Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Arizona Diamondbacks

How Meaningful Are the First 10 Games?

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

Are the first 10 games a precursor of things to come? Normally you wouldn’t think so since the baseball season is 162 games long. It represents exactly 6% of the total schedule. There are, however, some trends in how a team performs the last decade. ACTA Sports produced this analysis in their latest “Stat of […]

The Manischewitz All-Time 25-Man Roster

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

On the second night of Passover, a simple dinner discussion that evolved into an argument between the Matzo Ball Soup and the Brisket was the impetus for this list. Going through the Internet to find any definitive list, this wonderful piece by the ubiquitous Jonah Keri from 2007 was discovered  listing the Top 18 Jewish […]

Looking at Conor Jackson

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

A reunion with Wally Backman might be just what Conor Jackson’s career needs. Worth a shot. — Gotham Baseball (@GothamBaseball) March 26, 2012 Interesting point brought up by Gotham Baseball. Jackson was released by the Texas Rangers this week. Although they needed a right handed hitting outfielder, Jackson struggled with the bat going 3 for […]

Mets Have Plenty to Be Positive About This Spring

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

It is common knowledge among the electorate the 2012 New Mets aren’t going to be that good. Without a deep starting pitching staff and not even a true ace, Mets GM Sandy Alderson has attempted to follow the lead of the Arizona Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers by building up a solid bullpen to improve their […]

Tom Brady Was Nearly a Expo, Passed on by the Yankees

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Here is another cool baseball-football connection this Super Bowl week. I am sure this has been talked about before, but Jeff Bradley did a nice piece in the Star-Ledger about Patriots QB Tom Brady and his near baseball career. You know about the three Super Bowl titles, but did you know that Brady was an outstanding baseball […]

The Hall of Fame SS That was Nearly a Met

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

The terms “Cincinnati legend” and “lifetime Cincinnati Red” were used to describe Barry Larkin yesterday after his election into the Hall of Fame. He also became the 48th member of the Hall to spend his entire career with one team. Born in Cincinnati, Larkin won the 1990 World Series, MVP in 1995, and become the first shortstop […]

Pedro Martinez: The Best Ever?

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

During the same week that it was revealed Ryan Braun failed a drug test and John Rocker admitted using performance enhancing drugs during his career, the player I thought most about was Pedro Martinez. Martinez officially announced his retirement earlier in the month. To be fair, most thought of him as retired after he didn’t pitch in 2010. So now […]

Sticky: Vote in the NYBD Hall of Fame Ballot

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

I will be keeping this up as a sticky until our January 8th Hall of Fame show where we will announce the fan selections. Remember, the actual Hall of Fame announcement will be on January 9th. Here is my Hall of Fame ballot - you can weigh in on the conversation by voting here.

Interesting Non-Tenders

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Last night was the deadline for teams to offer arbitration-eligible players a contract. Those that weren’t, were non-tendered, which now makes them a free agent. The Yankees are searching for bench help and a situational lefty. The Mets need a backup infielder, second lefty, and more starting pitching. Both teams 40-man rosters are completely full, […]

Giants Rejected Yanks Offer For Matt Cain

Friday, November 25th, 2011

I received some interesting Thanksgiving news from down in Tampa. Apparently, the Yankees recently contacted the Giants and offered four players for Matt Cain. The package was a combination of at least one position player and several minor league pitchers. Some of the names that were bandied about were Jesus Montero, Nick Swisher, and different minor league talent that included names such […]

Plenty of Stars Shine at the Rising Stars Game

Monday, November 7th, 2011

In what has quickly become a haven for Major League scouts and Executives, the prestigious Arizona Fall League held its sixth annual “Rising Stars” game Saturday night in Surprise, AZ. And there were plenty of stars on hand to see. The announcement earlier in the week of the opposing pitchers began the game’s anticipation when […]

Allocating Jose Reyes’ Money

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

The Mets need to fill a few holes on their roster whether or not Jose Reyes is playing shortstop. Without any arbitration figures they have $67 million dollars tied up in 6 players. They have five arbitration eligible players that probably will add another $8 million to the payroll. I expect them to only sign […]

Where Does the ’11 World Series Rank For You?

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Ranking all-time World Series is an impossible task. How do I rank the ’75 Series between the Reds and Red Sox when I wasn’t born yet? How do you go back in time and read box scores from the early 20th century and make an assertion about the drama? All I can do is provide […]

25 Years Later, Championship Rings Still an Issue

Friday, October 28th, 2011

“Randy (Myers) was playing for the Chicago Cubs and he’s in the bullpen at Shea Stadium and they put up a trivia question,” Terry Leach told me during a 2007 appearance on my radio program. The question was “who is the Mets player that pitched only one inning and received a 1986 World Series ring?” It was […]

Joe Saunders: An Interesting Case

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Both local teams will be looking for pitching this offseason. While the Yankees will be playing in the deep end of the free agent pool with  CC Sabathia, if he opts out, and possibly with C.J. Wilson and Yu Darvish, the Mets will be looking for value. One name that could become available is D-Backs starter Joe Saunders, who MLBTR believes could […]