December 1, 2021
1. Max Scherzer puts on his Mets cap
And a new era (no pun intended) begins in Queens.
A few highlights, from his introductory press conference (on Zoom):
2. And a new uniform number will have to be decided
Here are both of Scherzer’s first choices, on the wall at Citi Field:
3. The photo of the day: Byron Buxton after signing his seven-year extension
As it turns out, $100 million bucks (“Bux”?) feels pretty good.
Photo from the Twins’ Twitter account:
4. The Cleveland Guardians name change rollout continues to stumble
First there was the roller derby team claiming rights to the name, then the gift-shop sign crashed onto the ground on the very first day, and now another sign outside Progressive Field has an issue.
From the News 5 Cleveland article:
“Have you seen the new Guardians sign outside of Progressive Field? Some fans claim the sign appears to be off-center. The side with the ‘G’ extends further left than the side with the ‘s’ on the right. This isn’t the best angle, but it’s as close as we could get.”
And in case you missed it, here was the other sign, that crashed on the Guardians’ debut morning a few weeks ago:
5. Updates to the ongoing CBA negotiations, taking place today in Texas
The deadline is tonight at 11:59pm, and as of this afternoon the negotiating has ended — with the most salient quote coming from Max Scherzer:
More from Bob Nightengale’s article in USA Today (link above), with some potentially significant changes coming if things get worked out — including a new playoff and divisional format:
6. Former Cy Young winner Lamarr Hoyt passes away at 66
His 1983 season with the White Sox:
24–10, 3.66 ERA, 260.2 IP, Cy Young
7. Here it is, today’s mega post of signings since yesterday
It may be the last one for a while, considering this whole CBA deadline happening tonight — so, enjoy:
And two late additions to the list, with more news coming out (4:40 ET):
8. The top free agents who remain unsigned today, on the eve of the MLB lockout
Even with the massive flurry of activity this past week, the amount of big names still out there is wild.
9. Two snapshots into MLB offseason life
The Yankees and their four-man workout crew:
And Ji-Man Choi, hanging out with his teeny tiny dog:
10. The quote of the day: Joey Wendle
After getting traded from the Rays to the Marlins, a tongue-in-cheek comment for his beloved manager Kevin Cash:
Rays fans will be sad to see him go, one of the key glue guys of this upper-echelon last few seasons for the franchise.
11. Tsuyoshi “Big Boss” Shinjo arrives to an event in a Lamborghini
Former MLB player, current manager in Japan, the self-named “Big Boss” is Freddie Mercury meets Kenny Powers:
12. A Willson Contreras emoji tweet sends Cubs fans into detective mode
Yesterday, the Cubs signed veteran catcher Yan Gomes, and with the team having traded away just about all of their 2016 legends, people are wondering if something might just be in the works. Either Willson is just going on vacation, or sending out a cryptic message:
Four airplane emojis, and an ellipsis.
13. The biggest teams in baseball are being massively outspent this winter
Maybe, if the lockout ends (assuming it indeed happens tonight), this equation will change — but for now, the big spenders have been the upstart teams.
14. An update on the state of the Pirates
All the players from that great 2013–15 era are gone, and so too are the prospects they got in return for their biggest star — sadly, the team has maybe never been in rougher shape than this.
15. Mets and Yankees received votes in the NYC elections
16. And lastly, an interesting read on how Pearl Harbor attacks stopped the move of the St. Louis Browns to L.A.
Sixteen years before the Dodgers moved out west, Los Angeles almost had a team of its own. From the article:
“The Browns felt so confident that they even scheduled a press conference in Los Angeles to announce the move on the afternoon of Monday 8 December 1941. But in the aftermath of the attack in Hawaii 24 hours earlier — and with the radio broadcast of US president Franklin D Roosevelt’s declaration of war resonating vividly in the nation’s consciousness — the owners unanimously rejected the move, at the Browns’ insistence.”
