Hideki Okajima clears waivers, accepts assignment to Triple-A

By Aaron GleemanMay 24, 2011, 4:16 PM EST
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Hideki Okajima began the season at Triple-A, got called up to rejoin the Red Sox’s bullpen in mid-April, was designated for assignment last week, and now has accepted an assignment back to Triple-A after passing through waivers unclaimed.

And all that has happened after he re-signed with the Red Sox this offseason for $1.75 million.

That contract likely explains why Okajima cleared waivers, although certainly he’s also pitched poorly enough to scare teams off at a fraction of the cost.

Okajima finished strong last season after a terrible first half and has allowed opponents to bat just .233 with a .643 OPS in 8.1 innings so far this season, but that comes with a 6/5 K/BB ratio and he has a 4.47 ERA in 54 innings dating back to last year.

He still looks capable of being a useful middle reliever, but apparently that isn’t worth $1 million to anyone.

Marlins unveil what they’re putting in the space where the home run sculpture used to be

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By Craig CalcaterraNov 13, 2018, 10:13 AM EST
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Not long after the new ownership group bought the Miami Marlins, face of the franchise Derek Jeter made it clear that he wanted the home runs sculpture beyond the outfield fence gone. In October they announced that it would, in fact, be moving out to a plaza or the parking lot or someplace you’re unlikely to ever see it because who goes to Marlins games?

Today we got a tease of what the Marlins are doing with the space the sculpture is vacating:

It was only a matter of time before that green wall went away. There are a lot of things I like about the overall aesthetic of Marlins Park, but almost all of them are because of their novelty. Jeff Loria was bad for a lot of reasons, but one of the few good things he did was eschew nostalgia and traditionalism with the ballpark. Nostalgia and traditionalism, unfortunately, is the straw that stirs baseball’s drink, so any “weird” colors or flourishes were gonna be beat out of that place as the years went on. It was inevitable.

As for the “three-tier social space,” here’s hoping that tickets for it are cheap or the Marlins start winning ballgames soon, because the Marlins can’t really fill their existing spectator spaces now.