We can all breathe easier now. The Justin Garza deal is official.
Seth Lugo will be going to the Padres. He gets $7.5 Million with a player option for another year, also at $7.5 Million.
The Orioles signed Mychal Givens to a one year deal with a $5 Million guarantee. Meanwhile, the Braves signed Jordan Luplow to a one year deal worth $1.4 Million. Luplow is apparently the first major league free agent signing for the Braves this year. J.D. Martinez signed with the Dodgers for one year at $10 Million. Andrew Benintendi’s deal with the White Sox is the biggest free agent contract in White Sox history.
The San Francisco Giants designated Gregory Santos for assignment to make room for either Sean Manaea or Carlos Correa. Max Schrock got a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres.
Clayton Kershaw will also pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
Former major league pitcher Tom Browning passed away at the age of 62.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Correa to the Mets?
So we now have a ton of everything in the infield but still no shortstop. Minasian must have a plan. I guess. I hope.
Brandon Drury…. as a follower of the Reds I have to say he’s useful meh who had his career year last year…. but he’s deep depth, so that’s nice. I guess. I don’t see how he’s that much better than the mix we had….
Maybe someone is on their way out? Seems like we’re out of spots
He has a career WAR of 2.0 after a WAR of 2.6 in 2022.
I guess this is okay.
Angels sign someone from the Mets. Rendazzo to be play-by-play guy.
D@mn, Rich Hill (Linked to Halos & Rangers) refuses to go away.
Apparently, Correa belongs to the school of thought similar to Napoli-Sign the contract regardless of actual physical ability to play the position you were signing for. Anyone remember that drama with the Red Sox?
Carlos Correa: “It only bugs me when I run, jump or stand on my feet more than a few minutes, soooooo, where do I sign?”
Justin garza, 5′ 10″ and 175. OMG, these small frame pitchers usually flame out. Rudy Seanez (5′ 10″, 185) was one exception, though he had to have Tommy John if memory serves. Rudy was great guy and the first (Consistent) 100 MPH pitcher I ever caught.
Reminds me of Ramon Ortiz! He was listed as 6’0″!
When I played I was listed as 5′ 10″, um yeah, I wished what was in print was true, I topped out at 5″ 9. I used to say I was almost six feet when wearing cleats…..
Wasn’t it Chick Hearn that said, “Nobody in the NBA is 6 foot tall.”
I’m sure all of the heights are overstated. According to Chick, even Fletch was 4″ taller with the afro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7AUpGXLDdk
Yes, indeed.
Pedro Martinez listed at 5′ 11″ (in cowboy boots)
Holy crap! Someone has thoughts on future SLC mainstay Justin Garza.
Gotta take a holistic view of the supporting cast.
Ottavino for 2/14 feels like the first normal deal of the off season. He’s a good but not great reliever who just got Ryan Tepera/Aaron Loup money.
I read the Mets’ CBT is now $363 mil. That’s a lot.
More than GNP of many nations combined.
Yeah, but Mets fans will have the golden memories of losing to I forget in I can’t recall how many games in the what ever round of the play offs for all that cash. You can’t buy memories like that…. oh, wait
Annual regular season revenue for the Mets (according to Forbes) is approximately $315M, but given Cohen’s wealth and investments beyond baseball – he’s not eating chicken backs and beans….
Pish posh. Why buy a baseball team if you’re gonna skimp on payroll and not have a face first dedication to winning?
Watch Cohen decide this isn’t fun anymore two years from now and leave the team with a 400M wasteland of a roster.
Hey big dreamerz. Correa may get back on the market. Maybe he can come here and stir your unmoved needles.
Probably not. But hey, some of us love planning for things that probably won’t happen and then getting angry when they don’t…. so here you go.
My guess it’s the dreaded TOS. But Haven’t we already had enough of that shit though?
Eh. Usually guys with TOS fall of quite a bit because of a lack of blood, which I hear athletes need these days. Correa played well last year.
Not Boras clients . Their pact with the evil Beelzebub keeps them healthy and strong even while facing serous medical conditions
Free agency is nuts right now but the top tier is pretty much picked over so the prices could drop.
Two Tigers cast offs might be cheap and provide depth, though.
