Hot Stove: 2/1

History of Baseball: 1907
World Series Champions: Chicago Cubs (107-45, .704 WPCT).
1907 was a very eventful year in baseball.  The Boston Beaneaters retired the name "Beaneaters" and became the Boston Doves.  Across town, the Boston Americans held a conference to change their name.  The two final names the team was considering were the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Yankees.  The rest is history.  In addition to all the name changing, a new era of baseball players was ushered in.  On August 2nd, the Washington Senators called up a hard throwing, sidearming, teenage pitcher from a minor league team in Weiser, Idaho, to face the Detroit Tigers.  Ty Cobb recollected "He was a rookie, and we licked our lips as we warmed up".  Cobb's tone changed when he spoke of after they saw him pitch: "We couldn't touch him...every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ballpark".  The man's name was Walter Johnson, and he would go on to become arguably the greatest pitcher of all time.  Cobb did end up with the first hit off of Johnson, a bunt single.  Later, on September 14th, the 19 year old Tris Speaker made his debut for the Red Sox.  He would play until 1928.  Another player, Nick Maddox, would not be the all time great that Johnson and Speaker became, but he did capture baseball's attention in his rookie 1907.  The 20 year old Pirates righty tossed a shutout in his MLB debut and a no-hitter not long after, becoming the youngest pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter, a record he holds to this day.  Two unofficial perfect games were also thrown.  Ed Karger of the Cardinals tossed a seven inning perfect game against the Doves on August 11th, and the Athletics' Rube Vickers added a five inning perfecto on October 5th over the Senators.  Giants catcher Roger Bresnahan added to the fact that 1907 was the beginning of a new era by wearing shin guards for the first time.  Other catchers would follow, and the equipment would eventually become standard.  After the season, the Tigres de Licey were founded in the Dominican Republic as the oldest continuous team in the Dominican Republic.  In the AL, the Detroit Tigers, led by breakout star Ty Cobb, narrowly squeaked out the pennant by going 92-58 to finish just a game and a half ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics (88-57).  The NL had the same story as 1906.  The Cubs again ran away with the division by going 107-45, finishing with a healthy 17 game lead over the second place Pittsburgh Pirates (91-63).  The Washington Senators and the St. Louis Cardinals each lost more than 100 games.  The Cubs and Tigers met in the World Series, but Chicago didn't get upset this time.  After tying the first game, they swept the Tigers on four straight games to take their first World Series Championship.  On an individual level, the Pirates' Honus Wagner captured his fifth NL batting title at .350.  In the AL, Detroit's Ty Cobb earned his first of nine straight AL batting titles, also clocking in at .350.  The Doves' Dave Brain led the majors with ten home runs, and Cobb sat atop the MLB rankings with 119 RBI.  The A's' Socks Seybold was way in second place with 92.  The Cubs again dominated on the mound.  Each of the top three and five of the top seven pitchers in ERA were all Cubs.  Though Jack Pfiester only tossed 195 innings, he technically led them majors with an incredible 1.15 ERA, to go along with a 14-9 record and a 0.98 WHIP.  Carl Lundgren finished second, going 18-7 with a 1.17 ERA in 28 games (25 starts).  Three Finger Brown was the ace, going 20-6 with a 1.39 ERA to finish third.  Across town, the White Sox' Ed Walsh led the AL (in fact all of non-Chicago Cubs baseball) in ERA by going 24-18 with a 1.60 ERA.  The next Cub was sixth place Orval Overall, who went 23-7 with a 1.68 ERA.  Ed Reulbach finished seventh by going 17-4 with a 1.69 ERA, giving the Cubs five pitchers with sub-1.70 ERA's.  Pfiester and Lundgren hold the sixth and eighth best single season ERA's of all time, giving the 1907 Cubs two of the top eight ERA pitchers.  Elsewhere around the league, Cleveland's Addie Joss (27-11, 1.83 ERA) and the White Sox' Doc White (27-13, 2.26 ERA) tied for the wins lead at 27.  Bill Donovan was the Tigers' leading pitcher, going 25-4 with a 2.19 ERA to help them to the World Series.  In his rookie season, Walter Johnson finished 5-9 with a 1.88 ERA in 14 games (12 starts).  Not bad for a 19 year old.

