Hot Stove: 12/7

History of Baseball: 1891
NL Champion: Boston Beaneaters (87-51, .630 WPCT).  AA Champion: Boston Reds (93-42, .689 WPCT).
After the crazy 1890 season, the Players' League folded.  Many former PL teams joined the NL and AA.  The Boston Reds and the Philadelphia Athletics jumped form the PL to the AA, while the Pittsburgh Burghers (PL) merged with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys (NL) and formed the NL's Pittsburgh Pirates.  The old Philadelphia Athletics dropped out of the AA, as well as the Rochester Broncos, Toledo Maumees, and Syracuse Stars.  In addition to the Boston Reds and Philadelphia Athletics joining the AA, the Washington Statesmen and Cincinnati Kelly's Killers hopped on.  In the NL, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms shortened their name to just the "Grooms".  Though the 1891 regular season was largely uneventful, it had its highlights.  Clark Griffith debuted with the St. Louis Browns on April 11th.  Though he would not be a very distinguished player, he would go on to be the extremely influential manager and owner of the Washington Senators.  On May 14th, aging legend Old Hoss Radbourn registered his 300th victory, pitching for the Cincinnati Reds.  Later, on August 26th, another man who would be known more as a manager than as a player made his debut.  John McGraw, who would manage the New York Giants from 1902-1932, broke in with the Baltimore Orioles.  Midway through the season, the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers folded and were replaced by the Milwaukee Brewers.  At season's end, the Boston Beaneaters took the NL championship, going 87-51 and finishing 3.5 games ahead of the Chicago Colts (82-53).  The Boston Reds won the AA by going 93-42, finishing a handy 8.5 games ahead of the St. Louis Browns (85-51).  The Reds would be the last team ever to win the American Association.  Billy Hamilton of the Phillies, the stolen base king, took his first batting title by leading the NL with a .340 mark, well ahead of second place Bug Holliday (Cincinnati Reds), who batted .319.  Dan Brouthers of the Boston Reds earned his fourth batting title, this time batting .350 to lead the AA.  Harry Stovey (Beaneaters) and Mike Tiernan (Giants) led the majors with 16 home runs, while Tom Brown of the Boston Reds set a major league record with 177 runs scored.  Of course, Billy Hamilton stole another 111 bases, and Tom Brown checked in right behind him with 106.  It was Hamilton's third straight season with more than 100 stolen bases.  Bill Hutchinson of Chicago led baseball with 44 victories, while Beaneater Kid Nichols was arguably baseball's best pitcher.  He went 30-17 with a 2.39 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 52 games (48 starts) for Boston.  John Ewing of New York led baseball with a 2.27 ERA in 33 games (30 starts), though he would never pitch in the majors again after the season.  After the 1891 season, the American Association, which had been around since 1882, would fold.  In its final game, rookie Ted Breitenstein of the St. Louis Browns no-hit the Louisville Colonels as the Browns won 8-0 in Breitenstein's first major league start.  Many AA teams would jump to the NL, but many would also fold with the league.

News
Lots of free agent signings.  That's about it.

Trades
Blue Jays traded Brad Lincoln (1-2, 3.98 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 2014 age: 29) to the Phillies for Erik Kratz (9 HR, 26 RBI, .213 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 33-34) and minor leaguer Rob Rasmussen (3-11, 4.11 ERA, 1.36 WHIP at AA and AAA, 2014 age: 25).

Free Agent Signings
Mariners agreed to terms with Robinson Cano (27 HR, 107 RBI, .314 AVG, 7 SB, 2014 age: 31) on a ten year, $240 million deal ($24 million per season).
Mets agreed to terms with Curtis Granderson (7 HR, 15 RBI, .229 AVG, 8 SB, 2014 age: 33) on a four year, $60 million deal ($15 million per season).
Nationals agreed to terms with Nate McLouth (12 HR, 36 RBI, .258 AVG, 30 SB, 2014 age: 32) on a two year, $10.75 million deal ($5.38 million per season).
Red Sox agreed to terms with Edward Mujica (2-1, 2.78 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 37 SV, 2014 age: 30) on a two year, $9.5 million deal ($4.75 million per season).
Yankees agreed to terms to resign Hiroki Kuroda (11-13, 3.31 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 2014 age: 39) to a one year, $16 million deal.
Astros signed Scott Feldman (12-12, 3.86 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 2014 age: 31) to a three year, $30 million deal ($10 million per season).
Yankees signed Kelly Johnson (16 HR, 52 RBI, .235 AVG, 7 SB, 2014 age: 32) to a one year, $3 million deal.
Phillies signed Wil Nieves (1 HR, 22 RBI, .297 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 36) to a one year, $1 million deal.
Rangers signed Jose Contreras (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 2.60 WHIP, 2014 age: 42) to a minor league deal.

