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The hot stove is now ready for your winter toddy. Things are well beyond simmering and it’s getting to be tough to keep up. Partial recaps will be here, but you can follow hour by hour in the daily winter meeting threads as the community crowd-sources the goings on.
Get your day going with these Try-To-Keep-Up-Offseason-Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Shonei Ohtani in the AL West impacts every team in the AL West except the defending WS champs..............
Are you wondering how Ohtani might translate to MLB? Well, baseball in Japan is surprisingly similar to that here..........And the franchise has already begun to create a receiving infrastructure for Sho..........Ohtani is not in absolutely perfect hehalth. Although he did check out physically before arriving in Anaheim, it is true that he has had a recent PRP injection in his pitching elbow. Not an uncommon thing for pro players..........Meanwhile, the work on wooing Ohtani was rather arduous..........
Ohtani porn..........And then some more..........And one final one, where Shohei Ohtani chose the play in MLB because MLB is the center of the Baseball universe. And he chose the Angels because Mike Trout is the center of the MLB galaxy..........
(h/t reddit) Ohtani as a pitcher versus MLB all-stars as batters..........
Arte installing new video boards for 2018..........
I think my favorite pit stop every day in my effort to round up stuff is AwfulAnnouncing.com. I always find fascinating stuff that are different angles from the norm of Baseball news, and yet commonly meaningful. Yesterday it was learning that Shohei Ohtani is really going to be messing with Fantasy Baseball software developers. I have already wondered myself how things will be a little awkward in tracking him on BBR. He will probably have a page that looks mostly like any other pitcher. But his offensive numbers are going to best be viewed on the position player tables. Anyway, this kind of thing is making for headaches in the Fantasy world already...........
(h/t reddit) Albert Pujols hits into a lot of double plays. You knew that. So let’s rub it in..........
The Angels have put up three experiences for charity auction. A meet & Greet with Mike Trout, throwing out a ceremonial first pitch (most likely to a Nick Franklin), or a Spring Training vacation. I wish they would do a raffle for some of these..........
By the way, pitchers and catchers report on February 13, and position players on February 19. First full squad workout is then February 20..........
Mike Trout gave every Philadelphia Eagle a bobblehead as a parting gift for training in Anaheim prior to their game against the Rams in LA on Sunday. I happen to notice that the figurine is of Trout sliding hands first. You know, the kind of play that cost him dearly in 2017? And then his Eagles go out and suffer this..........
Everywhere In Baseball
The Giancarlo Stanton - Derek Jeter fallout is far from over. In fact, it might just be starting. Stanton said his farewells to Miami fans, blasting the history of the Marlins’ “unprofessional circus”.............Since a lot of folks in Florida are pissed about the poor return coming back from the Yankees, such a comment throws a tiny bit of shade on Derek Jeter, too. At least in the minds of Miami fans...........Well, this same Derek Jeter who long refused to meet with his #1 player finally DID meet with him, only to agree to disagree on what approach to take with the franchise. Therefore, it’s all Stanton’s fault..........But the media digs in deep, and they ain’t buying Jeter’s story..........Trying hard to remain living in his teflon world, Jeter has abdicated his primary job with his franchise and refused to be caught in public, choosing not to show up to the Winter Meetings, only a 1-hour flight on a private jet away from Miami..........
I like the part at the end of this article, where Stanton shows his hometown Dodger fanboy roots and says of the option to join the Giants: “... I wouldn't want to go to the team that (the Dodgers) dislike the most, and I wasn't sure if (the Giants) were going to beat that team, either...“ That’s total honesty, right there............
Final Stanton: his full no-trade clause remains in effect with the Yankees. They can’t trade him either without his approval. This is, of course, assuming that Stanton chooses not to opt out in a couple of years (which would be stupid)..........
Hey, how is the hangover going up there in Seattle? Jerry Dipoto is hoping to move on..........And that war chest he built up by creating a black hole in his farm system? Um, that money is now there for other interested parties to take off his hands. Apparently he doesn’t see anything in this next international class worth hanging around for...........And then Jerry went back to doing that which makes him most comfortable: moving all those 2’s and 3’s around the card table.........Dee Gordon is already trying to figure out his new position..........
Yep. I have been on this train since his first WS outing. Yu Davish had a shitty WS most likely because he was tipping his pitches, and the Astros had the code. That might actually be true. But I have also written that this is something Darvish’s agents need to get out there in the news cycles, because it would create the impression that Darvish is easily returned to his ace status by the lucky team that offers him a fortune, and all they have to do is work on eliminating a tiny little flaw in his pitch prep..........
Hall of Fame tracking showing Chipper Jones and Jim Thome a near lock as first ballot, and Vlad Guerrero right behind them. So far, Jeff Kent is the guy who is the msot blocked due to a congested ballot..........
Those RSN’s that Disney/ESPN is looking to buy out from under FOX? There is a reason. RSN rights revenues are expected to finally outpace ticket revenues in sports next year..........
Hot Stove
The Angels are talking with C.C. Sabathia. In simpler terms, this should be interpreted as “CC looking to get more $$ out of Brian Cashman”..........
The Angels are also in the chatter over the corner infield market. That would be Mike Moustakas and Logan Morrison. Thus we have the media looking one way, while the Angels have already told them that they are looking another way..........
Scott Boras knows 2 things. One, that only owners “are authorized to make nine-figure deals“. And, two, the GM office is loaded with analytics guys who know better. So Boras takes his snake oil directly to the owners, bypassing GM’s..........
The Orioles are of the mind that the last juice they will squeeze out of Manny Machado will be a great 2018 season, and a compensation pick in June of 2019. And they are sticking to that.........
Do not make the mistake of thinking that the Yankees are done. They are back to feeling the oats that come from an embarrassment of riches. And Jacoby Ellsbury could be next.............Or Gerrit Cole..........
The Mets are thinking about trading away Matt Harvey. Sure, now that they have turned his arm into a spaghetti noodle...........
The Red Sox are behind this Winter, and losing ground. It’s a good time to watch them overreact..........
Lots of pots and pan action yesterday...........The Phillies picked up Pat Neshak..........They are also looking to acquire Manny Machado?..........The Marlins are now looking to dump Marcell Ozuna. Pretty soon they will be fielding a minor league team.........The Orioles are among those interested in Matt Harvey..........And the Rangers picked up Chris Martin, a reliever fresh from the Nippon Ham Fighters..........
The Duffle Bag
The NFL continues to die a very public death.............High Heat Stats might be a brutal daily read (you’re welcome), but he does have legit first dibs on his media handle..........Now that Jack Morris in the Hall of Fame, he doesn’t hate on the BBWAA anymore. Now that Jack Morris is in the Hall of Fame, he has set a new bar for low standards of pitching to get into the Hall, and maybe the BBWAA voters will hate him for years to come?..........This is confusing. Steven Wright, Red Sox pitcher, was arrested for Domestic Assault, because he was arguing?..........So we got a few months of Cameron Maybin, for free?..........I can NOT even type this without laughing out loud. because, you know, our guy. Ranking the handsomest managers in MLB..........