Snake Bytes 3/28: Get Ready Quick

Around the League

[The Washington Post] How Max Scherzer, bold and brilliant on the mound, learned years ago to bet on himself - [Max] Scherzer and Boras wanted a four-year deal worth over $4 million before incentives. The Diamondbacks, though, countered around $2 million and wouldn’t budge. Scherzer’s lifelong dream had quickly dissolved into a fight over money and precedent. Instead of a summer in the minors, he faced hitters in Missouri to stay sharp. Instead of spring training in 2007, he pitched in simulated games at the University of California Irvine, the closest college to Boras’s Orange County headquarters. By April, when the major league season began, Scherzer had less than two months to sign or go back in the draft. That’s when Boras suggested he head to Fort Worth for a high-stakes tryout. He would call every team to fill the small park with scouts. Scherzer would make the rookie minimum, just $750 per month, plus a meal allowance. And then it was on. “We knew he could pitch and had some bite on the mound,” said Moss, the Cats’ player personnel director. “Other than that, we just hoped we could fit everyone at the games.”

[MLB Trade Rumors] Mariners To Select Taylor Trammell’s Contract - The 35th overall pick of the 2016 draft, [Taylor] Trammell is set to make his Major League debut after having already been part of two huge trades in his young professional career. Trammell was originally drafted by the Reds, who sent him to the Padres as the only piece San Diego received in their end of the three-team blockbuster in July 2019 that saw Trevor Bauer go from Cleveland to Cincinnati, while such notables as Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, and Yasiel Puig were part of the five-player package acquired by the Indians. After a little more than a year in San Diego’s farm system, Trammell was on the move again, dealt with Ty France, Luis Torrens, and Andres Munoz to the Mariners for Austin Nola, Austin Adams, and Dan Altavilla.

[ABC 5 Cleveland] CWRU alumnus blazing trails in MLB, becoming first Black female coach - A Case Western Reserve University alumnus is making history, blazing the trail for other women in Major League Baseball as she becomes the first Black female coach associate with the league. Bianca Smith was hired by the Boston Red Sox to work with their minor leaguers. “The strategy of the game, the love of the game, being able to help our players get better… the entire part of it I absolutely love,” Smith said. Smith, who was at the time already Ivy League educated, earned two graduate degrees at CWRU and worked as the Spartans baseball operations manager from 2013-2017. From there she began interning in the MLB in operations roles. But Smith would continue on her baseball journey, getting coaching experience as well by proving her abilities and never backing down, even in the face of adversity.

[NBC Sports] Yanks’ Voit needs knee surgery, giving chance for Jay Bruce - Major league home run champion Luke Voit needs knee surgery to repair a partial meniscus tear, an injury that opened a New York Yankees roster spot for Jay Bruce on Saturday as a converted first baseman. Voit will not have any baseball activities for three weeks after the operation, manager Aaron Boone said. Voit is expected back in May. “Let’s have the surgery, see how the early days are and then we will be able to evaluate,” Boone said. The injury to Voit, hit 22 homers in the pandemic-shortened season, played a role in the decision to add Bruce, who attended spring training with a minor league contract. Bruce has played 1,510 major league games in the outfield and 54 at first base, including two last season.