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Who Are The Favorites to Land Seiya Suzuki After the Lockout?

DECLAN HARRIS4 HOURS AGO


Kyodo News/Sipa USA

When the offseason started four months ago, rumors regarding Japanese phenom Seiya Suzuki began circulating amongst MLB teams. When Suzuki was posted in late November, it finally wasn't a question of if he'd be coming to America, but where and with whom would he play.

The lockout hasn't helped answer those questions, but only further added speculation, so the question remains, who are the favorites to land Suzuki when the lockout ends?

Historically, Japanese players typically sign with teams on the West coast, and there are some rumors that support Suzuki continuing this trend.

In Dec. 2021, Suzuki met with Seattle Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto over Zoom, with the Mariners expressing serious interest. "He’s a great player. He's had a great career," Dipoto said. "And now that he's a free agent, it'll be interesting to see what he chooses. But yeah, I don't know what that'll be.”

Another team in the West who are considered serious contenders for Suzuki are the Texas Rangers, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi.

A large reason why the Rangers make sense for Suzuki is that Texas needs a stand-out player in the outfield to go along with their big offseason signings in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.

Suzuki has also attracted the interest of multiple teams on the East coast with the biggest being the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox are considered to be another big suitor for Suzuki, perhaps even above the Rangers. Suzuki has engaged with the Red Sox in the past, following them on social media during his time in Japan to follow players like Xander Bogarts and formerly Mookie Betts.

Some reports have gone far enough to say that the Red Sox are the favorites to land Suzuki after the lockout.

Boston makes sense for Suzuki for multiple reasons, the first being Bogaerts, a player Suzuki has admired, being signed with the Sox through 2026. This could be a bargaining chip or deciding factor for where he decides to sign.

Additionally, Boston could use another big player in the outfield. If Suzuki puts up the same numbers in MLB as he did in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), he would be a great replacement for current right fielder Alex Verdugo.

With all of this speculation out there, fans will have to wait for the lockout to end before Suzuki announces where he'll be playing next season.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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21. RHP Triston McKenzie, Cleveland Guardians (Age: 24)

MLB's 25 Best Players Under 25 Years Old in 2022

JOEL REUTER

FEBRUARY 25, 2022


Nos. 25-21

25. LHP Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox (Age: 22)
24. RHP Huascar Ynoa, Atlanta Braves (Age: 23)
23. OF Jesus Sanchez, Miami Marlins (Age: 24)
22. RHP Camilo Doval, San Francisco Giants (Age: 24)
21. RHP Triston McKenzie, Cleveland Guardians (Age: 24)

McKenzie has shown the ability to dominate MLB hitters, including eight innings of one-hit, 11-strikeout ball against the Detroit Tigers last August. The wiry 6'5", 165-pound right-hander is still searching for consistency, evidenced by his 4.95 ERA and 4.70 FIP in 120 innings last year, but his ceiling is as high as any young starter.

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19. 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miami Marlins (Age: 24)

Nos. 20-16

20. RHP Shane Baz, Tampa Bay Rays (Age: 22)
19. 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miami Marlins (Age: 24)
18. LHP Shane McClanahan, Tampa Bay Rays (Age: 24)
17. 3B Luis Urias, Milwaukee Brewers (Age: 24)
16. IF/OF Luis Arraez, Minnesota Twins (Age: 24)

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13. RHP Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians (Age: 23)

Nos. 15-11

15. RHP Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers (Age: 24)
14. RF Dylan Carlson, St. Louis Cardinals (Age: 23)
13. RHP Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians (Age: 23)

With a cutter that averaged 100.2 mph and a wipeout slider that limited opposing hitters to a .134 slugging percentage, Clase is pure power at the back of the Cleveland bullpen. The 6'2" right-hander nailed down 24 of 29 save chances with a 1.29 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 9.6 K/9 while replacing All-Star Brad Hand in the ninth-inning role. He looks like baseball's next great closer.

12. RHP Alek Manoah, Toronto Blue Jays (Age: 24)
11. RHP Ian Anderson, Atlanta Braves (Age: 23)

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7. CF Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox Age: 24

10. LHP Trevor Rogers, Miami Marlins Age: 24
9. DH/OF Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros Age: 24
8. SS Wander Franco, Tampa Bay Rays Age: 20
7. CF Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox Age: 24
6. 3B Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves Age: 24

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1. RF Juan Soto, Washington Nationals Age: 23

5. SS Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays Age: 23
4. RF Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves Age: 24
3. SS Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres Age: 23
2. 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays Age: 22
1. RF Juan Soto, Washington Nationals Age: 23
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe

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Bryce Harper Reaches Out To Japanese Baseball Team Amid MLB Lockout: ‘Got Some Time To Kill’

By Mediaite Staff

Feb 28th, 2022, 6:12 pm


Bryce Harper appears to be done waiting around for the MLB to reach a deal with the players union to end the MLB lockout.

Harper is so eager to get back on the field, the reigning National League MVP reached out to the Nippon Professional Baseball Central League’s Yomiuri Giants. Harper posted a photo to his Instagram story showing him wearing a Japanese photoshopped jersey.

“Aye Yomiuri Giants, you up?” Harper asked. “Got some time to kill.” The MVP even tagged his agent Scott Boras in the post.

Harper’s post comes after a week of negotiations that lead to zero progress between the two sides. MLB is reportedly willing to miss a month of regular-season games.

According to Sports Illustrated: “If MLB’s lockout continues, players like Harper would be allowed to play in winter leagues, independent leagues, and professional leagues overseas. There would be a precedent to do so as many NHL players played overseas in Europe and Russia during the league’s work stoppage from 2004 to ’05.”

If the MLB and players union do not strike a deal by the end of Monday, the league has said that the start of the regular season will be delayed and that organizations will not play a full 162-game schedule. If this becomes reality Harper might not have to photoshop an over the seas team jersey on himself for long.

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Harper posted a photo to his Instagram story showing him wearing a Japanese photoshopped jersey.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Bryce Harper threatens defection to Japan as MLB labor talks take bad turn

by Gabrielle Starr 3 minutes ago

Bryce Harper reaches out to Yomiuri Giants of Nippon League as MLB lockout threatens month-long delay of 2022 season
It looks like Bryce Harper is done waiting around for Major League Baseball to unlock., and who can blame him?

Barring a miracle on Monday, if MLB and the Players’ Union cannot come to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, MLB decided that the regular season will be delayed and any games missed will not be made up later.

But wait, it gets worse! On Monday, ahead of the deadline, news broke that the owners are willing to miss one month of games, and have taken a more “threatening” tone in negotiations. All in all, it’s been a very healthy three months between employer and employee.

For Harper, who is usually more upbeat on social media, the update seems to have put the Philadelphia Phillies star over the edge. But again, who can blame him?

The reigning NL MVP posted a photoshopped shot to his Instagram Stories, in which he’s wearing the uniform of a Yomiuri Giants player in Japan’s Nippon League.

Seeing the normally quiet Harper make a statement like this shows how much the situation has devolved.

While Harper is likely (hopefully) kidding, he might not be. He went as far as to tag the Giants as well as his agent, Scott Boras.

MLB players are allowed to play in other baseball leagues (NPB, KBO) during the lockout

Harper and any other MLB player are well within their rights to play elsewhere. As Ken Rosenthal noted when Harper’s announcement went viral on Twitter, the work stoppage guide includes a section about players playing in foreign leagues. As a reference, it mentions the 2004-05 NHL work stoppage, when several NHL players went overseas.

Imagine if a star of Harper’s caliber actually made good on the request and went to Japan to get some playing time in while MLB continues to run itself into the ground. His former teammate, Freddy Galvis, is already there; when he hit free agency last fall, he didn’t wait around for the lockout to decide his future, and signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, also of the NPB.

In a brutal twist, Harper posted this on the 3-year anniversary of his historic deal with the Phillies. He signed a 13-year, $330M deal with the Phillies in 2019, the richest contract in North American pro sports at the time.

We’ve spent the last few years complaining that the Phillies are wasting Harper’s prime by not building a competitive team around him, and now it’s not just them, but the entire league. How utterly ridiculous and absurd this situation has become. The owners are so stubborn, they would rather their best talent play elsewhere rather than unlock the league and meet them halfway. Every day missed is a day of great baseball we will never get back, and what hurts the most is that the people in charge are perfectly fine with that.

If Harper really does decide to “kill time” in Japan, it’ll be better than wasting it here.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Seiya Suzuki still '100% committed' to playing in MLB in 2022 despite league canceling games

The Japanese slugger is one of the top free agents remaining, but can't sign a deal until the lockout is lifted


By R.J. Anderson 8 hrs ago

On Tuesday, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred canceled the first two series of the regular season, making this the first time in league history that an owner-imposed lockout will compromise the schedule. One of the potential effects of that decision involves free-agent outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who could decide he'd rather play in Japan for another season than continue to sit on ice until the work stoppage ends and he's permitted to sign with an MLB team.

Suzuki's agent Joel Wolfe put that scenario to rest on Tuesday. Wolfe told The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly: "Seiya is 100% committed to playing in MLB this year. He's shown remarkable patience and resolve."

Suzuki, 27 years old, entered the offseason ranked by CBS Sports as the 15th-best free agent on the market after he was "posted" by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. His career in Nippon Professional Baseball has seen him make five All-Star Games and hit for a .315/.415/.571 slash line. Back in January, CBS Sports obtained Suzuki's ball-tracking data from last season and compared it to big-league hitters to get a sense of how he might perform in the majors.

Here's a snippet of that analysis:

Suzuki hits the ball hard; he makes a good amount of contact; he seldom swings at balls; and he has an optimized launch angle. If you were building the ideal hitter from scratch, you'd make a point of including all of those qualities before you sent them to the dish.

All the above seems to bode well for Suzuki as he attempts to become a productive big-league hitter. Factor in his strong arm, and his presence in right field should make him a meaningful contributor on both sides of the ball. (He's not much of a base-stealing threat, suggesting his contributions will end there.)


Suzuki remains subject to the posting system, meaning he'll have what's left of his 30-day window to talk to and negotiate with teams. Provided he can reach an agreement within that window, the Carp will receive a percentage of his contract's overall value as compensation. If Suzuki doesn't sign with a MLB team before the window expires, he'll return to Japan, the way ace Tomoyuki Sugano did last winter.

Suzuki has or is expected to draw interest from the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Mariners, among others. CBS Sports predicted he'll sign for four years and around $64 million back in January.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Unvaccinated MLB players can't travel to Canada to play Jays

Major League Baseball players who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus won't be allowed to travel into Canada to face the Blue Jays in Toronto and won’t be paid for those games


By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer

March 11, 2022, 2:34 PM


NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball players who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus won't be allowed to travel into Canada to face the Blue Jays in Toronto and won't be paid for those games.

Canada's government requires a person must have received a second vaccine dose — or one dose of Johnson & Johnson — at least 14 days prior to entry.

“The parties have agreed that any player who, as a result of such a governmental regulation is unable or ineligible to play in a championship season game (or games) due to his vaccination status will be ineligible for placement on the COVID-19 IL, but rather may be placed on the restricted list ... without pay or the accrual of credited major league service, during such period of unavailability,” according to a letter from union deputy general counsel Matt Nussbaum to MLB senior vice president Patrick Houlihan, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The agreement was first reported by Boston television station WCVB.

Toronto opens at home against Texas on April 8.

“It’s a concern,” union head Tony Clark said Friday. “I think as everyone knows — appreciate and respect the decisions that are made, particularly in regard to player health and community health. But that is an issue, as one in the pandemic itself, that we’re navigating domestically, that we’re going to have to continue to try to work through here moving forward.”

The letter says the agreement covering unvaccinated players and travel to Canada expires at the end of the 2022 season.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe

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Yu Darvish recruiting top free agent to San Diego?

March 12, 2022by Darryn Albert

Yu Darvish appears to be putting on his recruiting pants with baseball now officially back in session.

The San Diego Padres pitcher posed for a picture this week with outfielder Seiya Suzuki, one of the top remaining free agents on the board. In his Twitter caption, Darvish wrote, “New Padre?” with a playful emoji.

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Like Darvish, Suzuki is from Japan. Suzuki, 27, was recently posted by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, making him available to sign with all 30 MLB teams. He is an intriguing talent as a three-time Gold Glove winner in the outfield and a five-time Nippon Professional Baseball League All-Star. Suzuki also won a Central league batting title last season with his .317 average.

