CarterHud

             The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired C Mike Zunino, OF Guillermo Heredia and LHP Michael Plassmeyer from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for OF Mallex Smith and OF Jake Fraley.

             For the Rays, I like this trade a lot. Zunino is a catcher with above average pop for his position, and won Wilson defensive player of the year honors at his position, just the night before the trade. His main downside is his inability to hit for average. Heredia is another good fielder, who is a classic 4th outfielder type. Plassmeyer is a prospect that could be valuable one day for the Rays.

             Zunino, 27, hit .201 with 20 homers and 44 RBIs in 405 Plate Appearances for the Mariners in 2018. In his MLB career, all in Seattle, Zunino has a batting average of .207, with 95 homers and 241 RBIs in 2087 Plate Appearances.

              Heredia, 27, hit .236, with five homers and 19 RBIs in 337 Plate Appearances in 2018. In his MLB career, only with the Mariners, Heredia has a batting average of .244 with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs in 770 Plate Appearances.

              Plassmeyer, 22, had a 2.25 ERA, .83 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 24 innings for Low-A Everett, in his first professional season, 2018.

             For the Mariners, they regain Smith, a quality, speedy outfielder who they had for 77 minutes pre-2017. They get rid of a catcher that couldn\’t get on base, and look for better options on the free agent market. They add a prospect in Fraley.

            Smith, 25, had a .296 batting average, two homers, 40 RBIs and 40 stolen bases in 544 Plate Appearances for the Rays in 2018. In his MLB career for the Rays and Atlanta Braves, Smith had a batting average of .277 with seven homers and 74 RBIs, with 72 stolen bases in 1041 Plate Appearances.

            Fraley, 23, had a .347 batting average, with four homers, 41 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 260 Plate Appearances for High-A Charlotte in 2018.

            I think the Mariners win the deal. They trade two players that won\’t hurt them too much, plus a pitching prospect, for two speedy outfielders, one prospect, and one that can help them out a lot in 2019.

             It\’s Cy Young time again, as the finalists for both leagues have been announced. This year, it\’s half familiar faces, half new stars. In the AL it\’s Rays\’ LHP Blake Snell, and two RHPs in the Indians\’ Corey Kluber and the Astros\’ Justin Verlander. In the NL it\’s three RHPs in the Mets\’ Jacob DeGrom, the Nationals\’ Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola of the Phillies.

              A 25 year old who never had a winning record until 2018, Snell had an amazing breakout campaign, leading the MLB in wins with 21, then the AL in ERA with a 1.89 number. Hitters hit just .178 against him, a league best. But, just 180.2 inning pushed him to just 11th in the league in strikeouts with 221.

             Looking to become the third pitcher ever with three Cy Youngs (Roger Clemens, Jim Palmer), Kluber may not even be with the Indians when he would hypothetically win the award, as he may be traded. In an AL high 215 innings pitched, Kluber struck out 222 batters, with a 2.89 ERA to earn recognition.

             Still hanging on at age 35, Verlander led the American League with 290 strikeouts in 214 innings. His 2.52 ERA was third in the AL behind Snell and Trevor Bauer, and was first in WHIP with a .90 showing. Verlander is still elite.

              I think the ordering should be Snell, Verlander, then probably Indians RHP Trevor Bauer, before his teammate Kluber, but looks like Kluber beat Bauer, so Kluber 3, Bauer 4, then Gerrit Cole, Verlander\’s teammate, 5th.

          

               In one of the best individual efforts of all-time, DeGrom won just 10 games and lost 9 on a lowly Mets team that provided no run support. An insane 1.70 ERA led the MLB, and his 269 strikeouts was second. He was tied for first with a .91 WHIP, and tied for third in opponent batting average, with .196.

               Scherzer is a finalist once again, after leading baseball in innings pitched (220.2), and strikeouts, hitting the ultra-impressive 300 K mark. He led the league in opponent batting average with .188, and was tied with DeGrom in WHIP, and finished third in ERA.

               Another big breakout, Nola finished second in ERA, with a 2.37 number, 5th in strikeouts with 224 Ks and 5th in opponent batting average, one point behind DeGrom at .197. He was also third in WHIP at .97.

              I think the order should be DeGrom, Scherzer, Nola, then Mike Folynewicz and Patrick Corbin, with Miles Mikolas trailing Corbin by a little.

