Morning Rundown: Minor League signings, recapping Yamamoto mega contract
Former Pirates sign elsewhere, Yamamoto signs historic contract
The Pittsburgh Pirates had quite a few minor league free agents going into this off-season, so it was going to be a little hard to keep track of everyone, but there has been a few to sign elsewhere recently.
Lolo Sanchez signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, on December 8, according to his transaction log on MiLB.com. He was a minor league free agent last year, but resigned with the Pirates.
He constantly put up some of the lowest whiff rates in the system, but just never hit enough to move past Double-A. Sanchez stole 30 or more bases in three different seasons during his career.
Originally picked up in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 two years ago, Jacob Gonzalez signed a minor league free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
He put up a .836 OPS in 112 games played in 2022, but struggled in Double-A this past season.
Franicsco Acuna resigned with the Pirates after becoming a free agent this past season. He missed the first part of the season after being suspended in 2022. He bounced around three levels last year as a depth player and put up a .705 OPS in 2023.
The biggest news coming out late Thursday night was the Los Angeles Dodgers signing right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a historic 12-year $325 million contract.
This of course was made possible by Ohtani deferring so much of his contract to the future.
Before even pitching a single inning in the majors, Yamamoto becomes the highest paid pitcher in major league history.
Along with Ohtani and Yamamoto, the Dodgers also added Tyler Glasnow to their future rotation.
Capitalism 101 time, kiddies ...
I gotta love the "free market capitalism" nonsense - that something is FREE!! Oh, goodie! ("free market" actually means "free from regulation, taxation, and responsibility")
So the Dodgers spent $1,000,000,000 on a few players, and the few baseball fans left are supposed to look forward to their teams' chances this year, and forever into the future?
I'd say "bah-humbug" if I hadn't lost nearly all interest in this charade of a sport .... hey, it is America's Pasttime after all, with the free market ruining any and all competitive balance.
I hope we get a Keller extension for Christmas.
I think he'd go for a frontloaded 5 year deal with an option for a 6th.
Something like...
Year 1) $20 million
Year 2) $18 million
Year 3) $16 million
Year 4) $14 million
Year 5) $12 million with $5 million buyout
Year 6) $20 million
Basically 5 year $85 million guaranteed or 6 year $100 million.
Maybe go 4 year with a 5th year option, same premises 1)$20 2)$17 3)$15 4)$13 w/$5 buyout 5)$20 4 year $70 or 5 year $85.