Hot Stove: 12/12

I apologize for the late blog.  The snowstorm knocked out internet at my house.

History of Baseball: 1893
National League Champion: Boston Beaneaters (86-43, .667 WPCT).
For the 1893 season, all twelve teams remained the same.  In addition, the mound was moved back from 55 feet 6 inches from home plate to 60 feet 6 inches, the modern distance.  The 1893 season turned out to be the eighteenth final year for Jim O'Rourke, who concluded his career with 2304 hits and a .310 average while playing for Boston, Providence, Buffalo, New York, and Washington.  He would come back and appear in one game in 1904, then be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945 as a New York Giant.  The game would also lose Tim Keefe, who played his fourteenth and final season, finishing 342-225 with a 2.62 ERA in his career.  He would be elected into the Hall of Fame in 1964 with the Giants.  The Boston Beaneaters finished their season atop the NL, going 86-43 and finishing five games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates (81-48).  The Washington Senators finished last at 40-89.  Billy Hamilton played in only 82 games for the Phillies, but he technically had enough at bats to qualify for the batting title, which he earned with a .380 average.  Sam Thompson played in 131 games and finished second at .370.  Ed Delahanty of the Phillies put up one of the game's greatest individual seasons, batting .368 with 19 home runs (which led the league) and 146 RBI (which also led the league).  A pair of Beaneaters stood atop the league in runs scored, with Herman Long leading with 149 and Hugh Duffy finishing second with 147.  It was a year to forget for pitchers, as St. Louis' Ted Breitenstein (who threw the no-hitter in the AA's final game) led baseball with a 3.18 mark, the highest ever to lead the league up to this point (1893).  Cy Young was again baseball's best pitcher, going 34-16 with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.  Amos Rusie of New York was almost as good as Young, going 33-21 with a 3.23 ERA, 208 strikeouts, and a 1.39 WHP in 56 games (52 starts).  That takes me to WHIP's.  WHIP's were extremely high, as Kid Nichols led baseball with a 1.28 mark, again the highest ever to lead the league.  

News
Former managers Bobby Cox, Tony la Russa, and Joe Torre have been elected into the Hall of Fame.
Longtime Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay has announced his retirement after 16 major league seasons.  He is 36.
Major League Baseball has now announced that home plate collisions will be outlawed.
Ever injured starter Mark Prior announced his retirement after five major league seasons.  He is 33 and last pitched in the minors for the Reds in 2013 and last appeared in the majors in 2006 with the Cubs.
37 year old Jerry Hairston Jr. announced his retirement after 16 major league seasons.

With his retirement, Roy Halladay proved to suffer one of the greatest drop-offs in production in recent memory.  Just two years after finishing in second place in the 2011 NL Cy Young Award race, Halladay is out of baseball.  The Colorado native will go down as arguably the best pitcher in Blue Jays history.  He first began to gain serious notice back in 1996, when as a 19 year old he was 15-7 with a 2.73 ERA in 27 starts for High Class A Dunedin.  By 1998, he was up in the majors, and he pitched his first full season in 1999, going 8-7 with a 3.92 ERA in 36 games (18 starts).  However, a nightmarish 2000 turned out to be one of the worst seasons in history.  The 23 year old went 4-7 with a 10.64 ERA and a 2.20 WHIP in 19 games (13 starts), seeing himself demoted to AAA Syracuse, where he didn't do much better.  However, he bounced back in 2001 by going 5-3 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP in 17 games (16 starts), setting up his breakout 2002 season.  That year, Halladay burst onto the scene as one of the best pitchers in baseball.  In 34 starts, he 25 year old in his fifth big league season went 19-7 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP, earning his first of eight trips to the All Star Game and coming up just short in his bid for a Cy Young Award.   In 2003, he would get it, going 22-7 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 36 starts, even pitching 266 innings.  He beat out Chicago's Esteban Loaiza (21-9, 2.90 ERA) and Boston's Pedro Martinez (14-4, 2.22 ERA) for the award, earning 26 of the 28  first place votes (the other two went to Loaiza).  Injuries curtailed his 2004 and 2005 seasons, where he combined to go 20-12 with a 3.28 ERA over 40 starts, getting back to the All Star Game for a third time.  He would return for a full season in 2006, when he was 16-5 with a 3.19 ERA in 32 starts, earning a fourth trip to the All Star Game.  2007 would turn out to be merely "good", but he would not have another season that was not "great" until 2012.  In 31 2007 starts, the 6'6" right hander went 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA while completing seven games, the second highest total of his career to that point (behind his nine in 2003).  In 2008, he returned to the ranks of the best pitchers in baseball, going 20-11 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in 34 games (33 starts), finishing second in the AL Cy Young race behind Cliff Lee (22-3, 2.54 ERA).  He returned in 2009 in what would be his twelfth and final year with the Blue Jays, going 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA in 32 starts, even tossing nine complete games and four shutouts.  He finished fifth in the AL Cy Young race, as Kansas City's Zack Greinke (16-8, 2.16 ERA) took home the award.  When Toronto traded Halladay to the Phillies, he didn't miss a beat.  In his first season in Philadelphia in 2010, he took home a second Cy Young Award (unanimously) by going 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in what was probably the best year of his career.  Of course, his season was highlighted by a May 29th perfect game over the Marlins, which was then followed up by the National League's first postseason hitter in history on October 6th.  2011 turned out to be another incredible season, as he was 19-6 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP In 32 games.  He finished behind only Clayton Kershaw (21-5, 2.28 ERA) in the NL Cy Young race.  Though he had posted four straight seasons with ERA's under 2.80, it would be the beginning of the end for old Doc Halladay.  He entered the 2012 season aged 35, but was hounded by injuries and finished just 11-8 with a 4.49 ERA in 25 starts.  Hoping for a bounce back season in 2013, he was utterly disappointed after making just 13 starts, in which he was 4-5 with a 6.82 ERA.  On September 17th, he made his final dominant start of his career, tossing six innings of one run ball against the Marlins.  On September 23rd, 2013, Halladay 390th and final major league start, but lasted just three batters before being removed.  He finished his career 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 416 games (390 starts).  He completed 67 games and tossed 20 shutouts, both of which were the most among active pitchers at the time of his retirement.  His 2749.1 innings were behind only Mark Buehrle (2882.2), Tim Hudson (2813.2), and C.C. Sabathia (2775.1) for active pitchers.  In six years, he will be a tough call for the Hall of Fame.  I would probably vote him in.

