Hot Stove: 1/13

History of Baseball: 1902
AL Champion: Philadelphia Athletics (83-53, .610 WPCT).  NL Champion: Pittsburgh Pirates (103-36, .741).
While the NL remained unchanged over the offseason, the AL saw a good deal of movement.  The Cleveland Bluebirds became the Cleveland Bronchos, and the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis to be come the Browns.  The 1902 season saw many future greats break in after Billy Hamilton's retirement following the previous season.  First, the Chicago Orphans brought up a 21 year old shortstop named Joe Tinker on April 17th.  Days later, Cleveland brought up a 22 year old pitcher named Addie Joss, who promptly fired a one-hitter, the first of 45 career shutouts, in his April 26th debut.  Lastly, on September 1st, the famed double play combination of Tinker to Evers to Chance is completed with 21 year old Johnny Evers debuting for the Orphans.  Unfortunately, Pud Galvin, at this point the all-time wins leader at 361, passed away just before the season.  Another interesting occurrence from the 1902 season was the May 16th match-up between Cincinnati hitter Dummy Hoy and New York pitcher Dummy Taylor, marking the first time two deaf-mutes faced each other in a major league game.  On June 15th, two minor league teams, the Corsicana Oil Cities and Texarkana Casketmakers of the Texas League, squared off at a tiny park in Ennis, Texas, with fences only 210 feet from home plate (due to Blue Laws forbidding baseball on Sundays in Corsicana).  The small dimensions of the field led to the greatest offensive outburst in major league history.  Corsicana defeated Texarkana 51-3, led by catcher Nig Clarke, who went 8-8 with 8 home runs.  The 8 home runs, whether deserved or not, were the most ever by one player in a professional baseball game.  On July 8th, the Giants named 29 year old shortstop John McGraw the new manager.  McGraw would be manager until 1932.  As far as the standings went, the Pittsburgh Pirates dominated the league by going 103-36 and finishing a whole 27.5 games ahead of the second place Brooklyn Superbas (75-63).  McGraw's Giants finished 53.5 games back at 48-88, last in the NL.  The AL race was much closer, with Philadelphia taking the pennant with an 83-53 record, five games ahead of the Browns (78-58).  The Baltimore Orioles finished last, going 50-88.  Statistically, Ed Delahanty, who had just jumped from the NL's Phillies to the AL's Senators, put up some of the best numbers in baseball, batting a major league leading .376 with ten home runs and 93 RBI.  Cleveland's Charlie Hickman was just as good, hitting eleven home runs, driving in 110, and batting .361.  Pittsburgh's Ginger Beaumont won the NL batting crown at .357.  As far as home runs went, the Athletics' Socks Seybold led the majors with 16 to go along with a fine .316 average.  Nap Lajoie failed to match his great 1901, batting .366 with seven home runs in an injury shortened season of 87 games.  On the mound, Cincinnati's Noodles Hahn led the majors with a 1.77 ERA to go along with a 23-12 record.  Cy Young led in wins, going 32-11 with a 2.15 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.  Rube Waddell put up a breakout season with the A's, going 24-7 with a 2.05 ERA.  The 103 win Pirates were led on the mound by Jack Chesbro, who was 28-6 with a 2.17 ERA in 35 games (33 starts).  In his rookie season, Addie Joss went 17-13 with a 2.77 ERA to set the tone for his magnificent nine year career.  1903 would have much to look forward to, including the first official World Series.

News
Arbitrator Frederic Horowitz has announced that Alex Rodriguez will be suspended for the entire 2014 season, including the playoffs.  His suspension therefore was reduced from 211 games to 162.  Rodriguez now plans to file a suit against the MLB and MLBPA.
35 year old outfielder Jason Bay is planning to retire, having played 11 major league seasons.

