Newsletter Excerpt, January 31, 2020 -- "Kris Bryant"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.

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"The larger conversation, though, has shifted to give equal treatment, even primacy, to the player's best interests. What’s missing from the above is whether the Cubs’ decision is fair to Bryant, in part because it’s obvious that it isn’t. It’s good now that there are voices that are more vocal in pointing out just how unfair it is. I don’t think those voices are representative of most baseball fans -- fans root for teams, and then players, and at that only if the players are productive and not overly expensive and don’t act in their own self-interest -- but they’re certainly a larger minority than they were five years ago."

Newsletter Excerpt, January 28, 2020 -- "Starling Marte and the Diamondbacks"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.

Your subscription gets you the newsletter and various related features two to five days a week, more than 150 mailings (more than 200,000 words) a year full of smart, fun baseball writing that you can't find in the mainstream. Subscribers can also access the new Slack workspace, to talk baseball with me and hundreds of other Newsletter subscribers.

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"The Diamondbacks have bled as much talent as any team in baseball of late, yet they still put competitive, watchable teams on the field. In a different context, one without a minor dynasty in their way, we’d be talking about them as a sleeper for 2020. As is, they’re going to be one of the most interesting teams in baseball, and if they can improve the bullpen -- a concern throughout this run of theirs -- they can even give the Dodgers a small scare."

Newsletter Excerpt, January 24, 2020 -- "Marcell Ozuna and the Braves"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.

Your subscription gets you the newsletter and various related features two to five days a week, more than 150 mailings (more than 200,000 words) a year full of smart, fun baseball writing that you can't find in the mainstream. Subscribers can also access the new Slack workspace, to talk baseball with me and hundreds of other Newsletter subscribers.

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"This is what you can do when you have a homegrown core that makes almost nothing. Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuña, Jr., Mike Soroka, Ozzie Albies, and Dansby Swanson combined for 21 bWAR and less than $24 million in salary last year. The latter number will jump to about $28 million this year. Throw in Max Fried and, come 2021, the outfielders, and the Braves are going to have a young, inexpensive core for some time to come. If signing Gerrit Cole or Anthony Rendon is a bridge too far for Liberty, picking off good players on one-year deals is a pretty good backup plan."

Newsletter Excerpt, January 22, 2020 -- "The Leftovers"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.

Your subscription gets you the newsletter and various related features two to five days a week, more than 150 mailings (more than 200,000 words) a year full of smart, fun baseball writing that you can't find in the mainstream. Subscribers can also access the new Slack workspace, to talk baseball with me and hundreds of other Newsletter subscribers.

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"If we get through next December, though, all that waits a year after that is...Alex Rodriguez, whose 'anonymous' positive drug test led to a witch hunt by one commissioner, and David Ortiz, whose 'anonymous' positive drug test was handwaved away by the next commissioner. We’re headed for a 2022 voting cycle that features Omar Vizquel and the Four Horsemen of the PEDocalypse. The meteor has 23 months to get here."

Newsletter Excerpt, January 21, 2020 -- "The Honorees"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.

Your subscription gets you the newsletter and various related features two to five days a week, more than 150 mailings (more than 200,000 words) a year full of smart, fun baseball writing that you can't find in the mainstream. Subscribers can also access the new Slack workspace, to talk baseball with me and hundreds of other Newsletter subscribers.

You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $49.95 using your PayPal account or major credit card.

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"Derek Jeter became a Hall of Famer on March 30, 2004, when he walked to the plate to open the Yankees’ two-game series in Tokyo against the Rays. His routine grounder to shortstop gave him ten seasons played in the majors, the last hurdle he needed to clear to assure his eventual induction. Walking up to face Victor Zambrano that evening in Japan, Jeter had a .317 career batting average, 127 homers, a Rookie of the Year award, four top-ten MVP finishes, and four championship rings. The 40 bWAR he’d accumulated would fall short if judged over a full career, but had Jeter hung them up that day, he’d have walked into the Hall five years later."

Newsletter Excerpt, January 21, 2020 -- "Ben Cherington and the Pirates"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.

Your subscription gets you the newsletter and various related features two to five days a week, more than 150 mailings (more than 200,000 words) a year full of smart, fun baseball writing that you can't find in the mainstream. Subscribers can also access the new Slack workspace, to talk baseball with me and hundreds of other Newsletter subscribers.

You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $49.95 using your PayPal account or major credit card.

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"The class of teams like the Pirates, with a reasonable core and some surrounding talent who could improve on sub-.500 seasons, has largely chosen to try to get better this winter. The Padres, the White Sox, the Blue Jays, the Rangers...these teams have gone into the market for talent and made trades to bolster their roster. The Pirates have stood still, and so a team that could have at least sold itself as a wild-card contender, with watchable young talent, has done nothing to bring fans back this winter."