At the end of the shortened 2020 season, the AL Central was one of the tightest races in all of baseball, with a mere one game separating three teams from claiming the top spot in the division (and two other teams barely showing up, unfortunately, sorry Royals and Tigers.)
The Twins took the division with 36 wins, but the Indians and White Sox were right behind them with matching 35-25 records. Since then, the Twins haven’t done much to bolster their ranks, letting Eddie Rosario walk and making no major acquisitions yet. And the Cleveland Baseball Team has gone into a full fire sale mode, trading away Mike Clevinger during the season, and most recently trading Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to the Mets.
If there’s one thing that’s clear from those moves, it’s that Cleveland isn’t likely to be a competitive team this coming season, and have their eyes set to the future. The Twins will likely still be good, but without adding any other pieces, can they remain the best in the Central?
The White Sox on Monday made a big move, signing free agent reliever Liam Hendriks to a whopping three-year $54 million contract. This in addition to their signings of Lance Lynn and Adam Eaton already. With an existing core of exciting young players, the White Sox seem poised to finally make their mark on the divison.
Now, onto the links!
- Craig Edwards sums up the Hendrik’s signing by noting the White Sox now have one of the best free agent relievers.
- Now one of the biggest free agency questions remains: who will sign George Springer? Michael Shapiro looks at the likely options.
- Tommy Lasorda’s passing touched many, but he had a complicated history, especially when it came to his gay son. James Wagner looks at this difficult part of Tommy’s legacy.
- Brandon Day had two incredible posts for Bless You Boys, both worth a read for different reasons. In the first, he looks at how pitch design is evolving with seam-shifted wake, and in the other he explores how baseball’s unwritten rules may be doing more harm than good.
- Over at DRaysBay I wrote about five baseball movies I can’t stand, so feel free to tell me how wrong I am in the comments below.
- The stadium formerly known as Miller Park tested out its lighting this week, shares Jackson Danbeck.
- Ken Rosenthal has had a busy day over at The Athletic with two very worthwhile pieces, one looking at why MLB’s plans for expansion are currently on hold, and the other exploring why it might be a smart time for the Padres to look at extending Fernando Tatis Jr. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Jay Jaffe memorialized Tommy Lasorda at FanGraphs.
- In “what did I just read” news, this Hall of Fame ballot sure is... something.
Ballot #136 is from Dan Shaughnessy. After voting only for Derek Jeter last year, he casts the first known Jeff Kent-only ballot. Kent is now net +4. From the Boston Globe reveal: https://t.co/uupGsOzgn2
— Anthony Calamis (@tonycal93) January 12, 2021
In the Tracker: https://t.co/xnBySXYill pic.twitter.com/lMHwrjyX6O
- 2020 Hall of Fame ballots have been a pretty hot mess so far, so Matt Snyder gives you a chance to get mad about his 2021 selections in advance.
- David Laurila has a conversation with Mickey Tettleton.
- AAGPBL player Maybelle Blair talks to Emma Baccellieri about her goal to open a women’s baseball museum.
- Side note, if you’re moved by Maybelle’s mission, her goal is to raise $9400 by her 94th birthday and you can donate here if you’re interested.
- Branson Wright looks at how Bianca Smith is claiming her rightful place in baseball history after spending her entire career proving she belongs here.
- Zach Buchanan looks at the wild ride General Manager candidates go through on their way to taking over a team. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Want to learn something new about Baseball Reference?
Today’s “Did you know you could do this on @baseball_ref?” I didn’t. And I’ve been using the site for more than 20 years.
— Adam Darowski (@baseballtwit) January 12, 2021
And I work here. pic.twitter.com/EDsXKnz9dJ
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.