It is Tuesday, December 15. Not much is happening [in the world of baseball, everywhere else, everything is happening all at once], but let's see what there is to see:
*Dusty Baker got on a Zoom call with reporters and said the team is looking for bullpen depth and rotation help for 2021 and beyond. Dusty:
We're talking to some people now. You know, there hadn't been a bunch of movement, not a bunch of players signing, but I imagine the next couple of weeks there will be more movement, and once some of the big boys - so-called big boys - get signed, then everybody else will probably check to see how the market is.
*Dusty will wait to decide if he wants to continue managing until after the 2021 season. Dusty:
It depends on how I feel. Depends on how the team feels about me. You never know what changes could come about in life.
*Brian McTaggart ranked the five best seasons by an Astros pitcher. SMH at the disrespect for Travis Blackley's 2013 season. 1986 Mike Scott got the nod for the Astros' best individual pitching season.
*Here's a nice little update on Astros' #4 prospect Jeremy Pena (2018 - 3rd Round) and how he's killing it in the Dominican League.
*Not that the top end matters so much for the 2021 Astros, but here are MLB.com's Top 100 prospects for the 2021 Draft.
*Yankees President Randy Levine didn't even finish his opening statement in arguing against the release of the so-called Yankees Letter before getting interrupted by Judge Gerald Lynch. The attorney for DraftKings, who is filing suit, David Golub:
The letter establishes when electronic sign stealing first occurred. That's a factual issue in the case, when did it start. The letter also establishes this was denied by Major League Baseball, and it's actually denied by the Red Sox in their brief, that Major League Baseball would ever conceal anything about electronic sign stealing.
*Former Astros Great Jason Martin (2013 - 8th Round), who was part of the package to Pittsburgh to acquire Gerrit Cole, has signed a minor-league deal with the North Waxahachie Ramgers.
*A couple of personal things: I had a very enjoyable chat with Keith Law about writing, reading, James Click, Cristian Javier, Forrest Whitley, and the Houston Astros. And I did a deep dive on the 1856 Caning of Charles Sumner, or when a member of the House of Representatives beat the absolute dog piss out of Senator Charles Sumner.
*Pitchfork: The 100 Best Songs of 2020.
*New York Times: She stalked her daughter's killers, one by one.
*After 51 years, the Zodiac Killer's cipher has been cracked.
*A Musical Selection: