MLB Trade Rumors and News: MLB Hall of Fame ballot revealed, Braves sign Smyly

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• A time honored tradition each and every year is the release of the Hall of Fame and having the internet shout about who is and who isn’t worthy of induction. That process began yet again yesterday as the Hall of Fame ballot was released. With the list of newly eligible players being somewhat underwhelming, it will be interesting to see what players see a boost in their chances.
• While the conventional wisdom has been that this offseason was going to be slow and free agent signings could come later in the offseason when some things about the 2021 season are more settled, the Braves didn’t wait to go get one of their guys as they signed lefty Drew Smyly to a one year deal to help bolster their rotation.
• The Marlins have named Kim Ng their general manager. On top of being the first female GM ever, she’s also the second Asian GM ever. She’s also been on “Great GM Candidates” lists for about 10 years now and most colleagues of her’s that she is far more qualified than became GMs before her...but I digress.
• Jake Odorizzi is gaining a lot of attention this offseason, most notably from the Blue Jays, Giants, and Mets reports ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. The Twins haven’t ruled out resigning him, but the 30-year old is coming off an injury riddled season that only saw him pitch 13 2⁄3 innings. That would certainly be enough to give any team pause.
• Unlike some awards where there was a certain amount of suspense as to who was going to win the award, the Braves’ Freddie Freeman was the overwhelming favorite to take home the NL MVP award on Thursday evening. He was one of, if not the best hitter in the league last season and was on one of the best teams in the league. That combination is usually a good predictor of success and he did, in fact, take home the NL MVP award with 28 out of a possible 30 first place votes. Jose Abreu of the White Sox ended up taking home the AL MVP in a closer and more puzzling result over Jose Ramirez.
• There are a lot of things that the Braves owe their recent success to and one of those is the work of Perry Minasian who has been an assistant to general manager Alex Anthopoulos the last three seasons and who has a lengthy family pedigree in baseball. The Angels took notice and managed to snag Minasian to be their new general manager.
• MLB continued its awards week with the announcement of the Cy Young Awards for each of the respective leagues. To the surprise of no one, Shane Bieber took home the American League award after dominating throughout the 2020 season and Trevor Bauer held off Yu Darvish to win the the NL Cy Young.
• Marcus Stroman was an interesting case amongst those who received qualifying offers this offseason. While he has been fairly highly regarded and could have normally been expected to get a nice payday in free agency, the tight purse strings we are expecting this offseason combined with the fact that he is coming off an injury lent some credence to the idea of him signing the QO and trying again next offseason. Stroman made the news official yesterday as he signed the offer and expressed excitement about the Mets direction under its new ownership.
• If you had Jason Vosler as the first position player to score a major-league free-agent deal this offseason, come collect your prize. The Giants signed the 27-year-old third baseman, who has spent time in the Cubs and Padres organizations, to a major-league contract on Tuesday. Vosler is a veteran of six minor-league seasons and spent time at the Padres’ alternate training site this summer but has yet to make his major-league debut. However, the Giants were still intrigued enough to give him a 40-man roster spot, perhaps because of his righty-mashing ability — the left-handed hitter hit .300/.371/.563 with 19 homers in 339 plate appearances against right-handers at Triple-A El Paso in 2019.
• Florida was heavily represented as baseball’s 2020 Managers of the Year were announced on Tuesday night, with Don Mattingly winning in the National League and Kevin Cash winning in the AL. Good thing World Series performance wasn’t part of the criteria.
• When the White Sox hired Tony La Russa to be their next manager, it got a lot of attention mainly because everyone just assumed that La Russa was done managing in the big leagues and had moved on to the twilight of his career in baseball. Now, the hiring is getting some additional scrutiny because apparently La Russa was charged with his second DUI just one day before the White Sox announced the hiring. The team making the move despite knowing about the charge is....interesting to say the least.
• It is awards season and the Rookie of the Year awards were announced on Monday evening. The Mariners’ Kyle Lewis was the unanimous pick over in the American League while Brewers reliever Devin Williams, who was all but unhittable this year, took home the hardware in the National League over Alec Bohm and Jake Cronenworth.
• A new regime is starting in Queens and they’re already making big moves. The Mets have parted ways with several top executives, including the one and only Brodie Van Wagenen. Steve Cohen is wasting no time in getting businesses done, his way.
• On today’s episode of “Stuff I Don’t Like,” Justin Turner will be receiving no punishment for getting in the faces of his teammates and galivanting without a mask just hours after being diagnosed with COVID-19. But yes, let’s endanger our teammates for the fun of it.
• The Red Sox have re-hired Alex Cora as their manager.
• With everything going on in the world, it is easy to overlook the fact that MLB decided last week was the ideal week to announce several awards, including the Silver Slugger awards. That announcement took place Thursday, with the Braves and White Sox leading the way with four and three selections respectively. Also, Mike Trout won his eighth Silver Slugger, because of course he did.
