MLB Bullets starts spreading the news

I was going to write how this had been a quiet Winter Meetings. Not so much now.

• Late last night, the New York Yankees agreed to a record-setting nine-year, $324 million deal with free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole. Cole has an opt-out after five seasons.
• Tom Verducci writes about how the Yankees finally landed Cole, who has been called general manager Brian Cashman’s “Great White Whale.”
• The baseball world reacts to Cole’s record signing.
• Lindsey Adler also looks at how Cole ended up in the Bronx and how he fits in. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Bradford Doolittle writes that with Cole, the Yankees are the team to beat in 2020. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Cole’s deal breaks a record for a contract for a pitcher that lasted all of one day since the Nationals re-signed Stephen Strasburg to a seven-year, $245 million deal.
• Stephanie Apstein reports that Strasburg re-signed with the Nats because “his heart was here,” according to manager Dave Martinez. Apstein also looks back at Strasburg’s history in DC.
• Eric Stephen writes that the Nats gave Strasburg $245 million because they couldn’t afford not to. He also looks at what Washington does from here.
• Craig Edwards agrees that the Nationals are taking a big risk in re-signing Strasburg but that it would have been a bigger risk to let him leave. He also projects out what Strasburg can be expected to accomplish over the course of the deal.
• Ben Lindberg agrees that there’s some risk there, but he believes that Strasburg will likely be worth it over the course of the deal.
• So the Angels wanted both Cole and Strasburg and got neither Southern California native. So what do they do now with all that money they didn’t spend? The Angels are reportedly looking at third baseman Anthony Rendon.
• On that front, the Angels traded infielder Zack Cozart and their 2019 first-round pick Will Wilson to the Giants in exchange for the Giants paying the $12.67 million owed Cozart.
• The Phillies signed shortstop Didi Gregorius to a one-year, $14 million deal.
• Jay Jaffe looks at what the Philadelphia phans can expect out of Sir Didi.
• The Rangers traded outfielder Nomar Mazara to the White Sox for minor league outfielder Steele Walker, who immediately becomes “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
• The Rangers signed left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez to a two-year, $5.5 million deal.
• Craig Calcaterra writes that all these signings are at least a positive development in the relationship between the owners and the players, but it is way too early to say that the labor market is “fixed.”
• Richard Justice looks at nine teams that might sign pitcher Madison Bumgarner.
• Anthony Castrovince has eight possible “surprise” teams this winter.
• Outfielder Adam Jones has signed with the Orix Buffalo. So Captain America is heading to Japan.
• The Twins re-signed pitcher Michael Pineda and a big reason is that he’s a master of “pitch tunneling,” writes Michael Augustine.
• In non-transaction Winter Meeting news, Mike Oz reports that the Astros’ sign stealing scandal is still the talk of the meetings. This was before the Cole signing, but I’m sure people are still talking about it.
• Tim Brown says it is no fun watching Astros manager A.J. Hinch trying to avoid the subject.
• MLB and MLBPA have agreed to remove marijuana from the list of banned substances for minor league ballplayers. Which makes sense as it is already fully legal in ten states and that number is only going to grow in the near future.
• MLB is also moving the June draft to Omaha from the MLB Network studios in New Jersey. It will also be held just before the start of the College World Series. This will allow more players to attend the draft as many will already be in Omaha for the CWS. The lack of players putting on a cap and talking about how happy they are has always been a weakness of the television coverage of the draft.
• Gabe Lacques writes about how minor league teams are fighting contraction.
• The Diamondbacks and the Padres will play two regular season games in Mexico City in 2020. While MLB has staged regular season games in Monterrey, they’ve never played in Mexico City before. Also, Mexico City is 7300 feet above sea level. Good luck to the D-Backs and Padres pitchers.
• With union head Marvin Miller now finally elected to the Hall of Fame, Emma Baccellieri examines the dilemma of Miller specifically saying that he did not want to be elected.
• Fellow inductee Ted Simmons talks about the importance that Miller played in his career. As I wrote last time, Simmons almost became the first free agent, re-signing with St. Louis only when they offered him a two-year deal worth $70,000 in August. (Simmons had refused to sign his contract in 1972, demanding a one-year, $30,000 deal.)
• The late Boston Globe writer Nick Cafardo was named the winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award by the Hall of Fame.
• Cafardo’s son Ben, who works for ESPN, talks about the role his father played in the game and how his dad’s influence guides him even today. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Former Giants manager Bruce Bochy will manage France in the upcoming World Baseball Classic qualifying rounds. Bochy was born in France when his father, who was in the military, was stationed there.
• This is going to be controversial among many of you, but the Nike “Swoosh” will appear on the front of all MLB uniforms starting in 2020.
• The first ever All-MLB Team was announced. I’ve had a great deal of trouble caring about this despite all the alerts about it that MLB has sent to my phone. Or maybe because of all the alerts MLB has sent to my phone.
• And finally, if you’re a video gamer and a baseball fan, I’ve got some good news for you. Starting in 2021, MLB: The Show will be available on platforms other than Sony Playstation. They don’t say exactly which platforms, but the fact that the official Twitter accounts of XBox and Nintendo Switch commented favorably upon that should give you a clue. There may also be other platforms.

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