News and Notes for Tuesday, November 26th, 2024
After getting designated for assignment, George Valera is back with the Guardians on a minor-league deal:
Guardians have re-signed OF George Valera to a minor league contract with a spring training invite.
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) November 25, 2024
Although any major league team could have signed him as a minor-league free agent, there is still some risk he gets selected in the Rule 5 draft, as a team may be hoping to stash him on the IL for a while as he recovers from knee surgery. However, I’d be optimistic he stays in the fold as I’m sure teams would have preferred to sign him to a minor-league deal and promised him an opportunity to keep their 40-man flexibility entirely intact.
Baseball America did a 2028 projected Red Sox lineup, which was fun, so I did the same thing for us on Twitter if you’re interested:
What a fun idea from BA! Here’s a (2nd) attempt at a projected 2028 lineup for the @CleGuardians from us. (It’s Christmas-time, let me have Noel)
The graphic is from the amazing @shuddupmeg! (First time I posted it, I had accidentally sent her 2 RF’s, so the quick fix is me) https://t.co/HLTs3OiB7V pic.twitter.com/yvmM1YGESx
— Covering the Corner (@CovertheCorner) November 26, 2024
Michael Rosen from FanGraphs has a great piece about how pitchers like Max Fried outperform their FIP that I recommend.
Juan Soto has received his five initial offers from the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox and Blue Jays, reportedly, so hopefully we will see the offseason MLB activity really get going shortly.