After an exciting opening weekend, baseball is officially back. Teams around the league enjoyed opening day festivities, while the celebration will continue this week with others playing their home openers.
With so much excitement being generated around the league, let’s take a look at some of the biggest news stories in MLB over the last week.
Judge And Yankees Can’t Find Common Ground
While much of the attention at the beginning of the season is on Opening Day, this is also a great opportunity for teams to work on extensions with some of their young superstars.
While several deals were able to get done, the most notable one that didn’t was of Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees. General manager Brian Cashman disclosed that the Yankees offered the superstar a little over $213 million over seven years, but that was not enough to get a deal done for the 29-year-old.
Cashman indicated that the Yankees would re-engage with Judge on negotiations, but it currently appears that Judge may test the market next offseason.
Last year, Judge played in 148 games and hit .287/.373/.544 with 39 home runs, 98 runs batted in, and 89 runs scored in 550 at bats.
The Yankees currently have the second-best odds of winning the AL East at +250, and they are +1300 to win the World Series (seventh-best).
Others Agree To Deals
While Judge and the Yankees couldn’t strike a deal, others around the league were able to.
According to Zack Meisel of The Athletic, outfielder Myles Straw and the Cleveland Guardians were able to agree to a five-year extension for $25 million that includes a couple of club options.
Acquired from the Astros in exchange for Phil Maton and a minor leaguer, Straw hit .285/.362/.377 with two home runs, 14 runs batted in, 42 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases last year for Cleveland.
Elsewhere, the Pittsburgh Pirates may not have done much in free agency, but they did lock up one of the young, bright spots on their roster.
According to Fansided’s Robert Murray, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes agreed to an eight-year extension worth $70 million.
The 25-year-old hit .257/.316/.373 with six home runs, 38 runs batted in, 49 runs, and nine stolen bases in 362 at bats last year for the Bucs.
The Mariners also signed an infielder to an extension as they agreed to a four-year extension worth a little over $46 million.
Crawford, 27, hit .273/.338/.376 with nine home runs, 54 runs batted in, and 89 runs scored for Seattle last year.
Finally, the Red Sox announced Sunday that they had agreed to a four-year extension with reliever Garrett Whitlock for just under $19 million.
The 25-year-old Whitlock went 8-4 in 46 games of relief last year with a 1.96 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 81 strikeouts in just 73.1 innings last season.
A Pair Of Aces Hit The Injured List
Unfortunately, injuries have already popped up with players throughout the league as a shortened spring training may have left some players not completely prepared for Opening Day.
For the White Sox, Lucas Giolito suffered abdominal tightness on Opening Day and is expected to miss at least a couple of starts, according to The Athletic’s James Fegan.
This is especially crushing for a White Sox team that is already without Lance Lynn, who underwent knee surgery and is out for six to eight weeks.
There has been some speculation that the White Sox are interested in the A’s Frankie Montas, just like they were engaged with Oakland about Sean Manaea before he was traded to San Diego.
The problem, though, is that Oakland has reportedly been asking for Andrew Vaughn, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, and that is something Chicago is currently not willing to do.
The Texas Rangers also put a starting pitcher on the injured list. Within their huge offseason spending spree, the Rangers signed Jon Gray to a deal in one of their only significant pitching acquisitions.
On Saturday, the Rangers announced they were placing the righty on the IL due to a blister that popped up in his season opener.
It is certainly an ominous start to Gray’s Rangers tenure after signing a four-year deal worth $56 million, but the Rangers hope to have him back on the mound soon.
