Peter Gammons

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Peter Gammons serves as a studio analyst on Baseball Tonight and Baseball 2Day. He also provides "Diamond Notes" and other reports for SportsCenter. Gammons has been a senior writer for ESPN The Mag since Dec. 1999 and contributes to ESPN.com.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame
To commemorate the 100-year anniversary of baseball's most famous tune, "Baseball Tonight" has asked nine popular musical artists to record a rendition of the song and engage in a battle of the bands. Each version will debut during "Baseball Tonight" at 10 p.m. ET and then be posted on this page.
June 15, 2008

Young players who impressed the most this spring
This year's spring training wore on for close to two months with lineups that were second cousins of the '95 replacement players. But it gave general managers, managers, coaches, scouts and some of us...
Peter Gammons | April 3, 2009

Gammons: Developing young players now more important than ever
Developing and leaning on young players is a sound philosophy for a successful organization.
Peter Gammons, ESPN | April 1, 2009

Source: Dozens of MLB prospects detained
Commissioner Bud Selig has given Major League Baseball's security division an open checkbook in an attempt to clean up off-field scandals in the Dominican Republic and other foreign countries.
Peter Gammons, ESPN.com | March 30, 2009

10 things for Monday
Ten things for a Monday morning: 1. The Cubs' Kevin Gregg / Carlos Marmol closer situation is not set in stone. "I think it's the right way to start the season and take some pressure off Marmol," Lou...
Peter Gammons | March 30, 2009

Improved Royals could surprise in 2009
We all know that Kansas City is a small market. Fine. But we also know what it was like before any player made $3 million per year, when in the George Brett era -- from 1975 through 1989 -- the Royals...
Peter Gammons | March 29, 2009

Teams still searching for pitching help
The norm during the last week of March is for general managers and managers to bemoan the pain of their final cutdowns, the difficulty of paring from 28 players to the 25 who soon will be northbound. ...
Peter Gammons | March 27, 2009

Angels establish style from the top down
TEMPE, Ariz. -- On a typical spring training morning, Mike Scioscia oversees the infield, baserunning and defensive drills on the main fields. When he wants to pressure his defenders, he brings in th...
Peter Gammons | March 22, 2009

Available players, Teahen, Harang and more
• Some of the players being dangled because of roster space and economics: Geoff Jenkins , Phillies; Brian Giles , Padres; Gary Matthews Jr. , Angels; Marcus Thames , Tigers; Nick Johnson ,...
Peter Gammons | March 22, 2009

Trade to A's was best thing for Holliday
Matt Holliday 's new Oakland teammates speak in reverential tones about his work ethic and his modesty. One general manager, who has known him since he signed, says, "Matt has to be one of the 10 best...
Peter Gammons | March 21, 2009

Cubs building a superpower on and off the field
MESA, Ariz. -- The sale of the Chicago Cubs to Tom Ricketts is still more than two months away. But the team that won the most regular season games in the National League and the organizational operat...
Peter Gammons | March 19, 2009

AL East becoming a pitching division
There are variables in every case, such as the health of Alex Rodriguez , Jorge Posada , David Ortiz , J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell , as well as B.J. Upton's left shoulder. But as we reach the Ides of Ma...
Peter Gammons | March 15, 2009

Lester extension makes good business sense
One can make the case that of all the left-handed pitchers younger than 26 years old, Cole Hamels and Jon Lester would have the most value on the open market. Each is 25. Each has pitched World Series...
Peter Gammons | March 9, 2009

Meet the next big Fish at Marlins camp
JUPITER, Fla. -- I have seen the future, and he is Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound right fielder is coming off a season in which he hit 39 home runs in the South Atlantic Leagu...
Peter Gammons | March 7, 2009

Manny, Dodgers both winners in the end
We know what Manny Ramirez means to the Dodgers beyond the half-run per game they added to their offense after he created his opt-out and left Boston last season. We know about the Manny wigs; we know...
Peter Gammons | March 4, 2009

Healthier Tigers eyeing better times in '09
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Brandon Inge 's point is about expectation and reality. "Last year, we were being talked about as a World Series team," Inge said of the Detroit Tigers. "There were some expectation...
Peter Gammons | February 25, 2009

