Sunday news and notes: Melky Cabrera signs with White Sox

Cleveland News

Hey Hoynsie! | cleveland.com — It's Hey Hoynsie day and, as usual, the questions do not impress.

Hey, Hoynsie: Do you think a David Murphy for left-hander Jon Niese trade makes sense? The Mets could use another outfielder and have a surplus of starting pitching, which the Indians could upgrade on. - Ryan Smith, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Hey, Hoynsie: Is there anyway the Indians use the chance to meet LeBron James and Johnny Manziel to lure free agents to Cleveland? - John Gasior, North Ridgeville, N.Y.

Sigh.

Sunday Notes: MiLB Money vs Japan & Words from the Winter Meetings | Fangraphs — Fangraph's Sunday notes ends up covering quite a bit of Cleveland ground, with quotes related to how the lower strike zone might help (or hurt?) Moss, and a few quotes from Francona and Antonetti about improving the defense. I found this, from Francona, a tad odd:

Moss is known as a good low-ball hitter, so I asked Terry Francona if that factored into the decision to trade for him. The Indians skipper told me I'd need to ask general manager Chris Antonetti, adding that where the strike zone is going is "a little more advanced than I'm capable of."

He's a self-effacing guy, but I wonder if he really doesn't pay attention to the data on how the strike zone is moving?

Cleveland Indians Win Splendora Tournament | The Cleveland Advocate — Am I the last one to know there's a high school team in Houston named the Cleveland Indians? Odd choice.

MLB News

Source: Melky, White Sox have 3-year deal | MLB.com — Melky Cabrera will be in the division next year. If he hits around his career average, he's about a 100 OPS upgrade over De Aza, the starter last season. Fangraphs has De Aza to Cabrera as a significant defensive downgrade, though.

Some have hypothesized that Abreu and Sale being so good has forced the White Sox to try to take advantage of this window. This move certainly looks like more evidence of that.

White Sox reportedly sign Melky Cabrera | South Side Sox — Across the SBN network, South Side Sox has one of the best reasons to believe the signing is official: Melky retweeted a welcome message from Adam Eaton.

The commenters are excited, and the classic offseason posturing about having a badass GM is on full display:

Rick Hahn
is the man. playing the league. now trade Viciedo to the M's for literally anything. This is perfect.

by Poopsmith on Dec 14, 2014 | 1:37 AM reply rec (1) flag

There is a great book to be written about how the relationship between fans and front offices has evolved over the last twenty years.