Good morning.
First, a brief comment:
In many respects, the late George Steinbrenner was a less than honorable human being, as Fay Vincent, Dave Winfield, and numerous team employees will attest to anyone listening. However, one of King George’s pet causes was a most worthy one and, thankfully, survived his passing in 2010: the Yankee Silver Shield Foundation:
For 32 years, Steinbrenner’s Yankee Silver Shield Foundation has provided for the education of the children of New York City police officers, firemen and Port Authority employees who died in the line of duty, and will do so for the family of NYPD officer Rafael Ramos, gunned down by a cold-blooded killer Saturday along with his partner, Wenjian Liu.
The foundation will pay for the education of Ramos’ son, 13-year-old Jaden, and another son who is in college.
Liu, who was recently married, had no children.
Steinbrenner started his foundation in 1982 after seeing a news account of four children flanking their mother and folding an American flag at the funeral of their father, an NYPD officer who had been killed in the line of duty.
It should be noted that Officer Ramos was a diehard Mets fan, but I’m pretty sure he would have appreciated this heartwarming gesture. (Here’s hoping the Wilpon family, who have a controlling interest in the Mets, step up in some way as well.)
Rest in peace.
With that having been noted, here are several links from the past week that will make your Monday at the office a bit more bearable:
- To keep tabs on the latest offseason transactions, click here.
- SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee profiles the four quietest teams this offseason to date. One of the highlighted franchises is the Orioles:
For the third straight offseason — and I didn’t really check the offseasons before that, either — the Orioles made it through the Winter Meetings without a major move. So far, it’s Wesley Wright and only Wesley Wright, and that just happened. Nick Markakis is gone. Delmon Young is gone. Cruz is with the Mariners. As of now, the top first baseman on their depth chart is Christian Walker, who had a .335 on-base percentage in Triple-A last year. The Orioles thought they were going to bring Markakis back on a four-year deal. Instead, they’re looking at Steve Pearce, everyday right fielder, and Alejandro De Aza, leadoff hitter.
Their needs are obvious: At least one more corner player. Could be a left fielder, right fielder, or a first baseman. If the Orioles want to keep Chris Davis in the field, their options are wide open for a DH. If they start the season with this permutation, it will be stunning. There just aren’t as many options as there once were, of course. Michael Morse is gone, Melky Cabrera was never a serious consideration, Billy Butler signed early, the White Sox scooped up Adam LaRoche . . . it’s starting to look like it’s trade or bust for the Orioles.
Bringing Delmon back and waiting for March wouldn’t be much of an offseason plan. That isn’t what the Orioles are going to do, right?
Right?
- Alex Hall of Athletics Nation approves of Oakland general manager Billy Beane’s latest deals, involving starter Jeff Samardzija to the White Sox and catcher Derek Norris to the Padres.
- Speaking of the Samardzija trade, Beyond the Boxscore’s Scott Lindholm congratulates White Sox GM Rick Hahn for bringing the South Side back to life.
- Via Matt Lombardo of NJ.com: In a recent radio interview, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. revealed that perhaps it would be best for the organization if struggling 35-year-old first baseman Ryan Howard and what remains of the albatross of his contract left town, presumably in a trade. (To be sure, I know a number of Philly fans who pray every night that Amaro will move on as well.) Here’s the crux of the admission:
“We’ve talked to Ryan,” Amaro said in an interview with 97.5 The Fanatic’s Mike Missanelli on Friday afternoon. “And I told him that in our situation it would probably bode better for the organization not with him but without him. With that said if he’s with us, then we’ll work around him. We’ll hope he puts up the kind of numbers that we hope he can and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
While may have speculated that the organization would be best off to move on from Howard this winter, this is the first public admission from anyone in the front office — and the general manager nonetheless — that the team has designs on making a trade. . . .
Moving Howard could prove to be a tall order given the remaining $60 million remaining on his contract. If Amaro is in fact serious about a trade, the Phillies would be wise to find a suitor sooner, rather than later, regardless of the potential return. Howard is closing in on full 10 and 5 rights that would kick in this May which would give him veto power on any deal.
Even before Howard reaches that status, he already has the authority by virtue of his limited no-trade clause, to veto a deal to 20 teams.
- The Yankees acquired Nathan Eovaldi from the Marlins in a five-player deal. Fangraphs’ Eno Sarris suggests that the soon-to-be 25-year old starter consider ditching the changeup and consider throwing the slider a little more.
- Steven Martano of Beyond the Boxscore gives the trade a thumbs-down for Brian Cashman, concluding that the Yankees GM “sent a projected 2.5 Wins [Martin Prado] to Miami in exchange for 1.5 [Eovaldi] and a lottery ticket.” (For whatever it’s worth, I’m considerably more bullish on Eovaldi, just as I heartily endorsed last summer’s trade that brought Brandon McCarthy to the Bronx.)
- Why must shortstop prospect Trea Turner wait until mid June to play for the Nationals, asks Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports? Turner, the first-round draft choice of San Diego in 2013, was part of the three-way trade between the Nats, Padres, and Rays centered around 2013 Rookie of the Year outfielder Wil Myers. According to Rosenthal, “Major League Baseball rule 3(B)(6) states that a drafted player cannot be assigned to another club for one year after signing his original contract,” meaning that the 21-year-old will be wearing Padres colors for much of 2014 before switching uniforms.
That’s it. Have a walk-off Christmas and New Year’s Eve! The next Reveille will come your way on Monday the 5th.