News
Less than two weeks from his 38th birthday, former Astros great Lance Berkman has decided to retire after 15 major league seasons.
37 year old former Rangers leader Michael Young has retired after 14 seasons.

With Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Chris Burke, Eric Bruntlett, and Brandon Backe long gone from the Astros' great B-Hive team of 2005, Lance Berkman was the only member left.  Now, he's decided to retire, officially bringing the B-Hive to a close.  Berkman, Biggio, and Bagwell will go down as the greatest hitters in Astros history, and with good reason.  While Bagwell and Biggio will in all likelihood be Hall of Famers, Berkman will make an interesting case.  The Lance Berkman story started out in his hometown of New Braunfels, Texas, 30 miles outside of San Antonio.  He attended Rice University in Houston and was taken 16th overall by the Astros in the 1997 draft.  He rose quickly through the minors, hitting 50 home runs and batting .305 with 186 RBI in 256 minor league games before his 1999 call-up at the age of 23.  Though he hit only .237 with four home runs in his 34 game call-up in 1999, he would be back in 2000, and much stronger.  He spent the majority of the 2000 season with the Astros, and hit 21 home runs while batting .297 in 114 games.  In 2001, Berkman broke out with 34 home runs, 126 RBI, and a .331 average while scoring 110 runs and knocking 55 doubles.  He made his first All Star team and finished fifth in the NL MVP race, behind only such names as Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Luis Gonzalez, and Albert Pujols.  His power stroke continued to develop in 2002 as he turned all those doubles into home runs, finishing with 42 homers, 128 RBI, and a .292 average.  He pushed himself to third place in the NL MVP voting, behind only Bonds and Pujols.  His numbers dipped a bit in 2003, finishing with only 25 home runs, 93 RBI, and a .288 average, though he did tie a career high with 110 runs scored.  He bounced back in 2004, hitting 30 home runs, driving in 106, and batting .316 with nine stolen bases and 40 doubles.  Berkman, now 28, excelled in the postseason, hitting four home runs, driving in twelve, and batting .348 to lead the Astros to within striking distance of the World Series.  2005 turned out to be another off year, as he finished with 24 home runs, 82 RBI, and a .293 average.  This time, the Astros made it all the way to the World Series, with Berkman batting .333 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 14 games.  Though Houston lost the World Series to the White Sox, Berkman went 5-13 (.385 average) with six RBI in the four game sweep.  He returned in 2006 to put up the best year of his career, hitting 45 home runs, driving in 136, and batting .315 to finish third in the NL MVP balloting.  2007 saw his numbers dip again, as he finished with 34 home runs, 102 RBI, and a .278 average in 153 games.  Like always, he bounced back again in 2008, hitting 29 home runs, driving in 106, and batting .312 while setting career highs with 18 stolen bases and 114 runs scored.  His 46 doubles were also the most since 2001 as he jumped back to fifth in the NL MVP balloting.  He turned 33 in 2009, and the season turned out to be the beginning of his decline.  He hit 25 home runs, drove in 80, and batted .274 in 136 games.  85 games in 2010, the Astros dealt the struggling Berkman, 34 years old and in his 12th season as an Astro, to the Yankees for Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes.  He never picked up speed, and finished with only 14 home runs, 58 RBI and a .248 average in 122 games, his shortest season since 2000.  He did bat .313 in the postseason.  The Cardinals took a chance on the aging Berkman in 2011, when they signed him to a two year deal.  He rewarded the Cardinals with a bounce back season that netted him the 2011 NL Comeback Player of the Year Award, hitting 31 home runs, driving in 94, and batting .301 in 145 games to lead St. Louis to a World Series Championship.  In the postseason, he batted .313 with a pair of home runs, eleven RBI, and 17 runs scored in 18 games. His greatest performance came in the seven game World Series, where he batted .423 with a home run (in the historic Game 6), five RBI, and nine runs scored.  His success would be short lived, as he battled injuries in a 32 game 2012, and finished with two home runs and a .259 average.  He returned to his native Texas in 2013 as he signed with the Rangers, but injuries again limited him to 73 games as he hit six home runs and batted .242.  In the 2013-2014 offseason, he announced his retirement just before his 38th birthday.  He finished with 366 home runs, 1234 RBI, and a .293 average over 1879 games.  He also scored 1146 runs and knocked 422 doubles.  Because of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, Lance Berkman is third place in many Astros record books, including runs (1008), doubles (375), RBI (1090), walks (1040), average (.296), extra base hits (727), and total bases (3053).  He is second in home runs (326, behind Bagwell).  Berkman also holds three all time Astros records, in on-base percentage (.410), slugging percentage (.549), and OPS (.959).  He is also the single season Astros record holder in RBI (136 in 2006) and extra base hits (94 in 2001).  He is also a career .317 postseason hitter with nine home runs and 41 RBI in 52 games. 