Blue Jays in need of offense to contend in East
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The Toronto Blue Jays know they're supposed to be the fourth team in the "Big East." They lost A.J. Burnett , they don't know when Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum will be back, they h...
Peter Gammons | February 23, 2009

Words from decades ago sum up PED problem
I don't pretend to know the truth, or what Angel Presinal did for Juan Gonzalez or anyone else. Or what the coaches at some of the nation's biggest high school football factories provide. I do know t...
Peter Gammons | February 22, 2009

Phillies comfortable in role as defending champs
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- One of the most unfortunate things about the 2008 World Series is that it was drowned and delayed, with weather and the hubbub of the television ratings smudging the triumph of a P...
Peter Gammons | February 20, 2009

A-Rod has time to turn it around
No, I did not know Alex Rodriguez would reveal what he revealed. No, I have never interviewed anyone who drained himself more intensely as he tore off his mask for the world to see. Of course, in ti...
Peter Gammons | February 15, 2009

Smoltz adjusting to new surroundings
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The last time John Smoltz wasn't in spring training with the Braves was 1987. So as he fiddled through the names and faces of his new teammates with the Boston Red Sox and adjusted...
Peter Gammons | February 15, 2009

Falling back in love with defense
It did sometimes look like slow-pitch softball, a bunch of high-OPS dudes whose best work was done in batting practice. OK, the post-steroids era may play out here, but the fact is that as we close ou...
Peter Gammons | February 8, 2009

Health of pitchers remains a huge issue for WBC
This week, the Cubs learned Carlos Marmol was pitching in the Dominican Republic, working feverishly to ready himself to pitch for his country in the World Baseball Classic. Wonderful. Here's a 26-ye...
Peter Gammons | January 24, 2009

Red Sox to take chance on outfielder Baldelli
The Boston Red Sox signed free-agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli on Thursday.
Peter Gammons , ESPN.com | January 7, 2009

Phillies' Romero irked by 50-game suspension
Phillies reliever J.C. Romero, who received a 50-day suspension on Tuesday, said he doesn't think it's fair.
Peter Gammons, ESPN.com | January 5, 2009

2009 will celebrate the young player
During the 2008 ALCS, a Red Sox player said, "I've had to use a cup five times in the last three weeks. Drug-tested five times in three weeks -- imagine if I had hit anything! I know the system is ran...
Peter Gammons | January 3, 2009

Hamilton headlines top '08 story lines
Today, a look back. Tomorrow, a look ahead. On the night of July 16, President George W. Bush hosted a dinner honoring baseball, a joyous evening that before it was over included Kevin Millar 's sing...
Peter Gammons | January 1, 2009

Don't blame Yankees for living the American way
They are, after all, the Yankees, as Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman have so boldly reminded us. Scott Boras knew that, and knew that no matter where the Red Sox went, he could always come back to...
Peter Gammons | December 24, 2008

Trying to make sense of Teixeira dealings
It has been suggested that the best way to decipher the Red Sox- Mark Teixeira negotiations is to pull out your old turntable, put on "Revolution 9" from the Beatles' "White Album" and play it backwa...
Peter Gammons | December 20, 2008

If teams wait, big names could be had by summer
To get to the gym at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, one has to go through the casino, and at 5:05 a.m. on Thursday I was reminded that the dark 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas" was nonfiction. There we...
Peter Gammons | December 13, 2008

Red Sox giving Smoltz a look
John Smoltz wants to come back for another season. He is throwing and thinks he will be ready early next season. The Red Sox have been given his medicals and videos. The feeling is that Boston might b...
MLB Winter Meetings | December 10, 2008

Royals among teams in mix for Furcal
A deal for free agent Rafael Furcal has an outside shot at being completed before the general managers start fleeing Las Vegas on Thursday morning. Kansas City is working to come up with the money, a...
MLB Winter Meetings | December 9, 2008

Angels have not guaranteed CC six years
Some players have said the Angels have made it clear to CC Sabathia that they'll guarantee him six years, but both sides say it is not true. Sabathia has not turned down the Yankees, either. He has of...
MLB Winter Meetings | December 9, 2008

Hunter giving the gift of education
LAS VEGAS -- Torii Hunter has never forgotten about drive-by shootings in the seventh grade, or the gang life, or when his father stole his signing bonus because of his sick need to buy crack. Hunter...
Peter Gammons | December 9, 2008

