Padres Not Going After Bryce Harper

The Padres had also been wooing Harper. A high-ranking team source said Tuesday, “We’re not signing him.”

San Diego Union Tribune

How Cardinals Made An Attempt To Sign Kevin Brown

The Cardinals wanted free-agent pitcher Kevin Brown and thought they had a legitimate chance, offering to extend their payroll budget to get him, but the Dodgers took the bidding to unexpected heights.

RetroSimba

Analysis: Is Max Scherzer Cooperstown Bound?

When Max Scherzer won the National League Cy Young Award in November, it marked a significant milestone in his career. Scherzer became a three-time winner of the award, which has historically been a lock for a player's Hall of Fame candidacy.

Washington Official Site

Yu Darvish Makes History With 50th Career Win

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish made a little history on Tuesday when he earned his 50th Major League win in a 5-1 victory over the Phillies at Globe Life Park.

Texas Official Site

Rich Hill Is The Ultimate Post-Hype Sleeper

We’re not done appreciating the wonder that is Rich Hill’s late-career resurgence, and you shouldn’t be either. His career is the new template for every failed prospect you can imagine.

Beyond The Boxscore

After Missing Out On David Price, What's Next For Cardinals?

The Cardinals were willing to enrich free-agent starter David Price with an enormous contract, but Price opted to sign for a record-setting deal with the Boston Red Sox. The elite lefty received a seven-year deal for $217 million, and has the option of jumping from the contract after three seasons for a second crack at free-agent gold.

101 ESPN

Would You Sign Zack Greinke To A Long-Term Contract?

Last week at TrueBlueLA, Eric Stephen looked at Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke and the pros and cons of signing him to a long-term contract extension.

Minor League Ball

Redbird Rants Interview With Bob Gibson

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson spoke with Redbird Rants in conjunction with the release of his new book, Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game, co-written with Lonnie Wheeler.

Redbird Rants

Kyle Lohse Joins Select Pitching Fraternity

You can save your old-man jokes. Kyle Lohse heard every one of them from his teammates after making a bit of baseball history on Friday.

Milwaukee Official Site

Scott Boras Has Gone From Farming To Baseball Super Agent

Scott Boras grew up on a farm in California hearing about the faraway land his grandmother owned in Ada always wondering what it was like.

News OK

History Hurts James Shields' Chances At Landing A Big Contract

A general manager posed an interesting question to me on Tuesday:

Fox Sports

Cardinals Can Be Patient With Pitching Market

As John Mozeliak surveyed the Cardinals’ roster midway through spring training in 2008, his first as the club’s general manager, he saw a rotation light on innings and heavy with health issues. During a discussion with a member of his front office staff on how they might caulk the openings in the rotation, Mozeliak described why the team could search patiently for pitching.

Post-Dispatch

Jim Leyland's Achievement Celebrated By Tigers

The Tigers have played only 19 home games since Jim Leyland retired as manager, but his absence from Comerica Park was never going to be a long one.

Detroit Official Site

Marlins Won't Be Asking For David Freese

Though the Marlins are in need of offensive upgrades at several positions, don't look for them to go after guys like Orioles' catcher Matt Wieters or Cardinals' third baseman David Freese, both of whom are rumored to be available. Both are second-time arbitration-eligible and would qualify for free agency after 2016.

Sun Sentinel

Jim Leyland's Sense Of Moment A Unique Quality

Jim Leyland always has known when it was time to leave.

Detroit Official Site

Dan Haren 13th Pitcher To Beat All 30 Teams

Beating one Major League team figures to be difficult enough for a starting pitcher. Beating all 30 of them, however, is nothing short of pitching history.

Washington Official Site

Rain, Brewers Unable To Stop Red-Hot Edwin Jackson

Apparently, Edwin Jackson doesn't mind a little rain.

Chicago-N Official Site

The Curious Case Of Jake Westbrook

Cardinals' sinkerballer Jake Westbrook has a 1.76 ERA and six quality starts in eight starts this season.

Bernie Bytes

The 100 Million Dollar Contract Over Time

All this recent talk about the contract status of Barry Zito caused me to visit the Cot’s Baseball Contracts page on the most expensive players of all time. Any FanGraphs reader worth their salt already knows this, but there are only 26 players in all of baseball history that have ever been given total contracts worth more than $100M. The first player to break the $100M barrier was Kevin Brown, signing a 7-year, $105M deal before the 1999 season. Since then the barrier has been utterly destroyed, culminating so far in Alex Rodriguez’s recent 10 year, $275M deal (although of course, that could be passed this upcoming offseason by Albert Pujols).

Fangraphs

Top 30 Best Single Seasons Using Adjusted Pitcher Runs

Prior to the begining of the Modern Era, there were a bounty of pitchers who dominated hitters more than you can imagine. For just about every pitcher in the Modern Era who was on the list of best Adjusted Pitcher Runs by season, there were about three times as many before 1901. However, that doesn't mean the past century featured a bunch of duds -- just the opposite...

Beyond The Boxscore