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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans!
Did Gregory Polanco leave money on the table to have some more financial securty? Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports examines.
Certain players perform better after signing long-term deals early in their careers -- Polanco's teammate Andrew McCutchen, the Indians' Michael Brantley and Astros' Carlos Gomez and Jose Altuve all seemingly benefited from the peace of mind.
Of course, those players might have broken out, anyway -- and Polanco, who went 2-for-3 with a double in the Pirates' 4-1 season-opening victory over the Cardinals on Sunday, is at an age when he still should be improving.
In any case, his deal continues a pattern for the Pirates, who previously had locked up McCutchen through 2018 and Starling Marte through '21, including club options.
Polanco's deal brings the Pirates full circle -- he will be under control through '23, helping cushion the team against the potential departure of McCutchen as a free agent in three years.
More Ken Rosenthal hot-takes, as we have a reason for why Zack Grienke wasn't at his best on Opening Day.
Sources: #Dbacks’ Greinke pitched with flu. Did not come close to missing start; decision that he would pitch was made day before.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 5, 2016
Beyond the Box Scores's Joe Vasile calls the Kansas City Royals a moneyball team, and wants us all to deal with it.
The Royals embodying modern 'Moneyball' doesn't end with the offensive approach but extends to their pitching staff as well. KC didn't get many quality innings from their starting rotation, but they didn't particularly need to considering the strength of their bullpen. The Royals relief corps was constructed in such a way that all the team needed to do was hold a lead after six innings and the game was over. In 2015, they went an incredible 84-14 when they were ahead or tied after six innings. At one point they had a streak of 111 consecutive wins when leading after seven. The elite combination of Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera,Wade Davis, the second coming of Ryan Madson, et. al. was just too much.
By building a super-pen, Moore was ahead of the times and gave his team a distinct advantage. Now teams like the New York Yankees are following suit and trying to build super-pens of their own to compete with the Royals. Once teams catch up to speed with the Royals, their competitive advantage will be gone and they'll have to try to find the next concept to exploit. Billy Beane has seen mixed results doing that in Oakland. Dayton Moore will have to be better in Kansas City.
A lot of weird things have already happened in baseball, and August Fagerstrom of FanGraphs breaks it down.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1977, the Seattle Mariners make their debut, losing to the Angels 7-0.