Tag Archives: rangers

The Morning Edition (April 7, 2013)

Clip art illustration of a Cartoon Tiger with a Missing Tooth

From Last Night:

  • BJ Upton hits a game tying homerun in the 9th inning against the Cubs, Justin Upton follows him with a walk off
  • The Nats top the Reds in 11 innings
  • Albert Pujols’ big day powers the Angels past the Rangers
  • Kershaw blanks the Pirates over 7 innings in LA

What I’m Watching Today:

  • Lester and Dickey face off in Toronto (1p Eastern)
  • Marlins prospect Jose Fernandez makes his MLB debut at Citi Field (1p Eastern)
  • Strasburg looks to follow his excellent opening day against the Reds (1p Eastern)
  • Darvish faces the Angels in his near perfecto encore (8p Eastern)
  • Lots of other aces in action including: Sabathia, Verlander, Cueto, Samardizija, Shields, Hamels, Price, Sale, Wainwright, Cain, and Weaver

The Big Question:

  • What first week standouts will carry their success into week two of the season?

The first week of the MLB season is always exciting but it is often hard to distinguish between players because of very small sample sizes. I’m looking forward to seeing which players level out and regress to the mean and which players are in for better and worse than expected seasons. We really want to make meaningful conclusions about these games, but it’s just too early. That said, aside from Chris Davis, here are a couple players I’m watching at the start of week two to see if they are candidates for early season standout status:

  1. Shin-Soo Choo
  2. Justin Upton
  3. Chase Utley
  4. Austin Jackson

None of those players are surprises, they just have my attention for now for various reasons. The first two are on new clubs, Utley looks healthy, and Jackson is a talented guy entering his prime on a great club.

Thanks for reading New English D this week and we look forward to talking baseball with you throughout the season.

The Morning Edition (April 6, 2013)

Clip art illustration of a Cartoon Tiger with a Missing Tooth

From Last Night:

  • Josh Hamilton goes 0-4 with 2K as his Angels fall to the Rangers in his return to Arlignton
  • Gordon and Hosmer lead the way as the Royals pummel the Phillies 13-4
  • Zito outduels Westbrook in a 1-0 win over the Cards
  • The Reds throw down the gauntlet in the NL with a 15-0 thumping of the Nats

What I’m Watching Today:

  • Shelby Miller makes his second big league start as his Cards take on the Giants (4p Eastern)
  • Julio Tehran tries to build on his hot spring against the Cubs (7p Eastern)
  • Trevor Bauer makes his Tribe debut against Rays youngster Alex Cobb (7p Eastern)
  • Clayton Kershaw goes for an encore in LA against AJ Burnett and the Bucs (9p Eastern)

The Big Question

  • How long can Chris Davis keep this up?

In 18 PA this season Davis has 4 HR and a .600/.611/1.600 line. Obviously, that pace is a bit unsustainable, but at some point it just becomes ridiculous even in the short run. He’ll get to face Vance Worley tomorrow, against whom he has not recorded a hit in three trips to the plate. Davis, as it appears, will win the New English D “Race to 1.0 WAR” very shortly. He has 0.9 as of this writing. Today, MLB on Fox begins their final season in which they will terrorize our Saturdays by blacking games out. Starting in 2014, MLB.TV won’t go dark on Saturday afternoons. Luckily, the Tigers play the Yankees, so Fox will let me watch. Additionally of note, New English D will publish our usually Saturday edition of The Nine later today with a focus, likely, on ballpark food.

For your reading pleasure, below is a strike zone plot of Prince Fielder’s at bat against Boone Logan from Friday. Observe the location of the pitch that Fielder hit into the seats. A pitcher should reasonably be able to assume that if he misses the strike zone by that much that he should be safe from such outcomes.

location

So Shawn Kelley tried this when he faced Fielder in the 7th. I would not recommend this.

location 2

The Morning Edition (April 2, 2013)

Clip art illustration of a Cartoon Tiger with a Missing Tooth

From Last Night:

  • Bryce Harper backed a great performance from Stephen Strasburg with 2 HR
  • Clayton Kershaw twirled a CGSO and homered
  • Justin Upton homered in his Braves debut
  • The Brewers and Angels both won in extras

What I’m Watching Today:

