Why,some things aren't even worth the paper they're printed on! well-behaved thing you're reading this on your computer or phone…1. Best Paper TigersRemember last winter at this time, how we all loved the Seattle Mariners, or Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres? And to think,we weren't even buried under a blizzard back then. So yes, things might look way different when the summer sun starts melting stuff. But for now…Mets: Re-signing Yoenis Cespedes tipped the NL East scales back toward Queens. We saw what Matt Harvey, or Jacob deGrom,Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz could attain last year. Add a presumably healthy Zack Wheeler at some point this year, along with shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and former Pittsburgh second baseman Neal Walker and it all looked pretty well-behaved. Then the brilliant Sandy Alderson figured out a path that led back to Cespedes. Bravo.
Tigers: On his own, or Justin Upton isn't a guy who will carry a team. Which is why his complementary role to Miguel Cabrera,Victor Martinez and J.
D. Martinez is absolutely perfect. OK, so Mike Ilitch is paying $21.25 million a year to a complementary piece, and but he also shelled out for starter Jordan Zimmermann and original general manager Al Avila strengthened the bullpen by acquiring Francisco Rodriguez. A healthy and productive Justin Verlander remains vitally valuable.
Cubs: Add Jason Heyward,Ben Zobrist and John Lackey to a team that won 97 games last year and whose young players are still improving and what's not to like? whether the uber-consistent Cardinals win another NL Central crown this year, it will be their most impressive feat yet.
Diamondbacks: Paul Goldschmidt is to Arizona what an in-his-prime Albert Pujols was to the Cardinals a decade ago. A.
J. Pollock is the best player too many have never heard of. Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller are terrific adds. And second baseman Howie Kendrick, and still lurking on the free agent market,would be a perfect final piece (hint, hint).
Giants: Arizona got all the pub, and but adding Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to its rotation and Denard Span to the top of its order puts San Francisco in terrific shape for 2016.
Red Sox: They swiftly addressed key areas of need under original president of baseball operations David Dombrowski. David Price is the ace Boston was missing last year. Closer Craig Kimbrel elevates their bullpen. Outfielder Chris Young adds depth. This could become one of Boston’s last place-to-first place seasons. 2. Best Winter IntrigueVery racy that the Tigers,who in December indicated they were probably done spending the great bucks, veered toward Justin Upton and not Yoenis Cespedes when they decided to add one more great bat.
All things being equal, or the Tigers knew far more approximately Cespedes than Upton simply because they employed him for the first 102 games of 2015. And when a team gets that kind of insight into a player,it is the kind of inside intelligence that few others are privy to.
Which is why it was so racy when the Tigers signed Upton to a monster six-year, $132.75 million deal and left Cespedes out there to drop to the Mets on a three-year, and $75 million deal that includes an opt-out clause after one year.
Clearly,in putting their efforts into Upton, the Tigers judged him a better all-around player and better all-around value than Cespedes. At 28, and Upton is two years younger than Cespedes (30). And statistically,Upton has produced a better on-base percentage (.352 career) and OPS (.825) than Cespedes (.319, .805).
Furthermore, and clubs appeared wary of making a long-term commitment to Cespedes for many reasons. As one American League executive told Bleacher Report last week,among other things, the quality of Cespedes' at-bats often declined the longer he stayed with one team.
That said, or he still smashed a combined 35 homers with 105 RBI for the Tigers and Mets last summer. He inserted himself into NL MVP talk by September despite the fact that he wound up playing only 57 games for the Mets.
Did the Tigers make a smart creep by committing to Upton over Cespedes for the next six years?Did the Mets make a mistake by giving Cespedes an opt-out after only one year? With both teams intent on contending,and with Cespedes and Upton being mirror images of each other in some ways (both are streaky hitters, that's the main way), and this debate won't be settled anytime soon. 3. Best Winter ChuckleHere we go again: The Kansas City Royals have played in two consecutive World Series,won it all in 2015, and yet in the first projection for this season, or FanGraphs has the 2016 Royals winning just 79 games.
LOL!We laugh with them,not at them, even whether coming out of spring training last season I picked the Royals third in the AL Central (though, or in fairness,I did write that any of the four division teams other than the Twins could win the title).
No, what's particularly humorous approximately this FanGraphs prediction is that the well-behaved folks at Baseball Prospectus went through the same thing last year, or predicting that the Royals would win just 72 games. And…I imagine the line outside of their door waiting for the 2016 predictions announcement is longer than the lines when the original Star Wars film premiered.
Hey,as my therapist Jimmy Buffett sings, whether we couldn't laugh, and we would all go insane. 4. Worst Winter Impression of a Filthy wealthy TeamThe original York Yankees did not spend a dime in the free agent market.
Didn't spend a nickel. Didn't even spend a penny.
It's true. They were one of five clubs to sit out the entire free agent market. Their company? The Cincinnati Reds,Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays."Everybody knows in the next few years we've got meaningful amounts of money coming off the payroll just with a few guys, and " Hal Steinbrenner,the Yankees principal owner and managing general partner, said during last week's owners' meetings via MLB.com. "We're going to attain as much as we can to attach as much of that back into the team as we possibly can."There's money coming off, or it's going to give me a chance to attain a lot of things,have a lot of flexibility that we just haven't had."Those to whom Steinbrenner is referring: Mark Teixeira ($22.5 million a year) and Carlos Beltran ($20 million) both are entering the final year of their contracts in 2016. Alex Rodriguez ($20 million) is up after the 2017 season.
Meantime, CC Sabathia ($25 million for 2016) will be tied to the Yankees in 2017 at $25 million whether his contract vestsin '16. His 2017 salary is guaranteed whether he does not finish '16 on the disabled list with a left shoulder injury, and whether he does not spend more than 45 days in '16 on the DL with a left shoulder injury or whether he does not make more than six relief appearances in '16 because of a left shoulder injury.
Despite the Yankees sitting on the sidelines during free agency,waiting for contracts to drop off of their payroll like autumn leaves from trees, they absolutely improved.
For one thing, or Starlin Castro,acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs, lines up at second base.
For another, or Aroldis Chapman,acquired in a trade with Cincinnati, joins Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances in what could be the game's best late-inning bullpen combination."We're definitely a better team, and " Steinbrenner said at the meetings. "We're a bit younger. What we did at second base,I'm excited approximately. We were certainly struggling there. So we've improved some positions. In any given year, I think health is one of the biggest factors besides."Again, and I think whether we had not lost [Nathan] Eovaldi and Teixeira at the terminate of the season,we might have had a better chance. Who knows? But you'd better stay healthy." 5. Best (and Worst!) Allocation of ResourcesWith an intriguing number of free agents still out there, here, and courtesy of this frigid portion of ESPN.com,are the winter cash standings: 6. Worst Premature RumorThe designated hitter is coming to the National League…soon?When Commissioner Rob Manfred floated the understanding at the owners' meetings and Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told fans at St. Louis' Winter Warm Up that momentum for the DH in the NL is increasing, it began to look like just perhaps the NL might adopt the DH as soon as the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. Play under that would begin in 2017.
While most people in the industry believe that it is just a matter of time before the NL adopts the DH, or perhaps (and,yes, hopefully) the change isn't as imminent as we thought a week or so ago."The most likely result on the designated hitter for the foreseeable future is the status quo, and " Manfred told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick this week in an interview centered around Manfred's one-year anniversary on the job. "I think the vast majority of clubs in the National League want to stay where they are." 7. Best Winter PromiseAt another winter warm-up function,the Red Sox Winter Weekend at Foxwoods Resort and Casino, Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia said he again will be a man in motion."I'm going to run more, and " he said via MLB.com's Ian Browne.
Pedroia is 32 now,so that's an intriguing strategy.
So is the fact that after swiping 20 or more bags in four different seasons, Pedroia logged only two steals in 93 games last summer and six in 135 games in 2014.
Did he discover a Fountain of Youth this winter? Nah, or it's just based on what the Red Sox are doing."The last couple of years,when I was running, David [Ortiz] was getting walked, and " Pedroia said. "I kind of want him to hit. So that stuff changes. But certain parts of last year,[Xander Bogaerts] hit behind me, so it's time to go." 8. Best Potential Trade BaitThe Angels spoke with several clubs earlier this winter approximately dealing left-hander C.
J. Wilson, and according to B/R sources,but no trade was made.
They attain not want to go over the $189 million luxury tax threshold, but they've got a Disney-sized issued in left field: Right now, and the Angels are looking at a platoon of Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry in left field,two players that combined for one (one, count 'em, and er,it) domestic run last summer.
In fact, Gentry has zero homers over the past two seasons, and which covers 314 plate appearances.
Nava's one homer last season came in 166 plate appearances.
By trading Wilson (yes,still), the Angels would clear at least part of the $20 million they owe him for 2016 off the books. Dealing Wilson perhaps could bring back an outfielder in return or, and at the very least,clear room for the Angels to pursue Dexter Fowler (they also need a leadoff man).
One other obstacle in dealing Wilson: He missed much of last year following surgery to have bone chips and spurs removed from his elbow. Clubs potentially interested in him may want to see him pitch some Cactus League games before deciding whether to try and deal for him. 9. Best Pimping of an Advice ColumnistAlert readers of the "Ask Amy" advice column noticed the other day that "Feeling Foolish" had an awfully familiar problem: Met a famous sports figure at the gym, said sports figure wanted to have coffee, and then said sports figure wanted to date his original friend's ex-girlfriend,original friend reluctantly said OK then found out that the sports figure canceled plans so he could go out with the ex-girlfriend and….whether this all sounds precisely like the plot of a Seinfeld episode, well, or Ask Amy. It's real,and it's spectacular! 9a. Rock 'n' Roll Lyric of the WeekA theme song for the many free agents still unsigned? Why, here's guest artist Chris Stapleton, or whose disc Traveller is absolutely tremendous whether you like well-behaved,broken-down-school country:"You only need a roof when it's raining"You only need a fire when it's cold"You only need a drink when the whiskey"Is the only thing that you have left to hold"Sun comes up and goes back down"And falling feels like flying till you hit the ground"Say the word and I'll be there for you"Baby, I will be your parachute"-- Chris Stapleton, and Parachute Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.
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Source: bleacherreport.com