Today's main post is running a little late. Use this thread to discuss the Hot Stove, which is finally a little hot. I'm excited, for one, to see Adam Dunn in a place where he could very easily become a folk hero (or a goat, although not the goat.) I'm also excited to see Ozzie Guillen pretend he likes to watch Adam Dunn play baseball. Question: Does Adam Dunn hit his 500th home run while on this contract? (He'll need to average 36.5—maybe 37, just to be safe in case they decide to stop awarding fractional home runs.) Does he hit 500 home runs?
Meanwhile, Mariano Rivera resigned with the Yankees. I'm going to eschew all sabermetric analysis here:
Mariano Rivera's career ERA: 2.23. His ERA last year: 1.80. His contract: Two years, $30 million.
Derek Jeter's career batting average: .314. His batting average last year: .270. His contract: ___________
Finally: The Jose Lopez Question is officially answered, the Mariners' low-OBP "15-to-20 homer guy" traded to Colorado for the equivalent of, say, Bryan Augenstein. Lopez's defense, which usually receives low marks, has actually fared well in the PBP metrics of late, although a lot of that's come at third base. If you're more inclined to believe the anti-hype, he's basically a slugging-heavy Skip Schumaker, right down to the awful 2010.