MLB Trade Rumors and News: Sportswriting loses a legend as Nick Cafardo passes away

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• Nick Cafardo had become a fixture in the baseball sportswriting field as a member of the Red Sox beat for the Boston Globe for nearly three decades. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly while covering spring training yesterday. Our thoughts are with Nick’s family and friends. As one can see from all of the tributes posted online about him, he touched a lot of people’s lives in some really amazing ways and he will be sorely missed.
• Everyone is wondering where Bryce Harper is going to sign and for how much money. In the latest saga surrounding his free agency, Harper has “believed to have” rejected multiple offers over $300 million.
• The Tigers have boosted their roster by signing two-time All-Star Josh Harrison to a one-year deal.
• After three-and-a-half long months of discussion about where Manny Machado was going to land (and that’s not even factoring in the years of rumors while he was still under contract), the circus finally came to an end on Tuesday as the four-time All-Star infielder agreed to a 10-year, $300 million deal with the Padres. After several weeks of worries that Machado and Harper would end up signing for way below market value, it now appears likely that both will get the deals that most have expected them to all offseason.
• The Giants’ Bruce Bochy has three World Series rings and several other playoff runs on his resume. Now, with the Giants seemingly set to embark on some sort of a rebuild, Bochy has decided that he is going to call it a career once the 2019 season ends.
• The Brewers have brought Mike Moustakas back on one-year deal. This comes just a few months after Moustakas declined the $15M mutual option with the club and opted for free agency and a $1M buyout instead.
• Marcus Stroman has some strong feelings about his club, stating that the Blue Jays have “offered nothing” regarding a long-term deal. He also went on to say that Toronto has paid no attention to signing proven veteran players.
• The Yankees have signed Luis Severino to a long-term extension, keeping the ace on lock for seasons to come. This is particularly important, seeing as beloved starter CC Sabathia has come out and said that this season will be his last in Major League Baseball.
• Here’s why the MLB free-agency hellscape has made contract extensions popular, and no, the reason isn’t “so that we have something to actually read and report about,” although it is viable.
• The Twins locked down Max Kepler with a five-year, $35 million extension with a option. Kepler was a highly-regarded prospect, and while his offensive performance has been a bit inconsistent, this deal could still prove to be a steal.
• The Phillies continued to commit money to their core players by signing ace Aaron Nola to a four-year, $45 million extension with an option for a fifth season.
• Spicy hot take alert: Mike Moustakas’s free agency experience is the perfect example of what’s wrong with baseball.
• Before Sergio Romo signed with the Marlins, our Andersen Pickard caught up with his agent, Barry Meister, to talk about the market for the veteran reliever and the slow-moving free-agent market.
• According to reports, Bryce Harper isn’t interested in signing a short-term deal. It remains to be seen whether he considers anything less than 10 years to be “short term.”
• Whether or not the Athletics could convince Kyler Murray to forgo a lucrative football career and honor his agreement from when he was drafted in 2018 to play baseball has been a hot topic this offseason. That saga has now played out as Kyler has officially decided to ditch baseball in favor of football, leaving Oakland without their first-round pick from the 2018 draft and no compensation for it (other than getting part of his signing bonus back).
• The Cubs organization is an anomaly to most, including projection systems. Almost all of them disagree about the club, and here’s why. *PECOTA INTENSIFIES*
• MLB should consider a lottery in their proposal to change the amateur draft. It’s no secret that the draft needs to be fixed, and maybe this is the way to spice things up a little more.
• Do free agents lose value when they remain on the market deep into the offseason? We took a look at the data, and let’s just say it usually helps them to sign sooner than later.