Phillies sign Nick Castellanos at 5/$100 million.
Voit & $5.5m traded to Padres for a 20 year old 1st round draft pick pitcher. Justin Lange is a righty starter.
Voit was never going to be a good 1st baseman but should make a solid enough DH for San Diego.
Surprising that the Twins decided to make a splash by signing Carlos Correa to a multiyear deal.
It’s less surprising that the Red Sox’s idea of a noteworthy transaction is adding Jake Diekman to the bullpen, and signing Travis Shaw to a minor league deal.
The front office (Chaim Bloom) says "The important thing is to focus on what you are doing, not to focus on what everybody else is doing, and not to focus on what kind of splash you might be able to make”.
Yep, ignore what the rest of the division has done to upgrade, and focus on avoiding the competitive balance tax. There are still segments of the Boston sports media pleading with the team to do something to keep pace with the competition, or at least not downgrade from 2021. But it’s obvious that the long-term strategy is to save John Henry money so he can focus on what’s really important - his acquisition and maintenance of other sports teams, for instance. Competing for a wild card spot every few years is probably the best the Red Sox can hope for, for the forseeable future.
*Xander Bogaerts may be the next highly-paid star to exit the Red Sox, possibly after this year.
You could probably say the same thing about Ricketts and the Cubs and add in his political ambitions,
Hang on. The Yankees are paying Voit’s salary this season? Are you kidding me? I googled a few articles but none of them mentioned the cash.
I can’t imagine San Diego making that deal without cash. A 32 year old injury prone defensive liability? For a first round pitching prospect under team control?
Voit’s slash line with the Yankees: .271/.363/.520. That’s an .883 OPS. The NL has the DH now so his defense isn’t a glaring problem as the back-up first baseman. He’s also less likely to get hurt.
We’ll see, but I won’t be surprised if he’s one of the most productive DHs in the NL this season.
The Yankees received an erratic maybe who hasn’t even played A ball.
I read that but maybe the early article was in error.
I see no confirmation on that, So if no money it makes the trade better. So hopefully it is correct.
After Minnesota made Cashman look like a rookie GM, I’m looking for anything positive.
There weren’t ties in the sense of it being an official thing in the standings. It was just a game they never got around to completing, like a rainout.
It’s only sort of a multiyear deal. Correa has an option to walk away after Year 1 and Year 2, and if he has a big 2022, he almost certainly will.
I don’t really get the deal from his perspective anyway. I am sure he could have gotten a huge multi year deal somewhere.
From Minnesota’s perspective it’s a neat deal that doesn’t have a huge amount of risk, they dumped $25 million a year onto the Yankees, and I guess they think they can make a run at the playoff this year, though in retrospect they probably shouldn’t have traded away Jose Berrios if that’s their plan.
He’s played one full season - the 60-game pandemic season, and he’s entering his age 31 year. I think he’s a great player - but the Padres are well aware of his history, and the fact that the Yankees are flush with 1B/DH players.
Boston just signed Trevor Story to a 6 year deal. He has an Opt Out after the 4th. The deal is 5 years, $140m total.
He is a 29 year old SS.
I think the most noteworthy stats for a hitter going from Colorado to elsewhere is the Home & Away splits:
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ROE | BAbip | tOPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 375 | 367 | 1592 | 1421 | 270 | 430 | 100 | 21 | 95 | 279 | 42 | 16 | 138 | 393 | .303 | .369 | .603 | .972 | 857 | 21 | 19 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 16 | .354 | 124 |
| Away | 370 | 358 | 1544 | 1401 | 193 | 338 | 80 | 6 | 63 | 171 | 58 | 14 | 128 | 472 | .241 | .310 | .442 | .752 | 619 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 | .317 | 76 |
It is pretty dramatic and not in a good way.
On the other hand, going to Boston can be pretty good for a right-handed hitter’s numbers.
This deal makes it even more unlikely that the Red Sox will resign Xander Bogaerts to a long-term deal, maybe trading him before he walks in free agency. Story can fill the SS position until one of Boston’s hot prospects (Jeter Downs or Marcelo Mayer) can step into the job. There’s also Christian Koss, who’s put up encouraging offensive numbers in the low minors and has been showing off in spring training.
So the Story contract has a lower AAV than Donaldson’s. 
So Cashman could have signed Story and used Volpe to get Olson…Well, I tip my hat to the Sox. I think my team might be fourth best in the division.
Darren Baker presents the Nationals lineup card to some guy named Dusty Baker.
Was JT Snow on hand to prevent him from getting creaming by a guy running in from 3rd?
Dusty, of course, is a former Nationals’ manager.
Story’s OPS+ last year was 103 - he is basically an average hitter. That’s not the worst thing to have at shortstop (or second base, where I believe he’ll play.)
I’m fine with Voit leaving. I’ll take Rizzo’s glove over his and I think Rizzo is a better offensive player than he showed last year. The addition of Kiner-Falefa at short was a great move. Not only a stellar fielder, but a guy who wants to play for the Yankees. I still think the Yankees need to make a move at catcher, but getting rid of Sanchez is a good example of addition by subtraction. His two weeks of hot hitting each year don’t make up for his dreadful defense.
It’s possible to get worse at the catcher position and the Yankees have shown us the way. Higashioka? Rortvedt? Brantly? What a shitshow.