MLB Bullets Has No Returns

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrated. Festivus. There wasn’t much news over the weekend, so here’s a few articles to look over while you are watching all the Boxing Day football matches from England this morning.

I know everyone got what they asked for: The Cubs won the World Series.

• Some analysis of Edwin Encarnacion signing with the Indians came out on Friday. Cliff Corcoran thinks the signing was a big coup for the Indians.
• Grant Brisbee writes that Encarnacion was a perfect fit for the Tribe.
• Jerry Crasnick explains how the Encarnacion deal with the Indians came about.
• Ken Rosenthal argues that Encarnacion’s signing wasn’t just good news for the Indians, it was good news for all of baseball.
• Certainly Encarnacion’s new teammates are excited about him joining their team.
• Phil Rogers examines what Encarnacion’s deal means for other players this offseason.
• Dayn Perry sees three “superpowers”, the Indians, Astros and Red Sox, as dominating the American League this season.
• It was a happy Christmas in the Avila household as Tigers GM Al Avila signed his son Alex, bringing him back to Detroit after a one-year absence.
• Free agent outfielder Ben Revere has gone to be with the Angels on a one-year, $4 million deal.
• Nicolas Stellini looks at Ender Inciarte’s extension with the Braves.
• In the wake of the trade of Yoan Moncada to the White Sox, Dayn Perry looks at how other trades involving top prospects have turned out.
• New Rockies manager Bud Black talks about the challenges he faces managing in Colorado.
• New Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talks about the role that Dan Haren will play in the organization going forward. Despite having turned himself into “Twitter’s Bob Uecker” since retiring, Haren was a three-time All-Star who won 153 games in the majors.
• To honor Festivus and the “feats of strength,” we have the ten longest home runs of 2016.
• Chris Cwik makes a Christmas wish list for every team.
• Anthony Castrovince has a gift idea for every MLB team.
• Sports Illustrated lists the ten most memorable players of 2016.
• Andrew Means has the 2016 All-Out-of-Position team. Two Cubs made the list, and neither one is Travis Wood, although Wood did get an honorable mention.
• Former Yankees great Mel Stottlemyer is out of the hospital and is reportedly doing great. Good holiday news there.
• It was a “Game of Thrones” Christmas at the Hunter Pence household, and Pence “sings” the GoT’s theme song.
• Kate Upton used “Happy Birthday” wrapping paper for Justin Verlander’s Christmas presents, but Verlander managed to fix it.
• The Rochester Red Wings have season’s greetings for you in their snow-covered stadium.
• Major leaguers share some of their favorite Christmas memories.
• And finally, major league players, managers and broadcasters read some Christmas poetry for the holiday season.

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