We're about a month into the offseason, and five whole free agents have found homes.
Three of them are with Atlanta, and they're all pitchers. Josh Tomlin re-upped there for $1.25 million, followed by Drew Smyly for one year and $11 million on Nov. 16. This morning, Alex Anthopoulos finished supplementing his rotation by signing Charlie Morton for one year and $15 million.
With the signings, the Braves have landed the two most intriguing short-term pitchers possible. Smyly required faith in the form of cash, given that he's a year removed from a 6.42 ERA and four years removed from his next-removed season, and the extremes covered in his last two samples make him worth keeping tabs on next year. Morton only had interest in staying in the Southeast.
The perception of interested teams is that Charlie Morton was interested in only two possible outcomes in free agency:
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 24, 2020
1. Return to the Rays... Or
2. Sign w the Braves.
Throw in the Blue Jays re-upping with Robbie Ray, and the market is starting with the players who are willing to only commit for one year. As far as other players in that boat, Eno Sarris profiled four potential overachievers at The Athletic: Taijuan Walker, Matt Shoemaker, J.A. Happ and Tyler Chatwood. Walker and Shoemaker are evolving after losing time to injuries, Happ is 38, and Chatwood's a wild ride.
On the other side of the acquisition spectrum, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com says the Rays are open to the idea of trading Blake Snell, whose three years and $39 million left on his extension could look appealing to most teams that aren't the Rays. The Rays turned down the $15 million club option on Morton that the Braves effectively picked up with enthusiasm.
Spare Parts
Chuck Garfien talked to Jake Burger about his last three years, and while Burger shared his bout with depression and anxiety during original spring training, it didn't draw comparisons to the pandemic, because the pandemic hadn't yet halted life.
“I was where I literally couldn’t do anything but go to the (training) facility and come home, because you can’t walk around, I can’t go on hikes, I can’t play golf, I can’t do all this fun stuff outside. Having a lower body injury is pretty comparable to this. It sucks. It does.”
It goes on to cover his request to play in the collegiate league, his request to join the White Sox in Schaumburg, and his reaction to joining the 40-man roster. Here's hoping his body gives him a break for a bit.
"Mark Buehrle was a 38th-round pick!" is a better story than "Mark Buehrle was paid sixth-round money," but both need to be included in order to describe the draft-and-follow system that no longer exists. James Fegan talked to White Sox scouts who reported on Buehrle, got the Sox to draft him, and then stumped for the Sox to pay up the next year.
Major League Baseball tried to preserve the Field of Dreams Game during the course of the 2020 season by shifting it from the White Sox and Yankees to the White Sox and Cardinals, but once the pandemic made it impossible, they decided to scratch it and wait for 2021. The White Sox's initial 2021 schedule featured an off date prior to an August White Sox-Yankees series that tipped the league's hand, and now it's official.
The baseball season opened with the KBO, and it closes with the KBO, as the NC Dinos beat the Doosan Bears in six games for their first championship. They celebrated with a sword, which is way cooler than the commissioner's trophy.
bad news: I still have no idea what the gigantic sword is
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) November 24, 2020
good news: the clip of them celebrating with it is even better than the photo https://t.co/1RmNN7xIL1 pic.twitter.com/RCYW6lhJhh
(Photo by Counse / Flickr)
