If you spend much time reading baseball news on the internet, you've probably come across Tim Dierkes' website MLBTradeRumors.com. His site has become the "go to" place to get up-to-the-minute updates on hot-stove news including trade rumors and free agent signings. Baseball Hall of Fame sports-writer Peter Gammons calls it "a must read" and CBS Sportsline uses MLBTR as its trade rumor source. I came across MLBTradeRumors a couple years ago, and I now visit it at least a couple times a day, especially during the days leading up to the July 31st and August 31st trade deadlines.
Tim was kind enough to take some time from his busy day to answer my questions:
What is your background? I've read you've recently started working on your website full-time, what did you do before?
Out of college I spent over three years working in search engine marketing for a Chicago company called DoubleClick Performics. I determined what advertisers should bid for keywords on various retail accounts. It was a nice job, I enjoyed it and the people were great.
What gave you the inspiration to start a website about MLB trade rumors? How long have you been running MLBTradeRumors?
I have always loved the hot stove side of baseball. This may stem from watching many lousy Cubs teams, where the most optimistic part of the year was the offseason. I am fascinated with free agent megadeals and trades. I started the site in November of 2005. About five months prior to that I began my blogging career with a fantasy baseball site, RotoAuthority. All of it was started as a hobby, I just liked to write.
How much time do you generally spend on your site each day? What does your typical day consist of?
It varies quite a bit - could be four hours on a slow day or 18 hours during the Winter Meetings. Typically I wake up and check my email first. If there are any urgent rumors readers will kindly email me about them. After that I will comb through RSS feeds of 200+ sites looking for rumors or hot stove tidbits. I do a lot of reading each morning. I stop along the way to write the posts. I keep the feeds open all day so I can catch breaking rumors.
Now that MLBTR is your full-time job, do you enjoy it as much?
I enjoy it more, because I have more time to give it the attention it deserves. I don't feel like I am falling behind, and I have time in the afternoons to do chats or radio shows. It is obviously a great job.
Do you get much feedback from "mainstream" sources such as ESPN, newspapers and MLB front-office personnel? What I mean is, how much contact do you have with these sources?
ESPN guys and beat writers I talk to every day. All those guys are great and help me out a lot. Front office personnel, just a handful of guys who I email occasionally.
Peter Gammons has written that your site is one of his "must reads", how did that make you feel to be acknowledged by one of the industry's top personalities?
It was a huge thrill! I love reading Gammons' stuff.
Did you see the segment on Costas Now! with Buzz Bissinger and Deadspin.com's Will Leitch? Do you think Bissinger's negative comments are indicative of print media's feelings towards internet sports reporting?
I did see it. Buzz does not have much in common with the journalists I interact with; he seems to focus more on long-form features and books. Plus, the blogs/commenters he railed against do not have much in common with my site. I typically talk to beat writers or guys at ESPN who are in the trenches digging for inside info. My interactions with the print media have been entirely positive - they are always helpful and responsive. Many of them have reached out to me with kind words, and a few even mentioned the site in the newspaper. These journalists are the ones digging up the rumors - without them I would have nothing! In turn some writers benefit from MLBTR by not having to dig through hundreds of websites to get all the rumors.
What do you think the future holds for mainstream print media?
It will become less relevant, but will not go away. The best newspapers will adapt, leaving the time-sensitive info for their websites. A lot of them already do this - beat writers break news on their blogs, opinion pieces appear in the paper the next day. It is not something where the internet needs to replace newspapers...they fit well together. Some newspapers have immensely popular blogs, like Peter Abraham's. But people aren't cancelling their subscriptions because of the blog, as far as I know.
How about internet sports reporting? Do you think the internet will overtake print media as far as where people get their sports news in the future (if it hasn't already)?
I haven't seen the stats on where people get their sports news these days. Younger people definitely seem to skew heavily toward online. Most rumors appear on the beat writer's blog before they make it into the newspaper. The journalist often can't afford to sit on a rumor for 12 hours to get it into the paper. That has already progressed quite a bit in three years - these days every beat writer has a blog it seems. The diehard fans want their news immediately and can't wait until tomorrow's newspaper.