Jason Bay, a three time All Star and 2009 Silver Slugger winner, saw his career come to a screeching halt just as quickly as it started.  He was one of the better hitters in baseball for six years, but saw his production fall off seemingly overnight.  A native of the backwoods town of Trail, British Columbia, Bay was an overlooked prospect drafted by the Expos in the 22nd round of the 2000 draft out of Gonzaga University.  Despite his low draft status, he proved to the Expos why they drafted him, batting .315 with 14 home runs in 125 games in 2001 in the minors.  He was traded to the Mets in 2002, who subsequently sent him to the Padres two months later.  He kept on hitting the entire time, and was in the majors by May of 2003.  He got eight at bats before being sent down, then was traded to the Pirates in August.  He was therefore a member of four teams before his 25th birthday.  Combining his time with San Diego and Pittsburgh, he hit four home runs and batted .287 in 30 games.  The Pirates kept him up for the 2004 season, where he broke out with 26 home runs, 82 RBI, and a .282 average in 120 games, winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award over Khalil Greene (15 HR, .273 AVG).  He continued his meteoric rise in 2005, where he hit 32 home runs, drove in 101, and batted .306 with 21 stolen bases and 44 doubles, enough to place him 12th in the NL MVP voting.  He continued to produce in 2006, where he hit 35 home runs, drove in 109, and batted .286 with another 11 stolen bases.  2007 ended up being a down season, as he hit only 21 home run, drove in 84, and batted .247 in 145 games.  He bounced back in 2008, splitting the year between the Pirates and Red Sox and batting .286 with 31 home runs and 101 RBI, as well as ten stolen bases.  A strong contributor in his first postseason, he hit .341 with three home runs in eleven postseason games.  He spent the entire 2009 season with Boston, hitting 36 home runs, driving in 119, and batting .267 with 13 stolen bases to win his first Silver Slugger Award in the outfield.  Following the season, he signed a huge four year, $66 million deal with the Mets.  As it turned out, it ended up one of the biggest wastes of $66 million ever.  In his very first season in New York, he batted only .259 with six home runs in 95 games.  He played a full season in 2011, but batted .245 with 12 home runs in 123 games.  His third season in a Mets uniform proved to be disastrous, as he batted a mere .165 with eight home runs in 70 games.  The Mets terminated his contract following the season, making him a free agent rather than keeping him in uniform for the 2013 season.  The Mariners picked him up, but he batted only .204 with 11 home runs in 68 games before his release in August.  He retired in the offseason.  He finished his career with 222 home runs, 754 RBI, and a .266 average in 1278 games.  He stole 95 bases and knocked 240 doubles.  Bay will go onto the 2019 Hall of Fame ballot with the likes of Mariano Rivera, Todd Helton, Andy Pettitte, and Ted Lilly, but likely won't get in.

Free Agent Signings
Yankees signed Robert Coello (2-2, 3.71 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 1 SV, 2014 age: 29) to a minor league deal.
Giants signed Kameron Loe (2-3, 7.09 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 2014 age: 32) to a minor league deal.
Tigers signed Trevor Crowe (1 HR, 13 RBI, .218 AVG, 6 SB, 2014 age: 30) to a minor league deal.
Marlins resigned Kevin Slowey (3-6, 4.11 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 2014 age: 30) to a minor league deal.
Orioles resigned Alexi Casilla (1 HR, 10 RBI, .214 AVG, 9 SB, 2014 age: 29-30) to a minor league deal.
Nationals signed minor leaguer Joseph Dunigan (9 HR, 22 RBI, .233 AVG, 3 SB at AZL, AA, and AAA, 2014 age: 28) to a minor league deal.
Braves signed Yunesky Maya (0-1, 54.00 ERA, 6.00 WHIP, 2014 age: 32) to a minor league deal.
Yankees agreed to terms with Scott Sizemore (0 HR, 0 RBI, .167 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 29) on a minor league deal.
Padres signed Xavier Nady (missed 2013, 101 career HR, .270 AVG, 2014 age: 35) to a minor league deal.

In a week that was highlighted by non-free agent related news (Hall of Fame, A-Rod, and retirements), Robert Coello topped the free agent signings.  The Yankees added 29 year old righty Robert Coello to their bullpen, giving it depth.  The 6'5", 250 pound Central Florida native has done his fair share of bouncing around in his career, playing in the minor league systems of the Angels, Red Sox, Cubs, Blue Jays, and Angels again before landing his new deal with the Yankees.  He's made 155 minor league appearances over six seasons as opposed to 28 major league appearances over three seasons.  Last season, with the Angels, he had somewhat of a breakout year, going 2-2 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in a career high 16 appearances.  For his career, he is 2-3 with a 5.90 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP for the Red Sox (2010), Blue Jays (2012), and Angels (2013).  He is known for his forkball.

Waiver Claims
Rays claimed Pedro Figueroa (0-0, 12.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 2014 age: 28) off waivers from the A's.

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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