Jon Heyman just tweeted that the Tampa Bay Rays have traded “Big Game” James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals in return for uber-stud Wil Myers, former first-rounder Jake Odorizzi, 22-year-old LHP Mike Montgomery, and 20-year-old third baseman Patrick Leonard.
Holy crap. Continue reading
According to Brittany Ghiroli, the Cleveland Indians have signed Mark Reynolds to a one-year contract.
Not that the Mets were ever interested, though the Yankees might have been.
In other news, the Dodgers signed another pitcher — Korean lefthander Hyun-Jin Ryu (or is it Ryu Hyun-jin? I’m not sure). The 25-year-old (he’ll be 26 by Opening Day) is inked for 6 years, $36M. According to reports, he throws a fastball in the low 90s and uses his change-up as his out pitch. I guess that makes him the lefthanded Mario Soto.
Gee, I wonder if this signing means the Mets have a shot at reacquiring Chris Capuano?
The $36M is on top of the $27.5M posting fee that the Dodgers paid for the rights to negotiate with Ryu.
By the way, the Dodgers’ payroll for 2013 will be at least $225M — a new MLB record. LA ownership obviously has deeper pockets than we’ve ever seen before, and laughs in the face of Bud Selig’s “competitive balance” tax. In case you weren’t aware, any MLB team whose payroll is in excess of $178M by the end of the 2013 season is subject to a 17% tax. Assuming the Dodgers are around $225M, they’ll have to put about $38M into the kitty. It seems they don’t care; perhaps they see it as the cost of doing business. I wonder, is the ghost of George Steinbrenner among their board of directors?
A few moves were made after the Winter Meetings’ conclusion, including one that made the Phillies both Young-er and older, as well as Zack Greinke‘s return to Los Angeles, but not to the Angels. Continue reading
The headline seems silly, doesn’t it? But how much better is he? I believe I’m asking a fair question, based on Continue reading
The winter meetings are over, and a few more moves were made since the last update.
First off, the Phillies acquired Continue reading
With Alex Rodriguez expected to miss a chunk of 2013’s first half, it was assumed that the Yankees would plug Eric Chavez into the third base hole, and maybe pick up Jeff Keppinger as a secondary option.
Just one problem (though, actually, one of two problems): contrary to popular belief among Yankees fans, Chavez was not technically employed by the Bronx Bombers. Continue reading
In case you went to bed early, below you can see the “circuitous” R.A. Dickey on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Jon Stewart’s too-fitting opening was:
“The Cy Young Award, New York obviously embraces you, uh, this tremendous story, this tremendous success … I guess my question is, how will the New York Mets screw this up?”
Enjoy.
Part One:
Part Two:
The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms with Dan Haren for one year and $13M. Haren described his decision thusly:
“The deciding factor in coming to Washington was winning,” Haren said in an e-mail. “I don’t think there’s a team better positioned to win now. It really was an easy decision for me, actually. It didn’t take me long to decide that playing for the Nationals made sense.”
Well, yeah, and maybe the fact the Nationals offered about $5M more than anyone else played a tiny role as well. Just sayin’.
Good decision by the Nationals? Continue reading