Quote of the Week
“ Bro... you were our best player in the postseason last year. ”
– Alex Bregman, Astros third baseman to Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer
This Week in Baseball
Arbitration Expectation...
Mookie Betts and Jacob deGrom both avoided arbitration with their teams and received record-breaking raises. The new salaries are well-deserved. Betts was the AL MVP and helped the Red Sox win the World Series while deGrom was the NL Cy Young winner and survived being on the Mets.
The Watched Men...
Dearest Martha. It is now well into the third month of the Free Agency War and corporal Manny Machado and lieutenant Bryce Harper remain unsigned. These are dark times, but there is still hope. These are brave men who if put into battle will do whatever is necessary to be victorious. Expect perhaps "hustle."
Grand Prize...
The Brewers signed catcher Yasmani Grandal to a one-year deal. To make the expense, the team had to stretch their budget more than a Milwaukee beer and brat festival attendee. Reportedly, Grandal had turned down a $60 million offer from the Mets, but I'm sure he's totally fine with getting a small portion of that and playing in Milwaukee instead of New York City.
Catcher 22...
The Dodgers acquired catcher Russell Martin from the Blue Jays for two fringe minor league prospects. Martin is owed $20 million this year, but Los Angeles will only be paying $3.6 million of that with Toronto paying the other $16.4 million. Oh man, these new international import tariffs are brutal.
Take a Knee...
Mets minor leaguer and Heisman Trophy winner and College Football National Champion and former starting NFL quarterback Tim Tebow finally caught a break and got engaged to former Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters.
On the Air
“ Both sides are making so much money there won't be an actual stoppage. ”
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Episode 90: Transactions Galore! Rays Shrink Trop; Tommy Pham; Oracle Park; Coachella; NFL Playoffs; National Championship Blowout; Fiji Water Girl
First and foremost, Happy New Year from Jed and Jon—now let’s talk about the bounty of transactions over the past few weeks. Episode 90 of Foul Territory—the Adam (not Alan) Cimber edition—is a catch-up of all the transactions that have …
Going Deep
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Hard and Harder: Must-Watch Television
This is a baseball column, but sometimes it’s easier to make a point by reaching outside the sport. And in this case, basketball’s version of must-watch television comes to mind. Especially, its 10-foot basketball hoop. Julius Erving’s Flight to the …
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Hall of Fame Fantasies—from Jurickson Profar to Mariano Rivera
Cooperstown Dreams Every player has fantasies of being immortalized into the Hall of Fame. In January 2019, it’s likely Mariano Rivera will be unanimously inducted into the Hall. Just a few weeks ago, a dynamic player many teams had coveted …
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New Year’s Resolutions 2019
Happy New Year to all of you who read my column—the casual readers, the enthusiastic borderline cyber-stalkers and even the folks who just wound up here from Google because I typed “Nick Jonas STD scare” just now. 2018 was a …
Off Base
