Happy Friday morning, LGT. How's about we take a look at what's going on around baseball:
Indians news & notes
Tribe avoids arbitration with Cookie, Chiz, & Scrabble | Cleveland.com - Good news on the arbitration front, as Carlos Carrasco, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Marc Rzepczynski have signed one-year contracts to avoid arbitration. With these guys on board, only Brandon Moss, Bryan Shaw, and Josh Tomlin remain on the arbitration list.
Players by trade | Waiting For Next Year - SHAPTONETTI gets a lot of grief from the Clecommers, but all of us are familiar with the myriad excellent trades made by the Indians front office during their tenure. WFNY takes a look at some of the best from the past five years.
WOF vs. That Guy: Swisher needs to go! | Wahoo's On First - WOF takes on the personification of "That Guy" - the type of fan likely to scream DOLENX R CHEEP - in a debate about whether or not Nick Swisher should stick around.
Tidbits from around MLB
MLB's make-or-break players | Sports On Earth - Some players are easy to project - the Mike Trouts and Miguel Cabreras of the world - and some are more difficult. The way their seasons swing could be the deciding factor for how their teams fair in 2015.
Pondering the compressed standings | Fangraphs - FG's Miles Wray argues that the introduction of the second wild card spot has more teams aiming for the middle and hoping to get lucky like the Royals in 2014. That means fewer full rebuilds, and more offseasons like the White Sox had this year. It's a race to the middle!
Rockies owner says Tulo isn't going to NY | New York Post - Despite the rumors, Rockies owner Charlie Monfort says Troy Tulowitzi is going to stay in Colorado. I guess there's an implied "... whether he likes it or not" in there somewhere.
Why aren't there any Angels in the Hall? | Fox Sports - Rob Neyer examines why the Angels don't have any players in the HoF, and takes a look at possibilities for their first entrant.
White Sox Konerko's number | White Sox.com - Of all the hatable White Sox over the years, Paul Konerko is one of the least hatable. Congrats to him.