Where do you see MLBTR's place in sports reporting in the future? What are your plans for MLBTR?
Mainly I am going to keep doing what I am doing. MLBTR is a hot stove news aggregator, but also offers resources, opinions, analysis, and a commenting community. It would be fun to grow my network of sources, start breaking some exclusive news here and there. But I am not an aggressive networking type person, so it will continue to happen gradually. A few things I am hoping to add to the site: a fully functional mobile version, better load time, and a database where you can query all of a GM's moves and see who he's matched up with on trades. We are making progress on all of these fronts. Also my blogging platform, TypePad, has many improvements in the works for their commenting system.
Any advice you can give a fledgling internet blogger?
Don't get into it for money. Write every day and don't quit if your traffic is low. Email your most interesting posts to the bigger blogs in your niche, but don't pester them or complain if they don't reply. Offer to write guests posts for the bigger sites, that way they're getting something in return for linking to you. Don't use gray text on a black background...haha.
Many thanks, Tim. Your time is very much appreciated!
act like a player who had just won a very big game. Teix recorded the final out of the Angels' come-from-behind 7-5 win over the Rangers that featured an 8th inning, 5 run rally. After Wednesday night's comeback fell short, last night's victory was a big game. It showed the Halos have the ability and "fire" to never give up, that no matter how far down they are, they can comeback. An important attitude for the team to have if they want to win a World Series. Clutch performance from Jon Garland provided the opportunity for the Angels' comeback. After giving up 4 runs in the first inning and another run in the fourth, Garland kept his team in the game by going 8 innings and not allowing any further scoring. Garland's 8-inning outing also afforded the Angels' tired bullpen a much needed rest after Wednesday's 7-plus inning relief effort. The big hit for the Angels' offense was off of the bat of pinch-hitter Juan Rivera's bat. Rivera blasted a bases loaded double off of the right-centerfield fence that was just a couple feet from being a grand slam. 
proponents of BABIP claim that all pitchers BABIP stay consistent and a pitcher whose BABIP is high should see a future improvement because they are suffering from bad luck, while a pitcher with an unusually low BABIP should see their future performance regress because they have been lucky. As a self proclaimed stathead, I love statistics, but I have a hard time believing in a stat that claims to track luck. I think a person makes their own luck by putting themselves in positions to win (good luck) or lose (bad luck). When relating luck to baseball players I think this belief holds true and their luck is based on skill. In regards to pitchers and BABIP, there are many factors that can effect a pitcher's performance, i.e. a pitcher may have developed or improved a pitch that increases his chances of winning, or possibly a pitcher may be hurt causing his pitches to be less effective. Another example is maybe the team brought in a slick fielding shortstop who now is cobbling up those groundballs that used to get through for hits, or maybe the pitcher worked on his splitter and is now getting more groundballs that used to be line drive hits. On the other side, if a pitcher is injured or fatigued his pitches might be more hittable. This has nothing to do with luck, it relates to ability, either his or the team behind him. There are so many things that factor into a pitcher's results, to lump them all into luck is stupid. I understand BABIP should not be used to track game-by-game results, but should be used to predict future results based on past season performance and career results using the belief that a player will regress to his mean, be it improvement or decline. 
Whatever the belief, whether it is luck, skill, karma, astrology, or voodoo, Saunders needs to get back to his pre-August results as he's an important part of the Angels' post season success. 
Last night the Angels showed those traits while beating up on the Oakland A's. Starting pitcher, John Lackey pitched his eight career complete game for his 5th straight win. Lackey came within two outs of a shutout if not for Jack Cust's 9th inning home run. The homer was the only mistake Lackey made in the game as he didn't walk a batter and struck out 5. The strike out total was relatively low, but was by design. Lackey's outing was more about efficiency than over-powering the hitter, as he threw 23 first pitch strikes (out of 32 batters), and only needed 98 pitches to get through nine innings. Some have claimed the Angels lack the dominating number one starter needed to win a World Series, but Lackey has shown he's more than capable of filling that need. Since beginning the season on the disabled list with a strained tricep, Big John has won 11 of 13 decisions while compiling an ERA of just 2.95. I'd match-up Lackey against any other team's ace and feel confident in the Angels' ability to get the win.
