Guardians Baseball Insider

Top MLB news of the week 12/21-12/27

Top News

• Monday: Free agent infielder Howie Kendrick retired. The 37-year old played for the Los Angeles Angels, the Los Angeles Dodgers and finished his career with a NLCS MVP and championship with the Washington Nationals. In 15 years, Kendrick had a great .294 BA with 78 HR and 501 RBI.

• Wednesday: The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed righty Tommy Kahnle to a two-year, $4.75MM deal. He can also earn an additional $750K with incentives. 

• Thursday: The Pittsburgh Pirates traded first baseman Josh Bell to the Washington Nationals in exchange for righties Will Crowe and Eddy Yean. 

• Saturday: Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco fractured his wrist while playing winter ball. He will miss four-to-six weeks of action. He should be ready in time for Spring Training, and the injury shouldn’t affect his 2021 season. 

• Sunday: The San Diego Padres acquired lefty Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for righties Luis Patino and Cole Wilcox, catcher Francisco Mejia and infielder, Blake Hunt. Clubs have not confirmed

• Monday (12/28/20): According to multiple reports the Cubs and Padres agreed to a deal where Cubs SP Yu Darvish and C Victor Caratini would be headed to the Padres in exchange for SP Zach Davies and other minor league prospects. Clubs have not confirmed.

• The Padres, prior to the Darvis trade news, reportedly reached a deal with Korean INF, Ha-seong Kim on a four year, $25MM deal.

Tribe News

• Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that the Cleveland Indians avoided arbitration with righty, Nick Wittgren. He will make $2MM this upcoming season. 

News and Notes

• Atlanta Braves legend Phil Niekro passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 81-years old.  Niekro played for 24 years for three different teams. He’ll most be remembered for his career with the Braves, but he also played for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays. The 5-time All-Star won the ERA title in 1966 posting a 1.87 ERA, and he had amazing glove work on the mound amassing five Gold Gloves during his career. In Niekro’s 24-year career, he went 318-274 with a career ERA of 3.35 and had 3,342K–which is 11th all-time. He was inducted into the baseball Hall Of Fame in 1997. IBI gives our condolences to the Niekro family. 

Photo: USA Today Sports