Top News:
Joel Sherman / New York Post:
Manny Machado, Bryce Harper are staring at same money decision — This is the quiet time in baseball. In a sport that has become a 52-week-a-year endeavor, this is the one time when many offices go dark and executives try to play catchup with rest and family.
Discussion:
South Side Sox, Pinstripe Alley, MLB Baseball News …, NESN.com and Phillies Nation
RELATED:
Daily Record:
Manny Machado saga, Giancarlo Stanton: Here are 5 Yankees storylines as we enter 2019 — If the Yankees are to find a way back to the Canyon of Heroes in 2019, they'll have to overcome the Red Sox - who are not just their blood rivals but the defending world champions.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
ESPN:
MLB Roundtable: The best, worst and what's to come this holiday week — After Friday's seven-player trade between the Dodgers and the Phillies, you'd be forgiven if you're anticipating what else the holiday might bring by way of transaction action while waiting for Santa to arrive.
Discussion:
MLB Baseball News … and NBCSports.com
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cards newcomer Robinson is a man of many gloves — As a kid in Las Vegas chasing playing time wherever he could find it, Drew Robinson had to learn to play almost every position because of the one position he was least likely to play. — Athletic but “undersized” compared to his peers in youth baseball …
RELATED:
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Home by the holidays: Cardinals' Carpenter already at work at everyday position, third base — It might happen at the supermarket 30 minutes away from his ranch or at breakfast joint nearby when a neighbor or friend of a friend starts quizzing Matt Carpenter about his profession and inevitably asks what he has been unable to answer.
ESPN:
The Year That ... : What we'd bet baseball in 2018 will be remembered for forever — What you know about 1918: the flu pandemic, the end of World War I, and the Boston Red Sox winning their final World Series of the century. — The last one wouldn't have seemed historic to the average human in 1918.
Christina Kahrl / ESPN:
Five key stats for hitters on the 2019 Hall of Fame ballot — As you dig out from the post-Christmas pile of pine needles and wrapping paper, baseball writers are scrambling to mail their votes by the Dec. 31 deadline to help elect the 2019 class to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Wallace Matthews / New York Daily News:
Captaincy was everything to David Wright, but now baseball seems to be abandoning it — Over the course of 14 big-league seasons, David Wright was an All-Star seven times, a two-time Gold Glove winner and played in two National League Championship Series and one World Series.
Mark Fischer / New York Daily News:
What if Mets traded Noah Syndergaard to Yankees and he didn't cut his hair? — There's no doubt seeing Noah Syndergaard wearing Yankees pinstripes, stripped of his golden locks while standing in front of the famous Stadium facade ticked off Mets fans as they picked up an early December copy of The Daily News.
Discussion:
The Mets Police
Keith Law / ESPN:
A's hope there's more growth left for Jurickson Profar — Jurickson Profar was the No. 1 prospect in baseball at one point, before a shoulder injury robbed him of two years of playing time in the majors, a setback from which he seems to have just recovered completely in 2018.
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors and Lone Star Ball
Joe Noga / Plain Dealer:
Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez must play even better in 2019 if the Cleveland Indians are going back to the postseason — CLEVELAND, Ohio — Before 2017, it was unheard of for a Cleveland Indians shortstop to hit 30 home runs in a season. Now, it's expected thanks to Francisco Lindor …
Chelsea Janes / Baltimore Sun:
The Nationals overhauled their roster for youth, speed and energy. Will it pay off? — Newly signed Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin takes questions next to president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo. (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post) — The Washington Post