  • David Price begins his Cy Young defense against the O’s in Tampa (3p Eastern)
  • The new look Blue Jays begin their season behind R.A. Dickey (7p Eastern)
  • Darvish looks to help the Rangers against the undefeated Astros (8p Eastern)

The Big Question:

  • What will Hyun-Jin Ryu’s debut look like in LA? (10p Eastern)

It was an exciting Opening Day and today’s abbreviated schedule looks to pact a slightly less forceful punch despite some exciting talent toeing the rubber. I’ll have my eye on the Blue Jays, especially to see if they can get off on the right foot. Check back each and every morning for musings from around the league. As the season gets a little further along, this will become a place for more analysis and debate.

2013 Season Preview: American League West

mike-trout

 

 

In an awesome and surprising turn of events, the Oakland A’s won the West in 2012 after the Angels spent a ton of money and the Rangers led wire to wire. It was the kind of thing Hollywood would laugh at for being unrealistic, but it happened.

This year, the hapless Houston Astros join the party. They won’t be hapless forever, but this year looks likely to be a mess in the space city. The West was arguably the best division in 2012 and should be good again in 2013 despite a potential 100 loss team living in the cellar.

As always, here is how STT sizes up the AL West. [Division Rank. Team (2013 W/L Prediction, 2013 Preseason Power Ranking)]

5. Houston Astros (60-102, 30)

As I’ve said on many occasions, I like the way the Astros are rebuilding, they just aren’t going to be anywhere near good enough to compete in 2013. It’s a process. That said, something makes me think they’ll be a little better in 2013 than most people think because a large group of people making similar predictions often shift toward extremity. This is a team that might not have a single 2 win player in 2013, but it’s hard to lose a lot more than 100 games period. The bar is low.

4. Seattle Mariners (75-87, 24)

Locking up Felix Hernandez was a good move and they would have added Justin Upton if not for the player vetoing the move and winding up with the Braves. They bought low on a lot of washed up sluggers and one or two are bound to provide some value in 2013. The Mariners didn’t make any really bad moves, but they failed to make great ones in order to dramatically improve for the upcoming season. I like the young pitching they have coming up from the farm, but it’s not quite ready. 2014 and beyond looks brighter in Seattle, but it’s hard to make a case that the Mariners are serious contenders this year. Any team can over perform and win the second wild card, but that’s the ceiling for Seattle.

3. Oakland Athletics (84-78, 14)

The A’s made some good moves in the offseason adding Chris Young and Jed Lowrie to go with a club that won 94 games last season, but some of those 94 games are going to vanish due to simple regression to the mean. Bob Melvin and the A’s front office are excellent at getting the most out of their players, but I can’t really see this team striking gold twice in a row. It would require none of the young pitching to take a step back and all of their platoon guys to stay locked in, which is asking too much. The A’s are a good team, I just don’t think they’re quite good enough to make the playoffs.

2. Los Angeles Angels (88-74, 9)

The Angels added Josh Hamilton in the offseason to an already stellar lineup that featured the best player from 2012, Mike Trout, and the best player of the last decade, Albert Pujols. But their pitching staff is now short Zach Greinke, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana and full of Tommy Hanson and Joe Blanton. The offense is great, but the pitching, by contender standards, is terrible. When you’re counting on C.J. Wilson, Tommy Hanson, Joe Blanton, and Garrett Williams to be 4/5 of your rotation, something isn’t quite right with the preseason predictions that put your among the game’s best.

1. Texas Rangers (91-71, 5)

If you’re a betting man/woman, the Rangers are the buy low team of the season. Everyone and their mother seem to be down on the Rangers right now because they lost Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli and failed to add an Upton or a Greinke. But this is a Rangers team that won 93 games last season and added A.J. Pierzynski and Lance Berkman, not to mention top prospects Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt. Darvish has a full season under his belt in the U.S. Why is everyone jumping off the Rangers bandwagon so quickly? This is a team that should be no worse in 2013 than in 2012, which should give you pause when you’re writing their eulogy.

AL West Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

AL West MVP: Mike Trout

Most Potentially Pivotal Player: Lance Berkman

Storyline that Will Surprise Us: Texas won’t regret their quiet offseason.

Boldest of the Bold: Houston will win the season series against one divisional opponent.

