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It’s always sad when a franchise icon passes away. It gives you a sense of your own mortality, especially when the player is someone you grew up watching. I am too young to have seen Dick Allen play, but the stories that are told are legendary. Those that watched him swear he hit the ball farther than anyone they had ever seen. There are several pictures of him swinging what appears to be a tree trunk with relative ease. He was a fearsome competitor and someone who is very much Cooperstown-worthy. He will be missed.
On to the links.
Phillies news:
- The news of Allen’s passing was the biggest story for the franchise yesterday, rightly so.
- Mike Schmidt, one of Allen’s biggest backers for the Hall, continues to hope that he’ll join him there, sadly, posthumously now.
- With the winter meetings “commencing”, here are the biggest needs the team needs to have filled for the upcoming season.
- The team did claim someone from waivers from Seattle. Probably bullpen depth, but hey, can’t have too much of that.
MLB news:
- From Chicago, more thoughts on Allen, as he was an icon there as well.
- Looks like the DH will not be coming to the National League in 2021, says Ken Rosenthal ($). This shouldn’t surprise anyone since the universal DH is the biggest chip the owners have against the players, the promise of 30 extra jobs, just in time for CBA talks.
- A rather surprising trade between the Reds and Angels yesterday. Raisel Iglesias is joining the Angels in what looks like a salary dump by Cincinnati. There has to be something else behind it, especially when a lot of Iglesias’s numbers were down in 2020.
Rumor roundup:
- Sonny Gray is getting a lot of calls this winter, which makes sense sit it seems the Reds don’t plan on contending.
- A big arm from Japan will be posted. He could change of a lot of plans this winter.