Random Images

Mike Tauchman has signed with the Korean League's Hanwha Eagles for 2022. The career backup posted what now appears to have been an outlier season with the 2019 Yankees. Now he heads to Asia -- whose leagues are not in a lockout -- to try to recapture the form that for a moment made him look like a "find" by Brian Cashman and his analytics staff.
 
Freddy Galvis is also heading across the Pacific. While in normal times, he might have looked like a good stopgap to fill the Yankees hole at short, the 10-year veteran infielder best known as a Phillie, took the "sure thing." He just inked a two-year deal with Japan's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Fernando Tatis Junior is a lucky man. Not just because of his boundless talent and personality, but his good fortune in avoiding serious injuries in a motorcycle accident a few days ago in the Dominican Republic.
The name Jim Lonborg popped into my mind; who else recalls the skiing accident after his spectacular 1967 season that altered the course of his career. Since then, a many clubs began inserting contract clauses barring such risky activities as skiing or... riding a motorcycle. You wonder how the Padres overlooked that when signing their franchise star to a contract worth more than a Third of a Billion Dollars?

Maikel Franco signed a minor league contract with the Nationals a few days ago. Washington also agreed to a similar deal with another veteran infielder, Dee Strange-Gordon. Minor minor league deals, usually including an invitation to the parent club for spring training, are pretty standard issue. But this is not a typical year... 
Could the Nats be planning for the possibility of fielding a squad of replacement players if MLB and the Players Association can't finalize a new labor deal? 
Keep an eye out for similar deals with more familiar names whose age or declining play marked them as unworthy of spots on 40-man rosters this winter.

Finally, this week's Wayback:
Yankee pitcher Phil Hughes on a minor league rehab assignment for Double-A Trenton (at New Britain) in June 2011.


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