Hot Stove: 11/26

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History of Baseball: 1886
World Series Champion*: St. Louis Browns (93-46, .669 WPCT).  *Not modern version of World Series.
In 1886, the National League landscape was drastically different from 1885.  The Buffalo Bisons had dropped out of the league, but the real news was that the powerhouse Providence Grays, who as recently as 1884 had been National League champions, were gone.  One of the most successful teams in baseball's early history, the Grays had had a rough 1885 season and sold all of their players to the Boston Beaneaters.  In the place of the Bisons and Grays were the Kansas City Cowboys and the Washington Nationals.  In March, the AA reduced walks to six balls, but the number remained at seven in the NL.  Both leagues began keeping stolen base records for the 1886 season.  However, at this time, if a player advanced an extra base over what was hit, it was called a stolen base.  For example, if a player went from first to third on a single, that was a stolen base.  The same was true for scoring from second on a single or scoring from first on a double.  The existence Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players was announced during the season.  This would be a precursor to the Players League, which would form in 1890.  During the season, Cornelius McGillicudy, also known as Connie Mack, made his major league debut with the Washington Nationals.  He would go one to be one of the greatest managers of all time after his playing career.  The season saw a constant race between the Chicago White Stockings and the Detroit Wolverines, recently improved with the addition of Dan Brouthers, in the NL, and a runaway St. Louis Browns team in the AA.  At season's end, Chicago (90-34) would win the NL by two and a half games over Detroit (87-36), while the St. Louis Browns (93-46) would win the AA by twelve games over the Pittsburg Alleghenys (80-57).  The St. Louis Maroons, fresh off a last place finish in the 1885 season after their Union Association dominance, improved to 43-79.  The two new NL teams, Kansas City and Washington, would finish seventh and eighth in the NL, respectively.  At the plate, Chicago boasted the top two hitters for average in baseball with King Kelly and Cap Anson batting .388 and .371, respectively.  Anson's season was actually one of the greatest all time.  Leading the way for the 90-34 White Stockings, Anson hit ten home runs and drove in a major league record 147 to go with his .371 average.  In the AA, pitcher Guy Hecker won the batting title with a .341 average for Louisville.  It is to this day the only time a pitcher has led the league in batting average.  Hecker was also 26-23 with a 2.87 ERA on the mound.  The game's newest stat, stolen bases, saw its first leader.  Harry Stovey, the big power hitter for the A's, led the majors with 68 stolen bases, followed by Arlie Latham of the Browns, who stole 60.  Ed Andrews of the Quakers led the NL with 56.  On the mound, the Browns' Dave Foutz was arguably the best pitcher, going 41-16 with a 2.11 ERA in 57 games (55 starts).  The Quakers' Charlie Ferguson was 30-9 with a major league leading 1.98 ERA in 45 games (43 starts).  Baltimore's Matt Killroy became the only pitcher in major league history, still to this day, to strike out 500 batters in a season.  The 5'9" righty was 29-34 with a 3.37 ERA in 68 starts, striking out 513 batters in 583 innings, though he didn't even turn 20 until halfway through the season.  Over the offseason, both leagues will see a bit of mixing up of the teams, while the process of the at bat is changed forever.

News
The A's have come to a deal with the O.Co Coliseum and will remain playing there through the 2015 season.
Nationals released pitcher Yunesky Maya into free agency.

Trades
Nationals traded Fernando Abad (0-3, 3.35 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 2014 age: 28) to the A's for minor leaguer John Wooten (20 HR, 69 RBI, .257 AVG, 5 SB at Class A, 2014 age: 23).

The Nationals dealt Fernando Abad, their second to last left handed reliever, to the A's in exchange for a prospect.  No worries, as GM Mike Rizzo plans on adding another lefty such as Javier Lopez, J.P. Howell, or Ed O'Flaherty to go with a young Ian Krol.  Abad brings the A's an inconsistent but promising lefty who really came into his own in 2013.  The Dominican posted a 7.32 ERA in 2011, followed by a 5.09 mark in 2012.  In '13, he came back with a 3.35 ERA while making a career high 39 appearances.  His WHIP was also down from 1.88 in 2011 to 1.38 in 2013.  For his career, Abad is 1-14 with a 4.56 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 127 appearances for the Astros (2010-2012) and Nationals (2013).  
In return, Washington received outfield prospect John Wooten.  Wooten, an East Carolina University alum, played his first full professional season in 2013.  After batting .276 with four home runs in 72 games for Short Season Vermont and Class A Burlington, Wooten spent the entire 2013 season at Class A Beloit.  In 133 games, he hit 20 home runs and batted .257, scoring 76 runs and driving in 69.  He will turn 23 in January and should start with High Class A Potomac.

Free Agent Signings
Cardinals signed Jhonny Peralta (11 HR, 55 RBI, .303 AVG, 3 SB, 2014 age: 32) to a four year, $52 million deal ($13 million per season).
Dodgers signed Dan Haren (10-14, 4.67 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 1 SV, 2014 age: 33) to a one year, $10 million deal.
Phillies signed Reid Brignac (1 HR, 6 RBI, .185 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 28) to a minor league deal.
Royals signed P.J. Walters (2-5, 5.95 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, 2014 age: 29) to a minor league deal.
Rockies signed Greg Burke (0-3, 5.68 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, 2014 age: 31) to a minor league deal.

The signing of Jhonny Peralta is huge for the Cardinals.  St. Louis has been devoid of a solid offensive shortstop for years.  Rafael Furcal was supposed to fix that, but he ended up playing in just 171 Cardinals games in his two and a half seasons with the team.  St. Louis has not had a shortstop hit more than five home runs in a season since David Eckstein hit eight way back in 2005, and double digits have not been reached since Edgar Renteria hit ten in 2004.  In 2012, Daniel Descalso (4 HR, 26 RBI, .227 AVG) and Rafael Furcal (5 HR, 49 RBI, .264 AVG) split shortstop duties.  In 2013, Descalso (5 HR, 43 RBI, .238 AVG) and Pete Kozma (1 HR, 35 RBI, .217 AVG) were left to hold down shortstop.  On a perennially contending team such as the Cardinals, that cannot do.  Peralta will now provide the first offensive force at shortstop for the cardinals since David Eckstein.  Peralta, who was once called "the next Derek Jeter" by David Ortiz, is one of the best hitting shortstops in baseball.  In his first full season, 2005, then 23 year old Peralta hit 24 home runs, drove in 78, and batted .292 in 141 games for the Indians, prompting Ortiz's statement.  Though he never quite lived up to Big Papi's predictions, he did have some very good seasons.  In 2008, Peralta hit 23 home runs, drove in 89, and batted .276 while knocking a career high 42 doubles.  In 2011, his first full season with the Tigers, he hit 21 home runs, drove in 86, and batted .299 in 146 games, earning his first trip to the All Star Game.  Last year, despite sitting out 50 games due to a Biogenesis suspension, he hit eleven home runs and batted .303, a career high.  Since Peralta continues to put up great numbers, it is evident that the 31 year old does not intend to slow down at any point during this four year deal.  Over his eleven year career, he's hit 156 home runs, driven in 698, and batted .268 with 295 doubles in 1383 games for the Indians (2003-2010) and Tigers (2010-2013).

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman