Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The MLB Hot stove is burning on a Monday



The Hot Stove really started burning on Monday.  The Miami Marlins extension with Giancarlo Stanton was announced.  The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves made a trade involving Jayson Heyward and Shelby Miller and the Toronto Blue Jays signed Russell Martin.  What could be in store for Tuesday?

I will start with the Marlins and Stanton.  He signed a 13 year deal for 325 million dollars.  This is with a team that has been known to blow things up quickly and not spend money.  It will be interesting to see now if they surround him with some more talent.  They were up and coming last year and had a pretty good year, let's see what happens.  Stanton did get a no trade clause and an opt out after five or six years. 

The trade between the Cardinals and the Braves was Jayson Heyward and Jordan Walden to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller and a minor leaguer.  Heyward is a solid player especially defensively but has never put up the power numbers that the Braves had thought he would.  He batted 271 last season with 11 homeruns and 58 RBI.  He had 20 stolen bases and won his second gold glove.  Miller was 10-9 with a 3.74 for the Cardinals last season.  He was 15-9 with a 3.06 ERA in his rookie season of 2013. 

The Blue Jays gave Martin five  years and 82 million.  They definitely overpaid for a guy who had a career year last season.  He did bat 290 last season with 11 homeruns and 67 RBI.  He also had a 402 OBP and had a caught stealing percentage of 38.5 which was fourth best in the majors.  He has a 259 career average and is known to be a leader.  He has been to four straight postseasons with three different teams. 

I don't know what is going to happen the rest of this week but it has gotten off to a hot start in the hot stove league. 

Sunday, November 16, 2014

New York Yankees news and notes



The New York Yankees have been pretty quiet so far this offseason.  They did sign Chris Young to a one year 2.5 million dollar deal before last week GM meetings took place.  David Robertson did turn down the qualifying offer last Monday as expected.  He seems to have a lot of suitors but it doesn't mean he won't return to the Yankees.  I would still bet on that happening although I didn't think Robinson Cano would leave last year either. 

The Yankees did make a minor trade last week and also signed a very minor player also last week.  They traded fan favorite Francisco Cervelli to the Pittsburgh Pirates for left handed reliever Justin Wilson.  I think this was a good move because they had a surplus of catchers and Cervelli is a career backup with a big injury history.  They are very high on their minor league catchers such as John Ryan Murphy and Austin Romine and then Gary Sanchez is considered their number one prospect and this should open up the AAA starting catcher spot for him.  Romine and Murphy will battle it out for backup catcher in spring training although Romine is out of options.  It appears that Murphy has the edge for the spot but we will have to wait and see.  As for Wilson he has very good stuff and is young and controllable right now.  The Yankees do have some left handed relievers in the minors they are very high on.  Wilson though is more of a proven commodity, I wouldn't rule out Jacob Lindgren making the team along with Wilson.  Wilson was 3-4 with a 4.20 ERA 70 appearances last season with the Pirates.  He is 6'2  and in three major league seasons is 9-5 with a 2.99 ERA. 

The other minor move that they made was picking up Jose De Paula on a one year split contract.  He will receive 510,000 if he appears in the majors and 175,000 in the minors.  He was with AAA Fresno in the San Francisco Giants organization last season.  De Paula went 4-3 with a 4.21 ERA.  He has never appeared in the majors but the Yankees like his stuff and he will have a chance to compete for a starting spot.  If not he will be AAA insurance.  This is one of those moves that can't hurt, if it works out great and if not then you didn't lost much. 

The Yankees are talking with Robertson and they have made offers to Chase Headley and Brandon McCarthy from what I understand but they are in wait and see mode.  It appears that if Headley doesn't resign with them then Martin Prado will be their third baseman with Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela battling it out for second base.  If no McCarthy the Yankees could look at other middle tier alternatives such as Jason Hammell. 
 

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