Top News:
ESPN:
Transparency will make HOF voting a whole new game — It's one of the most historic Hall of Fame elections of all time. And there's an excellent chance that no one has told you why. — The funny thing is this history has nothing to do with who gets elected Wednesday …
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Ricky Keeler / Fox Sports:
Washington Nationals Legacy: Time For Tim Raines To Make Hall Of Fame — No Washington Nationals will make it into the Hall Of Fame in 2016, but its time for former Montreal Expo Tim Raines to be inducted into Cooperstown — We are days away from the announcement of who will be inducted …
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter, Federal Baseball, Royals Review, Bless You Boys, Halos Heaven, NESN.com, Lone Star Ball and baseballmusings.com
David Pinto / baseballmusings.com:
ESPN Votes — ESPN released all 17 ballots employees submitted for the Hall of Fame vote. While no player appeared on every ballot, Tim Raines and Edgar Martinez enjoyed overwhelming support, while Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens received 75% of the votes. Note that the same group of people, 13 of the 17, voted for Bonds and Clemens.
Discussion:
ESPN
Ben Frederickson / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Winter Warm-Up: Grichuk back to speed after offseason knee surgery — Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com … Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk need a little more than a month to recover from knee surgery he had at the end of the 2016 season to address soreness and inflammation that followed him throughout the summer.
Discussion:
Viva El Birdos
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Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cards appear intent on taking Martinez, Wacha to arbitration hearing — Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com — Before the Cardinals consider a contract extension they've made an annual part of spring training, they first intend to do something they haven't done in almost two decades.
Discussion:
South Side Sox
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Blue Jays To Re-Sign Jose Bautista — 2:35pm: Bautista receives a $18MM guarantee, per Steve Phillips of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). The maximum value of the deal — with incentives and the consecutive mutual options — is $60MM. — The 2017 salary remains unknown …
Discussion:
Yahoo Sports, Jays From The Couch, Beyond the Box Score and Bleacher Nation
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Carrie Muskat / MLB.com:
Fans get up-close look at trophy, continue title celebration — CHICAGO — The buzz at the Cubs Convention on Friday seemed louder and livelier than in years past, as fans were eager to celebrate the World Series championship, the first for the franchise in 108 years.
Discussion:
Bleacher Nation, Bleed Cubbie Blue, CBS Chicago, Yahoo Sports and WDTN-TV
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Royals Extend Danny Duffy — The Royals have a number of key players hitting the open market next winter, but left-hander Danny Duffy will no longer be among them. The Royals announced on Monday that they've signed Duffy to a five-year deal that runs through the 2021 season and will reportedly guarantee him $65MM.
Discussion:
FanGraphs Baseball, Lone Star Ball, MLB Daily Dish, Yahoo Sports and Royals Review
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Jake Diekman To Undergo Surgery, Miss Significant Portion Of 2017 Season — Rangers reliever Jake Diekman is expected to miss “at least half” of the 2017 season after undergoing surgery to “help alleviate ulcerative colitis,” according to Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).
Discussion:
Yahoo Sports and FanRag Sports
David Kagan / The Hardball Times:
The Physics of Barreled Balls — I guess I wasn't paying attention because back in September 2016 Mike Petriello wrote that Statcast debuted a new metric called “Barreled Balls.” According to MLB's Statcast Glossary, the barreled ball designation is assigned to balls with specific exit velocities …
Filip Bondy / New York Times:
Hello, Fans. We're the New Yankees. Sandwich? — Gary Sanchez, the young catcher and face of the rebuilding Yankees, stood behind a counter Monday afternoon and prepared two sandwiches for starry-eyed customers at the Bullpen Deli Twin Donut on 161st Street in the Bronx.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
Jim Salisbury / CSN Philly:
Phillies Phodder: Jerad Eickhoff, a new bat, Montgomery and other matters — Jerad Eickhoff was in town the other day putting smiles on the faces of some special kids at CSN Philly's annual Shining Star Awards dinner, which benefits the March of Dimes. — Before the event …
Discussion:
NBCSports.com, New York Daily News, MLB Trade Rumors and Amazin' Avenue
