A trade and a free agent signing announced Friday means new teams for three familiar faces. The Dodgers, looking to shed some older players to make room for talented prospects, sent the veteran
Howie Kendrick to the Phillies on Friday. With most of their everyday prospects a year or more away, the former Angel will help pump up the weakest offense in the NL. And entering his walk year, he's got plenty to prove after batting a career-low .255 in 2016.
Heading to Vin Scully Way are
Darin Ruf (below) and Darnell Sweeny. Ruf, who attended Creighton University, has proven so far that all he has in common with the school's most famous baseball grad Bob Gibson is the logo atop the diploma. Despite showing occasional bursts of power, he's never played a full season in the majors or produced enough to earn a full time job.
And in what many consider a surprise,
Bartolo Colon, cashed in his 15-10 season with the Mets for a Midnight train to Georgia and 12.5 million Braves bucks. The well traveled righty, nicknamed Big Sexy, had become a folk hero during his time in Flushing. A record-setter, too: this year, he became the oldest player ever to homer for the first time in the majors. Several teammates, notably ace Noah Syndergaard, say they learned much from him. But with a rotation full of starters expected back from injury -- and youngsters Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman impressing as 2016 fill-ins, the 233-game winner was apparently deemed an expensive luxury by Mets brass. It might take until a year from now to determine whether that decision was "penny wise and pound foolish."
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