Some other candidates for Best Throw of All Time

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After I claimed that the Cespedes throw was the best I’ve ever seen, a commenter made a great point: the best part of the throw was that it inspired everyone to seek out great examples of other throws and share video. Which is totally correct. Ranking things subjectively can be fun, but why bother when we can just have some outfield assist porn?

There were five throws from four players which kept coming up in comments and on Twitter this morning: Bo Jackson nailing Harold Reynolds, Jose Guillen’s “mutant throw” from right to nail a runner on third, a Vlad Guerrero missile from back in his Expos days and two throws from Rick Ankiel in the same game, with the idea that quantity matters too.

Hard to argue with any of them, really. And of course it’s hard to judge these or Cespedes’ throw against old school throws which went down before video of great plays became as commonplace as they are these days. Personally I think Guillen’s is the most impressive due to the distance and how rarely you see someone nailed at third by the right fielder compared to base runners getting nailed at home. But like I said, it’s hard to argue.

But why argue? Let’s just watch:

 

All of them great, and I’m sure there are many others which match them. But I hope we can all agree on something: watching cool throws like this is way better than any home run highlight reel.

Cardinals sign pitcher Miles Mikolas to 3-year, $55.75M deal

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Rhona Wise/USA TODAY Sports
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ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.

The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.