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MLB News and Notes: Astros Hire Baker

With MLB spring training just weeks away, the offseason is quickly winding down. Despite its end approaching, there is still no shortage of news circulating as the dwindling list of free agents continue to sign with new clubs and teams prepare for the upcoming season.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the news from around the league this week.

Astros Bring In Baker

It has been quite an offseason for the Houston Astros. Since losing the World Series to the Washington Nationals, they have been facing backlash after having been found to be using technology to help cheat by learning catcher’s signs and informing hitters of upcoming pitches.

This backlash has seen them lose draft picks, a general manager and their manager, A.J. Hinch.

For the last part, the Astros officially found a replacement last week as they have tabbed Dusty Baker to be their new manager. Baker was signed to a one-year deal with a club option.

This gives one of the most respected managers in the league a chance to try to right the ship for the Astros. Baker also gets another shot at managing a possible World Series contender.

The length of the contract is interesting as it pretty much secures that Baker is nothing more than a stopgap for the club, but Baker’s history and reputation will hopefully bring a little more respect and integrity to a team that has largely been discredited and embarrassed over the last several months.

Castellanos Signs With Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have been one of the most active teams in all of baseball this offseason, and that trend continued last week with another couple of additions. The first, and more significant, deal was with outfielder Nick Castellanos. The Reds and Castellanos agreed to a four-year, $64 million deal that includes opt-outs after each of the first two seasons.

Castellanos was really the last of the significant free agents remaining, and at this point of the offseason, he got a pretty good deal. Last season, splitting time between the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, Castellanos hit .289/.337/.525 with 27 home runs, 73 runs batted in and 100 runs scored.

Given the poor lineup he started the year with in Detroit, his counting stats weren’t too bad. Now he will get the opportunity to spend an entire season in the National League and build on what has been a much improved ball club this winter in the Reds.

It will be interesting to see if this leads to a possible trade for the Reds as they now have a glut of outfielders that include Castellanos, recently acquired Shogo Akiyama, Nick Senzel, Jesse Winkler and Aristides Aquino.

In addition to Castellanos, the Reds brought in another former Chicago Cub with the addition of reliever Pedro Strop. The Reds and Strop agreed to a one-year, $1.825 million deal with incentives.

Strop will add nicely into what is already a pretty solid bullpen that includes the likes of Raisel Iglesias, Amir Garrett and Michael Lorenzen, among others. Last season, with Chicago, Strop was 2-5 with 10 saves while also sporting a 4.97 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and struck out 49 in 41 2/3 innings.

Diamondbacks Get Another Marte

Another team that has quietly had a nice offseason is the Arizona Diamondbacks. After already bringing in Madison Bumgarner, Kole Calhoun and Stephen Vogt, the Diamondbacks traded for outfielder Starling Marte this week. In the deal, they sent minor leaguers Liover Peguero and Brennan Malone back to Pittsburgh.

Marte’s addition will actually affect two Martes. Not only does this deal put Starling Marte roaming center for Arizona, but it will also likely push Ketel Marte, who played some centerfield last year, to a more permanent spot at second base.

Starling Marte has had a nice career and hopes to bolster Arizona’s lineup. Last year, with the Pirates, Marte hit .295/.342/.503 with 23 home runs, 82 runs batted in, 97 runs scored and 25 stolen bases.

He hopes to continue this production for Arizona for this year and next, as the team holds an option on him for 2021 before he enters free agency.

Bryant Loses Grievance

The Chicago Cubs’ superstar Kris Bryant has had a grievance against his club for several years now, stemming back to concerns that the club purposely held him down to gain an extra year of service time. If he had won the grievance, it would have made Bryant a free agent after this upcoming season, but this week the arbitration panel ruled against Bryant, meaning that he will still be under team control for the next two seasons.

For Bryant’s part, he says that he holds no ill will against the club and will ultimately play ball as normal moving forward, but it will be interesting to see what his future is in Chicago. There have been rumors throughout the offseason that Chicago might look to move him, and this ruling would ultimately help the Cubs, as they would be trading two years of his service, not just one.

Still, it remains to be seen whether they do that or try to hold onto Bryant in hopes of competing in the NL Central this season.

Last year with Chicago, Bryant hit .282/.382/.521 with 31 home runs, 77 runs batted in and 108 runs scored. At just 28 years old, Bryant has a lot of good baseball ahead of him. It just remains to be seen who that baseball will be played with.

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