Here are three things we’ll be watching on Thanksgiving…
1. Holiday dealings:
Will any agents or general managers step away from the holiday feast in order to pick up a phone and make a deal? Thanksgiving tends to be pretty quiet in baseball circles but notable things have happened before. Back in 2020, MLBTR posted a list of some notable transactions that went down on Thanksgiving, including Torii Hunter signing a five-year deal with the Angels in 2007. The Marlins were particularly busy in 2005, sending Carlos Delgado and cash to the Mets for Grant Psomas, Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit, and then finishing an even bigger deal that sent Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to the Red Sox for Jesús Delgado, Harvey García, Hanley Ramírez and Aníbal Sánchez.
2. Starting pitching market:
Overall, there’s been little movement this offseason, but the starting pitching market seems to have more momentum than other areas. Multiple reports suggest that demand for rotation help is incredibly high and a few names have come off the board already. The Phillies were able to retain Aaron Nola while the Cardinals signed Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. There’s a ticking clock on Yoshinobu Yamamoto since he has been posted, while Shota Imanaga is expected to be posted on Monday. It appears the ball is rolling down the hill and picking up some steam, so teams in this area might have to be ready to jump.
3. Jensen in DFA limbo:
The Mariners swung a two-for-one deal yesterday, flipping Eugenio Suárez to Arizona for Carlos Vargas and Seby Zavala. That left them needing a roster spot, which squeezed out Ryan Jensen. The M’s now have less than a week to work out a trade or try to pass Jensen through waivers. He didn’t have a great season in the minors in 2023 but there are so many open roster spots around the league right now, with many clubs having just freed up space via non-tenders and free agency. The Mets only have 28 players on their 40-man, while Atlanta and San Diego are each at 31. Perhaps that will help Jensen find another landing spot in the next few days.
Although not an official move, didn’t Theo have Thanksgiving at the Schillings house in a recruitment effort? That worked out ok.
swan – Yes, Theo and Jed Hoyer. I wrote about it extensively early this year.
Certain people accused me of fabricating it, shame on them.
I remember the reporting of that meeting. Surprised you were challenged on it. Oh, wait. This is the MLBTR comment section. Of course you were challenged! I’m also old enough to remember the story of George Steinbrenner flying to Chicago and close the deal to sign Reggie Jackson on Thanksgiving Day 1976.
Happy Thanksgiving, Fever, and to all here at MLBTR.
Lord – My earliest baseball memory was Reggie’s 3-HR WS game the following season. I was still a free agent fan until the year after that, when a classmate turned me into a Sox fan. 1978 – what a time to become a Sox fan, I learned about disappointment and heartbreak really really fast!
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well Lord.
Every Turkey Day I tell someone new my favorite Thanksgiving joke, the one about the lady who goes into a butcher shop looking to buy a Boston turkey … you’ve probably heard it already?
Continue, FPG! I love jokes.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody, stay blessed!
Gwynn – Okay so the lady walks into the butcher shop and tells the man behind the counter …
“I want to buy a Thanksgiving turkey, but not just any one … it has to be a Boston turkey, because they are the best!”
The clerk replies ….
“But lady, I’ve got hundreds of turkeys back in the freezer, I have no idea where any of them came from.”
The lady assures the clerk ….
“Don’t worry, I know how to tell where they are from. Just bring them out one at a time.”
The clerk is skeptical but says “Okay lady, whatever” and then he goes in the back, grabs a turkey, brings it out to the lady and hands it to her.
The lady sticks her thumb up the turkey’s butt and says “Nope, this is a New York turkey. Please bring out another.”
The butcher comes back a minute later and hands the lady another turkey.
She does the same thing with her thumb and says “Sorry, this one is from Chicago. Please bring out another.”
After the lady rejected a dozen different turkeys, the clerk comes out and hands her another and she finally says “Ahhh … now this is a Boston turkey, I’ll take it!”
So as the clerk was wrapping and ringing up her purchase, the lady stares at him and curiously asks “You look kind of familiar, but I can’t recall where I might have seen you. Where are you from?”
The clerk immediately turns his back to her, drops his pants, and says “I don’t know lady, you tell me”.
Turkey stuffing?
A big thumbs up! Then again, maybe not too big…
I thumbed up both comments… maybe I should go wash before we eat?
=)
Outstanding… you and I were very close in becoming RSN fans. I started to follow after 75( friend was big red machine ) Big Jim Ed was favorite player growing up until Tek and of course you know who use to be… Happy Thanksgiving to all The Nation from Chi Town
Gwynn – SUPERB response! Haha!!
Happy Thanksgiving my friend.
Olmtiant – Yeah all my friends were big Freddie Lynn fans because of the great catches, constant smile and awesome personality.
Me, I liked Jim Ed because he was the (very) strong and silent type. It matched my personality at the time. Eck and Jim, fave pitcher and fave hitter.
Of course they transitioned to Clemens and Boggs.
Baseball Reference has either Clemens or Boggs as the team’s top player for ten straight years, 1983-1992.. So disappointing that ownership couldn’t put together a championship team during all those years with arguably the best hitter and best pitcher in MLB.
Fever, one of my favorite memories of Jim Ed was him playing in the Sammy Davis Jr GHO on Wednesday, pro/am day, mid/late 70’s. No huge crowds and we were able to walk a few holes w/Jim tossing a football back and forth with him and Fuzzy (although I was 11 or so and Fuzzy might have been in a diff group). Jim was a larger than life presence that could hit the crap out of the ball but probably hit more trees/fans than fairways.
