MLB Bullets Hires A Goblin

After a nice 2015, I'm pretty sure that 2016 is scheduled to be the Year of the Baby Bear, correct?

• The fairly quiet New York Yankees finally made a huge splash this offseason by trading four minor leaguers to the Reds for closer Aroldis Chapman. Jay Jaffe breaks down the deal and tells you who the players heading back to Porkopolis are. (That's really the greatest city nickname of all time. At least Cincinnati is number one in something. Yet they're embarrassed by it somehow.)
• Wallace Matthews writes that Chapman was too good a pitcher at too good a price to pass up.
• Ken Rosenthal writes that the Yankees have gotten a lot better this offseason in getting Chapman and Starlin Castro while not sacrificing any of their future.
• Just in case you needed some background, the 77 fastest pitches of 2015 were thrown by Chapman. Number 78 came from his new teammate, Nate Eovaldi.
• AJ Cassavell says the correct answer to the question of who closes in the Bronx is "Who Cares?" because the Yanks now have three of the best relievers in baseball.
• Jeff Sullivan believes the Yankees pen is now "stupid-good."
• Christina Kahrl discusses the projected 2016 Yankees bullpen in the context of some of the greatest bullpens in baseball history.
• So why did the Yankees get Chapman so cheap? You know the answer, but in case you need it spelled out, Grant Brisbee says that Chapman is quite possibly a goblin. Brisbee writes that the Yankees getting Chapman makes them a better team and the rest of us a lot more cynical, if that's even possible.
• Yankees GM Brian Cashman admits that there are "serious issues" in play here but Mike Axisa says that by getting Chapman, the Yankees are saying that that's OK.
• Anthony Castrovince writes that the Yankees were uniquely positioned to take a risk on Chapman and focuses solely on how the Yankees could handle a Chapman suspension and not mentioning anything like "because they sold their soul decades ago." This proves Brisbee's point about the trade making us all more cynical.
• Mike Oz explains why the Yankees should hope that Chapman gets a long suspension, again making us all more cynical.
• Jason Cohen, on the other hand, says that the Yankees have forfeited their dignity in the name of Moneyball.
• And Keith Law writes that while the deal was great for the Yankees from a baseball perspective, trading for Chapman sends the wrong message, threatens to alienate fans and is the sign of a moral failure on their part. (ESPN Insider Only) Law would like to see Chapman suspended for all of 2016, if the facts as we know them now are found to be accurate.
• Lightening the mood a little, one of the best "year-end" articles every year is Jayson Stark's "Strange But True" baseball happenings and his 2015 piece is no different.
• And Doug Kern has the most unusual baseball stats of 2015.
• And here's news that a lof of you have been waiting for: MLB.tv will offer "single-team" packages for 2016. Personally, I'll get the whole package because it's not likely to cost that much more, but if you really only want to watch the Cubs, now you can. And of course, blackout restrictions still apply.
• The Athletics signed Henderson Alvarez to a one-year deal.
• And the Nationals signed Stephen Drew to a one-year deal as well.
• The White Sox and the Orioles are the leading contenders to sign outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.
• Tim Healy lists four "risky" free agents still unsigned. Cespedes is on the list.
• Steve Dilbeck thinks the Dodgers should bring back free agent second baseman Howie Kendrick.
• Andrew Simon lists ten great free agent signings that happened in January or February over the past five years.
• This is an ESPN Insider Only article by Tony Blengino, but I'm including it because it will make so many of you smile. The Cardinals' ship is in deep trouble and Mike Leake won't fix the leaks.
• Frank Malzone, who played third base for the Red Sox from the mid '50s to the mid '60s, has died at age 85.
• Owen Watson explains what we can expect from pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery in 2016.
• And finally, this belongs in Cub Tracks, but it's too big to wait. Kris Bryant got engaged. Congratulations to the happy couple. And Anthony Rizzo is now looking for a new "friendship nickname."

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Go Hawkeyes. Beat Stanford.