The Offseason: 2/1/2021

Well that was certainly a weekend for baseball.

As we focus on the locals and their ability to wrap up their final piece of big business, you might be tempted to look at other teams in the National League and wonder just what the heck they are doing. Particularly in the Central where it looks like teams are actively trying not to win.

That was handled over the weekend now, wasn’t it?

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The team has gone way over what it planned to spend this offseason, but the question still remains: is it enough to get them to the postseason?
• In case you missed it, the team did also make a trade, sending Cole Irvin to the Athletics for cash considerations.

MLB news:

• The Rockies continued to embarrass themselves by trading Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals for magic beans some as of yet unnamed prospects. Oh, let’s not forget the $50 million they’re also sending to help the poor Cardinals with that big bad contract.
• MLB sent a proposal to the MLBPA about the 2021 season that included a lot. Among other things we’d assume, the big issues seem to be length of the season (154 games), determining pay for said season, implementation of the DH in the National League and another expanded playoff.
• The Royals continued their modest gains over the offseason, inking a contact oriented infielder to a surprising minor league deal.
• It’s quite possible that Masahiro Tanaka isn’t quite done with MLB just yet.

Rumor roundup:

• Old friend Jake Arrieta threw for interested teams this weekend and looked pretty good. But he won’t be going back to Chicago.
• The Twins are apparently interested in bringing back Nelson Cruz.