Hot Stove: 12/5

History of Baseball: 1890
NL Champion: Brooklyn Bridegrooms (86-43, .667 WPCT).  AA Champion: Louisville Colonels (88-44, .667 WPCT).  PL Champion: Boston Reds (81-48, .628 WPCT).
The offseason of 1889-1890 was tumultuous to say the least.  The Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players, which had been existed for a few years at this point, issued its manifesto, with the following quote included: "players have been bought, sold, and exchanged as though they were sheep rather than American citizens".  The Brotherhood, headed by future Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward, broke off and formed its own major league: the Players' League (PL).  It consisted of eight teams: the Boston Reds, Brooklyn Ward's Wonders, Buffalo Bisons, Chicago Pirates, Cleveland Infants, New York Giants (not to be confused with the NL's New York Giants), Philadelphia Athletics (also not to be confused with the AA's Philadelphia Athletics), and the Pittsburgh Burghers.  This new Players' League would be based on joint ownership of the team by players and officials, as players from the National League had very little power of the management of their teams.   Notable players to jump included Ward, Pud Galvin, Pete Browning, Silver King, Roger Conner, Tim Keefe, and Mark Baldwin.  With many players leaving the NL as well as the AA, both leagues saw teams jumping all over the place.  The Cincinnati Red Stockings moved from the AA to the NL and became the Cincinnati Reds, while the Philadelphia Quakers changed their name to the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Stockings became the Chicago Colts.  The Indianapolis Hoosiers and the Washington Nationals dropped out of the NL and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms made the AA to NL jump.  The AA, which was turned upside down, saw Brooklyn and Cincinnati move to the NL and saw the Kansas City Cowboys and Baltimore Orioles drop out, though Baltimore would come back midseason.  The Brooklyn Gladiators (who folded midseason and were replaced by Baltimore), Rochester Broncos, Syracuse Stars, and Toledo Maumees joined the AA.  The Association was falling toward its demise.  The AA did contribute something great.  The New York Giants (PL), who needed a new stadium, built a horseshoe shape field known as the Polo Grounds.  This ballpark would stand until 1964 and serve as one of the most famous ballparks of all time.  It would be the site of numerous World Series as well as Merkle's Boner and Willie Mays' famed "The Catch".  With all these players out of the NL, many new guys made their debuts.  First came 19 year old George Davis (Hall of Fame 1998), who joined the Cleveland Spiders, followed by 21 year old Jesse Burkett (HOF 1946) three days later with the Giants.  A day after Burkett, 20 year old Kid Nichols (HOF 1949) joined the Boston Beaneaters.  Tim Keefe, of the PL's New York Giants (after leaving the NL's New York Giants), became the second pitcher in history to win 300 games.  On July 23rd, Harry Stovey of the Boston Reds (PL) became the first player in history to knock 100 career home runs.  Five days later, New York's (NL) Mickey Welch became the third player in history to win 300 games.  On August 6th, a 23 year old named Denton Young made his debut for the Cleveland Spiders.  The man would later gain the nickname "Cy" and go on to win 511 games.  He is the fourth future Hall of Famer to debut in 1890, after Davis, Burkett, and Nichols.  On September 14th, the Buffalo Bisons of the PL named a new interim manager: Connie Mack.  Mack would manage until 1950 as the longest serving manager in history.  At season's end, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms won their second straight league championship, this time winning the National League after going 86-43, 6.5 games ahead of the Chicago Colts (83-53).  In the AA, the Louisville Colonels went worst to first to take the championship by going 88-44, ten games ahead of the Columbus Solons (79-55).  The Boston Reds won the Players' League championship in its only year of existence, going 81-48 to finish 6.5 games ahead of the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders (76-56), who were headed by John Montgomery Ward.   Back in the NL, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys turned in one of the most embarrassing seasons of all time, going 23-113 (.169 WPCT) to finish 66.5 games out of first place and 23 games behind the closest team, the Cleveland Spiders (44-88).  Jack Glasscock of New York won the NL batting title with a .336 mark, while Louisville's Jimmy Wolf earned the honor in the AA with a .363 average.  Cleveland's Pete Browning won the only batting title ever given in the PL by batting .373.  It was the third time in his career that he had batted over .370.  Roger Conner led all of baseball with 14 home runs, while Hardy Richardson of the Boston Reds drove in 146.  The Phillies' Billy Hamilton was again the only player to reach 100 stolen bases, finishing with 102.  The Colts' Bill Hutchinson led baseball with 42 victories, while Cincinnati's Billy Rhines had the best ERA at 1.95.  Louisville's Scott Stratton was arguably baseball's best pitcher, going 34-14 with a 2.36 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 50 games (49 starts).  After the season, the PL would disband and many teams would again shuffle around the leagues.

News
White Sox star Paul Konerko has decided to come back for 2014, which will likely be his final season.
The MLB and NPB (Japanese League) are nearing an agreement that would limit the maximum bid for a team attempting to acquire a posted player at $20 million, with the player choosing among the teams that offer $20 million.

Trades
Brewers traded Norichika Aoki (8 HR, 37 RBI, .286 AVG, 20 SB, 2014 age: 32) to the Royals for Will Smith (2-1, 3.94 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 2014 age: 24-25).

