The Weekly Rundown: 12/18/22 - 12/25/22
Unwind from the busy holiday weekend and catch up on the big stories in the baseball world over the last week.
Good morning, folks. I hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend and got to spend some quality time with friends and family. It’s the most wonderful time of year. Unless you’re one of the many people with a holiday weekend hangover, of course.
If that’s the case, there’s no better cure than Advil, water, and The Weekly Rundown. Last week was the first edition of my weekly baseball newsletter and you can check that out here if you missed it. It’s pretty straightforward. Since you probably have better things to do than keep up with everything going on in the baseball world — and I don’t — you’ll get a complete recap of the week with my takes mixed in every Sunday or Monday. If you’re interested, enter your e-mail and subscribe below! It’s free, unless you want to go the extra mile with a late Christmas gift.
Also, just because Christmas is over does not mean the season of giving has to end. If someone you know loves baseball or just sports in general, you can gift them a subscription to The Ledge below. You’d be giving gifts to two people at once: the person getting the subscription and me. It goes a long way as I look to build this newsletter from the ground up.
Alright, now for the fun stuff. There’s lots of it.
Let’s Get Physical
Or in Carlos Correa’s case, let’s try to pass a physical.
Correa isn’t headed to the Bay after all. The star shortstop’s 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants fell through after something popped up during his physical exam. Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi released the following statement on the matter.
"While we are prohibited from disclosing confidential medical information, as Scott Boras stated publicly, there was a difference of opinion over the results of Carlos’ physical examination. We wish Carlos the best."
The Giants were just about to hold a press conference to officially introduce Correa. According to Boras, Correa’s family was at a hotel in San Francisco when they found out the press conference was postponed.
That “difference of opinion” on Correa’s physical results led to Boras landing his client a 12-year, $315 million contract with the New York Mets. Yep, Steve Cohen did it again. I wrote about the Mets owner being an absolute madman here, so I won’t get too into that. All I’ll say is the league needs more insanely rich and passionate fans to purchase teams. Let’s start with Oakland and Pittsburgh and go from there.
However, before Mets fans can celebrate stealing Correa, he has to work through more medical concerns with his new club. It turns out the Giants’ issues with Correa’s physical were valid. The Mets shared those concerns after Correa’s second physical, possibly putting that deal in jeopardy.
What a mess. Apparently, Correa’s fractured right fibula from when he was 19 years is popping back up as a serious worry for teams eight years later. I’d expect the Mets to include some sort of injury clause in the reworked contract language to make the deal work, but that doesn’t exactly inspire optimism for the signing of a 28-year-old through his age-40 season.
Anyway, the Mets should be just fine. If you thought your favorite team was having a terrible offseason, it pales in comparison to what Giants fans are experiencing. First Aaron Judge, now Correa? How do you recover from that?
You don’t. You just… well, keep reading…
Con-solation Prize
The Giants moved on from one Boras client to another, signing ex-Mets outfielder Michael Conforto to a two-year, $36 million contract.
This is equivalent to your parents buying you a flip phone as a kid while all of your friends are showing off their T Mobile Sidekicks and BlackBerrys. Did I just date myself with that reference? Yes, but you know that’s a spot-on analogy. Patting myself on the back for that one. And it’s based on a true story.
Conforto is a fine player. He isn’t half the player Correa is. And for a team so concerned with Correa’s health, signing Conforto after he just missed the entire 2022 season with a shoulder injury is a curious decision.
Conforto also just wasn’t all that good when he last played in 2021. He hit just .232 with 14 homers, 55 RBI and a .729 OPS in 125 games. A bounce-back season is in play if that shoulder issue is behind him, but this felt like a panic move by the Giants’ front office to save face after the Correa fiasco.
San Francisco Twins
OK, one more Giants thing. This one is actually pretty cool!
Left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers signed a three-year, $33 million deal to bolster San Francisco’s bullpen. He’ll get to play on the same team as his identical twin brother, Tyler Rogers.
How awesome is that?!
Taylor Rogers will look to bounce back after a down 2022 campaign. The 32-year-old posted a 4.76 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 66 appearances between the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers. He was better than his ERA suggests as he notched a 3.31 FIP with 11.8 SO/9, but it wasn’t up to par with his previous seasons. Perhaps a change of scenery and a chance to play alongside his brother will help him regain his status as one of the game’s best relievers.