Burnett, Braves making progress
Free-agent right-hander A.J. Burnett 's agents will be in Las Vegas this afternoon, and they think talks are progressing with the Braves. • Arizona wants to sign veteran infielder Mark Loretta ...
MLB Winter Meetings | December 8, 2008

Some just enjoy the simple life
This is not a sabermetrics debate about where Grady Sizemore ranks among today's players. He's 26 and a great player who hit 33 homers and stole 38 bases while playing center field. He's a People maga...
Peter Gammons | December 7, 2008

Red Sox give MVP Pedroia new $40.5M contract
Dustin Pedroia has signed a $40.5 million contract with Boston through 2014 with a club option for the 2015 season, sources told ESPN's Peter Gammons.
Peter Gammons, ESPN.com | December 3, 2008

Poor economy has led to slow overall movement
The catchphrase of the fall and winter has been "wait it out." Typically, when the World Series ends, agents throw out their free agents and say there goes "Swifty" , and then clubs bolt out of the bo...
Peter Gammons | December 3, 2008

Five post-Thanksgiving questions to digest
1. Which team can pay CC Sabathia more than $140 million? We know the Yankees can, will and may keep moving up to make it impossible for Sabathia to go anywhere else. We also know that Angels owner ...
Peter Gammons | November 29, 2008

Things about to get interesting for Dodgers
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says Chad Billingsley "is expected to be ready before spring training," after the starter slipped on ice in Reading, Pa., and suffered a broken left fibula. "It doesn't change...
Peter Gammons | November 23, 2008

It's not all doom and gloom in South Florida
Larry Beinfest and the Marlins took Chris Resop and traded him for Kevin Gregg . Two years and 61 saves later, they moved Gregg to the Cubs for Jose Ceda, a 21-year old right-handed reliever sought by...
Peter Gammons | November 21, 2008

Red Sox get power arm in exchange for Crisp
A.J. Burnett interests the Red Sox. He has great stuff. Stuff that plays in October interests a franchise for which October is an expectation. But while the Red Sox have talked to Burnett's agent, De...
Peter Gammons | November 19, 2008

Why so few NL MVP votes for Hanley Ramirez?
It's not as if the Marlins existed in another universe; their 84-77 record was a half-game better than the Dodgers', and they did it in the best division in the National League -- the division with th...
Peter Gammons | November 17, 2008

Only big names unaffected by economic climate
In Saturday's New York Times, a report that the Yankees opened the bidding on CC Sabathia at $140 million was juxtaposed with a story that in Austin, Minn., 13 restaurants have Spam on their menus. Th...
Peter Gammons | November 16, 2008

A's rebuilding starts with Holliday
Oakland owner Lew Wolff came to call Billy Beane "Chicken Little" because his general manager had a global view of the world economy and saw some of what was coming. So as Beane began rebuilding the A...
Peter Gammons | November 11, 2008

Mets to build around core players
The Mets don't have the kind of money everyone thinks, especially having to pay Billy Wagner $10M next season. They will spend to get a starter, a reliever and a bat to supplement Ryan Church in right...
Peter Gammons | November 4, 2008

Weather turns Series into worst ever
PHILADELPHIA -- Somewhere in the muck of Monday's episode of "The Perfect Storm Hits the World Series," the astute Julie Kicklighter texted, "the Trop doesn't look so bad right now." So true. Almost ...
Peter Gammons | October 29, 2008

Phils, Rays bullpens different yet dynamic
PHILADELPHIA -- If this World Series returns to St. Petersburg, it may -- with all due respect to Cole Hamels and James Shields -- turn into a bullpen series. Which is why it was so important that Bre...
Peter Gammons | October 24, 2008

For one night, Fenway's ghosts haunt Rays
BOSTON -- I walked three miles along the railroad tracks from Groton to Ayer, took the Boston and Maine Railroad train to North Station for 75 cents, took Charlie's MTA to Kenmore Square for a nickel,...
Peter Gammons | October 17, 2008

Red Sox believe they're not dead yet
BOSTON -- It might have been worse in 2004. At that point it was 12 months after the Aaron Boone homer, the Yankees were up 3-0 after a horrendous 19-8 loss in Game 3, and before the fourth game Kevin...
Peter Gammons | October 15, 2008

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