We have a feeling that Darvish is being serious about recruiting Suzuki too. After all, Darvish once had to learn the hard way that joking about this kind of stuff does not always go over well.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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The Oakland A's and the Atlanta Braves are in agreement on a trade that will send Matt Olson to Atlanta in exchange for top prospects Cristian Pache, Shea Langeliers, Ryan Cusick, and Joey Estes. (Source: Jeff Passan on Twitter)

This trade most likely means the Braves are out on Freddie Freeman, as Olson has proven that he is one of the best fielding first baseman in the league. The 27-year-old is coming off a career year in which he slashed .271/.371/.540 with 39 homers and 111 RBIs. He should continue to produce at a high rate, but he has big shoes to fill in Atlanta.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain

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Unvaccinated Mets and Yankees Players Can’t Play in New York

By James Wagner New York Times

Published March 15, 2022 Updated March 16, 2022, 11:39 a.m. ET


TAMPA, Fla. — Some players on the Mets and Yankees may be unable to play in New York when the 2022 Major League Baseball season begins next month because of a city vaccination mandate.

Under a New York City regulation enacted on Dec. 27, people who perform in-person work or interact with the public in the course of business must show proof that “they have received a COVID-19 vaccine.” The proof of vaccination must show that a worker is fully vaccinated, has received a single-dose vaccine or, if only the first shot of a two-dose vaccine has been administered, then there must be evidence of a plan to receive the second dose within 45 days of the first.

While Mayor Eric Adams loosened some vaccine requirements this month, he left in place the private-sector mandate. According to the mayor’s office, the regulation applies to the Mets and Yankees, whose home stadiums are Citi Field in Queens and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

The Yankees open the season on April 7 with a home game against the Boston Red Sox. The Mets’ home opener is against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 15. With those games several weeks away, the mayor’s office said it couldn’t predict if circumstances could change in the intervening period.

The mandate has been a point of contention for Nets guard Kyrie Irving and the N.B.A. Irving has played in only 19 of the team’s 69 games in part because he is unvaccinated against Covid-19 and the regulation has barred him from playing home games. Irving is allowed to play in road games where cities do not have vaccine mandates. He set a single-game franchise record with 60 points in a 150-108 win against Orlando on Tuesday, but he will not be eligible to play the Nets’ next three games.

(The private sector mandate grants an exception for visiting professional athletes and anyone who accompanies them, along with performing artists and college athletes.)

On Monday, the N.B.A. fined the Nets $50,000 for allowing Irving to enter the team’s locker room during Sunday’s game against the Knicks. While he was allowed at the game, he was not allowed to be in team facilities at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

If the city mandate doesn’t change by the first home games for the M.L.B. teams, it would presumably affect the Mets more than it would the Yankees.

By the end of last season, the Mets were among the six teams (out of 30 in M.L.B.) that had not reached the league’s vaccination threshold of 85 percent that allowed teams to loosen pandemic protocols. The Yankees reached the vaccination threshold, but they endured multiple virus outbreaks — many of which were breakthrough cases.

Asked on Tuesday if he was vaccinated, given the city’s mandate, Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge said, “I’m so focused on just getting these first games of spring training so I think we’ll cross that bridge when the times comes. But right now, so many things could change. So I’m not really too worried about that right now.”

Judge was placed on the league’s Covid-19 related injured list after attending the 2021 All-Star Game in July in Denver and testing positive for the coronavirus. He proceeded to miss nine games. Because of other positive cases, potential exposures and testing, the league postponed the Yankees’ first game back from the All-Star break, on July 15 against Boston, which had not reached the vaccination threshold.

The Red Sox, who had a significant virus outbreak last season, were the only one of the 10 teams in the postseason last year that had not reached that mark. Since arriving to spring training, Red Sox players such as Xander Bogaerts and Christian Arroyo told reporters they have since been vaccinated.

M.L.B. and the players’ union each declined to comment on Tuesday, as did the Mets.

“On behalf of the Yankees, Randy Levine is working with City Hall and all other appropriate officials on this matter,” a Yankees spokesman said in a statement, referring to the team’s president, a former deputy city mayor. “We will have no further comment at this time.”

Over the weekend, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone told reporters that he was concerned about his players not being able to play in Canada, saying, “We still have a few guys, at least, who are not vaccinated.”

