Ronald Acuña Jr. Named MLB’s Player of the Year by Major League Baseball Players Association

Posted on November 2, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Ronald Acuña Jr. is this year’s Major League Baseball all-star, according to his peers…

The 25-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder and Atlanta Braves right fielder has been voted player of the year and the National League‘s outstanding player by fellow major leaguers in the annual Players Choice Awards of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Los Angeles Angels designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani was voted the American League‘s outstanding player, the union said Thursday.

Acuña became the first player with 40 homers and 70 stolen bases in a season, hitting .337 with 41 homers, 106 RBIs and 73 stolen bases. No player previously had 40 homers and 50 steals in a season.

Ohtani hit .304 with 44 homers, 95 RBIs and 20 stolen bases and went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings. His pitching season ended August 23 because of a torn elbow ligament, an injury that will keep him from the mound until 2025. His hitting season ended September 3 due to an oblique strain.

Ohtani is expected to be the top player on the free agent market.

Marcus Semien, the second baseman of the World Series champion Texas Rangers, won his second Marvin Miller man of the year award, given to a player whose leadership inspires others. Semien, who also received the award in 2021, is a member of the union’s eight-man executive subcommittee.

Former outfielder Phil Bradley was awarded the Curt Flood Award for advancement of players’ rights and devotion to the union. Bradley is a union special assistant for international and domestic special events.

The New York Yankees‘ Gerrit Cole was selected as the AL outstanding pitcher and San Diego‘s Blake Snell the NL outstanding pitcher.

Comeback players were Chicago Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger in the NL and Chicago White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks in the AL.

Outstanding rookies were Arizona outfielder Corbin Carroll in the NL and Baltimore infielder Gunnar Henderson in the AL.

Nelson Cruz Receives Major League Baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Nelson Cruz is being celebrated for his charity…

The 41-year-old Dominican-American professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays has been awarded Major League Baseball‘s Roberto Clemente Award for his character, community involvement and philanthropy.

Cruz, the 50th winner of the honor, received the award before World Series Game 2 on Wednesday night.

“Growing up as a Latin, you always heard about Roberto Clemente,” he said. “I never had a chance to see him play. I knew what a great player he was. Once I came to the States I found out, oh, he’s not only a good player, he’s a great human being.”

Cruz, a 17-year MLB veteran and seven-time MLB All-Star, provided financial support to 1,200 families in his hometown of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Dominican Republic, during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping feed 700 families.

After a fire destroyed the home of a childhood friend, Cruz provided the town with a fire engine, 80 firefighter uniforms and an ambulance for transportation for people to the nearest hospital, which is about an hour away.

His Boomstick23 Foundation began construction of an education and technical center last year and he will stock the center with computers to assist athletes in their education.

Cruz also organizes dentists and optometrists to go the town’s clinic for checkups, medicine and eyewear, and 500 patients received dental services last year.

He helped arrange for MLB, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the union’s Players Trust to donate $400,000 to the Dominican Republic for medical equipment and food aid during the pandemic.

“We first started with the dental clinic, and the next year we started asking how we can do the mental [health] and the eye doctors,” he said. “We started doing everything all at the same time. We even went to schools and provided kids with all the books and stuff that they need.”

Cruz was nominated by the Minnesota Twins, who traded him to the Rays in July. He joined Hall of Famers Rod Carew (1977), Dave Winfield (1994) and Kirby Puckett (1997) as Minnesota players to win the award.

Francisco Lindor Elected to Executive Subcommittee of Major League Baseball Players Association

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Francisco Lindor is representing his fellow players…

The 27-year-old Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player, a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, has been elected to the executive subcommittee of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Lindor joins a roster of newcomers to the executive subcommittee that includes New York Yankees pitchers Zack Britton and Gerrit Cole, free-agent catcher Jason Castro and free-agent shortstop Marcus Semien.

They join St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Andrew Miller, free-agent pitcher James Paxton and Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer on the union’s highest-ranking member body.

The newcomers replace Elvis Andrus, Cory Gearrin, Chris Iannetta, Collin McHugh and Daniel Murphy on the executive subcommittee.

Lindor and Semien were elected alternate association player representatives, Britton a pension committee representative, and Cole an alternate pension committee representatives.

Britton, Cole, Paxton and Scherzer are clients of agent Scott Boras. Semien is represented by the Wasserman agency, Lindor by SportsMeter, Miller by Frontline Athlete Management and Castro by ISE Baseball.

Cole, at $324 million over eight years, and Scherzer, at $210 million over six seasons, are among baseball’s highest-paid players.

