The Red Sox have designated A.J. Pierzynski for assignment

By Craig CalcaterraJul 9, 2014, 3:00 PM EST
61 Comments

The Red Sox, with rumors of trading this or that player swirling, are apparently calling it a season. Or, at the very least, are trying something different than they tried heading into 2014. The move:

Pierzynski is experiencing his worst season at the plate since becoming a full-time big leaguer, hitting .254/.286/.348. Twenty-three year old Christian Vazquez has been called up. He and David Ross will be splitting catching duties for the duration, but it would make a lot more sense for Vasquez to get most of the reps.

Pierzynski is making $8.25 million this year. He’ll clear waivers and the Sox will be on the hook for the balance of that, but it’s unclear if any other team would want to take a chance on him. Worst case: we see A.J. working for TBS or Fox or whoever this postseason. He’s actually pretty darn good with that stuff.

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

Getty Images
By Craig CalcaterraNov 13, 2018, 10:13 AM EST
4 Comments

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.