MLB Bullets is following the law

As noted here on Monday, due to the new gig worker law in California we are going to have to begin rationing the number of stories Josh writes here for a while until we know more about his status at BCB and SB Nation. (No, I don’t have any further news at this time.)

Thus for the time being, I am going to be the guest MLB Bullets writer on Wednesdays. Josh will continue with Monday and Friday editions. Hopefully these will get you going with some MLB discussion today and on future Wednesdays.

After weeks of rumors, the biggest trade of the offseason went down Tuesday evening.

• Mookie Betts is heading to the Dodgers, along with David Price. The Red Sox are getting Alex Verdugo from L.A. — and also top prospect pitcher Brusdar Graterol from the Twins, who receive Kenta Maeda from the Dodgers in the three-team swap. Here’s the entire breakdown of the deal via mlb.com.
• After that happened, the Dodgers sent Joc Pederson to the Angels for second baseman Luis Rengifo. More details here.
• There will obviously be much more on these trades over the next few days, but here’s some instant analysis from Alden Gonzalez at ESPN.com.
• More reaction from players and fans via Ryan Young at Yahoo.
• Andy McCullough details how Andrew Friedman put this deal together. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Ken Rosenthal writes that Betts might still test free agency after 2020. (The Athletic subscription required)
• James Click is the new Astros general manager. Cue the “pick to click” jokes. It should be noted that he’s on a multi-year deal while new Houston manager Dusty Baker has just one year (plus an option for 2021).
• Tim Brown argues the Rays should not have lost Click with just a week to go before camps open.
• Stephanie Springer has more on the Astros’ front-office culture and why it needed to change.
• Sarah Langs reports that the lone voter who did not give Derek Jeter a Hall of Fame vote has chosen to remain anonymous. (Probably a good call on his or her part.)
• If you want to try to figure out who that person was, here’s the Hall’s ballot page for 2020. There were 397 votes submitted and 315 voters revealed their choices. 10 people voted for Jeter and no one else, which is utterly ridiculous.
• Todd Zolecki notes that the Phillies will retire Roy Halladay’s No. 34 on a date that’s got special meaning for Halladay and the ballclub.
• Anthony Rizzo had the baseball field at his high school, Margery Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, named after him. We covered this in Cub Tracks Tuesday, but here’s a local Florida perspective from Adam Lichtenstein in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
• Two minor-league signings were reported Tuesday: Sean Rodriguez with the Marlins, Greg Bird with the Rangers along with one multi-year MLB deal, Wilmer Flores with the Giants.
• Marco Gonzales was signed to a four-year contract extension by the Mariners. Greg Johns has details, and like a lot of similar deals, this one won’t kick in until 2021.
• Today’s Best Shape of his Life report: Luke Voit of the Yankees.
• Cliff Corcoran reviews uniforms for all 30 teams, with particular focus on the clubs with new looks in 2020 (Padres, Brewers, Rangers among them). The Cubs did well in this year’s Corcoran ranking. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Alden Gonzalez lists 10 reasons why Mike Trout has never won a playoff game.
• Erica Moser on a meeting involving stakeholders in the Norwich, Connecticut area talking about the impact of the Sea Unicorns (yes, their actual new name!) on the community.
• Sam Sharpe explains how MLB’s automated system for pitch classification works. It’s done using neural network software.
• Can you legally scuff a baseball? No, but Barton L. Smith explains how you can make a baseball act like it’s been scuffed.
• The Tigers and Twins will play a spring training game in the Dominican Republic. Evan Woodbery has details.
• There’s a new novel titled “The Cactus League” that only peripherally has to do with actual baseball in Arizona. Charles McGrath gave it a good review in The New York Times.
• Were you tired of “Baby Shark” after the World Series? Gerardo Parra, who used his two-year-old daughter’s favorite song as his walkup music, is making sure the players on his new team, the Yomiuri Giants, got the full “Baby Shark” experience.

And you’d miss it if it weren’t here, so I’ll end this the same way Josh does: Tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.