Ella – I’m very familiar with the GHO, thanks for the trip down memory lane. Those were good days back then.
Greatest Thanksgiving trade ever
Rsox – That Thanksgiving dinner really made all the difference. Before that, Schilling had no desire to play in Boston and was likely headed to the Yankees instead.
Just another example of 2004 being fate, so many things needed to happen … a true miracle it all did, including the Manny trade getting canceled because of the ARod trade getting canceled.
Schilling has strong “Uncle you’d rather avoid at Thanksgiving” energy, and Theo willingly put himself in that position? Bold move.
It was 2003 and the world was a much better place…
@rsox
John Rocker’s infamous interview was in 1999, so it’s not as though loudmouths with subjective opinions were invented after 2003.
Happy Thanksgiving
…and Happy Birthday Ryan Jensen!
Mets only have 28 on their 40 man roster? I wonder if they will take a couple rule 5 guys? They could pick an outfielder… they have an older OF right now with Nimmo, Marte and Stewart all over 30. Maybe a pitcher?
I see Jensen I’m thinking Kenley Jensen.
That’s like reading Curry and it’s Seth Curry.
Shadow – It should trigger Jackie Jensen, as Kenley is a Jansen not a Jensen. LOL
Or clicking for D’Andre Swift and it’s Taylor Swift somehow making NFL headlines.
Or older brother Steph! It has to be a bit confusing when dad Dell is calling out for one of them in the Curry household at family gatherings.
Happy Thanksgiving to all from an old curmudgeon.
Now either help in the kitchen or stay out of the way!
Thanksgiving day in Chicago:
For White Sox fans it’s a bitter reminder that their franchise is an MLB turkey.
For Cubs fans it’s the promise of another championship feast in the not too distant future.
Let’s not count our turkeys before they hatch A. Cubs have talked a good game but still have lots of holes to fill.
At least my Cubs have a proven front office exec with a ring and an owner willing to spend trying to garner more jewelry.
My White Sox, not so much. Saying grace on Thanksgiving should include “Sell the Sox, Jerry!”
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
Don’t be a turkey!
Did you just call me a jive turkey?
Let’s get this holiday done and get that hot stove stoked up! Have a good one all!
We need that hot stove to cook the meal. But maybe things start moving tomorrow!
Reply to # 3.
GB% of 45.4% and kwERA of approximately 4.036, the calculated GBkwERA is approximately 5.53. Ewww… Don’t know why the M’s would want to keep him on the roster.
Happy Thanksgiving. I’m grateful to Tim and his stable of fine writers at MLBTR.
coop – Tim is the best, him and Steve have an open invite to my Thanksgiving table.
Amen!
So you’re the guy who is a fan of both Chicago teams. I heard there was one but now I finally get to meet you haha.
Believe it or not, being baseball ac/dc (bi-Soxual?) in Chicago was more common when I became a fan in the early 1960’s, especially for one like me who wasn’t born into an affiliation. Both teams were on WGN TV and often even had Jack Brickhouse as their common voice.
This was well before interleague baseball. At that time, the teams didn’t even share spring training leagues with the White Sox in Florida and the Cubs in Arizona. The only time they competed was for an in-season charity exhibition game when both teams were in town at the same time.
Since then, I have somehow managed to continue this trend in my family. My daughter needed no conversion. My son in-law was another matter. He grew up on the northside of Chicago as a Cubs fan in a big family full of them. Fortunately, he was a big baseball fan who never hated on the White Sox. He worked downtown for many years. Securing Cubs tickets became harder and more expensive. Not so with the White Sox. Working downtown made it more feasible for him to purchase and attend White Sox games, especially when the team offered their spring ballpark pass plan in order to get fans to the park during the inclimate months of April and May. He annually purchased a two ticket spring season pass knowing he had a daughter and father in-law more than willing to also attend. This became such a popular family thing that his many Cubs fan siblings also came on board. Since then, they’ve all become bi-Soxual even if they lean towards the Cubs in interleague contests. My grandkids are each fans of both teams with my grandson even attending the White Sox baseball camp this past summer in Dunham Park on Chicago’s NW side near their home.
Asap very cool… I was a cub fan early on… Bill Madlock was my guy but White Sox gave tickets to straight A students or perfect attendance.. I was Cal before Cal hence got to see Redsox in early / mid 70’s.. seats were in right field.. maybe 7-8 years old pops and I are in right field when a group of three men with canes get seated in front of us… they each have a transistor radio and only one doesn’t have ear piece . As the announcer says batting Yaz/ Fisk/ etc the man would scream WALK HIM!!! As Boston had a potent offense.. it made me very nervous to hear this man with this long white cane screaming this after every batter for Boston.. My dad saw this and whispered in my ear “they’re blind son “ I didn’t say a thing.. about a inning later it dawned on me( again I got tickets for perfect attendance) I said Dad why would they come to game then??. God bless my Pops… said back that’s not what I’m thinking… I’m wondering who drove???
Happy Thanksgiving! So grateful for baseball and for this place we get to talk about the greatest sport in the world.
Today we all are grateful except the Turkeys.
May your team sign em all, except the ones my team wants!