The fallout of the Blake Snell signing. Reasons to give thanks for baseball. And other stories from around baseball that you may have missed over the holiday.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
- Jake Mintz analyzes the signing of free agent Blake Snell by the Dodgers. With the deal, Mintz argues that the rich got richer—both the Dodgers and Snell.
- Gabe Lacques writes that if you want to hate the Dodgers as the new “Evil Empire,” you have to also hate the other teams that helped them along the way.
- Dan Szymborski breaks down what the Dodgers can expect out of Snell.
- Keith Law writes that the Dodgers got their best pitcher in Snell—if he can stay healthy. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Matt Snell writes that the Dodgers starting rotation is full of incredible upside and incredible risk.
- Will Leitch has five teams that are feeling the pressure to do something now that Snell is with Los Angeles.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith reports on what the Blue Jays are trying to accomplish this winter and has more on their pursuit of free agent Juan Soto.
- Russell Dorsey has some suggestions for what the Tigers can do this offseason to improve on their successful 2024 season.
- David Schoenfield has one big move for each MLB team. (ESPN+ sub. req.) His deal for the Cubs is interesting, to say the least. I think the Cubs would do it. I’m not sure Seattle would.
- Anthony Castrovince has five Black Friday deals that should happen. His proposed Cubs trade was all over social media. I don’t think there’s any way the Blue Jays agree to it—which is why I didn’t feature it in After Dark.
- Thomas Harrington has five free agents who should improve on their 2024 seasons going forward. So, potential bargains.
- Michael Baumann has bad news for teams like the Cubs who are looking for a catcher in the free agent market: the pool of free agent catchers is bad.
- Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes sits down for an interview with Jim Lachimia.
- Two-time World Series champion Brandon Crawford has retired.
- Shohei Ohtani wants a court order to recover the $325,000 worth of baseball cards purchased by his former interpreter with money stolen from him.
- This was very predictable. Commissioner Rob Manfred’s plan to bring all broadcast rights under one roof in 2028 has hit a snag as Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner says the Yankees are not on board with the plan. (The Athletic sub. req.) Evan Drellich reports.
- Davy Andrews looks at what the Statcast arm angle data can tell us about pitching platoon splits.
- David Adler has the 15 luckiest hits of 2024.
- And since we were all supposed to give thanks yesterday, Will Leitch has one reason for each team to be thankful.
- Sam Dykstra has one reason for each team to be thankful about their farm system.
- And finally Mike Axisa has one reason for fans of every team to be thankful.