          It\’s that time of the year again. The finalists for National and American league MVP have been named, as the GM Meetings start. In the AL, it\’s Red Sox OF Mookie Betts, Indians 3B/2B Jose Ramirez and Angels OF Mike Trout. In the NL, it\’s Brewers OF Christian Yelich, Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado and Cubs 2B/SS Javier Baez. It\’s also noteworthy to point out that in almost all of the major categories, the MLB leader comes from the American League. This is true for batting average, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, runs, OBP, slugging percentage, OPS, doubles and hits.

          While playing in just 136 games, the lowest amount in his career since 2014, Betts led the league in batting average, posting a .346 number that was 16 points higher than the next person, teammate JD Martinez. Betts was part of the 30/30 club for the first time in his career, placing 21st in the league in homers with 32, and ninth in stolen bases with 30. It\’s also the first time the MLB batting champ was a part of the 30/30 club. He led the MLB in slugging percentage at .640, 11 points higher than Martinez, who was once again in second place. He was also tied with Fransisco Lindor for the league lead in runs with 129.

             Despite not leading the league in any major category, Ramirez was tied with Trout for fourth in the league in homers, with 39, and stole 34 bases, becoming just the 25th player ever to join the 30/30 club, and the 100/100 club (RBIs and runs) in the same season. Beating Betts to 30/30 status, Ramirez became the first player since 2012, and just the fourth third basemen to do so.

              After finishing fourth in MVP voting in a season where he played in just 114 games, Trout is a finalist again, after finishing top two in voting since his age 20 season, 2012, until 2016. Trout led the league in OBP for the third straight season, OPS for the second, and OPS+ for the fourth. He led the American league in walks for the third time, and hit 39 homers with 24 stolen bases. It\’s also the sixth time he\’s finished with 100 runs, plus leading the league with 122 RBIs.

               I think the placing should be Betts, then Trout, following by Ramirez. I\’d actually put Martinez third over Ramirez, but since Ramirez is the finalist, I guess the writers thought he had a better season. Betts led the World Series winners (not that it matters), and should become the 11th Red Sox player (Ted Williams won two) to win MVP, and first since Dustin Pedroia in 2008.

                Coming over in an offseason trade from the Marlins, Yelich helped the Brewers reach the NLCS, and coming within a game away from their first National League pennant. He led the National League in batting average (.326), slugging percentage (.598) and OPS (1.000). He was third in OBP, too. Yelich hit 36 home runs, beating his previous career high total by 15. He stole 22 bases, beating Baez by one.

                 Arenado hit more than 35 home runs in his fourth straight season, leading the NL with 38. While he didn\’t reach the 130 RBI plateau for the fourth consecutive year, Arenado finished a strong 110 RBIs. Oh, and he\’s arguably a top five fielder in baseball.

                 Baez completely surprised everyone in just his third full season. He led the NL with 111 RBIs, just one ahead of both Yelich and Arenado, and hit 34 home runs, he also swiped 21 bases, while hitting .290. This is also when people weren\’t sure where he was even going to play.

                I think the placing should be Yelich, Baez, Arenado, with Freddie Freeman then Joey Votto rounding out the top five. MVP means most valuable player, and Yelich was way more valuable to his team than any other player in the NL, and deserves to win the title, and win the 5th MVP award in Brewers history, and second in the NL (Ryan Braun, 2011).

From Philly.com

          Ah, it\’s MLB free agent season. And for the third consecutive season, I\’ll be predicting where these free agents will sign, in what will be a record breaking offseason. Oh, and all credit to the players stats when you click on their names goes to baseball-reference.

          SS/3B Manny Machado, Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies have been rumored to be in on Machado, and can make a big splash this offseason. They can afford the 300+ million dollars Machado could be worth, and a trade of JP Crawford after a disappointing 2018 could be for the better, Machado will slide in well at shortstop in an infield that already has rising stars Maikel Franco and Scott Kingery, plus proven first basemen Carlos Santana. This could be a good fit.

            OF Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
I think it can go either way on who is better, Machado or Harper. Both could end up going to the Phillies, but obviously not together. I think that Harper won\’t get the $400 million people think he will, but still in the $350-375 million range. Many teams won\’t want to spend that much money on one player, except Harper\’s original team, the Nationals. The Nats are coming off a bad year, but with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg and Tanner Roark in the rotation, plus stars Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon and upcoming stars Juan Soto and Victor Robles, the Nats could be a very good team again with Harper. But, with Soto and Robles, plus Adam Eaton in the outfield, you could argue the opposite about the Nats\’ pursuit of Harper.