A week that looked really good for the Yankees after the signings of Jacoby Ellsbury and Kelly Johnson got a little sour with the Mariners' signing ofRobinson Cano.  Cano will make $240 million over ten years, giving him the fourth largest contract in history behind Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $275 million), Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $252 million), and Albert Pujols (10 years, $256 million).  The Yankees were not willing to spend more than $175 million to keep Cano.  Now, one of the best players in baseball is headed to Seattle.  After playing in the Yankees organization since 2001, when he was 18, this move has come as a surprise to some people.  Seattle was badly in need of middle infield help, with the 2014 projected double play combination of Brad Miller (8 HR, 36 RBI, .265 AVG) and Nick Franklin (12 HR, 45 RBI, .225 AVG).  Now with Cano at second base, the Mariners could look to move Miller or Franklin for the outfield help they so desperately need.  Of course, they didn't just sign Cano to fill a hole; they signed him to anchor the organization and epitomize their intent to contend.  The 30 year old Dominican joins veterans Felix Hernandez, Kyle Seager, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Tom Wilhelmsen and up and comers Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen, Jesus Montero, and James Paxton as the Mariners look to challenge the Rangers and A's atop the AL West.  Cano is one of the game's best players not because of any one tool, but because he's flat out good at everything.  Power?  He's hit at least 25 home runs in each of the past five seasons.  Check.  Average? He hasn't hit below .300 since 2008.  Check.  Defense?  He has two Gold Gloves despite having to compete with one Dustin Pedroia.  Check.  Ability to stay healthy?  He hasn't sat out more than three games in any season since 2006.  Check.  Winning experience?  He's played in seven postseasons and won the 2009 World Series with the Yankees.  Check.  I also didn't touch on the fact that he's had at least 41 doubles each year since 2009, owns five Silver Sluggers, and has been to four All Star Games.  One could argue that his best season came in 2010, when he hit 29 home runs, drove in 109, and batted .319 with 41 doubles and 103 runs scored in 160 games.  Some could argue that last year was his best year, as he knocked 27 home runs, drove in 107, and batted .314 with seven stolen bases and 41 doubles in 160 games.  Back in 2006, he batted .342 in 122 games as a 23 year old.  For his career, he has 204 home runs, 822 RBI, a .309 average, and 375 doubles in 1374 Yankees games.  He's also hit eight postseason home runs in 51 games.

Once the Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury, it was evident that Curtis Granderson was no longer wanted in the Bronx.  That's ok, he thought, and he moved seven miles southeast to Queens, where he will join the Mets for four years.  Let's just hope he doesn't turn out like Jason Bay, who signed a similar four year, $66 million deal (Granderson's deal is for $60 million) before imploding into near obscurity (Bay's contract just finished after the 2013 season.  The result: 37 home runs, 144 RBI, and a .229 average over the four years).  Granderson doesn't figure to do that, coming in with a long track record of success.  He only played in 61 games last year, but before that, he had some great years in Detroit and New York.  He's got great pop and great speed, making him a very versatile player.  He'll move into the Mets outfield with Juan Lagares, Lucas Duda, Chris Young, and Eric Young, giving them leverage to trade someone from the crowded outfield.  Granderson's best year came back in 2007, when the then 26 year old hit 23 home runs, batted .302, stole 26 bases, and knocked 38 doubles and 23 triples, becoming baseball's first ever 20-20-20-20 player (HR, SB, 2B, 3B).  After hitting about 20-30 home runs per season with Detroit, Granderson busted out with 41 home runs in 2011, his second year with the Yankees.  He then hit 43 in 2012, still maintaining 35 stolen bases and 14 triples over the two seasons.  One place to be worried is his apparent inability to hit doubles, having not hit more than 26 in a season since 2007.  This makes his home run totals more of an illusion, meaning he has a little less power than he appears to have.  Over his ten year career, he's hit 217 home runs, batted .261, stolen 122 bases, and tripled 80 times in 1187 games.  He has postseason experience, holding six home runs in 36 games.  

The Nationals made a splash of their own by bringing in Nate McLouth to be the fourth outfielder.  The 32 year old out of the small western Michigan town of Whitehall will join his fourth club in four years, giving Washington one of the best fourth outfielders in baseball.  A fourth outfielder is the go-to guy off the bench whenever any of the starters, in this case Bryce Harper, Denard Span, and Jayson Werth, need rest or are injured.  In a sense, the fourth outfielder ends up playing almost as many games as the regular starters as he fills in for all three.  McLouth's best year came in 2008, when he hit 26 home runs, drove in 94, and batted .276 with 23 stolen bases and 46 doubles, enough to net him a trip to the All Star Game and a Gold Glove.  He has had much less success since that 2008 season, but 2013 proved to be a bounce back season.  In 146 games for the Orioles, he hit 12 home runs and batted .258 with 30 stolen bases and 31 doubles,  all of which were his highest totals since at least 2009.  He holds a career 84.9% success rate stealing, which is very good.  In nine postseason games, he's batted .321 with a home run and three stolen bases in nine games.  For his major league career, he has 100 home runs, a .250 average, 129 stolen bases, and 511 runs scored in 966 games.

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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