Well, if there was ONE player that could put us over the top and lead us to the promised land, it would have been Chris Sale in my opinion. I was a fan BEFORE he was drafted by the White Sox and was very disappointed we took Pomeranz ahead of him. To think that they are on the same club now. WoW!

He's even bringing Big Papi out of retirement!?!

http://www.12up.com/posts/4229875-david ... -instagram

The Royals have traded closer Wade Davis to the Cubs in exchange for young outfielder Jorge Soler, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Reports of these talks first surfaced last night, with Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, ESPN’s Jayson Stark, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and FOX’s Ken Rosenthal all shedding light on the situation.

I wanted Jorge Soler ever since I found out he defected from Cuba. At 3mil for the next 6 years is quite a bargain. That contract was right up our alley. There goes my right fielder! Unless Soler regresses, which I don't think will happen, the Royals just got themselves a pretttttty good ballplayer. Diaz and Soler would have been exciting to watch.

Little trades can pay big dividends. I think this one might be one of them.

Jorge Soler and Bradley Zimmer are both 24 years old. Soler has a couple of years of major league experience behind him including 2 NL League Championship series. He had a big series in 2015. It will be interesting to see how their careers parallel one another in the seasons to come. Damn!

You would've wanted to trade Cody Allen for Soler?

Nationals Acquire Adam Eaton

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/w ... onals.html

Civ,

I never thought that KC would give up Wade Davis for Jorge Soler.

To answer your question, I would have given the trade some very serious considerations. Miller is a good guy to fall back on and we have an excellent bullpen by committee to cover the setup spots. Kansas City must know something about Soler that the rest of the league doesn't know. Soler would have filled a big hole in our outfield. With Yandy Diaz, Brantley and Soler, we would have had a quality outfield that would be a fun one to watch. Yes! I make the deal

It's a gutsy call by the Royals and it would have been a balsy move by the Indians.

With Chris Sale off the trade block, I just read where Jose Quintana is on the block. Since the sox are in a major rebuild right now, maybe we can help out. If not Sale, Quintana would make a good bride's maid. It looks like the White Sox just dropped out of race in our division. I don't think the Twins are ready to compete. Kansas City just lost an important piece of their puzzle. Can Davis be replaced. On paper, it looks like a third place finish for KC. That leaves Detroit.

The trade is a huge gamble by the Royals as it would have been for the Indians.

Any trade for Allen would have taken Soler and one of either Willson Contreras or Albert Almora or maybe both.

on Friday, the Texas Rangers reached an agreement on a minor-league deal with free-agent first baseman James Loney.

Loney is coming off a season with the New York Mets in which he batted .265/.307/.397 -- marks worse than the 2015 effort that earned him a release from the frugal Tampa Bay Rays. As such, it's not too surprising to learn that the Rangers remain interested in a different first baseman: one Mike Napoli, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
Napoli is, of course, coming off a much better season than Loney: he hit .239/.335/.465 with 34 home runs for the Cleveland Indians. You can't even necessarily give Loney the defensive edge, since Napoli is a slick fielder at the cold corner -- a good thing for Texas's infielders, who made their throws last season to Mitch Moreland, the American League Gold Glove Award winner.

The Rangers and Napoli have been linked for a while now -- ever since the Indians moved on to Edwin Encarnacion -- so you have to figure something will get done at some point. Loney, then, is probably heading to camp with an eye on impressing another team. Such is life for a fringe player.

Former Tribesman Brandon Moss signs two year deal with Royals

Brandon Moss officially signs with the Royals, will make $3.75 million in 2017
Only $7.25 million in 2018 and a $1 million buyout for 2019 with a "mutual option" that year for a mere $10M.
Moss, who could find himself batting in the lower third of the lineup, is coming off a 2016 in which he batted .225 with a .300 on-base percentage and 28 homers in 128 games.

Numbers not so different from Napoli's. Age 33. Nap's older and less likely to get a 2 year deal, I assume.

Busy signing day for ex-Tribe outfielders:

Ryan Raburn, minor league deal with Cincinnati
Michael Bourn, minor league deal with Baltimore
Franklin Gutierrez, major league deal with the Dodgers

Milwaukee's top prospect homered twice and drove in four runs in the Brewers' 11-0 exhibition win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers on Friday at Maryvale Baseball Park. Scooter Gennett followed Brinson's second home run of the day with a solo shot, and Jesus Aguilar added a three-run homer for the Brewers in an eight-run fourth inning to put the game away. Aguilar was 2-3 in the game.

Clint Frazier, lf, Yankees. Frazier is the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect behind their other high-profile trade deadline acquisition, Gleyber Torres. Frazier is seemingly closer to helping the big club, perhaps as soon as late 2017. On Tuesday against Detroit, Frazier pinch hit for Brett Gardner and ripped a two-run double in a 9-5 win. Frazier’s calling card is elite bat speed—GM Brian Cashman famously dubbed it “legendary”—and he also has above-average speed and an above-average throwing arm that would play well in the corners.

Brewers outfield prospect Ryan Cordell lifted a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, and Jesus Aguilar and Minor Leaguer Nick Noonan hit back-to-back homers in the seventh.

Brewers up next: Former Cleveland Indian Jesus Aguilar will get a look at his former club on Monday, when the Brewers travel to Goodyear, Ariz., for a 2:05 p.m. CT game. The Brewers claimed Aguilar off waivers on Feb. 2, and are looking at him as a backup first baseman and right-handed power bat off the bench. He is scheduled to start Monday's game at first base, with Matt Garza on the mound for Milwaukee. Aguilar changed his approach to hitting this winter, more contact, more patience, a liittle less off the power stroke. He's off to a good start. Hope he makes the team.