:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65675312/87143770.jpg.0.jpg)
THE HOT CORNER
This week we have two major happenings to follow. We have the BBWAA major awards announcements happening Monday through Thursday, with today being the naming of Rookies of the Year. (Quick! Who is the reigning AL RoY?).
But we also have the Winter GM Meetings. It’s the time when GMs gather, meet, and do a little surveying and a little GQ on trade opportunities and considerations. They actually started on Saturday, and conclude tomorrow.
So let’s do these things.
ANGELS
You cannot afford Anthony Rendon.............
In the Gerrit Cole sweepstakes, the Angels are considered the favorites.....But know that the Phillies are primed, and now rumored to be ready to go hard at Cole.....And I just want to throw this out there. Not on that list are the Minnesota Twins. The Twins could be a mystery team that Jon Heyman leaks on behalf of Scott Boras when Cole is not signing quick enough for the preferences of us LAA fans. “ ‘Twins general manager Thad Levine, asked if the Twins have enough budget for free agency: ‘We’ve got the support from ownership.’ “............
This year’s canned goods charity drive is on. November 20th 11AM - 6PM.............
HOT STOVE ACTION AND OTHER RUMORS
Things shall be tense between now and March. If MLB does not revert back to 1997-style FA contracts, the MLBPA will be pissed off.............
We are moving Front Office staff much faster than field players still. Farham Zaidi of the Giants reached into the Cubs organization and grabbed their Assistant GM Scott Harris to be the SFG General Manager...........
The Padres went old school and hired ex-MFY pitching coach Larry Rothschild to be the new SDP pitching coach............
We do have a player signing! The Braves re-signed Darren O’Day.............
Like Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals, Marcell Ozuna of he Cardinals is expected to reject his QO............
($$) - Dropping down the stack and out of the holiday glitz tier of Free Agents, there are second-tier guys who have a real chance to make an impact in 2020: Hyun-Jin Ryu, Didi Gregorius, Yasiel Puig, Mike Moustakas, Edwin Encarnación, Drew Pomeranz, and Travis d’Arnaud.............
Hyun-Jin Ryu might actually be the offseason’s biggest steal..............
The Will Smith decision is conflicting. After a master season he has been handed a Qualifying Offer, which is $17.8 million for a 1-year deal. For a reliever, and after watching what happened to Craig Kimbrel just last offseason, maybe rejecting the QO is not such a no-brainer. Then again, the success this past year might be his only chance to grab a brass ring such as 3 years at $15MM, and 45 is a much bigger number than 17.8. MLB Trade Rumor is predicting Harris to draw contract interest in the range of $42MM, over 3 years...........
Joe Maddon’s Chicago catcher, Willson Contreras, might be put onto the trading block. And because Joe is here and we need to upgrade catcher, we are among the faves to trade for him.............
The Chicago White Sox and Jose Abreu are possibly discussing one of them long-term contract extensions. Not the kind that come as pre-arb money savers. This would be one of those oddball oh-hey-you-are-a-free-agent-and-anybody-can-sign-you-to-anything-better contract extensions. This would not make much sense, but the White Sox gave Abreu a QO and they know that the QO comp system will act as an anchor on Abreu’s Free Agent butt. So the ChiSox are using the QO to give themselves a signing advantage.............
BASEBALL THINGS IN GENERAL
($$) - Put Marvin Miller in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Period. That guy had a hell of a lot greater impact on the game than Bud Selig...............
The brown and gold is back down in San Diego. Lots of folks love it. Good on you and good for the Padres for tapping into that vast base of brown and gold fans. I am ruined, however, because when the word “San Diego” and “brown” are used in the same paragraph, well, here I go............Oh, wait, you say. Unfair! Old news! Yeah, about that..............
And the Diamondbacks are getting rid of their gray pajama look.............
The cream of the defensive crop are the annual Gold Glove Winners. The cream of the cream are the Platinum Glove Winners. Those are the guys picked from the NL and AL GG rosters, respectively. This year the 3B position rulez. And this was the second year in a row that the El Toro High School alumni association rulez. On the AL side it was Matt Chapman was for the second straight year. On the NL side it was Nolan Arenado. And this makes Arenado the first guy to win three Platinum Gloves in a row............
($$) - We tend to e aware of MLB guys slipping off the fringe of MLB and landing in Japan or Korea to extend their career. We never get enough of that ex-MLB guy and their experiences as a player in those leagues, and a human and family man in those countries. That’s why this profile of Josh Lindblom makes for such interesting reading............
The MLB investigation into the Domingo German domestic violence case is almost done. Yet one more black mark on the MLB landscape this offseason............
Ronald Acuna Jr. is getting some recognition for winning a Silver Slugger at the age of 21, because winning a SS at that age is rare company, Mike Trout and Ken Griffey, Jr. being the only others. That is a act, yes. But for some clarity, at 21 Acuna has a RoY, a 12th-place finish for MVP, one AS appearance and one SS. Trout at 21 had a RoY, TWO 2nd-place MVP finishes (at least one of which should have been a win), TWO All-Star appearances and TWO Silver Slugger awards. Ken Griffey Jr. had a 3rd-place RoY finish, a 9th and 19th-place MVP finish, two Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger. Acuna is fabulous, but he ain’t yet in Griffey company, much less Trout...........
It’s a good thing that the Angels won a World Series in the real world. Because they never win any of those things on paper.............
Deadspin, currently dead in the water as a news source, is now getting legally cannibalized by its own ex’s. As in hog-tied and placed on a spit and slow roasted over hot coals until medium rare kind of cannibalized...........
STUFF
You wanna see live baseball again? You can............The Compton Youth Academy continues to make positive strides.............The Yakult Swallows have come up with a new training system for their catchers: conga line dancing............The Baltimore Orioles might not be doing much paying of their players, but they are not going to let that prevent them from doing good deeds and paying it forward..............Bam! All your 2019 home runs animated.............Lego Baseball Man...........