Happy Tuesday!
In Mariners news…
- Check out the Mariners’ full team and player projections live today on FanGraphs:
A sneak peak at the @FanGraphs + ZiPS depth chart for the #Mariners. Full projections live on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/76AnRATJi8
— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 6, 2021
- Former Mariner Jose Marmolejos has signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball.
OFFICIAL: José Marmolejos has signed with the NPB’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. https://t.co/FjtyX0Xohh
— Joe Veyera (@JoeVeyera) December 7, 2021
- So wholesome.
Ichiro being so pumped to get Pedro’s autograph gets me every time pic.twitter.com/Dbdqb67PFe
— Steve Perrault (@Steve_Perrault) December 4, 2021
Around the league…
- The Oakland A’s are still in pursuit of a new manager and now have five candidates that they are actively considering.
Oakland A’s managerial candidates who have or are expected to interview soon: Mark Kotsay, Matt Quatraro, Will Venable, Joe Espada, Marcus Jensen and Darren Bush, sources tell me and @Ken_Rosenthal
Kotsay, Jensen and Bush all currently with the organization.
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) December 6, 2021
- Instead of a major league Rule 5 draft that is usually followed by a minor league portion, there will now be a minor league Rule 5 draft beginning tomorrow afternoon. Preview the draft with Baseball America’s guide to this year’s new format.
The MLB Rule 5 draft has been postponed indefinitely because of the lockout, but there is a MiLB Rule 5 draft this week (Dec. 8, 2 p.m. ET). At Baseball America we’re turning lemons into lemonade. Coming shortly…
OUR FIRST-EVER MiLB RULE 5 DRAFT PREVIEW!
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) December 6, 2021
- The Boston Red Sox are reportedly among the teams interested in free agent shortstop Trevor Story. MLB insider Jon Heyman has reported that the Mariners, Astros, and Red Sox are the teams most commonly linked to Story as he continues to look for the right fit.
- The Chicago White Sox have signed RHP Yacksel Rios to a minor league deal, which is permissible with the ongoing MLB lockout as minor league transactions are not frozen.
- Dan Hayes at The Athletic breaks down the complicated details of Byron Buxton’s contract extension with the Minnesota Twins.
Becca’s picks…
- The clearest image ever of the sun has been produced by an astrophotographer with over 100,000 individual images overlaid on each other to make one incredible picture.