Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 2/13/19

FanGraphs | Jeff Sullivan: It’s very possible that the trend of increasing fastball velocity is flattening. For the first time we’ve actually seen a plateau, which could be the signal that we’re hitting peak efficiency for how hard pitchers can reasonably throw, meaning strategy will have to go into other considerations.

Baseball Prospectus | Zach Crizer ($): Fans offer a lot of reasons to rationalize their team not acquiring Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, from reassurance that their team is good enough already, to not wanting to hurt locking up a young star like Aaron Judge, to thinking that the constraints put on payroll will only get worse if one of them is signed.

The Ringer | Riley McAtee: Kyler Murray has officially chosen the NFL and has sworn off his deal with the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics will not get a comp pick so it’s a big whiff for them, and for the sport as a whole, as we watch as he’ll get selected in the NFL draft as a possible franchise quarterback.