Trades
In a three team trade, Mark Trumbo (34 HR, 100 RBI, .234 AVG, 5 SB, 2014 age: 28) was sent to the Diamondbacks, Adam Eaton (3 HR, 22 RBI, .252 AVG, 5 SB, 2014 age: 25) was sent to the White Sox, and Tyler Skaggs (2-3, 5.12 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 2014 age: 22-23) and Hector Santiago (4-9, 3.56 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 2014 age: 26) were sent to the Angels.
A's traded Jerry Blevins (5-0, 3.15 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 2014 age: 30) to the Nationals for minor leaguer Billy Burns (0 HR, 37 RBI, .315 AVG, 74 SB at High Class A and AA, 2014 age: 24).
A's traded Brett Anderson (1-4, 6.04 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 3 SV, 2014 age: 26) to the Rockies for Drew Pomeranz (0-4, 6.23 ERA, 2.03 WHIP, 2014 age: 25) and minor leaguer Chris Jensen (5-8, 4.55 ERA, 1.31 WHIP at High Class A, 2014 age: 23).
Marlins traded Justin Ruggiano (18 HR, 50 RBI, .222 AVG, 15 SB, 2014 age: 32) to the Cubs for Brian Bogusevic (6 HR, 16 RBI, .273 AVG, 2 SB, 2014 age: 30).
Padres traded Anthony Bass (0-0, 5.36 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 2014 age: 26) to the Astros for minor leaguer Patrick Schuster (0-1, 1.83 ERA, 1.08 WHIP at High Class A, 2014 age: 23).

It's always hard to make sense of three team trades, so it's better to break it down into three regular trades.  The Angels effectively traded Mark Trumbo for Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago, the Diamondbacks effectively traded Adam Eaton and Tyler Skaggs for Mark Trumbo, and the White Sox effectively traded Hector Santiago for Adam Eaton.  Now we can see how the deal really turned out.  Let's start with the Angels, whom I feel got a good deal out of this.  Though they parted with power hitter Mark Trumbo, they brought on a pair of pitchers.  They big return for Los Angeles is Tyler Skaggs, a 22 year old left handed starter out of Santa Monica, just a 45 minute drive from Angel Stadium.  Skaggs is a high ceiling starter who has dominated the minors but hasn't quite put it together in the bigs. He first gained notice as a Futures Game selection in 2011 just around his 20th birthday.  He would finish the 2011 season 9-6 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 27 starts for High Class A Visalia and AA Mobile.  2012 was his best minor league season, as he was 9-6 with a 2.87 ERA in 22 starts for Mobile and AAA Reno.  He was called up to the bigs, but went just 1-3 with a 5.83 ERA in six starts for the D-Backs.  After pitching more in the minors in 2013, he came back up to the bigs and went 2-3 with a 5.17 ERA in seven starts, a slight improvement over his 2012 season.  He lowered his walk frequency (15 walks in 38.2 innings versus 13 walks in 29.1 innings) and raised his strikeout totals. I have no doubt that the 6'5" lefty will become a productive starter for the Angels.  Los Angeles also acquired Hector Santiago, a 25 year old left hander out of Bloomfield, New Jersey.  He was a dominant reliever in 2012, going 4-1 with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 42 games (4 starts) for the White Sox, but made the transition to starting pitcher in 2013.  Last year, he pitched in 34 games (23 starts) and went 4-9 with a 3.56 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  The Angels could use him in either department for the foreseeable future.
The Diamondbacks brought in the big haul with Mark Trumbo, but I have to say that they drew the short stick in the deal.  They gave up Skaggs, the high ceiling starter, and Adam Eaton, a popular young outfielder.  Trumbo does, however, bring them the power they so badly craved after trading Justin Upton a season ago.  Paul Goldschmidt walked 99 times last year because he lacked any protection in the lineup.  Trumbo will be that protection.  The 6'4", 235 pound power hitter has smacked at least 29 home runs in each of the past three seasons.  His best year was 2012, when he hit 32 home runs, drove in 95, and batted .268 in 144 games for the Angels.  He upped the power a little bit last season, knocking 34 home runs, driving in 100, and batting .234 in 159 games.  One thing to watch out for with Trumbo is that he does not hit for average, as evidenced by his .250 career batting average.  He does have 95 home runs and 284 RBI, so the D-Backs know that they're getting some big time pop.  
I feel that the White Sox were winners in this trade.  They gave up a good pitcher in Hector Santiago, but they gained a great outfielder in Adam Eaton.  He is best remembered for his incredible 2012 minor league season, where he batted .375 with seven home runs and 44 stolen bases in just 130 games for AA Mobile and AAA Reno.  In fact, he hit .381 in 119 games at Reno.  He hasn't quite translated that success to the big leagues, where he's batted .254 with five home runs and seven stolen bases in 88 games.  He just turned 25 a week ago, so he's still young and has the ability to translate that minor league dominance to big league success.  He's excellent in the field, which the White Sox should love.