Canadian border restrictions currently do not allow unvaccinated foreign visitors to enter the country without special exemptions. And a special status issued by the Canadian government for unvaccinated athletes, which allowed them to cross last year, ended in January.

As M.L.B. and the union negotiated a new labor agreement, they also agreed that any player who is unable to play in any games as a result of any government regulation because of his vaccination status “may be placed” temporarily on the restricted list, where pay and service time are lost. Service time determines players’ eligibility for salary arbitration and free agency.

The Yankees are in the same division as the Blue Jays and will play nine games in Toronto this season.

Despite initial resistance from many players last year, the vaccination numbers steadily rose in M.L.B. By the end of the season, 88 percent of all players and key staff members were fully vaccinated. Still, some team executives were openly frustrated during the season with their players’ reluctance to be vaccinated.

The vaccination rates are higher in other professional leagues, such as the N.B.A. and the N.H.L., both of which also have teams based in Canada.

[ James Wagner has covered baseball — the Mets for two and a half years, the Yankees for two years and now in a national role — for The Times since 2016. Previously he worked at The Washington Post for six years, including four covering the Nationals. @ByJamesWagner • Facebook ]
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe

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This is the guy who said the Indians weren't trying to win when they released him, isn't he?

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Brad Miller has agreed to a $10 million, two-year contract with the Texas Rangers, giving manager Chris Woodward a player who has started games at every infield and outfield position in his career. Miller hit 20 home runs for Philadelphia last season, when he started games at first base, second base, third base, right field and left field. The 32-year-old Miller will make $6 million this season, and $4 million in 2023.
Miller is a .239 career hitter with 115 homers and 367 RBI in 947 games with six teams. The left-handed hitter is a right-handed fielder.

Texas selected Miller in the 39th round of the 2008 amateur draft, but he opted to attend Clemson instead, and Seattle made him a second-round pick three years later. His big league debut came with the Mariners in 2013, and he has also played for Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, Cleveland and St. Louis.

As a general rule Rangers FA choices usually fall flat; Miller has the opportunity to follow the script.

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This week, two things became true: Future Hall of Famer Zack Greinke will begin this season where he began his career, with the Kansas City Royals. And, for the first time in his 12-year career, future Hall of Famer -- and soon to be Los Angeles Dodger -- Freddie Freeman will not be suiting up with the Atlanta Braves.

This is also true: Both Kansas City and Atlanta have a very good chance at being better this season than last. Yes, Atlanta won a World Series, but the Braves also were under .500 for much of last season and finished the regular season with just 88 wins. The Royals have been rebuilding for the past four years and finally are ready to contend.
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In the end, the Braves and Royals may be better because of the moves they made this week, in spite of them, or a little of both. There are no guarantees one way or the other. In the short term, there is little in terms of bottom-line value to separate Greinke from Mike Minor, whom Greinke ostensibly replaced on the K.C. roster, or Freeman from Matt Olson, whom Atlanta acquired to take over for the face of the franchise.

This week, as baseball's post-lockout transactions have turned on like a firehose, most of the pieces on this site and others have been grading the impact of moves like these. It's been fun, exhausting and a little dizzying. With one update to my forecasting spreadsheet this morning, I watched the Blue Jays vault from a close second-place finish behind the Yankees in the AL East to a favorite to win both the division and the pennant.

This piece, though, is not an analysis of the moves. It's a lamentation -- of one of them, anyway.

It's official. Freddie Freeman is not returning to the Atlanta Braves. We knew this, even before ESPN's Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan reported that Freeman had agreed to a six-year, $162 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers late Wednesday night. We knew this, in part, because the Braves had already acquired his replacement, former Oakland Athletics first baseman Matt Olson. But we knew it mostly because Freeman himself made it Instagram official. That's when you know it's real.

Seriously though, the 2020 National League MVP is heading to a team that was already the World Series favorites. Where do we begin? How about here: For the past few months, sporadic reports about negotiations between Freeman's representatives and the Braves suggested that the obstacle in the talks was the length of the deal. Freeman wanted six years; the Braves did not want to give him six years. That was the scuttlebutt, anyway.

Well, surely if the Braves, the only organization for whom Freeman has played and with whom he had become entrenched as the face of a championship team, didn't want to go six years, then no one wanted to go six years. Except -- the Dodgers went six years. More than a few Braves fans will read that news and find it more than a little bitter.