Across the state, another great hitter was leading his Texas based team to success.  Michael Young has now retired as one of the most consistent hitting Rangers of all time.  Young hails from La Puente, California, and attended UC Santa Barbara for college.  The Blue Jays drafted him in the fifth round of the 1997 draft (the same draft that produced Lance Berkman), but Toronto dealt young to the Rangers in 2000 for Esteban Loaiza.  Loaiza was not successful during his time with the Blue Jays, but the Rangers lucked out with Young.  He made his major league debut that September at 23 years old and appeared in two games.  Texas brought him up for a full season in 2001, as Young batted .249 with eleven home runs in 106 games.  He continued to improve in 2002, hitting nine home runs while batting .262 in a full 156 games.  2003 was his breakout season, as he batted .306 with 14 home runs, 13 stolen bases, and 106 runs scored.  It was also his first of five straight seasons with at least 200 hits.  Young improved even more in 2004, hitting 22 home runs, driving in 99, and batting .313 with 12 stolen bases and 114 runs scored.  He earned his first trip to the All Star Game and finished eighth in the AL MVP voting.  In 2005, he put up the best season of his career, hitting 24 home runs, driving in 91, and batting .331 with 114 runs scored and 40 doubles in 159 games.  His 221 hits led all of baseball, his .331 average gave him the AL batting crown, and he finished 11th in the AL MVP voting, earning a second trip to the All Star Game. Young continued his success in 2006, hitting 14 home runs, driving in 103, and batting .314 while playing in all 162 games and hitting a career high 52 doubles.  His power dipped in 2007, as he hit nine home runs and batted .315 with 94 RBI and 13 stolen bases.  2008 marked the first time since 2002 that he failed to collect 200 hits, finishing with 183 as part of a season where he hit 12 home runs and batted .284 with 10 stolen bases.  Despite snapping his five season streak, he did manage to earn his first career Gold Glove.  Despite missing much of September to injury in 2009, Young managed to have a bounce back season by hitting 22 home runs and batting .322.  He had another solid season in 2010, hitting 21 home runs, driving in 91, and batting .284 with 99 runs scored.  Though he failed to make the All Star team for the first time since 2003, Young led the Rangers to the postseason, where he batted .254 in 16 games.  Young's power dipped again in 2011, but he still put up one of the best seasons of his career.  In 159 games, he hit eleven home runs, drove in 106, and batted .338 with 41 doubles and 88 runs scored.  His 106 RBI and .338 average marked career highs.  He made his seventh and final All Star team and skyrocketed up to eighth in the AL MVP voting.  He led the majors in hits (213) for the second time in his career.  2012 saw a significant drop off in his production, as he finished with a .277 average and eight home runs.  After playing 13 years with the Rangers, Young was dealt to the Phillies for the 2013 season.  He put up numbers similar to 2012, and was again dealt, this time to his hometown Dodgers, where he closed out the year with 21 games.  Cumulatively, he batted .279 with eight home runs in 147 games.  After the season, he decided to hang up his spikes.  For his career, he hit 185 home runs, drove in 1030, and batted .300 with 90 stolen bases, 441 doubles, and 1137 runs scored.  He holds numerous Rangers records, including games (1823), at bats (7399), runs (1085), hits (2230), doubles (415), triples (55), and total bases (3286).  He could certainly be considered among Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, and Juan Gonzalez as one of the greatest hitters in Rangers history.  He also holds Rangers single season records in at bats (691 in 2006), hits (221 in 2005), and doubles (52 in 2006).

