soto to give him protection in the lineup. Bryce already won an MVP with the Nats so I seriously doubt he will take his glove and bat elsewhere. If he is going to continue to make a name for himself as the best of the best, among the elite like Mike Trout, he needs to hit where he is already most comfortable... and to keep performing around the men that he's already been playing with. Legendary baseball stars that are the most remembered stay with the same team their entire career, while winning the World Series at least once. So far the World Series ring is missing from the hands of Trout, Harper and Machado.

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