Free Agent Signings
Yankees agreed to terms with Jacoby Ellsbury (9 HR, 53 RBI, .298 AVG, 52 SB, 2014 age: 30) on a seven year, $153 million deal ($21.86 million per season).
Red Sox signed A.J. Pierzynski (17 HR, 70 RBI, .272 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 37) to a one year, $8.25 million deal.
Tigers signed Joe Nathan (6-2, 1.39 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 43 SV, 2014 age: 39) to a two year, $20 million deal ($10 million per season).
A's signed Scott Kazmir (10-9, 4.09 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 2014 age: 30) to a two year, $22 million deal ($11 million per season).
White Sox resigned Paul Konerko (12 HR, 54 RBI, .244 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 38) to a one year, $2.5 million deal.
Mariners signed Willie Bloomquist (0 HR, 14 RBI, .317 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 36) to a two year, $5.5 million deal ($2.75 million per season).
Rays resigned Juan Carlos Oviedo (missed 2013 season, 4.34 career ERA, 92 SV, 2014 age: 32) to a one year, $1.5 million deal.
Brewers signed Irving Falu (0 HR, 0 RBI, .250 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 31) to a minor league deal.

The Yankees have made the biggest splash of the offseason by agreeing with Jacoby Ellsbury on a seven year deal.  Boston fans are furious as the 30 year old outfielder is leaving the organization he has called home since 2005 and is joining the hated Yankees.  It's Johnny Damon all over again, but this time, he's in it for seven years instead of Damon's four.  Ellsbury will replace Curtis Granderson in center field, though I believe this to be a bad signing by New York.  First off, Ellsbury has only played over 145 games in a season twice in his career, missing almost all of 2010 and half of 2012 to injury.  He's the kind of name, but not the kind of guy, to earn $153 million.  In addition, Yankee Stadium is a bad stadium for a gap hitter like Ellsbury, who regularly knocks a lot of doubles and triples but has only reached double digits in home runs once, whereas Yankee Stadium is very friendly to home run hitters.  Now let's look at Ellsbury as a player.  He is an all around excellent ball player, when healthy.  He's thrice led the AL in stolen bases, holds a .297 career average, earned a Gold Glove in 2011, and had one of the best seasons of anyone in 2011.  In 158 games, he knocked 32 home runs, drove in 105, and batted .321 with 39 stolen bases.  As I said, he earned a Gold Glove, while also earning a Silver Slugger, an All Star appearance, and AL Comeback Player of the Year.  He finished second in the AL MVP voting, behind only Detroit's Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.40 ERA).  Last year, he missed most of September, but still batted .298 with nine home runs and 52 stolen bases in 134 games.  He was only caught stealing four times for an amazing 93% success rate.  For his career, he's hit 65 home runs, driven in 314, and batted .297 with 241 stolen bases and 476 runs scored.  He owns a .301 career postseason average with eleven stolen bases in 38 games.

It's been a bad week for Boston.  Ellsbury signed with New York and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia joined Miami.  To replace Saltcrachoqusia, Boston signed A.J. Pierzynski.  Apparently, they just love catchers with crazy last names.  Pierzynski is known as one of the meanest, most fiery players in the game, but something tells me the city of Boston can tame a guy like A.J.  He's been one of the best catchers in baseball for the last decade, starting with his first great year in 2003.  In 137 games for the Twins that year, he batted .312 with eleven home runs and 74 RBI.  Since then, he's batted at least .257 and hit at least eight home runs in each of the eleven seasons.  Though he's been in the majors since 1998, arguably his best season came as recently as 2012.  In 135 games, he knocked 27 home runs, drove in 77, and batted .278 for the White Sox.  Last year, he hit another 17 home runs and batted .272, proving that he's still got it in him at 36 years old.  In 1763 career games, he's hit 172 home runs, driven in 800, and batted. 283 with 356 doubles for the Twins (1998-2003), Giants (2004), White Sox (2005-2012), and Rangers (2013).  He's also hit five home runs with 17 RBI and a .300 average in 30 career postseason games.

The Tigers have officially moved on from the implosion of Jose Valverde, signing baseball's active saves leader (with Mariano retired of course) in Joe Nathan.  Despite sitting in the Sandman's shadow as another AL closer, Nathan has been one of the most dominant closers of the last decade.  He's a six time All Star and a four time DHL Delivery Man of the Month (given to the best reliever of the month).  It's hard to pick a best season of his because they've all been good.  I'll start way back in 2004, when he was 29 years old and went 1-2 with a 1.62 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and 44 saves in 73 appearances for Minnesota.  2006 was also a great year, when he was 7-0 with a 1.58 ERA, a 0.79 WHIP, and 36 saves for Minnesota.  In 2008, he posted a 1.33 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP in 68 appearances while saving 39 games.  He saved 47 games in 2009 and had another great year last year.  At 38 years old, he went 6-2 with a 1.39 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, and 43 saves for Texas.   In his thirteen year career, he is 57-30 with a 2.76 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and 341 saves in 714 games (29 starts).  If you limit his stats to just the AL (subtracting his years in San Francisco from 1999-2003), he holds a 2.14 ERA and an incredible 0.96 WHIP in 593 appearances.
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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, 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