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Good morning afternoon, Athletics Nation!
The baseball world is quiet right now. The World Series is more than a week behind us, and the offseason has only just begun. Any minute now, teams will start signing players and making trades, but for now this is the calm before the winter storm of transactions.
The Oakland A’s did make a move on Wednesday, signing Triple-A righty reliever Matt Blackham to a minor league deal (see Twitter section below), but we’ll talk more about him in a full separate post. It’s either that or an article about the sandwich I’m hoping to have for lunch.
If we dig deep enough, though, we can find something notable for today’s Rumblings. The A’s weren’t the only team to make minor news on Wednesday, as the New York Mets also signed a handful of players to minor league deals. You might recognize the names Mallex Smith, Jose Peraza, and Arodys Vizcaino, but one pickup in particular is worth a mention on Athletics Nation: catcher Bruce Maxwell.
The former A’s backstop hasn’t played in U.S. affiliated ball since Oakland cut him loose after the 2018 season, but he did stay active in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Now he’s back in the (Mets) minor league system in the states.
Of course, historically speaking, being signed by the Mets isn’t necessarily great news for a person. They’ve been a dysfunctional laughingstock for much of my life, like the Knicks of baseball. But they’re in the process of being sold to a new owner, ending the embarrassing run of the Wilpon family, and they’ve got former A’s general manager Sandy Alderson back in charge (after he briefly returned to Oakland as an adviser in 2019), so there’s at least a chance of better times ahead in Queens.
A’s Coverage
MLB News & Interest
Best of Twitter
Will do a full post about the new pitcher soon
A's have signed free agent RHP Matt Blackham to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, according to a source. Blackham is a reliever formerly of the Mets organization with a career 2.38 ERA and 284 Ks in 211 2/3 innings.
— Melissa Lockard (@melissalockard) November 4, 2020
As if there was ever any doubt
Why wait for the QO to expire to state the obvious (plus @BauerOutage believes the QO is a ridiculous process so let’s just put it to bed)—
— Rachel Luba (@AgentRachelLuba) November 4, 2020
Trevor Bauer has rejected the QO but not the Reds, & he looks forward to speaking w/ them & all other interested teams thru Free Agency.
It’s Nightengale so there’s at least a 40% chance it’s true
Cleveland, strapped for money, intend to trade All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor by opening day, several rival teams have been informed. Lindor earned $17.5 million last season and is projected to earn about $21 million in salary arbitration in his final year before free agency
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 5, 2020
Have to make a movie about this saga just so that we have an excuse for Tormund Giantsbane to play Turner
MLB and the Players Association are moving closer to a resolution on Justin Turner, sources tell The Athletic. Potential discipline aside, these questions remain: Is Turner experiencing symptoms? How did Turner become infected inside a supposedly secure bubble? 1/2
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 5, 2020
Other questions include: Does Turner, after being removed from the game in the eighth inning, plan to apologize for returning to the field to celebrate? Will the episode affect the Dodgers’ decision on whether to re-sign him as a free agent? 2/2
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 5, 2020
