The latest huge deal: Rafael Devers and the Boston Red Sox are finalizing an 11-year, $331 million contract. I guess they valued Devers more than Xander, which is to be expected, since he is younger.
Benintendi to the White Sox, 5-year $75 mil deal.
Jean Segura to the Marlins, 2-year $17 mil deal.
And one for sac: Hosmer will sign a minor-league deal with the Cubs, the Padres still ow him $38.3 mil for the next 3 years.
@yaongingy
"And one for sac: Hosmer will sign a minor-league deal with the Cubs, the Padres still ow him $38.3 mil for the next 3 years."
So, the Padres could pay someone else's minor league player 13 Mil for three years yet. Cool. If I were Hos I might go on cruise control for three years in the minors and donate my minor league salary to a worthwhile cause.
And who's gonna sign him?! Which team has the best PR department?
I saw an interesting theory on reddit: he will go to some low market team, where the backlash wont be so big, and he will get traded to a contender at the trading deadline. I think this makes the most sense, I don't see any big teams going after him immediately, although I'm sure most of them would want to have him in their rotation.
@JEG53
It's a long story, basically he was accused of chocking and punching a woman, during sex, he seems to like it rough or something like that. I dunno, the police investigated him and didn't found enough to even prosecute him, for anything, so the MLB suspended him throughout the whole investigation.
There are players who have done a lot worse, fe Ozuna choked his wife in front of the cops, and he got like 20 games suspension from the Braves, so maybe Bauer has some kinks in the sack, but there are players who have done a lot worse and suffered way less consequences, than him, not that I'm making excuses for him, it just seems he got a way more severe punishment, that he probably deserved.
@undermysac
I read a little about it (on his wiki page there is a pretty good resume, of the whole ordeal), he even had a video as evidence, from the next day, after they had sex, also texts from her where she told him to hurt her... I guess he has some kinks in bed, but it looked like it was all consensual, because the prosecutors didn't even want to go after him, the police even lifted the restraining order against him.
The guy is weird, that is well documented, but I think MLB punished him way too hard, especially considering what other players in the league, have done in the past, I dunno why they decided to make and example out of him.
Given he hasn't pitched in a while, I think the scenario of him signing with a low market team at first, to get his rhythm going, seems like the most plausible, and he probably gets traded to a contender in the summer.
This is what I dug up, more interesting is the fact the outfielders may still shift. So you wanna bet when that pull hitter comes up that other outfielder is going to join CF and other(RF or LF) depending on what pull hitter is up.
The new defensive shift limitations will force the defensive team to have at least four fielders on the infield with two on either side of second base when the pitcher is on the rubber. Defenders are not allowed to switch sides, so you won’t be seeing any third basemen swapping spots with second basemen. If the infielders are not aligned properly, the offensive team may choose an automatic ball or the result of the play. Outfielders may still shift or join the infield, but a four-outfielder setup is prohibited.
Also the pitcher clock, 15 seconds for bases empty and 20 seconds with men on base is going to force pitchers like Ohtani and Luis Garcia to get that pitch out almost 5 seconds faster than they're used to. Breaking the pitch clock by pitcher results in automatic BALL, go over clock by the hitter is automatic strike. One has to wonder if challenges can be made for these new pitch clock infractions which would just slow the game down and defeat the whole point of a clock count.
Another issue arises with this clock count, there will be more stolen bases now. Along with the new 18 inch sq bases(up from 15) there is an additional part:
The second part of the Pitch Timer Rule states that pitchers are limited to two disengagements per plate appearance, with that number resetting every time a runner advances. A third pickoff attempt is allowed as long as it’s successful. If it is unsuccessful, the runner automatically advances.
There is going to be a lot of referring to the new rule book come this spring.
Happy Holidays to you too JEG. There, all caught up on PM's.
Battle of the season that nobody cares about is on. Royals and Tigers desperately fighting for fifth place in the division. Head-to-head bet the dog, no handicapping required. Versus 1, 2, 3, in any division or Interleague, do not go against. That is where they will be big dogs and screw you over.
JMHO 
Watching this video makes me wonder why the usage of the 2 seamer has gone down in recent years. Pitching coaches have been preaching 4 seamers and cutters.
I think it's about time for the 2 seamer to slowly integrate itself back into pitch selection. Anyone who could backdoor a fastball has always been deadly imo.
I've read that the main reason, ofcourse is analytics. Coaches don't want the ball's trajectory coming back into the barrel.
Yea ok I get it. But just look at how much this particular pitch can fool a hitter.
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