Hot Stove: 11/28

History of Baseball: 1887
World Series Champions*: Detroit Wolverines (79-45, .637 WPCT).  *Not modern World Series.
The entire face of the at bat was changed after the 1886 season.  From the game's inception through the 1886 season, batters could ask for either a high or a low pitch.  Both the National League and the American Association abolished that rule, creating a strike zone from the knees to the shoulders.  Walks would now only require five balls (and will also count as hits), while strikeouts would require four strikes instead of three.  The pitching rubber was moved back to 55 feet 6 inches from home plate, and pitchers could now take only one step from the rubber.  The at bat would look almost identical to today's modern version.  Over the offseason, the first modern trade was made (rather than selling): The Browns traded Hugh Nicol (0 HR, 19 RBI, .206 AVG, 38 SB, 1887 age: 29) to the Red Stockings for Jack Boyle (0 HR, 0 RBI, .200 AVG, 0 SB, 1887 age: 21).  The Pittsburgh Alleghenys jumped from the AA to the NL, and in order to make room for the new club, the NL bought out the Kansas City Cowboys.  The St. Louis Maroons packed their bags and moved to Indianapolis to become the Hoosiers, while a new Cleveland Blues team joined the AA to replace Pittsburgh.  The 1887 season also included the short lived National Colored Base Ball League, which lasted all of two weeks.  On June 16th, Browns' runner Curt Welch slid to break up a double play against the Orioles in Baltimore, and was promptly arrested for assault.  He came away with a hefty fine of four dollars and fifty cents as one of the more interesting incidents of the season.  In September, the St. Louis Browns clinched their third straight AA championship, finishing with a 95-40 record, 14 games ahead of the second place Cincinnati Red Stockings (81-54).  The Detroit Wolverines won the NL, going 79-45 to hold off a late season surge from the Philadelphia Quakers, who finished 75-48, 3.5 games back of Detroit.  Detroit and St. Louis squared off in a best of fifteen World Series of sorts, with the Wolverines taking the series ten games to five.  Sam Thompson of Detroit took home the NL batting title with a .372 mark to go along with a then MLB record of 166 RBI.  Washington's Billy O'Brien smacked 19 home runs to lead the majors.  The AA was dominated by one player at the plate.  St. Louis' Tip O'Neill put up an absolutely incredible season, hitting 14 home runs, driving in 123, and batting .435 in 124 games to take the Triple Crown.  O'Neill set then major league records with his .435 average, 52 doubles, and 167 runs scored.  Teammate Arlie Latham also broke Fred Dunlap's single season record of 160 runs scored, scoring 163.  Since extra base advances were still included in stolen bases, Hugh Nicol managed to set a record that still stands today.  Despite playing in just 125 games for Cincinnati, he stole 138 bases.  Five other players also stole over 100: Latham (129), Charles Comiskey (117 for St. Louis), John Montgomery Ward (111 for New York), Pete Browning (103 for Louisville), and Jim Fogerty (102 for Philadelphia).  On the mound, Baltimore's Matt Kilroy led baseball with 46 wins.  The new rules for the at bat led to bloated ERA's, as the Quakers' Dan Casey led baseball with a 2.86 mark.  Cincinnati's Mike Smith led the AA with a 2.94 ERA.  Over the offseason, there would be some mixing up of teams as well as a few name changes.

News
35 year old pitcher Chad Durbin announced his retirement after 14 years in the major leagues.
The Braves received approval to build their new stadium that will open in 2017.

Out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Chad Durbin evolved into one of the mainstay relievers in baseball over the second half of the first decade of the 21st century.  He pitched one game in his debut season in 1999, but pitched for an extended period of time in the majors for the first time in 2000.  In the Year of the Hitter, the 22 year old struggled immensely, going 2-5 with an 8.21 ERA and 1.85 WHIP in 16 starts for the Royals.  He improved in 2001, where he was 9-16 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 29 starts, completing two games.  Despite his relative success in 2001, he did not see consistent major league action until 2004, where he was 6-7 with a 6.97 ERA in 24 games (8 starts).  After another long time mired in the minor leagues, Durbin resurfaced for a full season in 2007.  Pitching for the Tigers, he went 8-7 with a 4.72 ERA in 36 games (19 starts) and his first career save.  It was his first winning record of any sort.  In 2008, he signed with the Phillies, and subsequently transitioned to full time reliever.  He excelled in that role, posting a 2.87 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 71 appearances, eventually winning the World Series with the Phillies.  Back as a reliever in 2009, he went 2-2 with a 4.39 ERA in 59 appearances.  He dropped his ERA to 3.80 in 2010, making 64 appearances while setting a career best 1.31 WHIP.  He had a rough 2011 season, but was back with a strong 2012.  In 76 appearances for the Braves, a career high, he was 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.  In 2013, his final season, he made 16 appearances for the Phillies, posting a 9.00 ERA before being released.  Over his 14 year career, he went 43-47 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP in 456 appearances (75 starts).  In his postseason career, he is 2-0 with a 6.30 ERA in 16 appearances, 15 of which came with the Phillies.  

Trades
Pirates traded minor leaguer Alex Dickerson (17 HR, 68 RBI, .288 AVG, 10 SB at AA, 2014 age: 24) to the Padres for Miles Mikolas (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 2014 age: 25) and Jaff Decker (1 HR, 2 RBI, .154 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 24).
Padres traded Brad Brach (1-0, 3.19 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 2014 age: 28) to the Orioles for minor leaguer Devin Jones (5-7, 5.64 ERA, 1.53 WHIP at High Class A and AA, 2014 age: 23-24).
Royals traded George Kottaras (5 HR, 12 RBI, .180 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 31) to the Cubs for cash considerations.

Free Agent Signings
Twins agreed to terms with Ricky Nolasco (13-11, 3.70 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 2014 age: 31) on a four year, $49 million deal ($12.25 million per season).
Giants resigned Javier Lopez (4-2, 1.83 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 1 SV, 2014 age: 36-37) to a three year, $13 million deal ($4.33 million per season).
Pirates signed Cody Eppley (0-0, 21.60 ERA, 2.40 WHIP, 2014 age: 28) to a minor league deal.

The Twins have proved that they're near the end of their rebuilding period with the signing of Ricky Nolasco.  Nolasco was one of the top available free agent pitchers and they gave him a hefty total of $49 million.  The Twins have very few established starters, so Nolasco will lead the way with Kevin Correia, Scot Diamond, Samuel Deduno, and Vance Worley behind him.  Nolasco has made at least 26 starts in each of the past six seasons, winning double digit games in each season.  His best year was 2008, when he was 15-8 with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in 34 games (32 starts) for the Marlins.  After four straight mediocre but full seasons, Nolasco came back last year with another great year.  In 34 games (33 starts), he was 13-11 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP.  Nolasco is a registered Nat Killer, shutting out the team on five hits on August 28th, 2012, then coming back twelve days later and shutting them out on four hits. 

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman