MLB Bullets gets a qualifying offer

It’s the offseason, but I still seem to find people talking about baseball.

• Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers agreed to a three-year, $93 million extension that will keep him in Los Angeles for three more seasons. Kershaw says he still has something to prove in Los Angeles.
• Jeff Sullivan says even if Kershaw isn’t a $31 million a year pitcher anymore, it’s good for baseball and the Dodgers that Kershaw remains a Dodger.
• Seven free agents received a qualifying offer. They have ten days to decide whether to accept or reject the one-year, $17.9 million offer.
• Craig Edwards estimates how much money each team has to spend on the free agent market. The Cubs, by his estimation, have negative $20 million. We’ll see how true that turns out to be.
• Mark Townsend looks at the market for free agent starting pitching and predicts that there will be some big contracts handed out.
• Mike Petriello argues that the Phillies need to sign both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.
• Dayn Perry agrees. The Phillies need to sign both Harper and Machado to be World Series contender.
• But Perry also thinks that the Giants and Cardinals could be major players for Harper. As far as the Giants go, their starting outfield at the moment is Mac Williamson, Steven Duggar and Gorkys Hernandez. I can see why they might want Harper.
• Buster Olney is also reporting that the Giants intend to pursue Harper. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• R.J. Anderson picks the perfect free agent signing for each team not named Harper or Machado.
• The Indians are looking to trade away veterans to cut payroll, reports Buster Olney. Basically, anyone other than Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez is available.
• More sad news that we seem to get every year at this time. Reds minor leaguer Jose Capellan was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic on Saturday. Two more Reds minor leaguers are hospitalized from the same accident. Condolences to their friends, family and the Reds organization.
• The Rangers have a new manager and it is former Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward.
• The team that I’ve been calling the Buies Creek Astros in the Minor League Wrap for the past two seasons (because that’s been their name) will become the Fayetteville Woodpeckers for the 2019 season. The plan was always for them to move to Fayetteville after two seasons on the baseball diamonds of Campbell University. I’m going to give that name a “thumbs up.” Unusual but not stupid.
• Red Sox manager Alex Cora took the World Series trophy home to Puerto Rico. They had another parade in his hometown of Caguas.
• Good news for people who think more baseball coverage is better than less baseball coverage. Two years after cancelling the daily “Baseball Tonight” program, ESPN is looking to return to a program with daily coverage of MLB. ESPN will also pursue a playoff series other than just a Wild Card game in future rights discussions.
• David Schoenfield got his hands on the 2019 “Bill James Handbook” and found all kinds of fun stuff.
• Tom Verducci argues that the rise of in-house surveillance cameras in MLB ballparks has had a major negative impact on the game. Teams now have a team of analysts watching as many as six video feeds at once, trying to steal signs or catch when pitchers are tipping pitches. That leads to teams being more cautious about everything and hence, slower pace. Verducci’s solution is to ban the video feeds.
• Jon Tayler has a profile of new Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and why the Mets decided he was the right man for the job. Tayler does let the Mets offer their rationale for the controversial hire.
• The White Sox may move second baseman Yoan Moncada to a new position in 2019.
• MLB’s official historian John Thorn has a piece on who was the fastest pitcher in baseball history, based not on miles per hour but by how quickly the ball got from his hand to the plate. Obviously the pitchers who threw before they moved the mound out to 60’6” are going to have an advantage here.
• The Seibu Lions of NPB are expected to post pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. Kikuchi has an excellent track record of results in Japan but also a questionable injury history.
• Jeff Sullivan has the worst called ball of 2019. However, in defense of umpire Marvin Hudson, he had a very good excuse for missing the call, even though the pitch was right down the heart of the plate. Just click on the link to see why Hudson missed the call. Let’s just say it was a strike and a ball in more ways than one.
• Michael Cavana has the story of how a documentary about Willie Mays and the Giants (including the recently-departed Willie McCovey) indirectly led to the creation of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” You can also watch the entire documentary as well.
• Check out Giants’ pitcher Johnny Cueto’s giant decorated van as well as some other facets of his flamboyant life.
• Finally, if this had been the deciding game of the World Series on this side of the Pacific, we’d all be going nuts. The deciding game five of a KBO playoff series between the Nexen Heroes and the SK Wyverns went to extra innings after Nexen scored five two-out runs in the top of the ninth, including a two-run home run. Then Nexen score a run in the top of the tenth to take a 10-9 lead. But in the bottom of the tenth, SK hit a solo home run to tie the game and the next batter, Han Dong-Min, went all Bill Mazeroski and hit a walkoff home run to win the five-game series and advance to the Korea Series.

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