The Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are finally preparing to “go for it,” with their young guys having developed, and the trade with the Dodgers adding veteran talent to round out the roster.
It’s been a few years of rebuilding, but the team is now looking to build around the talent it has, while adding a few key pieces in free agency to shore up their weaknesses.
And it’s pretty easy to identify the team’s No. 1 weakness — starting pitching, although that’s not slowing down fans at five dimes mobile site as they’re already jumping in on the excitement and action. Never too early to be a fan.
As such, the Reds are expected to sign at least one top-flight pitcher over the next few weeks, with Mets hurler Zack Wheeler near the top of their list, as he gets set to hit the free-agent market, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Rosenthal reported that the team is interested in Wheeler, which comes on the heels of the news about the team being in on Marcell Ozuna as well.
Wheeler had a rough 2019 campaign, posting a 11-8 record and 3.96 ERA for the Mets.
The Angels
The Angels have been quietly retooling their roster over the past few seasons, and now, with a new manager at the helm, the team is looking to enter “win-now” mode.
It makes sense timing-wise, as the Angels clearly don’t want to waste the rest of superstar slugger Mike Trout’s prime years. Trout, after all, is a five-tool player that can do it all, and team is wise to build around him. And given that he makes roughly $35 million per season, the Angels probably should focus more on winning now, while they still have Trout in peak form.
It looks like that’s exactly the strategy they’re looking to employ, as the latest rumors suggest the team is going to make a big move in free agency over the past few weeks. Even Trout himself hinted about it.
“I think every Angels fan or Angels player is just looking, waiting for that thing to pop up on their phone saying we’re acquiring somebody or signing somebody,” Trout recently said, during an appearance on MLB Network Radio (SiriusXM).
It’ll be interesting to see if the Angels look to bolster their pitching, offense, defense — or all three. Time will tell.
The Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers saw their team get eliminated from the postseason in brutal fashion — with closer Bill Hader, one of the best in the business, blowing a 3-1 lead with two outs in the eighth inning of the NL Wild Card game against the Nationals.
Not only that, the Brewers had to go on and watch the Nationals use that momentum to carry them to a World Series win, their first in franchise history.
As such, they’re in need of a bit of a makeover, especially since they have a few free agents that likely won’t be with the team next season, heading into the Winter Meetings next month. They did that by giving a first look at the team’s new uniforms — with 2018 MVP Christian Yelich wearing them — and they are awesome.
Sleek.
The Astros
The Houston Astros are under major investigation by Major League Baseball over allegations that they cheated during the 2017 season — mainly by stealing signs — and a recent video can serve as proof.
It’s been said by former Astros players that the team used video and other technology to steal signs, and MLB is currently looking into it. However, a number of video clips have already emerged which back up their claims.
First, a few different videos appear to show Astros players banging on a trash can in the dugout to signify if it’s either a fastball or offspeed pitch — some of them even resulting in home runs. [In case you missed it, you can watch it in full here.]
And now, a new video from Game 5 of the 2017 World Series shows Astros players walking by a table with video monitors and laptops on it. It’s clear the table was in use, as sunflower seeds were on it, as well as the floor.
