“Sudden Sam” McDowell passed away Monday at age 84. The Pittsburgh native was a Cleveland Indians legend for his 100-mile-per-hour fastball. He was a six-time All-Star who played eleven of his fifteen MLB seasons in Cleveland, spending his final season in 1975 with his hometown Pirates, going 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA.
McDowell, who struggled with alcoholism and depression and became a well-known advocate for treatment and rehabilitation, was the inspiration for the character of Sam Malone, a recovering alcoholic played by Ted Danson in the TV show Cheers.
ARBITRATION TIME!
The Pirates have a number of young star players and they’re eventually going to have to be paid big money. MLBTradeRumors.com says the Bucs will have ten players eligible for arbitration this off-season, and Paul Skenes is projected to make a predicted near-record amount, $7.2 million. The arbitration figure for outfielder Oneil Cruz is a predicted $6.3 million.
Arbitration-eligible Pirates (Players must be offered arbitration or they will become free agents.) Dollar figures are projections by mlbtraderumors.com:
Paul Skenes: $7.2MM
Oneil Cruz: $6.3MM
Bick Gonzales: $3.1MM
Spencer Horwitz: $2.5MM
Jared Jones: $2.1MM
Jared Triolo: $1.8MM
Carmen Mlodzinski: $1.6MM
Yohan Ramirez: $1.5MM
Henry Davis: $1.4MM
Endy Rodriguez: $1.2MM
AFL:
In the Arizona Fall League, the Glendale Desert Dogs beat Mesa 4-3 with Pirates prospect Wyatt Sanford getting a base hit.
