Mike Leake traded to the Giants
We have more proof that you don"t have to be a great player anymore to be paid like one.
Merry Christmas, Mike Leake.
The 28-year-old starting pitcher has good but unspectacular career numbers and never has been an All-Star, but landed a six-year, $80-million contract on Tuesday from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Meantime, the Chicago White Sox might be the team that becomes the Grinch to the reigning World Series champs.
The Kansas City Royals are hoping that they"ll be able to re-sign free agent left fielder Alex Gordon, but the White Sox are "showing interest"and could price them out, Fox Sports" Ken Rosenthal reported.
Rosenthal tweeted that "Gordon appeals (to the White Sox) for several reasons: Knows division, (left handed-hitter), defense, makeup."
Gordon, 31, is a three-time All-Star and career .269 hitter who has played his entire nine-year career for KC. He hit .271 with 13 homers in 104 games last season plus .241 with two homers in 16 postseason games.
The Cardinals, after losing right fielder Jason Heyward to the Chicago Cubs, are among other clubs rumored to be in the running for Gordon.
Ritcher Mike Leake (right) holds up his new jersey alongside St. Louis Cardinals GM John Mozeliak during a news conference announcing his signing on Dec. 22, 2015 in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Randy Miller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comSt. Louis, which has won three NL Central titles in a row, did make up for the loss of free agent starter John Lackey by signing Leake.
The 5-foot-10 righty was 11-10 with a 3.70 ERA in 2015 pitching for Cincinnati and San Francisco. For his career, he"s 64-52 with a 3.88 ERA since 2010 with a 14-win campaign as a Red in "13.
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The Orioles, while still keeping tabs on free agent first baseman Chris Davis,are expected to announce the signing of left handed-hitting South Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim to a two-year, $7-million deal before Christmas, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Kim, who hit .326 with 28 homers and 121 RBIs in 141 games last season in the Korean Baseball Organization, is expected to be the Orioles" starting left fielder next season.
As for Davis, it appears that the Orioles still are very interested in re-signing the lefty-swinging slugger even though they took their seven-year, $150-million offer off the table.
Davis, 29, averaged 40 homers in his four full seasons with Baltimore, including an MLB-best 53 in 2013 and 47 in 2015.
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Veteran outfielder Alejandro De Aza is on the move again after playing in the big leagues last season for three teams.
His new club is the Mets,who signed the 31-year-old Dominican on Tuesday to a one-year deal that Rothenthal reported is worth $5.75 million plus a possible $1.25 million in performance bonuses.
De Aza, 31, hit .261 with seven homers, 32 RBIs playing 90 games last season for Baltimore, Boston and San Francisco. The left-handed hitter is a career .267 hitter over an eight-year career in which he"s also played for the Marlins and White Sox.
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Free agent right-hander Mat Latos, a three-time 14-game winner who had a rough 2015 season, is drawing interest fromBaltimore, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, ESPN.com"s Jerry Crasnick reported.
Latos, 28, was 4-10 with a 4.95 ERA last season in 24 games, 21 as a starter, pitching in 2015 for the two Los Angeles teams.
MORE: McCann "loves" Yankees" rotation
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Freddy Sanchez, a three-time All-Star second baseman and 2006 NL batting champ playing for Pittsburgh, celebrated his 38th birthday on Monday by filing his retirement papers, Crasnick reported.
Sanchez hasn"t played since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in 2011, the last of his 2-plus seasons with San Francisco,. He had back surgery the following season, then "contemplated a comeback in recent years," Crasnick tweeted.
The Hollywood, Calif., native was a .297 hitter over 10 seasons, the first two of which were cups of coffee with Boston in 2002 and "03.
Randy Miller may be reached atrmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RandyJMiller.FindNJ.com on Facebook.
Source: http://www.nj.com/phillies/index.ssf/2015/12/mlb_hot_stove_alex_gordon_has_new_suitor_mike_leak.html