Odd Man Out
Back to Queens for a moment. After signing Correa and watching their payroll balloon to a hilarious amount of money, the Mets shipped catcher James McCann to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for a player to be named later. The Mets will pay 75 percent of the $24 million and two years McCann has left on his contract.
The move was a no-brainer following the signing of Omar Narvaez, which added a fourth catcher to the Mets depth chart. Now, they’ll presumably move forward with a platoon of Tomas Nido against left-handers and Narvaez against righties.
McCann disappointed in New York after being rewarded for his solid seasons with the Chicago White Sox. In two seasons with the Mets, he hit just .220 with 13 homers and a .610 OPS in 182 games. He’ll back up 2022 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Adley Rutschman in Baltimore.
Captain Judge
Aaron Judge was officially named the 16th captain of the New York Yankees on Wednesday. He follows:
Clark Griffith
Kid Elberfeld
Willie Keeler
Hal Chase
Frank Chance
Rollie Zeider
Roger Peckinpaugh
Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Thurman Munson
Graig Nettles
Willie Randolph
Ron Guidry
Don Mattingly
Derek Jeter
I can’t say I know who the first seven on that list are, but the rest is pretty damn good company.
It’s a well-deserved honor for Judge. And yes, I do like the Yankees’ tradition of naming captains. It’s arguably the most prestigious franchise in sports. I’d probably scoff at this if it were the Rockies or something, but this is the New York Yankees we’re talking about.
The whole beard-shaving tradition stinks though. Stop it with that.
Trade Alert!
We’re on a one-big trade-per-week pace right now. Last week it was the Sean Murphy-to-Atlanta deal, this week' it’s the Diamondbacks shipping outfielder/catcher Daulton Varsho to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
It’s rare to react to a trade with, “Hmm, seems like a good deal for both sides!” But that’s exactly what I did with this one. The Blue Jays get the talented outfielder and left-handed hitter they’ve been looking for — who can also catch — and the Diamondbacks get a top-10 prospect in addition to a solid player in Gurriel.
Varsho has become one of the game’s top defensive outfielders. The 26-year-old was pretty solid at the plate last year too, slashing .235/.302/.443 with 27 homers and 74 RBI in 151 games. Being versatile enough to also play catcher if called upon obviously boosts his value in this type of deal as well.
Moreno played the first 22 games of his big-league career last season with Toronto, hitting .319 with one homer. He was the No. 1 prospect in the Blue Jays system and No. 4 in all of MLB when he was promoted to The Show in June.
Seeing Red
One day after ex-Red Sox DH J.D. Martinez signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston inked Dodgers’ red-haired veteran Justin Turner to a two-year contract worth around $22 million with a player option after the 2023 season. Consider it a DH swap, though Turner can fill in at one of the corner infield spots when necessary.
The Red Sox choosing Turner over Martinez had to come down to Turner at least offering something in the field. Martinez is purely a DH at this stage of his career, and his production at the plate dipped significantly in 2022. The thing is, Turner wasn’t that much better, and he’s three years older than Martinez at 38.
Turner makes the Red Sox a better team. They needed another right-handed bat after losing Martinez and Xander Bogaerts in free agency. Turner fills a void on offense as well as in the clubhouse. Still, the projected Red Sox Opening Day lineup leaves plenty to be desired.
Angel In The Infield
I thought Brandon Drury made perfect sense for the Red Sox before they signed Turner. The 30-year-old can play any infield position and a little bit of outfield too. He’s coming off his best offensive season, amassing a .263/.320/.492 slash line to go with 28 homers and 87 RBI between the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres.
Boston reportedly was among the teams interested in Drury, but he landed with the Los Angeles Angels instead on a two-year deal worth $17 million.
It’s a shrewd move by an Angels team looking to make the postseason for the first time since 2014. They need to shed the reputation of being the most talented unsuccessful club in the league. They’ve assembled a solid pitching staff and their lineup isn’t too shabby. Is this the year they force us to stop retweeting this gem?
San Di-Lugo
Awful pun. I’m sorry. (No I’m not).
The Padres signed former Mets right-hander Seth Lugo to a two-year contract worth $15 million. The deal includes an opt out after the 2023 season.
