MLB free agents

WISE Sports Radio MLB hit: Dec. 11, 2019

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The 2019-20 baseball offseason is already much more exciting and interesting than it was a year ago, when transactions and activity were virtually frozen until Bryce Harper and Manny Machado signed. And that didn’t happen until late February, when teams had already reported to spring training camps.

Meanwhile, the NFL and NBA make free agency an event which fans and media follow with excitement. MLB still isn’t there, but at least top free agents like Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg are now signing in December as expected. Baseball’s winter meetings — essentially the sport’s signature offseason event — is meaningful again.

Cole’s nine-year, $324 million (!!) contract with the New York Yankees was the main topic for Wednesday’s WISE Sports Radio baseball segment with Pat Ryan:

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WISE Sports Radio MLB segment: Dec. 9, 2019

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Shortly before our Monday baseball segment on WISE Sports Radio, Stephen Strasburg re-signing with the Washington Nationals hit the news machine. It’s an encouraging start to baseball’s winter meetings, which has traditionally been where big offseason news occurs but has been disappointingly quiet the past couple of years.

Pat Ryan and I also discussed the Modern Era Committee’s inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller. Not as flashy or controversial as last year, when Harold Baines was voted in. Miller, in particular, has been long deserving for his role in forever changing baseball’s economics.

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WISE Sports Radio segment: Dec. 3, 2019

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Normally, I do baseball segments Monday and Wednesday on WISE Sports Radio. But Pat Ryan and I got our times mixed up on Monday, and Pat’s taking Wednesday off. So we did a longer mash-up segment on Tuesday with NFL and college football talk before touching on some baseball topics and doing a movie review.

News of the Carolina Panthers firing head coach Ron Rivera broke shortly before my segment, so Pat, Charlie Metcalf, and I started there first. Then we discussed my Awful Announcing interview with Toledo sportscaster Jordan Strack, who went viral when his question offended Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh. We closed out with the Pittsburgh Pirates hiring Derek Shelton as their new manager and conversation on A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

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WISE Sports Radio MLB segment: Nov. 27, 2019

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With the exception of the Pittsburgh Pirates hiring Derek Shelton (previously the Minnesota Twins’ bench coach) to be their new manager, baseball news is virtually non-existent around the Thanksgiving holiday.

So on Wednesday’s WISE Sports Radio baseball segment, Pat Ryan, Charlie Metcalf, and I look at which teams will be active in pursuing free agents, who really needs to make an impact signing, and some of the big names rumored to be traded this offseason.

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WISE Sports Radio MLB hit: Nov. 25, 2019

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Parents, raise your kids to play baseball — and play it well. There’s a whole lot of money being thrown around out there. The New York Yankees are trying to avoid paying Jacoby Ellsbury the $27 million they owe him for 2020, while the Seattle Mariners just agreed to pay $24 million to a 23-year-old prospect who hasn’t yet played above the Double-A minor league level.

Pat Ryan and I discuss that and more on Monday’s WISE Sports Radio baseball segment, including the Chicago White Sox making a push toward contending next season and the Atlanta Braves’ wasting no time in making additions for 2020.

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