Spring has splooted.
- In that strange milieu of action and inaction, the Central has settled into the spring training routine and mostly quieted down — at the same time, the free agent landscape is still ripe, and Opening Day is only about three weeks away. It’s the calm before the storm around the league, as the novelty of February box scores wears off, and the smell of a pennant chase wafts into the room.
- As such, this weekend’s updates aren’t so much tentpole headlines, and are more-so needles-in-information-haystacks, such as this performance update on one of the league’s top trade candidates:
Shane Bieber (who will hate this tweet) is hitting 94 mph in the first inning today. His average fastball velocity the last two years: 91.3 mph.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) March 2, 2024
- It’s not strictly divisional news, but Lucas Giolito’s departure from the Chicago White Sox is so recent, I thought it noteworthy to include here that he’s in danger of missing the entirety of the 2024 season with his new team, the newly-re-cursed Boston Red Sox.
Brutal news: Initial imaging showed Boston Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito likely has a partially torn UCL and flexor strain and could miss the 2024 season, league sources tell ESPN. Giolito, who signed a two-year deal with Boston, may need surgery to repair the right-elbow damage.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 5, 2024
- Giolito, of course, was the worst pitcher in 2018’s MLB, before finishing 6th in CYA-voting during an All-Star 2019 campaign. But both Giolito and the White Sox were a topsy-turvy disaster, and Giolito was traded to the Los Angeles Angels at the 2023 deadline, before posting a 6.89 ERA in six starts and finding himself dumped on the waiver wire alongside any of Arte Moreno’s assets of value a few weeks later.
- Brief Guardian Mike Zunino — that is to say, short-time Clevelander and not underwear security man — announced his retirement after his age-32 season. He played 42 games for the Guards and hit .177/.271/.306 in one of the backup-catching seasons of all time.
Worlds can’t express how proud I am of this man. He has worked so hard to live his dream of becoming an MLB player and it has been so much fun to be by his side through it all. He is retiring after 11 seasons in the big leagues. It has been such an amazing ride! Love you babe! pic.twitter.com/TNqfe3WEIH
— Alyssa Zunino (@AlyssaZunino) March 6, 2024
- Chicago has picked up Brad Keller, the former KC swingman.
The #WhiteSox have agreed to terms with RHP Brad Keller on a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to major-league camp.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) March 8, 2024
- And speaking of Kansas City, our friends over at Royals Review have the latest on the Kauffman Stadium situation.
We’ve reached 19 days until the Minnesota Twins kick off their 2024 season, and I stop writing about teams that aren’t the Minnesota Twins. Until then, enjoy this weekend’s news and notes, and see you in the gamethreads very soon!