I'm gonna come right out and say I disagree with this trade that the Nationals made.  Sure, they acquired left handed help, which they badly needed, but they didn't get the right kind of left handed pitching and they got it for too high of a price.  Jerry Blevins was the A's longest tenured player at the time of his trade, but he just doesn't fit the bill for what the Nats needed.  The seven year veteran is not your typical left hander, as he actually gets righties out much better than he does lefties.  In 2013, lefties batted a respectable .253 against him, while righties were choked down to a .190 mark.  Now, that doesn't mean he's a bad pitcher.  He's actually an excellent reliever, but this is not what the Nationals, who don't have a single left handed reliever other than Xavier Cedeno, who is not reliable at all.  That means the Nats don't just need a lefty, but they need a lefty specialist.  Blevins is not in the least bit a lefty specialist.  Now, if the Nats turned around and signed a TRUE lefty specialist like Eric O'Flaherty (whom I really want) or just a solid lefty like J.P. Howell, then I wouldn't be as mad about the trade.  On the bright side, Blevins has been a dominant force out of the A's bullpen for a while.  He had his best season very recently, in 2012, going 5-1 with a 2.48 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 63 appearances.  He regressed a bit last year but was still solid, going 5-0 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 67 appearances.
The Nats gave up Billy Burns.  I love this guy.  Other than power, he has everything you could ask for.  The 24 year old out of Marietta, Georgia, hits for a very high average (.322 in 2012 and .315 in 2013) and steals bases like a mad man.  In 2013, he stole 74 bases, good for third in the entire minor leagues behind only the White Sox' Micah Johnson (84) and the Reds' Billy Hamilton (75).  He walked 72 times last year, giving him the excellent on base percentage of .425, which was actually down from his .432 mark in 2012.  He only struck out 54 times in 444 at bats last year.  Put together the speed, the on base ability, and the low frequency in which he strikes out, he is the perfect leadoff man.  The Nationals definitely paid a price for Jerry Blevins.

Free Agent Signings
Tigers signed Rajai Davis (6 HR, 24 RBI, .260 AVG, 45 SB, 2014 age: 33) to a two year, $10 million deal ($5 million per season).
Marlins signed Garrett Jones (15 HR, 51 RBI, .233 AVG, 2 SB, 2014 age: 32-33) to a two year, $7.75 million deal ($3.88 million per season).
Orioles signed Ryan Webb (2-6, 2.91 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 2014 age: 28) to a two year, $4.5 million deal ($2.25 million per season).
Mariners agreed to terms with Corey Hart (missed 2013 season, 154 career HR, .276 AVG, 2014 age: 32) on a one year, $6 million deal.
Rangers signed J.P. Arencibia (21 HR, 55 RBI, .194 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 28) to a one year, $1.8 million deal.
Rangers signed Brent Lillibridge (0 HR, 5 RBI, .119 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 30) to a minor league deal.
Rangers signed Josh Wilson (1 HR, 4 RBI, .200 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 33) to a minor league deal.

Rajai Davis is one of my favorite players.  He's one of the fastest guys in baseball and has always shown a passion for the game.  The Tigers signed him to work in the outfield with Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, and Andy Dirks, likely forming a platoon with the latter.  He's averaged 43 stolen bases per season over the past five years, topping out with 50 in 2010.  That was arguably his best season, when he batted .284 with five home runs to go along with the 50 stolen bases.  Last year, he batted .260 with six home runs and 45 stolen bases, finishing second in the AL for the third time in four seasons.  He'll get most of his at bats in 2014 off of lefties, whom he excels against.  Last year, he batted .319 against left handed pitching, up from his .285 mark in 2012 and his .288 mark in 2011.  For his career, he has 29 home runs, a .268 average, and 268 stolen bases in 821 games for the Pirates, Giants, A's, and Blue Jays.

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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