MLBTR Originals

A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR this past week:

• MLB Trade Rumors Podcast featured host Jeff Todd discussing the Christian Yelich extension with MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. Later in the podcast, as a follow up to his St. Patrick’s Day post naming Gerrit Cole as an extension candidate for the Pirates, Jeff and MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth weighed the likelihood of a Cole extension, along with other possible Pittsburgh candidates. A new edition of MLB Trade Rumors Podcast drops every Thursday and can be accessed on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher.
• Zach Links visited Blue Jays camp and spoke with Dioner Navarro and Daniel Norris about how they have handled the trade rumors surrounding them.
• “I think I’m at that point where I don’t even pay attention anymore, whether it’s here or somewhere else,” Navarro told Zach. “I’m just trying to get ready and let my agent do what he’s gotta do. If he gets something done, he’ll let me know.“
• “At first it was like, I would never see it, but I would always get text messages from buddies back home like, ’Dude, are you getting traded?’ and they’d send me screenshots of MLB Trade Rumors and I’m like, ’What the heck?’” Norris explained to Zach. “But, at the end of the day, it’s just about throwing a baseball. It’s not like I can say, ’Hey, please don’t trade me, I like your organization.’ So you just have to take whatever is given to you.“
• Jeff continued his review of the 2014-15 free agent spending by considering the context of multi-year contracts.
• Tim Dierkes concluded his Out Of Options 2015 series (the 40-man roster players who have less than five years service time and are out of minor league options, per MLBTR sources) with his survey of the AL Central, NL Central, and NL East. Tim also combined the division-by-division breakdowns into one all-encompassing list sorted alphabetically by team.
• Charlie posited a five-year contract extension worth $55-60MM with a team option and a player/vesting option is a fair deal for the Padres and right-hander Tyson Ross.
• There were four installments of MLBTR’s Offseason In Review series this week: Cardinals (by Charlie), Giants (by Mark Polishuk), Astros and Twins (both by Steve Adams).
• Charlie listed the teams who could be big spenders next winter.
• Steve hosted the weekly live chat.
• Zach gathered the best the baseball corner of the web had to offer in Baseball Blogs Weigh In.