Jarrod Saltalamacchia is going to sign with the Diamondbacks

By Craig CalcaterraMay 7, 2015, 9:45 AM EDT
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Yesterday we heard that Jarrod Saltalamacchia had four teams interested in him. Today the other three can look for a catcher elsewhere:

Saltalamacchia has hit a disappointing .209/.310/.351 in 123 games dating back to the start of last season and is no great shakes defensively. He was owed $7 million this season and $8 million next season by the Marlins, but they’ll eat that now. He’s a bad deal on that contract, but he looks just fine coming in at the minimum. Especially if you have zero in the catching department like the Diamondbacks do.

Video: Starling Marte refuses to take first base after being hit by pitch

Tim Warner/Getty Images
By Bill BaerJul 16, 2019, 9:31 PM EDT
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Pirates outfielder Starling Marte was hit on the hand by a Jack Flaherty pitch in the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Cardinals. Rather than take first base, Marte — who came to the plate with a runner on first base — insisted to home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman that the ball hit the knob of the bat, not his hand. Marte was allowed to continue his at-bat, though manager Clint Hurdle came out to discuss the ruling with Dreckman. Marte eventually grounded into a fielder’s choice. He then got caught attempting to steal second base and the Pirates scored zero runs in the inning.

According to Baseball Prospectus, a team that has runners on first and second with no outs is expected to score 1.55 runs. Having a runner on first base with one out yields 0.56 expected runs. Marte essentially cost his team a run by rejecting first base. Oops.