2013 Preseason Power Rankings: 10-1

Over the last two days, SABR Toothed Tigers has released our 2013 MLB Preseason Power Rankings 30-21 and 20-11. Today, we complete the series and take you all the way through number one.

Remember, this list is designed to represent the expected performance of each team in 2013, but not necessarily the win totals of each team. For example, I project the Red Sox to be a better team than the Pirates but I expect the Pirates to win more games as a function of their league, division, and better relationship with an almighty deity than the team from Boston. Check back tomorrow for my Preseason Standings Prediction.

10. St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals are a very deep team with talent at about every position. The middle infield is a bit iffy going forward but those are two of the less important offensive positions and the rest of their lineup more than makes up for it. The rotation is a good mix of veterans and talented youngsters and the bullpen has a lot of exciting pieces. Nothing about the Cardinals makes me say “wow!” but everything about them makes me think they’re a very good team. I also can’t ignore the incredible comebacks/magic/voodoo/etc of the last two seasons. It’s usually not right to expect weird things to keep happening like that, but I’m not really looking to tempt fate.

9. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels are an interesting team because I can talk myself into a lot of different places on this list for them. Probably more so than any other team expect the Dodgers. They added Josh Hamilton, but lost Torii Hunter who was worth more than Hamilton in 2012. They’ll have an everyday role for Peter Bourjos who is among the very best defensive players walking the Earth and Albert Pujols likely won’t struggle as much as he did last April in any month of 2013. In just looking at the offense and defense, I would imagine the Angels should be about as good in 2013 as they were in 2012. But the pitching looks a lot worse. Jered Weaver should be the same as always and CJ Wilson likely won’t improve upon his 2012 numbers because he simply isn’t that good. After them, instead of Greinke or Haren, you have Joe Blanton, Tommy Hanson, and stuff. This rotation is pretty good if you want to win 80 games, but I think it’s awful if you want to win 95 like the Angels do. This team has the best player in the league (Trout), the best player of his era (Pujols), and a player with an impossibly high ceiling (Hamilton), but I just can’t bring myself to bet any higher on them with such a suspect pitching staff.

8. Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays did excellent work this offseason adding Melky Cabrera, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, RA Dickey, and others. They are a much better team than they were in 2012 and could also get a full season from Jose Bautista. Even with expected regression from Edwin Encarnacion, this should be a team that scores runs and pitches well. I think they’ll be right in the thick of the AL East race and should also contend for a wild card. My reservations about placing them higher deal with a lot of injury question marks. Bautista is recovering from a wrist injury and hand and wrist injuries tend to have a negative effect on power. I’m not saying he’ll have a down season, but I think it’s more likely than it was before he got hurt. Additionally, while I think Josh Johnson is fantastic, he is also very fragile. Who knows what Melky Cabrera can do without the help of PEDs? Brandon Morrow missed significant time last season. Something was obviously wrong with Ricky Romero, right? So while on paper this is a talented team with a great chance at October baseball, there are concerns large enough to keep them at number eight.

7. San Francisco Giants

The Giants return an excellent pitching staff and good defensive club. A full season of Scutaro and Pence should be a marginal improvement, but losing the great “wind-aided” performance of Melky Cabrera will hurt with no clear replacement lined up. If Pablo Sandoval is healthy and Brandon Belt is allowed to do his thing without interference from a silly manager, this team should be on par with last year’s division winning club. It’s a good bullpen and the park tends to work in favor of the team’s design, so I’m willing to bet the Buster Posey led Giants are making another deep run into the postseason.

6. Cincinnati Reds

The Reds should have no trouble winning the NL Central if they are able to remain as healthy as their counterparts. They have the amazing Joey Votto at first and an average to above average player pretty much everywhere. They rotation remained perfectly intact last year and Aroldis Chapman is coming to help them out even more in 2013. With the addition of Choo, the maturing of Cozart and Fraizer, and the continued success of Bruce and Phillips, I can’t really see a glaring whole other than defense in centerfield. This is an all-around good club.

