Hot Stove: 12/1

Record of the Day

Youngest MVP: Vida Blue, 22 years old (1971).

Blue began the 1971 season with the A's as a skinny 21-year-old who had never made more than eight starts in a season.  He made the A's rotation from the start and proceeded to have one of the greatest years ever by an Athletics starter, finishing the year 24-8 with an 1.82 ERA, a .189 BAA, and 24 complete games in 39 starts. He turned 22 in July, making him the youngest ever player to win the MVP award. That would be the equivalent of a player as young as Freddie Freeman (born 9/12/1989) or Jason Heyward (8/9/1989) winning the 2011 MVP.

Free Agent Signings

Cubs signed David DeJesus (10 HR, 46 RBI, .240 AVG, 4 SB, 2012 age: 31) to a two-year, $8.5 million deal ($4.25 million per season).

Phillies signed Scott Podsednik (missed 2011 season, .279 career AVG, 301 SB, 2012 age: 36) to a minor league deal. 

Phillies also signed Brian Sanches (4-1, 3.94 ERA, .227 BAA, 2012 age: 33) to a minor league deal. 

Tigers resigned Ramon Santiago (5 HR, 30 RBI, .260 AVG, 0 SB, 2012 age: 32) to a two year, $4 million deal ($2 million per season).

Rockies signed Ramon Hernandez (12 HR, 36 RBI, .282 AVG, 0 SB, 2012 age: 36) to a two year, $6.5 million deal ($3.25 million per season).

David DeJesus has had up years, and he has had down years. Considering the Cubs' luck (cough Soriano), he may be due for a second consecutive down year. Maybe not. If he shows what he is capable of, then the Cubs have an outfielder and top of the lineup guy to help in the revamping of the team. He debuted as a 23-year-old from Brooklyn in 2003 with the Royals, then really showed what he was capable of in a strong rookie season in 2004, hitting seven home runs and batting .287 in 96 games. He was only 8-19 in stolen base attempts, but he would get better. He had very strong years at the head of the Royals' offense in 2005 and 2006, where he combined for 17 home runs (9 in '05 and 8 in '06) and batted .294. His AVG slipped to .260 in 2007, but his best year was yet to come. In 2008, he broke out with 12 home runs, 73 RBI, a .307 AVG, and 11 stolen bases in 135 games. He set a new career high with 13 home runs in 2009 and hit .281. Despite in playing only 91 games in 2010 due to injury, he hit five home runs and batted .318, which would be a career high had it been a full season. The Royals sent him to Oakland for Vin Mazzaro prior to the 2011 season, and DeJesus slumped in the Colosseum's pitcher-friendly confines, hitting 10 home runs but batting a career low .240. Hopefully, he finds the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field to be, pun certainly intended, friendlier. Over his nine-year career, he has hit 71 home runs and batted .284 through 1,007 games.

Trades
Rockies traded Chris Iannetta (14 HR, 55 RBI, .238 AVG, 6 SB, 2012 age: 29) to the Angels for Tyler Chatwood (6-11, 4.75 ERA, .303 BAA, 2012 age: 22).

The Angels are looking for catching reinforcement on the thin catching market, and Iannetta provides power from the right side. He is supposed to share catching duties with rookie Hank Conger, adding power to contrast Conger's on-base ability. Iannetta showed significant offensive ability in his third major league season and first full season in 2008, where he hit 18 home runs and batted .264 in 104 games. He was not able to repeat those numbers in 2009, where hit 16 home runs but batted just .228 in 93 games. He only played 61 games in 2010, hitting nine home runs and batting below the Mendoza line at .197. He had a bit of a revival in 2011, hitting 14 home runs and batting .238 in 112 games, sextupling his previous career high in stolen bases with six. Over his six-year career, he has hit 63 home runs and batted .235 through 458 games.

The Rockies cleared room behind the plate to sign veteran catcher Ramon Hernandez. They also added another young gun to their plethora of young pitching, and Chatwood is a young starter with very high upside. He established himself as a legitimate prospect in 2010 at High Class A Rancho Cucamonga, going 8-3 with a 1.77 ERA in 14 games (13 starts). He pitched well at AA Arkansas, and ended up pitching at AAA Salt Lake City by the end of the season. In 27 games (26 starts) at the three levels that season, he was 13-9 with a 2.84 ERA. He was promoted to the majors in April 2011, and impressed them enough to stay at the major league level all season (aside from four starts at AAA scattered throughout the year). His strongest month was June, where he was 2-2 but with a 2.78 ERA, lasting seven inning in four of his five starts. Things were going well up until late July, at which he sat with a 6-6 record and a strong 3.64 ERA. He was 0-5 with an 8.35 ERA from July 29th on, finishing the season 6-11 with a 4.75 ERA in 27 games (25 starts). 

Other News

The Red Sox officially hired Bobby Valentine to be their new manager. 

The Hall of Fame class of candidates has been released. Major names include Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Mark McGwire, Bernie Williams and Lee Smith.

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Teams followed in this update: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

If your team is not included, please leave a coment.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman