Hot Stove: 12/1

History of Baseball: 1888
World Series Champions*: New York Giants (84-47, .641 WPCT). *Not modern World Series.
In the American Association over the offseason, the New York Metropolitans dropped out of the league, to be replaced by the Kansas City Cowboys.  The Brooklyn Grays changed their name to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and the Cleveland Blues changed their uniforms, leading to the nickname "Spiders", one that will eventually stick.  During the season, Pittsburgh's Pud Galvin became the first player in major league history with 300 wins.  On July 31st, Kansas City had an interesting day.  Gus Weyhing of the Philadelphia Athletics no hit them, but it wasn't all bad.  A 22 year old outfielder named Billy Hamilton made his big league debut for the Cowboys.  He would be elected into the Hall of Fame in 1961 as one of the greatest players of the 19th century.  On October 3rd, both the NL's New York Giants and the AA's St. Louis Browns clinched their respective pennants.  It would be New York's first NL championship, while St. Louis' championship was its fourth straight year atop the AA.  The Giants won the NL handily, going 84-47 to finish nine games ahead of the Chicago White Stockings (77-58).  The AA was completely polarized.  Every team was either really good or really bad, with not a single team finishing within 23 games of .500.  The Baltimore Orioles, who went 57-80, were the closest to average team.   The Browns won the league with a 92-43 record, six and a half games ahead of Brooklyn (88-52).  In the World's Series, which was best six out of eleven, the Giants took the championship six games to four.  After years of finishing in the top tier but never placing first, Chicago's Cap Anson finally won an NL batting crown, finishing with a .344 mark for the White Stockings.  It was his first crown since 1881, having finished second in 1882, 1886, and 1887, while also placing fourth in 1884.  St. Louis' Tip O'Neill, who had won the Triple Crown in 1887, won the AA batting title again, this time with a .335 mark, a full hundred points lower than his .435 in 1887.  The White Stockings' Jimmy Ryan led the majors with 16 home runs, followed by New York's Roger Conner at 14.  St. Louis' Arlie Latham and Cincinnati's Hugh Nicol both stole over 100 bases for the second straight season, with Latham finishing at 109 and Nicol at 103.  Cincinnati's Long John Reilly put up one of the best years of his career, batting .321 with 13 home runs, 103 RBI, 112 runs scored, and 82 stolen bases.  On the mound, St. Louis' Silver King, who was in just his second full season, absolutely dominated, going 45-21 with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP, just missing out on an AA pitchers' Triple Crown by 24 strikeouts.  New York Giants pitcher Tim Keefe won the pitchers' Triple Crown in the NL, going 35-12 with a 1.74 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, and 335 strikeouts.  Keefe would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1964.  After the season, there would be a little more mixing up of the teams.  One team will drop out of the NL, one will join the AA, and one will transfer from the AA to the NL while changing its name.

News
37 year old pitcher Ted Lilly is retiring after fifteen major league seasons.
Royals extended the contract of general manager Dayton Moore for two years.

Though he's never been an ace, Ted Lilly has been a consistent starter since the beginning of the century.  Named after Teddy Roosevelt and hailing from the small mountain town of Oakhurst, California, a town of just 2800 people, Lilly has started at least 58 games for three different teams and was once a member of the "Moneyball" Oakland Athletics.  He debuted back in 1999 as a 23 year old with the Montreal Expos, appearing in nine games, three of which were starts.  He was quickly sent to the Yankees as the player to be named later in the Hideki Irabu deal.  He made seven relief appearances in New York in 2000 before posting his first full season in 2001.  The 25 year old went 5-6 with a 5.37 ERA in 26 games (21 starts), but really broke out in his next season.  Splitting the 2002 season between New York and Oakland, Lilly went 5-7 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 22 games (16 starts), proving that he was ready to stay in the majors full time.  He spent the entire 2003 season in Oakland, where he was 12-10 with a 4.34 ERA in 32 games (31 starts).  In the Division Series against Boston, he tossed seven innings of two hit ball in Game 3, then came back with two perfect innings of relief in the decisive Game 5.  However, the A's lost the series three games to two.  Lilly was traded yet again, this time to Toronto, after the season.  In 2004, he had the best year of his career to date.  In 32 starts, he went 12-10 with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP, earning his first All Star Game appearance.  In the game, he tossed a scoreless sixth in which, after allowing singles to Moises Alou and Mark Loretta, he retired Carlos Beltran (38 HR, 104 RBI, .267 AVG), Jack Wilson (11 HR, 59 RBI, .308 AVG), and Jim Thome (42 HR, 105 RBI, .274 AVG).  2005 turned out to be a rough season for Lilly, as he finished 10-11 with a 5.56 ERA in just 25 starts, but he would rebound in 2006. That year, he set a then career high in victories as he cruised to a 15-13 record and a 4.31 ERA in 32 starts.  In 2007, after being traded four times, he finally reached free agency, signing with the Cubs on a four year deal.  In his first year in Chicago, he was extremely successful, going 15-8 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in a career high 34 starts.  He was just as strong in 2008, going 17-9 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 34 starts.  2009 was arguably the best year of his career, coming when he was 33 years of age.  Despite making just 27 starts, he was 12-9 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP, earning a second trip to the All Star Game.  However, he did not appear in the game.  He split the 2010 season between the Cubs and the Dodgers, the latter of which had drafted him back in 1996.  Between the two teams, he was 10-12 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 30 starts.  2011, which he pitched at the age of 35, would be his final full season.  In 33 starts with the Dodgers, Lilly went 12-14 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  He was off to a strong start in 2012, his age 36 season, but shoulder pain shut him down after eight starts, in which he was 5-1 with a 3.14 ERA.  In a disappointing 2013 campaign, Lilly went was constantly on and off the disabled list, making five major league starts before being released on August 2nd.  He was 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in those starts.  For his career, he finished 130-113 with a 4.14 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP, striking out 1681 batters in 1982.2 innings.   He appeared in 356 games, of which 331 were starts.  

Trades
Giants traded Johnny Monell (0 HR, 1 RBI, .125 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 28) to the Orioles for cash considerations.

Free Agent Signings
Twins agreed to terms with Phil Hughes (4-14, 5.19 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 2013 age: 27-28) on a three year, $24 million deal ($8 million per season).
Giants agreed to terms to resign Ryan Vogelsong (4-6, 5.73 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 2014 age: 36-37) to a one year, $5 million deal.

The Twins continued to overhaul their rotation, adding a second new arm.  Days after agreeing to terms with Ricky Nolasco on a four year deal, Minnesota turned around and finalized the terms for a three year deal with Phil Hughes.  The addition of Hughes will cause the fight to be in the Twins' rotation to be a tough one, as after Nolasco, Samuel Deduno, Kevin Correia, and Hughes, anything can happen to guys like Scott Diamond, Kyle Gibson, Vance Worley, Kris Johnson, and Liam Hendriks, all of whom are fighting for that fifth spot.  Hughes has spent his entire major league career, dating back to 2007, with the Yankees, and has been widely inconsistent.  However, when he's on, he's on.  Though he's just 27 years old, he has seven years of major league experience and has made 132 starts.  His two best years were 2010 and 2012.  In the former, he was 18-8 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 31 games (29 starts), making it to the All Star Game.  In 2012, he was 16-13 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.  For his career, Hughes is 56-50 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 182 games (132 starts).  In his postseason career, he is 2-4 with a 4.54 ERA in 18 games (5 starts).

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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