• Most Americans were probably focused on a different election than the one that determined the results of the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards on Tuesday night, but MLB went ahead and announced the winners anyway. A trio of defenders who are putting together legendary resumes were the most notable winners, as Nolan Arenado won his eighth straight Gold Glove, Alex Gordon won for a fourth straight year and an eighth (and final) time overall, and Mookie Betts won for the fifth straight year. But a flurry of players also won for the first time, including Evan White, César Hernández, J.P. Crawford, Javier Báez, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tyler O’Neill, Luis Robert, Trent Grisham, Joey Gallo, Griffin Canning, and Max Fried.
• The BBWAA awards finalists were announced on Monday evening without any huge surprises, even if a bit of nitpicking could be done.
• Six MLB free agents have received qualifying offers, including Trevor Bauer and D.J. LeMahieu. They have until November 11th at 5 PM to accept or decline. This year’s qualifying offer was worth $18.9M and in a class with weak free agents, it could be a huge lowball for what some of these players will be worth if they enter free agency.
• No surprise here. The Tigers have hired A.J. Hinch as their new manager. Some may even say this is an extension of Hinch’s punishment from the Astros’ cheating scandal.
• In another bizarre but fantastic move, the White Sox have hired Tony La Russa as their manager. Why yes, he is coming out of a decade long retirement to manage the White Sox. I’m almost excited as you are for what chaos will transpire.
• The Dodgers snapped the 10th-longest championship drought in baseball — one that was often infuriating for fans of a team that is consistently near the top of the league in payroll and has won the NL West for eight straight seasons — by defeating the Rays in Game 6 of the World Series. Los Angeles took advantage of an extremely puzzling decision by Rays manager Kevin Cash to pull starter Blake Snell after he threw just 73 pitches and allowed just one hit over 5.1 innings. With the potential tying run on first base, Cash inserted reliever Nick Anderson, who had allowed runs in six straight appearances, and sure enough, he extended the streak to seven games, as he first allowed Austin Barnes to score from third on a wild pitch, then gave up the go-ahead run as Corey Seager grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice. Mookie Betts hit a solo homer in the eighth to finish off the Dodgers’ scoring in a 3-1 victory.
• Unfortunately, the good vibes surrounding the Dodgers’ World Series victory were quickly sullied as it was revealed that Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner had tested positive for COVID-19, explaining manager Dave Roberts’ decision to pull him prior to the eighth inning of Game 6. As if MLB’s decision to proceed with a game involving an infected player wasn’t controversial enough, Turner then returned to the field to celebrate with the trophy, participate in a non-socially distant team photo (he pulled his mask down for the occasion), and kiss his wife on the field. When asked how Turner managed to participate in the celebration, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was quoted as saying, “I don’t think there was anyone that was going to stop him from going out,” per the New York Daily News’ Bradford William Davis.
• Astros reliever Josh James underwent surgery to repair a labral tear in his left hip, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports. He’ll be out of commission for 6-8 months, meaning he’ll miss the beginning of the 2021 season...that is, granted, if it starts on time next year. The 27-year old threw for a 7.27 ERA this season.
• The Red Sox owners group might be taking the company public, in case you want to get a little piece of the action. Fenway Sports LLC is in special negations with a special acquisitions company that would bring them public, reports Cara Lombardo and Miriam Gottfried of the Wall Street Journal. After going public, Fenway Sports would be valued at $8B, giving the acquisition company, RedBall Acquisitions, a $1.575B minority share. Don’t worry Red Sox fans, John Henry will still maintain majority control of the group.
• The Reds got some less than ideal news recently as their president of baseball operations, Dick Williams, resigned. There isn’t really a sordid reason for Williams’ decision, as he just wants to spend more time with family and work on ventures outside of baseball. His former right-hand man, Nick Krall, will now oversee the team’s baseball operations department.
• After five disappointing and cringeworthy seasons, Matt Klentak has stepped down as Phillies’ GM. The 40-year old with be reassigned a new role within the club, one that the Phillies have yet to announce and frankly we’re scared to hear. While Klentak was great when it came to blockbuster and exciting deals like Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto, he could never quite seem to get lasting depth in the bullpen.
• Francisco Cervelli has announced his retirement on Instagram, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Signed by the Yankees out of Venezuela in 2003, the veteran backstop didn’t make his name in the league until 2008. After bouncing to Pittsburg and a brief stint in Atlanta, he signed a one-year deal with the Marlins last season. Cervelli slashed a career average .268/.358/.382, earning what FanGraphs has has doled out to him: a career 18 WAR.
• The Astros announced that they’ve signed first baseman Yuli Gurriel to a one-year extension with a club option for 2022. They’ll be hoping he bounces back during a more normal season next year after struggling during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.