Author: scott

The Dodgers today announced they have claimed C Ryan Lavarnway off waivers. Lavarnway played parts of 4 seasons with Red Sox, which drafted him in 2008 * * *

Think Mexican League pitchers respect ex-MLB’er Josh Whitesell? Whitesell, who hit .315 this year with 16 HRs and 68 RBIs, was intentionally walked a league-leading 9 times * * * The Reds have assigned former Mets 1B Josh Satin to the “AAA” Louisville Bats, where he’ll join P Jon Moscot * * * Jewish Sports…

Maxx Tissenbaum, one of four Rays prospects playing in Australia this winter, is hitting .321, 12th-best in the league * * * Nate Fish talks to the Jerusalem Post about the current state of baseball in Israel, while Peter Kurz seeks money for it in Cleveland * * * Mazel tov to Oakland’s Nate Freiman and wife…

Mariners “AA” prospect Jack Marder, whose concussion from a fastball this summer was his 7th, has retired for medical reasons. Now he’s finishing his B.A. and coaching at U. of Oregon * * * Ryan Braun says his right thumb feels 100% after Oct. 2 surgery to repair a nerve * * * Independent-league IF Andrew…

Oakland has acquired 1B Ike Davis from the Pirates. The A’s already have a Jewish first baseman on their 40-man roster in Nate Freiman * * * Current free agents include Craig Breslow, Ryan Kalish, Jason Marquis, Eric Berger, Richard Bleier and Ben Guez. Also looking for work: Nick Rickles, Cameron Selik * * * From Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston: Free agent Craig Breslow is “getting plenty…

Josh Satin now is one of three Jewish players in the Reds’ organization, joining “AAA” pitcher Jon Moscot and “A” pitcher Zack Weiss * * * Happy birthday to Cardinals prospect Robert Stock, who turned 25 yesterday! * * * Josh Satin has signed a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. The 29-year-old 1B/3B has been with the Mets franchise since being…

Aaron Poreda is leaving the Rangers for Japan’s Yomiuri Giants. A 6’6″ LHP, Poreda made his MLB debut in 2009 and didn’t return to the Majors until 2014 * * * RHP Mitchell Osnowitz has been blogging about baseball since June, when the Braves signed him * * * Rays prospect Maxx Tissenbaum is hitting .282 with…

The Mets’ Josh Satin and three minor-leaguers drafted in 2008 have been granted free agency: Jeremy Bleich (Yankees), Ben Guez (Tigers), and Richard Bleier (Blue Jays) * * * Dodgers prospect Joc Pederson is honing his skills this offseason in the Dominican winter league. He’s hitting .265 with 1 HR and 7 RBIs in 68 ABs for Leones…

Rays prospect Maxx Tissenbaum, playing in Australia this summer, went 3-for-3 with a HR and 3 RBIs on Friday for the Brisbane Bandits (11/3/2014) *** Mariners prospect Scott DeCecco is pitching for the Surprise Saguaros of the prestigious Arizona Fall League. Each MLB team sends 6 top prospects to the AFL (11/3/2014) *** Following in…

Guess who’s an analytics intern with the K.C. Royals? Former Pomona College and Israel pitcher Guy Stevens, whose mother is Israeli (10/14/2014) *** Former prison warden Howard Kinsler now works at BBI Sports, the agency that represents son Ian Kinsler (10/14/2014) ***

Justin Klipp is pitching again after twice breaking his back. He talks to us about Jewish day school, independent ball, Mexican drug cartels, and baseball shrinks (10/11/2014) ***

Jewish journeyman Danny Valencia has played for two of the four remaining playoff teams: the Royals in 2014, and Baltimore in 2013 (10/10/2014) ***

When the O’s face K.C. later this week, replay coordinator Adam Gladstone will advise manager Buck Showalter on which calls to challenge (10/7/2014) *** GM Dan Duquette of the pennant-chasing Orioles isn’t Jewish. But in 2007, he headed player personnel for the Israel Baseball League (10/7/2014) ***

Ike Davis made big strides on Ks and BBs in 2014. His K/BB ratio was a career-best 1.24, and his walk frequency — one in every 6.77 PAs — was 4th best in MLB (10/6/2014) *** LeBron, Cavs beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 107-80 on Sunday behind ex-Maccabi coach David Blatt before sellout crowd in Cleveland (10/6/2014)…

Up tonight: the Dodgers and rookie Joc Pederson face the Cardinals at 6:30pm EST on Fox Sports 1 (10/3/2014) *** Up today: manager Brad Ausmus‘s Detroit Tigers (and 2B Ian Kinsler) face the Baltimore Orioles in Game 2 at Noon EST on TBS (10/3/2014) *** A record-tying 15 Jews played in the MLB this season. How’d they do…

Ian Kinsler did his best to soften up Orioles pitching tonight, drawing 7, 14, and 9 pitches in his first three at-bats, but it was Detroit’s pitchers who gave up 8 runs in the 8th en route to a loss (10/2/2014) *** Up tonight: manager Brad Ausmus‘s Detroit Tigers (and 2B Ian Kinsler) face the Baltimore…

Up tonight: Pittsburgh and Ike Davis vs. San Francisco, 8pm EST on ESPN (10/1/2014) *** Watch how fast Sam Fuld was chasing down this 12th-inning triple. Too bad teammate Jonny Gomes got there at the same time (10/1/2014) *** Oakland’s Sam Fuld did everything he could to win Tuesday, singling twice, walking once and, according to Gabe Kapler,…

After the worst season in his 8-year career, Ryan Braun will “undergo surgery this week to fix a nagging nerve problem near his right thumb” (9/30/2014) *** Clutch: in the 10 last games of the regular season, Pittsburgh’s Ike Davis hit .280 with 1 HR, 4 doubles, 5 RBIs, and 2 walks (9/30/2014) *** Clutch: in the 10…