January 1: Aaron Judge, a bit of a vagabond of late and now 37, parlayed a big bounceback year with Arizona (37 HR, 96 RBI) into a 1-year, $8.7 deal with St. Louis.
January 7: Well we kicked off the next year with a huge trade:
We had $45M burning a hole in our pocket and desperately needed an outfielder with only 3 on the active roster and not much help forthcoming in the minors, so we grabbed a 1-year rental in Yordan Alvarez for mainly the salary cost as neither Contreras nor Santana are significant prospects. Alvarez's production has suffered the last couple of years with injuries but his ratings remain elite and I'm crossing my fingers he stays relatively healthy and productive, giving us a middle-of-the-order force. For what it's worth the fan interest increased significantly.
January 9: The Hall-of-Fame balloting is in and we have two new inductees.
SP Max Scherzer 96.6 (1st year) Inducted HOF
2B Robinson Cano 81.2 (2nd year) Inducted HOF
C Joe Mauer 60.9 (7th year)
SP Adam Wainwright 56.2 (1st year)
1B Joey Votto 55.0 (2nd year)
C Yadier Molina 54.4 (3rd year)
SP David Price 30.0 (1st year)
SP Felix Hernandez 22.2 (6th year)
Scherzer sailed to Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility and Robinson Cano only had to wait one extra year himself. It's a tough road for Joe Mauer as he still needs 14-15% more with three more tries left. Adam Wainwright has some hope as well with his strong first-year showing.
January 10: Philly's bullpen binge continued with a 3/29 deal for former Ray Camilo Doval.
January 12: Anthony Rendon, who was Anthony Rental for us last season, signed a 2/37 contract with Oakland.
January 17: Charlie Ruegger, in our bullpen parts of the last few years before being non-tendered, signed a 1-year, $2M deal with who else? - the Phillies.
February 6: Signed free agent SP Erovis Alcantara to a 1-year contract worth a total of $1,040,000<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]-->.
Alcantara, who spent his career-to-date with the White Sox, is an interesting dude - 80 stuff as a starter and struck out 135 in 94 IP with Chicago last year as a swingman. So why so cheap? 35 movement and 45 control, that's why. He was still good for 2.2 WAR in those innings and since we needed another pitcher why not? He's ticketed for long relief right now.
So with that signing all that's left on our "to-do" list is to find a backup catcher. 2027 3rd round pick Cade Arrambide is the nominal backup at the moment. He has 45 contact, 50 power, and 55 defense (with 65 potential) and he doesn't look any worse that than the usual free agent suspects so he could be the man unless an unexpected trade opportunity arises.
March 4: I forgot we needed a legit backup MI, so I remedied that:
Despite his solid numbers, some fans questioned the value of the Amed Rosario signing even as Tampa Bay officials paraded him before the media this afternoon.
Rosario will surely bring a lot to the club, but he comes at a price of $2,200,000 over 1 year.
Rosario is hitting at a .259 rate over his 1373-game career. Lifetime he has 234 doubles, 56 triples and 88 home runs with 466 RBIs and 603 runs scored.
Rosario can also play the outfield corners, giving us real positional flexibility.