Catch Up After the Holiday: Lester, Moncada, Big AL Trade, Samardzija, More

bn baseball featureWelcome back. Have a nice Thanksgiving? Do some Black Friday shopping? Watch some football? Eat some leftovers? Take a trip?

If any of that took you away from BN for a day or two (for shame!), here’s what you may have missed from a relatively busy long holiday weekend …

Wednesday, November 28, 2014

  • If you happened to leave early for your holiday, you may have missed bits from Jed Hoyer, ponderings on the Cubs and Jon Lester, the Phillies continuing lofty demands on Cole Hamels, and Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas signing with the Diamondbacks.
  • Thursday, November 27, 2014

  • It was a day for thanks, and I tossed some your way (because, seriously, I’m very thankful for this place and you folks who help make it what it is).
  • The Cubs are going to talk about former Rays bench coach Dave Martinez, at a minimum, and the Rays aren’t going to stand in the way.
  • Friday, November 28, 2014

  • A report out of New York has the Cubs in as deep as any team – according to one executive, anyway – on Cuban super-prospect Yoan Moncada.
  • The Cardinals might be out on Jon Lester, or at least they’re not seriously pursuing him at this time.
  • Pedro Strop was involved in a car accident in the DR, but it sounds like he’ll be all right.
  • The A’s and Blue Jays got together on a huge deal, with third baseman Josh Donaldson heading to Toronto for Brett Lawrie and three prospects. Billy Beane is always itchy.
  • Saturday, November 29, 2014

  • Speaking of that big trade, there was a lot of fallout to discuss, from the A’s next moves to the outfielder they DFA’d to make room for the additions (Kyle Blanks).
  • I got to thinking about the nature of the pitching market right now, and how it informs the Cubs’ timing, be it in going hard after Jon Lester right now, waiting until late in the offseason on the second tier market after that. In any case, it’s good to have bats.
  • Sunday, November 30, 2014

  • The White Sox might be hot after Jeff Samardzija, which would be utterly fascinating. And what about his free agency, anyway?
  • It’s likely to be a big week in the Jon Lester story, and the baseball world awaits his decision. It could affect, well, almost everything.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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