This Week in Baseball – Arbitration Records, Machado-Harper Watch, Brewers Catch Grandal, Dodgers Catch Martin, Tebow Catches Fiancee
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.
Get these weekly stories in the comfort of your own inbox by signing up for our newsletter The Box Score.