5. Texas Rangers

A lot of people are down on the 2013 Rangers because they didn’t sign or trade for any of their big offseason targets, but I think that means they’re very underrated. If we look at the 2012 Rangers as a pretty true 93 win club who had a bad week at the end, when we compare them to the 2013 version, they hold up great. The pitching should be essentially the same with perhaps a better performance by the adapting Darvish. On offense, they dropped Michael Young’s negative WAR at DH for Lance Berkman and will return everyone else except Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli. Top prospects Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt can easily combine with Craig Gentry and Leonys Martin to approximate the ~4WAR season of Josh Hamilton and AJ Pierzynski steps in to replace Napoli who had a down year on a team that won 93 games. While it can be said that the Rangers missed out on getting a lot better, they also failed to really get worse. This is the overlooked team of the year if you’re into making those types of wagers.

4. Atlanta Braves

The Braves added a lot this offseason (see: Uptons, all) but they also lost a good amount in Chipper Jones and Martin Prado. I like Andrelton Simmons and Freddie Freeman to breakout in compliment with Jason Heyward and the Upton brothers. The starting pitching is deep and the bullpen is second to none. The Braves aren’t the most exciting team in the league to me, but I think they have the highest floor. It’s hard for me to imagine them having much worse than an upper 80s win season.

3. Tampa Bay Rays

I’m higher on the Rays than most because I’ve seen them over-perform too many times not to believe. Their starting pitching is in the top five and their bullpen always works. They’ve added Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar on offense and are hoping for a full season of Evan Longoria to go with the soon to be called up Wil Myers. Top to bottom, the Rays are probably in the 6-10 range as far as talent goes, but they are so well run from top to bottom, that they will get more out of that talent than the other teams on this list.

2. Detroit Tigers

The 2012 Tigers underperformed and won 88 games. In 2013, they will add Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter and a full season of Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez. They lost nothing of substance from the roster should get at least modest bounce back seasons from Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila. That is all by way of saying, it’s hard to see how they aren’t one of the surest bets in the league for 2013. 90 wins should be safe and 95-100 is a real possibility given the level of competition they face. They own baseball’s best rotation 1-5 and their only weaknesses are infield defense questions and bullpen uncertainty. And almost everyone has bullpen uncertainty so I can’t really hold that against them. Looking at the Tigers on paper, it’s hard to see how the defending AL champs won’t get a shot to play in October once more.

1. Washington Nationals

The Nationals earn this spot through logic similar to that which put the Tigers at number two. They added Denard Span, Rafael Soriano, and Dan Haren and lost only Edwin Jackson. With an unlimited Stephen Strasburg and a more experienced Bryce Harper, there isn’t an argument to be made that the Nats got worse for 2013. Granted, any team can collapse and underperform, but there is no reason to think the Nationals are any more likely to do so than any other team on this list. If the Nationals stay as healthy as their competitors in 2013, they should once again be baseball’s best team.

Tell us what you thought of the 2013 Preseason Power Rankings series in the comments, on Twitter, on Facebook, or via the United States Postal Service. Check back tomorrow for STT’s projected standings.

2012 Season in Review: American League West

The West was won on the final day of the season. Mike Trout unleashed greatness. Other things happened. But mostly the first two. Here are some final info-graphs about baseball out west.

Final Standings: alw 2012 st

Playoff Odds:

alw odds

Early 2013 Projection:

2013 w

Final 2012 Grades:

alw gr

AL West MVP: Mike Trout

AL West Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

Helping Michael Bourn Find Work

Michael Bourn is still unemployed. He was one of the best players available on the free agent market this year and was one of baseball’s most valuable players in 2012, but he does not have a team lined up for 2013.

Before going any further we can assume that the reason for this is that Bourn wants more money than any team is willing to offer right now and believes that some team will meet his price before the season begins. At some point, a team will either match his price or he will decide to lower his price, which a team will then decide to meet.

That’s a pretty straightforward understanding of how negotiations work. One side or both sides are currently unrealistic about the expectations of the other side. This will change eventually and Bourn will sign, the questions is, with who?

What teams are most likely to pay the most for Bourn?

Bourn is no slouch. He is entering his age 30 season and has posted 4.0 WAR or better in four straight seasons with a 6.4 coming in 2012. He’s an elite defender (career UZR/150 of 11.5 and a UZR of 22.4 in 2012) and baserunner (5 straight years of 40 or more SB) and gets on base at at .340 clip or better.

