Spring Training camps will be opening soon and rosters are getting some remakes. Astros signed one of those hot shot Japanese pitchers, who some have compared to World Series MVP, Yamamoto. Good start. HOUSTON -- Tatsuya Imai made his intentions clear with his first few words during an introductory news conference with the Houston Astros on Monday. The Japanese right-hander smiled before reading a prepared message in English from his phone. "What's up H-town?" he said. "I am Tatsuya Imai and I'm ready to chase a world championship. Let's go, Houston." The Astros and Imai agreed to a $54 million, three-year contract last week, bolstering a rotation searching for reinforcements after ace Framber Valdez became a free agent and appears unlikely to return.
Is this related to signing Kyle Tucker to a ridiculous $240 million 4-year contract. I question whether he's worth the $22 million the Cubs offered him. Heck, what do I know? I'm guessing his agent has blackmail-worthy information on the Dodgers' owners.
Dodgers payroll for 26 is 413M. My poverty franchise’s is 131M. I suspect the small and mid market franchises will be pushing very hard for a hard cap after the CBA ends this year. No other pro league had this level of competitive financial imbalance.
Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones are you newest members of the HOF. Beltran overcame being one of the leaders of the Astros scandal.
In a historical context, apparently MLB and sportswriters don't consider it a disqualifying scandal. I don't have a problem with either choice. IMO, while neither would be considered among the "greatest ever" they both represent long-term, consistently high-level performance.