MLB Bullets is heading to the South Side

If the (classic roster) Beach Boys were a baseball team, Brian Wilson would be the inner-circle Hall-of-Fame center fielder who missed a lot of time in his career with injuries and personal problems. Mike Love would be the solid No. 3 starter who gets upset every year when he’s left off the All-Star team. Carl Wilson was the quiet right fielder whom the fans took for granted but the stat heads love. Dennis Wilson was the left-handed closer with a screw loose. Al Jardine is the slick-fielding second baseman who provides more in the field than at the plate. And Bruce Johnston is the guy they keep shuttling between Triple-A and the majors when Brian is on the IL.

It’s the offseason and I’m tired of discussing cheating, labor strife and the war on the Minor Leagues.

• The first major free agent of the winter is off the board as catcher Yasmani Grandal has signed a team-record four-year, $73 million deal with the Chicago White Sox.
• Keith Law loves the signing and thinks Grandal is probably the best player the White Sox could have gotten this winter. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Ben Clemens also likes the deal for the White Sox and it signals that the Pale Hose are trying to win now.
• Michael Baumann argues that Grandal by himself doesn’t make the White Sox a contender, but it’s a great step in the right direction.
• Anthony Castrovince explains what Grandal’s signing means for the catching market this winter. It means Willson Contreras’ value just skyrocketed if the Cubs decide to trade him.
• One interesting comment is that when Grandal was asked about the Astros’ sign stealing scandal, he answered “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” Interesting. Weren’t the Brewers one of the other teams mentioned as possible sign-stealers?
• Let’s get the latest developments in the Astros’ scandal out of the way now because I have no more tortured classic band analogies. Commissioner Rob Manfred said that the investigation into the Astros is looking at the 2018 and 2019 seasons as well.
• Craig Edwards looks at past precedents to figure out what kind of punishment the Astros are facing.
• Craig Calcaterra wonders if taking away draft picks and international pool money would really be a punishment for the Astros. For one, it would save them several million dollars in bonuses and allow them to fire a whole bunch of people, saving even more money. In soccer, Chelsea is currently under a “transfer ban,” meaning they can’t acquire any players from any other organization. I wonder if that might be a decent penalty if it lasted for two or three years. They could still lose players to free agency, but couldn’t sign any.
• Hannah Keyser looks at the state of labor relations in MLB in light of Manfred’s “ominous” comments about the Collective Bargaining Talks.
• J.J. Cooper looks at how teams are giving young players “take-it-or-leave-it” offers of split contracts to take advantage of a loophole to open up space on the 40-man roster.
• Eric Stephen explains MLB’s plan to contract the minor leagues and talks to a couple of minor league owners to get their take.
• And a the Owners’ Meetings in Texas, uniformed police officers are keeping reporters away from the owners. I feel like we’re saying this a lot these days—both in sports and in society in general—but this is not normal.
• Back to the players and the game. ESPN has released a post-season MLB All-Star Team like they have for the NFL and NBA. The Sporting News used to do this back in the day when that publication really mattered.
• Matt Martell explains why free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole is worth over $200 million.
• Andrew Simon looks at the statistical projections for Cole over the next seven years and “wow.” And that’s even with projecting a few injuries in there.
• Mike Petriello looks at what the Angels have to do to get to the playoffs in 2020. It starts with signing Cole.
• Mark Feinsand has five proposed trades worth exploring.
• Dan Szymborski has ten free agents over 30 that should still provide good value going forward. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Matt Kelly has five interesting relievers who could be traded this winter.
• Orioles infielder Jonathan Villar had a great 2019 season and Tony Wolfe thinks that Villar may now just be too good (and expensive) for Baltimore. The Orioles can afford to pay Villar. If they don’t, it’s because they chose not to. But I can understand Villar wanting out.
• MLB Pipeline has one interesting player for each team that they could lose in the Rule 5 draft. Yeah, we all kind of forgot about Oscar De La Cruz. Lots of talent, but not much health and a failed drug test.
• Free agent outfielder Gerardo Parra has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of NPB and is taking the “Baby Shark” with him across the ocean. Nationals fans wish a fond farewell to their beloved player and theme song.
• The Yankees released outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and designated first baseman Greg Bird for assignment. Ellsbury, who hasn’t played the last two seasons because of injuries, is still owed $26 million.
• Buster Olney thinks that the owner of the Padres is being delusional if he thinks the team will be a contender this year or in 2021. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• The Rays traded pitcher José De León to the Reds.
• Will Leitch has the biggest free agent regret in each team’s history.
• Iowa Cubs legend Manny Ramirez said he has “no regrets” over his PED use and suspensions, saying that they “made me grow up.” Manny may have played for some teams other than the I-Cubs.
• Sheryl Ring has a mostly-forgotten reason for not putting Roger Clemens in the Hall of Fame that has nothing to do with PEDs and everything to do with the late country singer Mindy McCready.
• Chris Landers thinks sports teams need live mascots. The Cubs did this once and it didn’t work out too well.
• And finally, R.J. Anderson has the one shopping list that every MLB owner really wants this free agent season: a list of all the excuses that teams can tell the fans after not spending any money this winter. This winter is making us all cynical.

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