             LHP Patrick Corbin, New York Yankees
After having one of the best years you could have as an upcoming free agent with an ERA of 3.15 and 246 strikeouts in 200 innings, Corbin boosted the amount of money he\’d get by at least $75 million. A Syracuse native, Corbin grew up a Yankees fan, and the Yankees need starting pitching. It\’s a match made in heaven.

              LHP Dallas Keuchel, Minnesota Twins
One of my bolder predictions, but the Twins are just one year removed from making the playoffs. In 2018, they finished 22nd in the league in ERA at 4.50. Ervin Santana is now a free agent, with Jose Berrios left in the ace spot. Coming off a down year, Keuchel can certainly help them fight in a bad AL Central division, especially if the Indians are reportedly shopping Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco. Keuchel\’s 2.6 BB/9 would help a lot, since the Twins were 29th in the league in starting pitching BB/9, with a 3.79 showing.

             RHP Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves
Kimbrel is from Alabama, and made four all-star teams with the Braves from 2010 to 2014, and saved 186 games, breaking team record, before being traded at 26. Now, with just Aroyds Vizcaino and AJ Minter at the back of the Atlanta bullpen, the Braves need Kimbrel more than ever. It would be a perfect time for a reunion.

            DH Nelson Cruz, Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays were one of baseball\’s biggest surprises in 2018, and finished with 90 wins. But, their 150 home runs as a team was bad enough for 27th in the league. They need to step it up this offseason if they want to make the playoffs over the Twins, A\’s, Mariners and Angels. At age 38, Cruz will likely only get a one or two year deal, but his 37 homers in 2018 were somehow his lowest amount since 2014. Since that year, he\’s led all of baseball in home runs with 193. Cruz will probably be limited to DH, but he would be a quality pick up for Tampa Bay.

            LHP Andrew Miller, Arizona Diamondbacks
The D-backs are going to take a big hit soon, with Corbin and AJ Pollock likely leaving, then Paul Goldschmidt next year. But, they can try to improve their bullpen and follow baseball\’s newest trend. Miller is coming off an injury-riddled year, and posted an ERA of 4.24. But, he had an ERA of under 2.05 every year since 2014, and would still be a quality pickup.

            3B Josh Donaldson, St. Louis Cardinals
A former MVP, Donaldson missed most of last year due to injuries, and almost winded up going to the Cardinals at the waiver trade deadline. He ended up going to the Indians, where he was alright in the final month. The Cardinals need a third basemen, and Donaldson is the best one out there. It makes all the sense in the world for the Cardinals to sign him.

             LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu, Los Angeles Dodgers
Like Corbin, Ryu really impacted his value with a 1.97 ERA in 82.1 innings. I know this may sound anticlimactic, but I think Ryu will accept the $17.9 million qualifying offer the Dodgers offered him. Same with teammate C Yasmani Grandal.

            RHP Nathan Eovaldi, Houston Astros
Eovaldi\’s amazing postseason with the World Series winning Red Sox boosted his value, making him the best right handed starter out there in a weak market. Eovaldi is from Houston, and his idol and mentor is former Astro Nolan Ryan. He\’d replace Charlie Morton, who is likely gone.

            Other predictions:
C Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers
OF Michael Brantley, Mariners
RHP Charlie Morton, Red Sox
C Wilson Ramos, A\’s
3B Mike Moustakas, Brewers
OF AJ Pollock, Cubs
LHP JA Happ, Yankees
RHP David Robertson, Yankees
LHP Zach Britton, Angels
RHP Jeurys Familia, Cubs
LHP CC Sabathia, Indians
2B Daniel Murphy, Nationals
2B Brian Dozier, Pirates
U Marwin Gonzalez, Astros
LHP Yusei Kikuchi, Padres

From MLB.com

         The Oakland Athletics have extended executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane, general manager David Forst and manager Bob Melvin.

          The terms of Beane\’s deal isn\’t known, but the San Fransisco Chronicle reported that Melvin\’s deal runs through 2021 at about $3.5 million a season, making him a top five paid manager in the league. Forst\’s deal runs through 2023, without financial terms discovered.

           The A\’s are coming off a surprise 2018 that amounted in a 97 win playoff berth, but they fell in the AL wild card game to the New York Yankees. They had the league\’s lowest opening day payroll, and the season reminding many of the early 2000s A\’s, especially the 2002 team, that is known now as \”moneyball\”, named after Michael Lewis\’ 2003 book, and the 2011 film starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, with Pitt playing Beane, the GM at the time.