In terms of straight value, you’re looking at a player who was work between $20 and $30 million last season and figures to be worth at least $15 million or more over each year of a 3 or 4 year deal if he stays healthy. And there is no reason to think he won’t stay healthy.

Throw all of that in a blender with current team rosters and what do you get? A list of teams that might sign Bourn.

Royals (5%):

The Royals probably don’t have the money to swing Bourn, but man do they need him. With two outfield spots filled by Cain and Francoeur, there is a lot of room for improvement. Bourn over Francoeur in 2012 would be worth something like seven wins in the standings. Even if you expect Frenchie to regress upward in 2013, there’s a lot of room to improve on a team that seems like they are committing to going for it over the next two seasons.

Reds (5%):

This only makes sense if the Reds are willing to make Ludwick the highest paid fourth outfielder in baseball. With Choo and Bruce locked into the outfield, this is a long shot but the Reds would benefit greatly from upgrading on defense and at the top of the lineup.

Braves (10%):

The Braves could resign Bourn even after adding Upton. If BJ will move to left to accommodate Bourn, the Braves could put Prado at third and have one of the better lineups in the NL. It might be hard to make that work financially given what some other teams might be willing to offer, but it’s worth exploring for both sides.

Blue Jays (10%):

The Jays are going for it in 2013. That much is clear. They’ve taken on a good amount of payroll through trades over the last couple months, but their outfield is a bit thin. Colby Rasmus is slated to be the everyday centerfielder and he isn’t exactly a picture of consistency. Additionally, Jose Bautista is coming off a wrist injury and Melky Cabrera is plagued by questions of his true ability following a steroid suspension. If the Jays can afford Bourn, he would be a good fit. They probably don’t want to make a four year offer, but if he decides to take a pillow contract, a one year, $18-20 million deal from Toronto might make sense.

Rangers (15%):

The Rangers can and should probably get by with a Martin and Gentry platoon in centerfield, but Bourn would be a nice addition to offset the loss of Josh Hamilton. However, the lineup is already crowded with Andrus, Profar, Olt, and Kinsler, so the Rangers are probably best left to keep their outfield unblocked.

Mets (25%):

The Mets are good fit for Bourn. They need outfield help, presumably have some money to work with and are not that far off from contention. Their rotation has the potential to be great in the coming few seasons and they have a number of players on the roster who could work as compliments to a contending club. They need a couple more core pieces, and a great defensive centerfielder and speed demon would be perfect for them.

White Sox (30%):

The White Sox make a ton of sense for Bourn. De Aza, Viciedo, Rios are capable outfielders on an average team, but they aren’t a group that you imagine would get you to a world series. If Bourn was on the team instead of Viciedo in 2012, they might have beaten out the Tigers for the AL Central. Additionally, Konerko is in the last year of his deal and Dunn has one more after that. A backloaded deal could easily work to make Bourn a piece of the Sox franchise for years to come.

 

Angels Take the Plunge and Sign Hamilton, Make Very Big Mistake

The Angels signed Josh Hamilton to a 5 year, $125 million deal today with a physical coming Friday. I wrote extensively about Hamilton last month and you can read what I think about him here.

The Angels, who had four outfielders before this deal, now have five. They also have Kendrys Morales as their DH who is blocked at 1B by a guy named Pujols. They have to trade at least one of these players. That’s fine. No big deal.

Trout in center. Hamilton in left. Trumbo in right. Or Bourjos? Or the $21 million Vernon Wells? I’m not sure what their plan is, but it’s a bad one no matter what.

The Angels didn’t need an outfielder. In fact, that was the thing they needed the least. They didn’t even need a bat. They needed starting pitching badly and still do. They lost out on Greinke because he was too expensive (but then signed a riskier player for the same AAV). They released Dan Haren. They traded Ervin Santana.

The Angels rotation is Jered Weaver, CJ Wilson, Tommy Hanson, Joe Blanton, and some other guy. I’m only convinced one of those guys is better than league average. Anibal Sanchez would have only cost them $15 million per season, which leaves another $10 million to spend on other upgrades.

I’m also not convinced the Angels get much better with Hamilton. He and Torii Hunter were probably equally as valuable this year, and the Angels said they didn’t want him. They were going to play Bourjos. Bourjos is an incredible, better than Mike Trout defender. He’s probably a 2-3 win player. Hamilton is only a 4-5 win guy. They’re spending $25 million to win two or three more games at the expense of the pitching staff that they could actually have upgraded.

