Astros win and go 17-12 in May to partially dig their way back from their horrific 7-17 April. (Their May schedule was pretty tough, too - 20 of 29 games vs. >.500 teams.)
The Dodgers end the Cubs Arrieta win streak, shutting him down with a 5-0 shut-out.
OK, those runs were scored in the 8th and 9th innings, after Arrieta had left the game, but still… 
Twins GM at the time, Terry Ryan, has said it had nothing to do with money. It was just a really, really bad baseball decision. I read an article a while ago on Ortiz coming through the system. I didn’t realize he came up in Seattle’s organization and was a PTBNL in a trade with Minnesota.
The Giants finish May with a league-best 21-8 record for the month. I predict that if this trend continues, they will will the division.
If that is true it makes it even more baffling, because it doesn’t even make sense as a BAD baseball decision. It doesn’t even make sense as a roster move.
Like, Toronto trading Noah Syndegaard and Travis D’Arnauld for R.A. Dickey was a bad baseball move. It looked pretty shady at the time, and looks worse now. The Cardinals trading Steve Carlton for Rick Wise was a bad baseball move. Any number of draft picks were bad baseball moves. But you can always see a reason, however misguided, why they were made. The Jays thought Dickey really was a 20-win guy. The Cardinals were in a salary argument with Carlton. Draft picks, well, you just don’t know. The Ortiz release, I just don’t get.
The first hit I got for “Why did the Twins release David Ortiz?” features Ryan saying it wasn’t about money. But he actually doesn’t say why he did it.
The perception back in 2012 was that the Jays-Mets trade was pretty even. The Blue Jays were supposedly going all in to win a championship in the next few years; the Mets were betting on unproven minor league talent for the future.
*"(Dickey) already is signed for $5 million next season and now will earn $30 million over the next three years — a below-market price for the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. The deal also includes a club option for the 2016 season for $12 million.
‘‘We clearly are convinced this can be a front-line starter for us,’’ (Blue Jays) GM Alex Anthopoulos said. ''I don’t think he gets the credit or the respect he deserves because of his age, and because of what he does throw. And I understand because it’s so rare.
‘‘But there’s so much overwhelming data and evidence that points to him continuing to have this success.’’"*