New York & Orlando New York Yankees Receive: OF John ElwayOrlando Devil Rays Receive: 1998 5th-Round Pick Orlando has broadcast to the entire league that they aren’t re-signing John Elway. Some of it is cap pressure; some of it is simply a franchise pivoting away from its older pieces. Elway is 34 now, but he quietly posted more than 3 WAR last season with an .811 OPS. He barely played after arriving from Texas, but...
When the United League Rookie of the Year results dropped, most expected Arizona Diamondbacks ace Scott Karl to walk away with the award. After all, he didn’t just pitch like a top rookie—he pitched like one of the best starters in the entire league. And yet, the voting panel went a different direction, handing the trophy to Washington Senators catcher Jason Kendall. Kendall is a phenomenal young player. This isn’t about discrediting him....
Last offseason, I wrote—fairly bluntly—that the Toronto Blue Jays were playing with matches. Trading Carlos Delgado, one of the most recognizable young power bats in the league, and then immediately flipping the return package for Derek Jeter looked, at best, reckless. At worst, it looked like the kind of impulsive decision that sets a franchise back half a decade. A year later?It’s time to revisit those calls. And the truth is far more...
St. Louis & Detroit St. Louis Receives: C Darrin FletcherDetroit Receives: SP Jason Jacome St. Louis came agonizingly close to a World Series berth last season despite getting almost nothing from its catchers. Mike Matheny somehow stumbled into positive WAR—how, exactly, remains one of the great mysteries of the sport—and Dan Wilson was below water. Fans are understandably calling for an upgrade behind the plate. The...
Happy Thanksgiving. If there’s one thing this league teaches us year after year, it’s that gratitude and grit often arrive in the same package. Thanksgiving gives us the perfect excuse to sit back, loosen the belt a notch, and appreciate the moments that make this league worth the endless scouting reports, late-night trade negotiations, and spirited debates that somehow always end with someone insisting they “won the deal by a mile.”...
The Yankees’ decision to let Don Mattingly test free agency sent a ripple of disbelief through the Bronx, but perhaps not full-on shock. While the front office hasn’t shut the door entirely on a return, the reality is clear: a reunion appears unlikely. When a club allows a franchise cornerstone to explore the market without a formal offer, it often signals a turning of the page. Baseball logic holds that free agency can, at times,...
The rumor mill is heating up, and as always, I’m sifting through the noise so you don’t have to. Here’s what’s bubbling beneath the surface as front offices posture, panic, and pretend they aren’t leaking like colanders: —The Champs Go BigThe defending champs didn’t tiptoe into the offseason—they cannonballed in by landing Mike Greenwell, with one exec insisting it’s “the best standard contract in the league.” Some...
Fresh off a playoff exit so brutal it might get its own “30 for 30” someday, the Toronto Blue Jays have returned with an offseason attitude best described as: absolutely not again. In barely a week, they’ve put on a clinic in methodical roster turnover. Is the roster actually better? Hard to say with so much time left on the clock. But one thing’s for sure—ownership handed out a mandate for flexibility, and the front office has...
Thanks for joining our mock draft. Only one trade happened that impacted the order, and I’m so confident as your favorite humble baseball writer that I’m keeping the picks the same regardless. Join us as we relive the mock draft: 1) New York Yankees – SP Chris Carpenter The Yankees finally pick someone who might stop the revolving door of washed veterans taking the mound every five days. Carpenter instantly becomes the most competent...
Pick 24 – Arizona Diamondbacks Selection: RP Kelvim Escobar There are a few certainties in this league: death, taxes, and the Arizona Diamondbacks spending a first-round pick on a reliever. Some teams zig, others zag—Arizona just keeps stacking bullpen arms like it’s a competitive hobby. And to their credit… it works. Last year’s first-round relief pick, Danny Patterson, was mocked by some as a reach. Patterson responded by...