MLB Bullets is coming to America

It was 99 years ago tomorrow that the War to End All Wars ended. It didn’t. So thanks to all the veterans out there, including my late father, who served in the Korean War.

• The winter wheelings-and-dealings period is underway, and no potential free agent will be in more demand than Nippon Ham Fighters RHP/DH Shohei Otani. And late last night (or early this morning in Japan), the Fighters announced that they will post Otani.
• Dayn Perry tries to answer all your questions concerning Otani’s potential arrival. Except one, so I’ll answer that: No, they don’t fight ham.
• Mike Oz lists how much each team can offer Otani. The Rangers, Yankees and Twins can offer the most, just over $3 million. The Rockies and Indians can offer $10,000. Basically, if he comes over this winter, he’s leaving $100 million on the table. But reports are that he doesn’t care.
• If Otani comes over, he’s likely going to win a Silver Slugger Award or two, since he’ll primarily be a pitcher in MLB. Here are all the Silver Slugger Award winners for 2017.
• The family of Roy Halladay has made a statement about his passing. There will be a memorial service open to the public in Clearwater, Florida on Tuesday.
• We have more information about Halladay’s final moments. Honestly, there have been some (including some troglodytes on Boston radio whom I won’t link to) who have suggested that Halladay had it coming. Just stop it. No one deserves to die for a mistake, even if Halladay made one, which is not clear at this time.
• Robert Sanchez grew up with Halladay in Colorado and even then he was in awe of Halladay’s talent, but also the relationship Halladay had with his father.
• Baseball season is over, but the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs had a moment of silence for Halladay.
• Unfortunately, we have another death in the baseball family to discuss. Red Sox catching prospect Daniel Flores died as a result of complications from his cancer treatment. He was only 17. Flores was a top-ten prospect in the Red Sox system and had received a $3.1 million bonus out of Venezuela this past summer.
• Royals manager Ned Yost broke his pelvis when he fell out of a tree. He’s expected to be fine, eventually.
• Marlins manager Don Mattingly will return to coach the team in 2018.
• Sam Miller looks back at each team’s 2017 season and ranks them by how they lived up to expectations. You can guess which team finished last. It’s orange and black and it’s obviously not the Astros.
• Speaking of the Astros, Tom Verducci has a nice piece about how the Astros incorporated data into their pitching and pitch selection. Verducci thinks the Astros’ approach is the wave of the future.
• Travis Sawchik notes that for the first time in a decade, defensive shifting decreased in 2017.
• Now we’re on to the rumors and speculation section of the day. Richard Justice predicts where all the top 15 free agents might end up signing.
• Cliff Corcoran ranks the top 15 free agent hitters.
• Jon Heyman predicts how much money the top 80 (?!?) free agents will get this winter. So just in case you want to know how much it will cost to sign Scott Feldman.
• Anthony Castrovince lists the “most interesting” team in each division this winter.
• Chad Thornburg looks at the StatCast data that shows why J.D. Martinez is looking at big money this winter. By the way, it’s not a coincidence that he only looks at Martinez’s hitting data. Because his fielding data would tell a different story.
• Logan Morrison said it would be “a dream come true” to sign with his hometown Royals. Well, if they don’t re-sign Eric Hosmer, that would be a maybe. Of course, I didn’t know Morrison’s dream was to lose 100 games.
• The Orioles are reportedly interested in signing pitchers Andrew Cashner and Jason Vargas. Of course, the better question would be “Why?”
• This season’s crop of free agents may be underwhelming, so David Schoenfield looks ahead to next winter’s bumper crop of top talent. I hear Bryce Harper loves deep dish pizza and Italian beef.
• However, as excited as fans get over free agency, Grant Brisbee has a sobering piece that looks back five season at the 2012-13 offseason free agent market. Five years later, 32 of the 50 players are out of MLB and the only one you’d really be excited to still have on your team is Zack Greinke.
• On the trade market, Phil Rogers looks at possible trade partners for the Marlins to deal Giancarlo Stanton. Rogers writes that the Cardinals are the favorites.
• The Athletics have reportedly inquired with the Marlins about Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich.
• Bartolo Colon still wants to pitch next season and Whitney McIntosh has a wish list of what Colon’s 2018 season will look like. As long as she’s dreaming, she decided to dream big.
• Steve Wulf thinks that between Alex Bregman, Joc Pederson, Gabe Kapler and Sandy Koufax, last week was the greatest week for Jewish baseball ever. He even mentions Sam Fuld.
• Corporations are cutting back on their sponsorship of the NFL and increasing spending on MLB. That can’t be, as I’ve been assured that baseball is a dying sport.
• And finally, a contestant on Jeopardy! told Alex Trebek that he’d heard from “World Series Champion Hunter Pence” after the last time he was on the show. Trebek quickly pointed out “Not this year.” Pence then responded as you’d figure Pence would.

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