Wladimir Balentien has gone deep again

By Craig CalcaterraAug 28, 2013, 1:36 PM EST
26 Comments

Yesterday Aaron noted that former Mariner and current Yakult Swallow  Wladimir Balentien was threatening the NPB single season home run record. As an update, know that he has hit a solo home run today/tonight and now has 51, putting him four short of the record 55, held by Sadaharu Oh, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera.

My question — and anyone with good knowledge of the NPB should chime in — is whether or not he’ll get anything to hit once he gets to 55. A decade ago when Rhodes threatened the record it was widely assumed — and there much evidence showing — that he was stuck on 55 when opponents refused to give him anything to hit, lest a non-Japanese player break the immortal Oh’s record. I’m not sure if Cabrera got that treatment too. Or if, in reality, it was really a major factor in Rhodes not breaking Oh’s record.

I assume that a decade in which several Japanese players have dominated in the United States — and in which people are just generally cool about such things — will mean that Balentien will get pitches down the stretch. And I assume with 32 games left and only four homers to go, he’ll break that record.

Noah Syndergaard: ‘I feel like I’m going to bet (on) myself in free agency’

Mike Stobe/Getty Images
By Bill BaerFeb 20, 2019, 7:56 PM EST
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Yankees starter Luis Severino and Phillies starter Aaron Nola both signed contract extensions within the last week. Severino agreed to a four-year, $40 million contract with a 2023 club option. Nola inked a four-year, $45 million deal with a 2023 club option.

While the deals both represented significant raises and longer-term financial security for the right-handed duo, some feel like the players are selling themselves short. It has become a more common practice for players to agree to these types of deals in part due to how stagnant free agency has become. Get the money while you can.

Mets starter Noah Syndergaard is in a similar situation as Severino and Nola were. He and the Mets avoided arbitration last month, agreeing on a $6 million salary for the 2019 season. He has two more years of arbitration eligibility left. A contract extension with the Mets would presumably cover both of those years plus two or three years of what would be free agent years. As Tim Britton of The Athletic reports, however, Syndergaard plans to test free agency when the time comes.

Syndergaard said, “I trust my ability and the talent that I have. So I feel like I’m going to bet (on) myself in free agency and not do what they did. But if it’s fair for both sides and they approach me on it, then maybe we can talk.” He clarified that he would be open to a conversation about an extension, but the Mets thus far haven’t approached him about it. In his words, “There’s been no traction.”

Syndergaard, 26, has been one of baseball’s better starters since debuting in 2015. He owns a career 2.93 ERA with 573 strikeouts and 116 walks in 518 1/3 innings. Among pitchers to have logged at least 400 innings since 2015 and post a lower ERA are Clayton Kershaw (2.22), Jacob deGrom (2.66) and Max Scherzer (2.71). Syndergaard made only seven starts in 2017 yet still ranks seventh among pitchers in total strikeouts since 2015.

If Sydergaard doesn’t end up signing an extension, he will be entering free agency after the 2021 season. The collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2021 and a new one will likely be agreed upon around that time. Syndergaard will hopefully have better prospects entering free agency then than players do now.