Trades
Mariners traded Carlos Peguero (1 HR, 1 RBI, .333 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 27) to the Royals for cash or a player to be named later.

Free Agent Signings
Cubs agreed to terms with Jason Hammel (7-8, 4.97 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 2014 age: 31) on a one year, $6 million deal.
Reds signed Roger Bernadina (4 HR, 11 RBI, .181 AVG, 4 SB, 2014 age: 30) to a minor league deal.
Royals resigned Bruce Chen (9-4, 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 2014 age: 37) to a one year, $4.25 million deal.
Angels signed Carlos Pena (8 HR, 25 RBI, .207 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 36) to a minor leauge deal.
Twins signed Matt Guerrier (4-4, 4.01 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 2014 age: 35) to a minor league deal.
Marlins signed Reed Johnson (1 HR, 11 RBI, .244 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 37) to a minor league deal.
Angels signed Chad Tracy (4 HR, 11 RBI, .202 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 34) to a minor league deal.
Angels signed Brennan Boesch (3 HR, 8 RBI, .275 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 29) to a minor league deal.
Reds signed Chris Nelson (3 HR, 24 RBI, .227 AVG, 2 SB, 2014 age: 28) to a minor league deal.
Angels signed Yorvit Torrealba (0 HR, 16 RBI, .240 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 35-36) to a minor league deal.
Mariners signed Scott Baker (0-0, 3.60 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 2014 age: 32) to a minor league deal.
Reds signed Ramon Santiago (1 HR, 14 RBI, .224 AVG, 0 SB, 2014 age: 34) to a minor league deal.
Yankees signed Chris Leroux (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, 2014 age: 30) to a minor league deal.

The Cubs added an inconsistent but solid starter in Jason Hammel.  Hammel will jump into a shallow rotation headed by Jeff Samardzija, Travis Wood, Edwin Jackson, and Chris Rusin, pushing out Brooks Raley and Jake Arrieta from competition.  The 6'6" righty has made 158 major league starts (as well as 57 relief appearances), but has never made more than 30 in a season.  He had the misfortune of pitching in Coors Field for three years, but still went 27-30 with a 4.63 ERA through 96 games (87 starts) from 2009-2011 as a Rockie.  When he joined the Orioles in 2012, baseball eyes fixed on him to see how he could pitch in a full season in a normal stadium.  Injuries limited him to 20 starts, but he was solid, going 8-6 with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.  He struggled a bit last year, finishing 7-8 with a 4.97 ERA in 26 games (23 starts), but he looks to turn it around in 2014.  For his career, he is 49-59 with a 4.80 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP in 215 games (158 starts).  

The Reds have brought on former National Roger Bernadina to battle for an outfield spot.  While Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce are locks at the corners, Bernadina will compete with Billy Hamilton, Chris Heisey, Jason Bourgeois, and Donald Lutz to take over the center field spot from the departed Shin-Soo Choo.  My pick is Heisey, which should leave Bernadina in a back-up slot.  He can fly on the bases, much like Bourgeois and Hamilton, which doesn't quite set him apart, but he is also an excellent bunter.  The Reds are trying to teach Hamilton how to bunt, so Bernadina's bunting skills may come in handy more than just on the field.  In fact, because Hamilton will never be a power hitter, Bernadina's tutelage could be what makes the speedster's career.  Bernadina's best season came in 2012, when he hit five home runs, batted .291, and stole 15 bases in 129 games.  He struggled last year, batting .181 with four home runs and four stolen bases in 112 games.  For his career, he has 27 home runs, 112 RBI, and a .239 average with 57 stolen bases in 495 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