A team ranked last in the league in runs scored, last in hits, last in batting average, last in on-base percentage...you get the idea. Oakland proved worthy of their offensive stats by getting only 4 hits and scoring just 2 runs, but two runs ended up being one more than the Halos could manufacture as the Angels lost the opening game of their 3 game series to the A's 2-1. I failed to realize that Oakland does have the third best ERA in the league and the Angels haven't been scoring runs like they're capable of doing. I know, the Angels still lead the AL West by 16 games and have a magic number of 16 to clinch the division title, but a division title will not be good enough with this team. If the hitting woes continue into or reappear in October, the post season is going to be very short. Last night's line-up was without the regular 4 and 5 hitters as both Vlad Guerrero and Garrett Anderson sat out. Guerrero was given the night off to rest his knees and Anderson is battling knee problems of his own. According to the L.A. Times, Mike Scioscia was quoted saying Guerrero will be given 2, if not 3 days off to "re-charge". This is probably a good move as Guerrero is an important piece of the Angels' offense. Resting him now makes sense in order to have him healthy and fresh later. Anderson had an MRI on his left knee which he hurt during Sunday's game, but according to the same Times article, Anderson said it was feeling better. With the huge division lead, Scoiscia has the luxury of resting some of his players, especially to avoid future injuries and to push deep into the post season.
bucketful, and winning games (at one point going 21-6). Someone question the clubhouse guy in Tampa Bay, because in the games prior to those in Tampa, the Angels were hitting like serious World Series contenders. After last night's offensive no-show, the angels have lost 7 of their last nine and scored an anemic 28 runs. One consolation (or excuse) for the Halos' recent play has been that they've been playing good teams with excellent pitching. So, it can be understandable that during this stretch, the hitting has disappeared. It won't be consolation come October when they possibly face one of these two teams in the playoffs. As things stand now, the Angels would be facing-off against the Red Sox and the Twins would play the Rays. If the Angels manage to get past the Chowds, they've shown in the last week they'll have their hands full in getting to the Series, regardless if it's against the Twins or the Rays. Angels manager Mike Scioscia held a closed door meeting with the team after last night's loss, hopefully some of the things he did during the meeting was to assemble a search party, explore the yellow pages for a private detective, and consulted a psychic who can track down the missing lumber.
the first 5 hitters, until Angels' third baseman Chone Figgins misplayed a foul ball near the stands. If you were watching the game, you'd have seen Weaver's confidence completely disappear just from the look on his face. After that play, the Rays scored three runs on four straight hits. I don't know if it's because he young, or whatever, but Weaver needs to control his emotions if he wants to take his game to the next level. Things like the Figgins play are going to happen and he needs be able to have it not affect his game. The Halos answered right back by plating 4 runs in the next inning highlighted by an Erick Aybar triple. Weaver returned in the bottom half of the inning, having regained the lead and his mojo as he settled down and retired 13 of the next 14 batters. He finished the night by striking out 9 hitters, a career high, in 6 innings. But once again, the Angels bullpen wasn't able to hold the one run lead when Jose Arredondo gave up back-to-back doubles in the 8th. Fortunately Garrett Anderson was able get an infield single to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th. The hit was originally ruled an error, but was later changed, extending Anderson's 22 game hit streak to 23. Frankie Rodriguez recorded his 48th save of the season, tying his own Angels' record. K-Rod gave up a lead-off single, which had me thinking, "Here we go again. Another bullpen blown save". But Frankie was able to get a couple groundballs to end the game and preserve the win, avoiding another sweep in Tampa.
