MLB Bullets Loves Crab Cakes

Happy birthday to my daughter, who was born eight years ago today. It's not like she reads anything I write, but I want to put it on the record anyway. Maybe I should write some Monster High fan fic.

• Shortly after it looked like the Orioles were moving on to other options, Chris Davis re-signed with the O's for seven years and $161 million. A lot of the money is deferred, however, so the overall value of the deal is less than that.
• A quick look at the stats show that Davis is good at two things: hitting home runs and striking out.
• Richard Justice thinks that the Orioles made the right move in bringing back Davis, focusing on his power and his status as a team leader.
• But Cliff Corcoran thinks signing Davis is a terrible move for the Orioles.
• Jeff Sullivan, on the other hand, thinks while the deal looks pretty bad for Baltimore, it's better than signing no one at all and it does have a chance of working out.
• In any case, the Orioles look set to have a team-record payroll in 2016.
• One assumes that this offer from December of free crab cakes for life for Davis if he re-signs with Baltimore still stands. No word whether a similar offer of free crab legs for life for Yoenis Cespedes if he signs with the O's still stands now that it looks like Davis is going to cash in.
• The Orioles offer to Cespedes is likely off the table now. Still, Ken Rosenthal doesn't think that the still-unsigned Cespedes will have to settle for a short-term deal.
• And according to reports, the Astros are looking to make Cespedes a big offer. They've already got three outfielders and a DH though, so they might need to make a trade first.
• One other big-name free agent signed as pitcher Ian Kennedy inked a five-year, $70 million deal with the Royals. I guess he did know what he was doing turning down the qualifying offer. Who knew?
• August Fagerstrom thinks it's surprising that the Royals would give Kennedy that much money and that many years.
• Phil Rogers thinks it was a smart deal to take advantage of the Royals current championship window.
• The Royals also signed Lorenzo Cain to a two-year extension, avoiding arbitration.
• The Padres are close to signing former Cubs reliever Fernando Rodney.
• Shane Victorino isn't finding many teams interested in him this winter. Gee, why wouldn't a team want to sign a 35-year-old injury-prone outfielder who has been terrible the past two seasons?
• Anthony Castrovince looks at teams who have fixed the biggest holes on their rosters his winter.
• A big rules change out of the "Power 5" NCAA conferences. Drafted high school baseball players will now be able to have an agent without endangering their collegiate eligibility. This doesn't apply to players already in college and it doesn't apply to the schools in smaller conferences, although one would assume the smaller conferences will quickly follow suit.
• Cardinals GM John Mozeliak thinks momentum for the DH is growing in the National League. I know Theo Epstein said pretty much the opposite this weekend, but I believe Mozeliak because he got that info straight from Jeff Luhnow's laptop hard drive.
• Nick Cafardo, in his Sunday column, believes that the length of the season will be a major issue in the upcoming CBA talks. Cafardo tries to assess the chances that the season will be shortened or rosters expanded.
• Matthew Kory has a cuckoo rules-change proposal that he won't say whether or not he's serious about: He thinks second base should be optional. If you want to run straight to third, you should have that right.
• Jose Reyes will stand trial in his domestic violence case. This will be the first major test of the MLB's new domestic violence policy.
• Grant Brisbee thinks that writers complaining about teams "tanking" should change their tune.
• Free agent pitcher Craig Breslow has been a reliever throughout his ten-year major league career, but he's trying to convince teams to give him a chance as a starter.
• Dayn Perry lists six rookies who could have a big impact on 2016.
• Mark Appel, the number-one draft pick who was traded to the Phillies, says he still has confidence in his abilities and that the criticism he gets from fans and the media just comes with the territory.
• Yasiel Puig will work with Maury Wills this spring training. Is this the same Maury Wills, who as manager of the Mariners, took off in the middle of a spring training game without telling anyone to catch a flight to California? Sounds like a brilliant plan.
• And finally, after winning the World Series with the Kansas City Royals, outfielder Jarrod Dyson is getting a street named after him in his hometown. I wonder what they would have done if he'd have actually gotten a hit in the World Series.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.