Now maybe this is a prelude to a big deal for a pitcher on the trade market, but I’m skeptical. This feels like an f-you Rangers and Dodgers move. The Angels felt like they weren’t getting enough attention and they wanted a date to the dance. I can see Arte Moreno and Jerry Dipoto adding entries to the Mean Girls scrapbook right now.

The Angels don’t need Hamilton. They certainly don’t need Hamilton at $125 million. If his market collapsed, you might go for it, but he has to average 4-5 wins every season for this to payoff. I don’t think he can do that. Even if he does, the Angels have lots of outfielders who could put together seasons almost as good.

What they don’t have is a #2 or #3 starting pitcher. They spend $125 million on Josh Hamilton when they should have spent $90 million on Sanchez. I don’t think anyone should have paid Hamilton this much, but I really don’t think it should have been the Angels.

They either dramatically misunderstand Hamilton as a player or they think they needed to do something to keep up with the Jones’. Why offer him this deal? It doesn’t even look like anyone else was willing to go this high. The Angels paid market price or higher for a luxury player and it’s likely going to cost them a shot to improve their rotation.

I grade every trade and signing I write about, and I’m trying to decide how this ranks. Hamilton is a good player. But he is also an unusually risky player. He is old, injury prone, and has a history of substance abuse. He also has poor plate discipline, so when his bat slows down, he could really crumble. I think anyone who pays 5/125 for Hamilton is paying too much, but when you give him that deal and you don’t need him that seems like a big mistake.

At this point in time, given the context, and before we hear about a follow up move, I have to really nail the Angels here. This deal is that bad.

Grade: F

Dodgers Make Yankees Blush, Sign Zach Greinke

Zach Greinke has a 6 year, $147 million deal with the Dodgers pending a physical. This deal shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone, especially anyone who read my post about Greinke last month. The Dodgers needed pitching and had money. They existed in the center of the Venn Diagram of “need pitching” and “have money” in which Zach Greinke would no doubt sign.

You can read my previous post to give you an idea of what I think about Greinke, but the contract is new, so let’s talk about that.

$24.5 million a season for six seasons, totaling $147 million. Not a bad gig if you can get it. I like this for the Dodgers, however, even if a lot of people will write that it is an overpay. Greinke is 29. This contract will take him into his decline years, but not that far into it. He’s easily capable of putting up a couple 4-5 win seasons during the span and those seasons will pay for themselves. There might be some lost value on the back end where he’s worth a few million less than the contract if inflation doesn’t catch up and make it a wash.

The point I’m trying to make is that if this is an overpay, it’s a small one. Over six years, it’s hard not to imagine Greinke putting up at least 3 WAR a season. That’s $90 million with no inflation and nothing better than 3 wins a season. With all the money flying around the Dodgers front office right now, whatever part of that $50 million excess cost doesn’t get picked up by inflation and better than 3 win performances, I’m sure they will be able to cover it. They have a lot of dollars, so giving a lot to Zach Greinke should be okay.

It should also help to move to a nice pitcher’s park like Dodger Stadium. And putting him next to Clayton Kershaw should be pretty awesome. Two Cy Young contenders on one club.

Money isn’t an object for the Dodgers and they needed pitching. Zach Greinke likes money and is good at pitching. This is a pretty good match. Grade: A-

Josh Hamilton and the White Sox Get Closer to Finding Each Other

A few weeks ago I wrote about the strange free agent situation surrounding Josh Hamilton. You can read the post here, but let’s consider where we are right now.

The Rangers will not sign Hamilton if they sign Greinke, which looks pretty likely. If they sign Greinke, they will trade for Upton and Hamilton will not have the Rangers as an option. The two clubs with the most buzz for Hamilton other than the Rangers are the Mariners and the Red Sox.

In the post linked above, I told you the White Sox were the real team to watch. I said they would trade Viciedo or De Aza and would add a lefty power bat. Hamilton would fit perfectly. Here’s a post on MLB Trade Rumors yesterday:

Untitled

It’s happening. Hamilton will sign with the White Sox for 5/110. I can’t guarantee I’ll be right, but I feel better about this prediction than when I made it.