16.2%). I'm not going to debate the results; the selection of Ryan can be debated forever, as with the selections for most teams. I do know that while growing up, Ryan was my favorite Angel. He was most fans favorite player back then since the Angels didn't really have any truly "great" players in the early '70s. A couple of my favorite Angels baseball memories include games where I saw Ryan pitch. Tomorrow is the 34th anniversary of one of my favorites. On August 20th, 1974 against the Detroit Tigers, Ryan went for the fastest pitch record. I had spent the summer of 1974 in Alaska with my brother and his family, as he was in the Air Force and was stationed outside of Fairbanks. Back then, there wasn't much satellite coverage for T.V. (if at all) causing all of the programs to be two weeks behind the "lower 48" and the news was a couple days later too, making it harder to follow my favorite team. Upon my return home and for my approaching birthday, my mom took me to an Angels game that featured Ryan going for the Guiness Book of world records for the fastest pitch thrown. Since having a guy sitting behind the plate with a Juggs gun was still a few years away, aerospace contactor and builder of the Apollo space vehicle, Rockwell International, were called in to set up their sophisticated measurement gear to record the velocities of Ryan's pitches. At the time, my mom worked for Rockwell and I remember thinking it was pretty cool that her company was responsible for measuring the pitches and she had, what I thought, a small role in the event. I don't remember much about the actual game, but when doing research for this piece at 
with both pitchers throwing complete games, but Ryan ended up getting the loss by allowing a single and stolen base to Ben Oglivie and a run scoring single to Bill Freehan in the top of the 11th. These were only two of the four hits Ryan allowed in the game, which also included 19 strikeouts. The results of the measurements of Ryan's pitches weren't shown until after the game and were displayed inning-by-inning on the Big A scoreboard. I don't remember the exact inning Ryan broke the record, but I do know it was late in the game, either the 7th or 8th. They showed the results for each inning, with a pause between each to build the suspense. When they finally showed the record breaker of 100.9 MPH, the crowd went wild...well about as wild as 12,000 fans can go.
But in losing their first series since June against a poor Indians' line-up, the Angels failed to get the timely hits with runners in scoring position. If it hadn't been for the shoddy Indian's defense who committed 4 errors during Saturday's game, the Angels may have been swept.
In the ultimate and perfectly dominate performance, a pitcher would strikeout the side with 9 pitches. In a lesser instance of dominance it would be to strike out the side without allowing a base runner. And finally, the least dominating performance on the 'dominance scale" is to pitch an inning without allowing a base runner. I don't have the resources to go through all of this years' appearances to count the number of times any of these happened, but I did go through some of the top reliever's game logs and manually counted the number of times they pitched a perfect inning and the number of times they pitched 1 inning and had 3 strike outs. You'll find those results below. I'm sure this data doesn't show how effective a pitcher has been, in fact, I'm sure it probably doesn't show much of anything other than the number of perfect innings thrown, but I did think it was interesting (and hopefully you do too).
not sooner. Closer Frankie Rodriguez, who will become a free agent after this season, looked awful in the ninth inning giving up 3 runs while recording just one out. K-Rod has been very good this season, on pace to shatter the season save record, but my perception of Frankie's season is that he seems to be living on the edge in most of his appearances. His BB/IP and H/IP are up, while his strikeouts are down. Not a good sign. Of his 56 games this season, he has only 17 appearances in which he pitched at least an inning and did not allow a base runner. This is the first time in his career he has allowed batters' OBP to exceed .300. Is he hurting? I don't know, but I went back and watched last night's outing and noted he topped out at 91mph. I then went and watched a couple games from 2006 and saw him throwing 94-95. It doesn't seem like he can blow hitters away like he used to. Instead, he's trying to hit corners or make hitters swing at curves and sliders out of the zone. Hitters have been more patient by not swinging at his off-speed stuff, waiting for him to throw a strike or taking a base on balls. Either way, resulting in more base runners. He no longer just goes right after a hitter with what used to be an overpowering fastball. Some pitchers will hide an injury while they try to work through it. Earlier this year, Indians closer Joe Borowski stated he felt like he was throwing underwater because his shoulder was hurting. He stated this after giving up 7 earned runs over his previous three games. Would have been nice to have mentioned that earlier, Joe. If Frankie is hurting would he say anything? He's got 15 million reasons not too. As his free agency approaches, an injury would jeopardize his big payday. 