Lugo could join a Padres rotation in need of a No. 5 starter. The 33-year-old pitched 62 games out of the bullpen for the Mets last season but has plenty of experience starting games on the mound. He has a 4.35 ERA in 194 career innings as a starter. If that doesn’t work out, San Diego will at least have another reliable reliever at their disposal.
Last season, Lugo posted a 3.60 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 65 innings of work.
On To Cincinnati
The Padres signed Lugo while officially losing veteran outfielder Wil Myers in free agency to the Cincinnati Reds. Myers joins on a one-year, $7.5 million deal.
No need to get too in-depth on this one. Myers is coming off an injury-plagued 2022 season and this is a solid “prove it” deal for him entering his age 32 season. If healthy, he can provide the pop and outfield defense the Reds have been looking for this offseason.
Bauer Back?
OK, touchy subject here. I won’t get into the whole Bauer story if you’re not already privy to it. You can look it up and make your own judgments based on the facts.
But on Thursday, Bauer’s initial 324-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy was reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator, who also reinstated him to the league.
Bauer already has served 144 games of the suspension. However, the arbitrator credited him for the time he served on the restricted list during the second half of the 2021 season. Bauer will be docked pay for the first 50 games of next season, but barring any other surprises, he could return to the mound ASAP.
The Dodgers have until Jan. 6 to decide whether to release Bauer or add him to the 40-man roster. The soon-to-be 32-year-old, who won the Cy Young award in 2020, is entering the final year of his three-year, $102 million Dodgers contract. The remaining $22.5 million salary on his deal will be guaranteed even if L.A. opts to release him.
It’s a complicated situation. If you believe Bauer deserves to return to the field, you’ll be chastised by those who believe his actions are unforgivable. If you believe he deserved an even harsher suspension or even a jail sentence, then you'll be berated for ignoring the facts of the case. You can’t win.
To be frank, I don’t really have a passionate take on the whole Bauer situation. If an independent arbitrator decides he’s served his time, then he’s served his time. If Bauer isn’t going to be charged criminally, he isn’t a criminal. That doesn’t mean we can’t boo him and call him a scumbag when he does return to the mound. There will be plenty of that, and rightfully so. But we should let this Bauer storyline die with his reinstatement. I’m interested to see where he lands as I highly doubt the Dodgers keep him on the roster.
Rapid Fire
Drew Smyly is re-signing with the Cubs for two years, $19 million. The southpaw was sneaky good for Chicago last season when healthy, posting a 3.47 ERA in 22 starts. He’s a solid No. 4 or 5 starter.
Michael Brantley is back with the Astros on a one-year, $12 million deal. He’s getting up there in age and injuries will always be a concern, but he’s just such a reliable veteran bat to have in the lineup.
Eight-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel is reuniting with ex-Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski on the Phillies for one year, $10 million. He lost the closer’s job last season with the Dodgers and didn’t make the NLDS roster. He’s on the decline but can still be a difference-maker if he’s even half of the pitcher he was throughout the 2010s.
The Rumor Mill
First Bogaerts, then Rafael Devers? The Red Sox are “galaxies apart” from the start third baseman in contract extension negotiations, per ESPN. Brace yourselves for more heartbreak, Sox fans. Whether it’s via trade or free agency next winter, parting ways with Devers is starting to look like a foregone conclusion. The Red Sox ownership group should be ashamed.
MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports the Yankees are among the teams in contact with the Pittsburgh Pirates about a trade for outfielder Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates previously stated they have no plans to trade Reynolds despite the former All-Star’s request, but we all know Reynolds is available for the right price. According to Morosi, that price is starting pitching. To be continued, I suppose…
Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani will headline the free-agent market if he doesn’t sign an extension with the Angels before next offseason. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports Ohtani could become the first $500 million player in MLB history. If you ask me, the Angels would be smart to just trade Ohtani for a haul now while they can.
Teams are checking in on Chris Sale’s availability in a potential trade, per Heyman. Sale has a no-trade clause so he’d have to waive it if the Red Sox do agree on a deal. I can’t imagine the Red Sox would get a haul for a guy who has barely pitched in the last four years, but who knows? Who is even the Red Sox’ Opening Day starter right now? Nick Pivetta? Garrett Whitlock? Ugh.
Have a great week, everyone! The next time you get one of these in your inbox, it will be 2023. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Let me see if I got this straight… Brand-new website, check! Not pulling any punches, check! I can honestly say I think I like it!