Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s OK, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
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It's Jan. 5. Normally, the offseason would be slowing down right about now, and there would be one or two free agents worth paying attention to left on the market. We're going to see free agency ramp back up instead, as there are still a number of legitimate options you and teams still care about left to sign. Chris Davis led the majors with 47 homers last year, and is also the league leader since 2012 with 159. Alex Gordon will be 32 in 2016, but he's also coming off a five-year stretch with a 121 OPS+ and plays absurd defense in left. Justin Upton has been even better offensively (126 OPS+ since 2011) and is all of 28 years old. Yoenis Cespedes hit 35 homers in 2015, and while his range is occasionally suspect, the dude can throw a baseball about as hard as he can hit one.
They aren't alone, either. Wei-Yin Chen threw 191 innings in 2015 and has a 110 ERA+ in four years in the majors -- Mike Leake, who signed for $80 million, has a 101 career mark, and Chen has been far more consistent than $90 million man Jeff Samardzija. Chen is younger, too. Ian Desmond's 2015 was rough, but he plays quality defense at short and usually hits more than well enough for the position. Dexter Fowler and Denard Span are still out there, Doug Fister is waiting around for the right rebound contract... there are so many useful players left to sign.
And they'll all start signing soon, once someone budges and gets one of those outfielders (or Davis) off the board -- well, OK, maybe Cliff Lee won't sign, but we covered that already. Span and Fowler and co. probably aren't going anywhere until the likes of Gordon and Upton and Cespedes set the non-Heyward portions of the market. And since spring training is just over a month away, and there are still teams with needs out there, everything will be set back into motion soon, once they shake off the holiday lull.
- Dan Haren tweeted random truths about his playing career on Monday, including his pre-game plans to avoid pooping. Baseball!
- Jonathan Papelbon is probably going to be the Nationals' closer. I guess none of those people OK with Papelbon choking Bryce Harper are general managers.
- The Kenta Maeda contract is loaded with performance bonuses that leave a whole lot of questions unanswered about just what his cost will be.
- There is only one correct Hall of Fame ballot, thanks to the dumb restrictions on voting.
- Managers understand leverage, they just didn't get to their knowledge the same way the more statistically inclined did. Russell Carleton wrote about the need to condense the ideas for leverage strategy into a short, understandable statement.
- David Ortiz hasn't retired yet, but that hasn't stopped speculation of who the next Red Sox designated hitter could be.
- The beauty of Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances in the same bullpen is that, hypothetically, one of the three will always be available to get big outs, regardless of the inning.
- Patience is a virtue in free agency, and as you can tell by today's intro, it's one all 30 teams have been practicing lately.
- Denard Span's hip just might be okay, if his video evidence is anything to go by.