[luftfluss]

@JeffPassan

BREAKING: Right-hander Jacob deGrom has signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers, sources tell ESPN. Physical is passed. Deal is done. Includes conditional sixth-year option that would take total deal to $222 million. Full no-trade clause. A massive haul.

[Rondec]

@JeffPassan

BREAKING: Right-hander Jacob deGrom has signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers, sources tell ESPN. Physical is passed. Deal is done. Includes conditional sixth-year option that would take total deal to $222 million. Full no-trade clause. A massive haul.

I wonder if they will regret that. de Grom is a very good pitcher, but he is also 34 years old and only able to pitch 38 games over the last three years (224 combined innings). Of course, one of those years was a COVID shortened season, but he still hasn't exactly been an innings eater. I would think you would want your number one pitcher to be able to get you at least 27 or 28 starts over the season and maybe 165 or 170 innings, but he hasn't been near those totals since 2019.

All the signs indicate a player on the decline -- at least with regard to physical health, even if the skills are still there when he is healthy.

(It is dangerous to pay older players based on past performances).

[luftfluss]

I wonder if they will regret that. de Grom is a very good pitcher, but he is also 34 years old and only able to pitch 38 games over the last three years (224 combined innings). Of course, one of those years was a COVID shortened season, but he still hasn't exactly been an innings eater. I would think you would want your number one pitcher to be able to get you at least 27 or 28 starts over the season and maybe 165 or 170 innings, but he hasn't been near those totals since 2019.

All the signs indicate a player on the decline -- at least with regard to physical health, even if the skills are still there when he is healthy.

(It is dangerous to pay older players based on past performances).

I completely agree with you, and I would have thought the Mets were crazy had they made the same offer as the Rangers.

It's still sad for us Mets fans, though, because deGrom has been a historically great pitcher, plus he came up through the Mets' system.

Hugely risky move for Texas, as you said due to age and injuries, but also because they've been a very poor team this past half-decade. It's not like deGrom is the one player to put them "over the top".

[ChrisPlatt]

Just found an interesting item: A portable AM/FM radio with built-in adjustable time delay.
This allows you to listen to ballgame radio audio in sync with the TV broadcast images.

Where was this when Tim McCarver and Tom Seaver were doing Mets games on TV?

Chris

[luftfluss]

Just found an interesting item: A portable AM/FM radio with built-in adjustable time delay.
This allows you to listen to ballgame radio audio in sync with the TV broadcast images.

Where was this when Tim McCarver and Tom Seaver were doing Mets games on TV?

Chris

That sounds very cool. Do you a link or a name for the radio?

I'd much rather listen to Howie while the game is on than the national announcers like ESPN or Fox.

[luftfluss]

Mets sign Verlander! 2/86.

[luftfluss]

According to MLBTR the Phillies and shortstop Trea Turner have agreed on a contract that will see him make $300MM over 11 years with a full no-trade clause.

[Rondec]

Mets sign Verlander! 2/86.

I think that contract is far better than the one de Grom got. Verlander is coming off an amazing season and I would think would age pretty decently (hopefully his Tommy John arm holds up). The big difference is number of years and going a little higher, but having fewer years is better with aging pitchers than a four or five year deal where the last two to three years are guaranteed to be below average.

[luftfluss]

Cubs signed Cody Bellinger. Interesting to see if he can regain his 2019 NL MVP form.

[Rondec]

I guess you all saw that Judge resigned with Yankees -- 9 years, 360 million. Aaron Judge agrees to 9-year, $360M deal to stick with Yankees, sources confirm

As usual, it feels pretty risky. He is thirty (so he will be 39 when the contract ends -- I'm good with math) and he's been pretty injury prone. He managed to play in 155 games last year and had an amazing season, but he has been pretty injury prone the three seasons before that.

Probably the risk is worth the tail end of the contract -- there was no way that they could replace his production and after all, it is the Yankees...

[aslyfox]

News from Wrigley

Pat Hughes:

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum today announced Cubs radio play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes as the 2023 Ford C. Frick Award winner, which is presented annually to a broadcaster for “major contributions to baseball.” Hughes, a 2016 and 2020 finalist for the award, joins Jack Brickhouse (1983) and Harry Caray (1989) as the Cubs announcers to receive the honor.

Hughes, 67, recently completed his 27th season as the radio play-by-play voice of the Cubs, a position he has held since 1996. During his tenure, Hughes has called Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game in 1998, eight Cubs no-hitters, nine postseason appearances and became the first Chicago broadcaster to call a Cubs World Series championship in 2016. He has shared the broadcast booth with Hall of Famers Harry Caray, Bob Uecker and Ron Santo and was recently inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2021 and the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame in 2022. Hughes has been named the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year nine times and Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year three times. . . .

Pat Hughes wins Ford C. Frick Award

____________________

SAN DIEGO -- The Cubs entered this offseason with the goal of adding at least one impact arm to a rotation rife with question marks. The North Siders zeroed in on free agent Jameson Taillon from the jump and pushed a deal up to the finish line late Tuesday night.. . .

Former MVP Bellinger agrees to deal with Cubs (source)

SAN DIEGO -- Cubs manager David Ross was doing a segment on MLB Network on Tuesday afternoon when news broke that free-agent center fielder Cody Bellinger had agreed to a deal with Chicago. Host Kevin Millar broke the news to Ross on air. . . .

Jameson Taillon agrees to deal with Cubs (source)

[luftfluss]

Mets sign Jose Quintana for 2/26. Last year he had a 2.93 ERA in 165 IP. Makes up for Taijuan Walker leaving.

Cardinals sign Willson Contreras away from the Cubs for 5/87.5. Cubs will receive a compensatory pick after the 2nd round of the draft, which is probably more than they were offered last season as a trade.

[aslyfox]

. . .
Cardinals sign Willson Contreras . . . .

Contreras was a free agent, never coming back to play for the Cubs

I'm afraid of what he will do when the Cubs play the Cardinals

[robgski]

That sounds very cool. Do you a link or a name for the radio?

I'd much rather listen to Howie while the game is on than the national announcers like ESPN or Fox.

I listen to most games using the SiriusXM app specifically so I can get the local announcers from WEEI. It makes a big difference.

Now that Judge has been signed I expect to see some brisk FA activity after the Rule 5 draft ends.

[luftfluss]

Wow, Sox sign Masataka Yoshida on his first day of eligibility. 5/90.

Interesting to see if his offensive prowess in Japan translates to MLB.

Edit: They also signed closer Kenley Jansen for 2/32.