Britton has a $53 million, three-year deal and Miller a $34.5 million, three-year contract. Lindor is eligible for arbitration after making $17.5 million. Semien had a $13 million salary last season, Paxton $12.5 million and Castro $6.85 million.

Pitbull to Perform at This Week’s MLB All-Star Events

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull is preparing for an All-Star affair…

The 36-year-old Cuban-American rap superstar will perform during ceremonies Monday night before the Major League Baseball’s All-Star Home Run Derby.

Bebe Rexha will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” Tuesday night before the All-Star Game at Marlins Park and Jocelyn Alice will sing “O Canada.”

Jennifer Hudson will sing at a private party in Miami Beach hosted by Stand Up to Cancer and Mastercard on Sunday night, when there also will be a New Era event with Amine and Metro Boomin.

Lenny Kravitz will perform Monday night at the Major League Baseball Players Association party in Miami.

Rapper Lil Jon was to perform at the All-Star 5K on Saturday night and Don Omar at the All-Star Zumba experience on Sunday, when Flo Rida is to give a show at Marlins Park between the All-Star Futures Game and the celebrity softball game.

Altuve Claims Three Players Choice Awards, Incl. MLB Player of the Year

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Jose Altuve had a remarkable year… And, he’s got the hardware to prove it.

The 26-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball, a second baseman for the Houston Astros, picked up three awards at this year’s Players Choice Awards, as announced by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Altuve took home the MLB Player of the Year award, as well as the American League‘s Most Outstanding Player prize. Mookie Betts and David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox were the finalists for Player of the Year, while Betts and Mike Trout were finalists for AL Most Outstanding Player.

For the second straight year, Altuve also won the Majestic “Always Game” Award, “given to the player who — game in and game out — constantly exhibits grit, tenacity, perseverance and hustle; all for the benefit of his teammates and fans.”

In one of the best individual seasons in Astros history, Altuve batted an AL-best .338 and set career highs in home runs (24), on-base percentage (.396), slugging percentage (.531) and games played (161). He was previously named The Sporting News‘ MLB Player of the Year, which is also voted on by the players.

Meanwhile, Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident in September, was voted the National League Comeback Player of the Year by his peers in the annual awards.

Fernandez was the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year, had Tommy John surgery the following year, returned in July 2015 and was 16-8 with a 2.86 ERA this season, earning his second All-Star selection.

He died at age 24 on Sept. 25, and autopsy reports released by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office said he had cocaine and alcohol in his system when his boat crashed into a Miami Beach jetty.

Balloting among big league players took place in mid-September and results were announced Wednesday.

Minaya to Serve as Special Adviver to the Major League Baseball Players Association

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Omar Minaya is ready to help future Latino MLB players…

The 56-year-old Dominican former-player-turned executive, the former New York Mets general manager, has left his job as senior vice president of the San Diego Padres to become a special adviser to Major League Baseball Players Association head Tony Clark.

Minaya started in baseball management as a scout for the Texas Rangers, where he helped sign Sammy Sosa. He became the major leagues’ first Hispanic general manager with the Montreal Expos from 2002 to 2004. He left the Expos to become GM of his hometown Mets, who fired him after the 2010 season. He was hired by the Padres in December 2011 as senior VP of baseball operations under GM Josh Byrnes, who was fired last June.

“Our membership that comes from the Latin countries is growing,” Clark said. “That means having folks on staff that are reflective of those countries, that have the ability to communicate with players in their native language.”

Minaya will focus on international affairs and game development in the U.S., including amateur baseball. The number of Dominican and Cuban players in the major leagues has increased, and management hopes to get agreement on an international draft in the collective bargaining agreement that expires after the 2016 season. Currently, only players residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico are subject to a draft.

“These are going to be major issues as the game goes forward,” Minaya said.

He’s following the path of Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, who left his job as executive vice president/senior adviser of the Padres after a dozen years in December 2013 to become a special assistant to Clark at the Major League Baseball Players Association.

“It probably hasn’t happened very often,” said Clark, the former All-Star first baseman who took over as union chief after Michael Weiner’s death in November 2013.

Minaya is reversing the path of former major leaguer Tony Bernazard, who was a special assistant for the union from 1992 until he left to work for Minaya and the Mets from 2004 to 2009.

Clark said he expected it to be a long relationship. Minaya said it was difficult to leave scouting and player development.

“When you are a baseball operations guy, and you are a guy like myself, every morning you wake up and you’re thinking you’re in the hunt, the hunt for that player,” Minaya said. “Look, I love scouting. I loved being a scout. I loved talking to coaches, talking to family, talking to players, understanding that. Every day you wake up, if you’re the general manager, you try to get that trade. If you’re a scout, you try to beat somebody to a player.”

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