Harold Castro. Take a look at this: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/castrha01.shtml
Age starts with a 2, coming off a 98 OPS+ year with a 93 OPS+ over the last two years. Bats lefty, decent glove in LF, passable at first base. Can technically play elsewhere but you don’t want him to. Good vs. righties, can’t hit lefties
Wili Castro. 26 years old, switch hitter, plays a good RF and passable 2B. Has been used in CF with good results in limited innings. Not as good with the bat as Harold, but an 89 OPS+ off the bench is nice.
Wow Jeff I didnt peg you as a pro-Castro kind of guy.
I wonder if Fidel and Raul are available?
Fidel Castro…Crafty right hander with a deceiving delivery, can put you away in the batters box or off the streets if you dissent..
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Fidel_Castro
Ha ha. Well played.
Castro the baseball player, yes. Castro the tyrant, no.
On the other hand, they might want to play for SF. Then they could live in the Castro district.
Well the Fielding Bible is pretty Anti-Castro in the infield as Harold is -20 DRS in 1550 innings over the last 2 seasons while Willi is -9 DRS in 1000 innings over that same time period.
Maybe they do too much Overthrowing?
What is crazy about each of them is they have a couple of positions they play well and a couple at which they suck.
Wili is a plus in RF and CF but somehow slightly negative in LF, generally considered the easiest to play.
Harold is decent in the corners but abysmal at third base.
don’t forget about the castro valley.
home of angel great, jason castro.
And Mr. Moreno hangs out there… Arte Chokes.
These moves don’t make me feel like a champion on the inside and show me that you don’t care about winning this must win season.
More anticipation for the big arm. https://twitter.com/KingofJUCO/status/1604687438097502209
No just protector-I hope that catcher can kick his @ass, or drove them both there, otherwise threats about bouncing 100 MPH pitches in will be ignored.
Nice. Kershaw is an incredible player who does a ton of charity work.
It will be awesome cheering for him.
Agreed, nice capstone for his career too. That sweeper will be terrible for many international players to face.
This is probably the best indictment of escalating player salaries that I have seen. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/jordan-lyles-nearing-deal-with-royals.html
Wouldn’t you rather have more affordable (Janson) Junk than this guy?
But wait there’s more: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/padres-to-sign-matt-carpenter.html
The guys averaged less than 200 PAs the last 3 years and the Padres are guaranteeing him $12 million?
Yeah. I saw that and was like “Holy crap…. bringing teh DH to teh NL upped the salary game for old slow losers!”.
I wanted Aguilar…. what’s he gonna cost, 15M? Mancini. 22M? Oh the humanity, stop the insanity. These are 3-4M a year bench bats for the love of Gah.
How many teams still have the needs for someone like Mancini? When will supply and demand begin to lower the prices? Geez Perry did good to get ahead of all of this!
We already had an Aguilar at league minimum
On Thanksgiving Day during the 50’s and 60’s the day started out with parades that last all day long in North America. Here are 6 stores that may have or may not have sponsored parades on Thanksgiving along with the Cities that held the parades. Can you match the stores with the cities that held the parades?
Only 4 of these stores held parades,
Dayton’s
Kreske’s
Macy’s
Eaton’s
Gimble’s
Woolworth’s
The 4 cities involved with parades were,
New York City
Philadelphia
Toronto
Detroit
Obviously, New York still runs their parade today with the same store as the same sponsor and answers later.
Detroit still has a huge Thanksgiving Day parade too.
New York, Macy’s
Philadelphia, Gimbles
Toronto, Eaton’s
Detroit, Dayton’s.
While no parade, Kreske’s became “K” Mart.
Nolan Ryan came to SoCal in a trade for the team’s favorite player, arguably the most favorite player ever. Nolan went on to be coach Jimmy Reese’s Favorite player and Nolan’s favorite coach. Not only did Ryan strike opposing players out in record numbers, but also threw four No-Hitters as an Angels player. Ryan had 4 different catchers for his 4 no-hitters, can you name 3 of the 4?
Hence why Nolan and Ruth named their youngest son Reese after our beloved fungomaster coach . Here you go:
Premium!
I think it was actually Art Kusnyer (spelling might be fuzzy)
It was.
No Mathis, but Art Kusnyer was 2nd, 1st was Torborg, then Egan and finally Rodriguez.
Thank Gah, I was afraid we’d go a whole week without harkening back to Nolan Ryan again.
Wait a while, I think GB will probably roll out Roger Repoz
My favorite player when I was a kid and my picture here on CTPG’s.
Good morning, is your shopping done? Hurry up, stores are running low, but not completely empty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3TOcw7taBo