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Always a fun time, that Christmas. Usually, we baseball fans get some good bounty as a reward for being good girls and boys. This year, I personally received a copy of the books “Lords of the Realm” and “Becoming Big League”. One of them you may have heard of (“Lords...”), but the other is the story of how the Seattle Pilots came to be. Since I’m not from that area, it’s something I know very little about, and isn’t that why we read in the first place? To learn something?
Nothing much going on in baseball land, so here’s what we have so far.
On to the links.
Phillies news:
- Each team in the NL East has to avoid a potential pitfall and the Phillies are no different.
- Here was a great story from Matt Breen over the holiday about how three Phillies’ secret meeting with Dick Allen brought about his return to Philadelphia.
- What are Dombrowski’s first impressions of the Phillies’ roster?
MLB news:
- The great Phil Niekro passed away yesterday at the age of 81.
- The Rays and Padres did a thing.
The prospective deal that would send Blake Snell to San Diego would be centered around top pitching prospect Luis Patiño, sources tell ESPN. Also in the deal, as @dennistlin reported, would be catcher Francisco Mejia, pitcher Cole Wilcox and Blake Hunt, a young catcher.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 28, 2020
- The Rangers added a surprise name to their roster, signing the Japanese pitcher Kohei Arihara. Some comps could one player that they had before.
- We need some spicy rumors and news to keep us going....so here’s a good one! Apparently the Padres and Cubs have discussed Yu Darvish.
- Before they traded him to the Nationals, apparently the Pirates talked about extending Josh Bell, which....why?
- The Pirates received some rough news as well as Gregory Polanco fractured his wrist and will miss about 4-6 weeks, but should be ready for spring training.
Rumor roundup:
- Looks like the Blue Jays are making offers, sending one to the top Korean player available.
- Corey Kluber looks like he’ll throw for interested teams in about 2 weeks.