MLBits: Jeter Steps in It Again, Puig Gets Fired, Girardi Finds a Job, Cardinals Ruined a Sign, More

My fiancé and I are currently in the middle of planning a wedding (well, to be fair, she’s done like 90% of the work), but I’ve been tasked with planning the honeymoon and yeesh … this stuff gets expensive fast. I’m sure it’ll all be worth it in the end and whatnot, but this wedding industry, man … it’s a racket.

Baseball news time …

• Late last month, Major League Soccer announced the creation of an expansion team in Miami (led, in effort, by David Beckham) and Derek Jeter – the face of the Marlins ownership – had some … well, let’s call it what it was … really dumb things to say about it:

Derek Jeter on if Marlins will win a title before David Beckham's MLS team. "We are starting from a deeper hole than he is."

— Christopher Stock (@InsideTheU) February 7, 2018

• You can read more about it at CBS Sports, but my immediate reaction is embarrassment for Jeter. Seriously. The Marlins traded away the 2017 NL MVP this winter. They were *not* in bad shape. And even the well he was really expensive argument goes out the window when you consider that the team also had three of baseball’s more valuable contracts (in terms of cost/production) in J.T. Realmuto, Christian Yelich, and 2017 All-Star, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glover Marcell Ozuna, who’ll make less than $10M next season. Given that Giancarlo Stanton was the oldest of the bunch at just 28-years old … come on, man.
• Oh, and moreover … let’s say the Marlins ABSOLUTELY had to slash payroll (they didn’t and/or shouldn’t have had too, but that’s another story) they still should’ve been able to turn all of those assets into more than *two* (!) top 100 prospects. We’re not buying what you’re putting down, Jeter.
• At FanGraphs, Jeff Sullivan takes another look at baseball’s spending landscape, this time measuring the number of teams that either increased or decreased payroll by 20% from one year to the next. Unsurprisingly, this offseason stands out as a huge outlier for teams decreasing payroll by 20% or more. As always, though, there’s still so many free agents that *will* sign a deal. I am genuinely so interested in these sort of studies – there’s a lot to learn – but I can’t wait to see them once the season starts.
• Something has gone down between frequently-in-trouble Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig and his (former) agents:

Wasserman’s decision to terminate its partnership with Yasiel Puig is behavior-related, source tells SB Nation. Unclear what exactly transpired.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 7, 2018

Baseball source with knowledge of Puig situation says no action by the team is likely. Again, don't know what happened there. #Dodgers

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 7, 2018

• I am SO HERE for this:

For four games #Rays will wear these throwback Devil Rays jerseys and caps – March 31, June 9, June 23, September 8 pic.twitter.com/ViWLM1Jb1M

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) February 7, 2018

• I love throwback jerseys. Don’t you? Even ones that throw back to just 20 years ago. I especially love when teams play in the really old-timey jerseys. Remember when the Cubs played that throwback game televised in black and white like ten years ago? That was awesome. This has been an episode of Musings with Michael. Join us next time when we discuss how the ‘Die Hard’ trilogy aligns identically with ‘Indiana Jones’. [Brett: Weren’t there, like, five ‘Die Hard’ movies? And weren’t they all Christmas movies?]
• Former Yankees Manager Joe Girardi has a new gig:

15 years behind the plate. 11 years as a manager. 4 World Series rings.#WelcomeToMLBNetwork, Joe Girardi! pic.twitter.com/OKoujP3O4o

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 7, 2018

• The Baseball Writers Association of America recently released all of their 2018 Hall of Fame Ballots (well, for the half of voters who agreed to have their ballots released), and you can see them all here. But don’t even try to make sense of the writers like Dave Ginsburg who voted for just four people … and none of them are Chipper freakin’ Jones. I don’t mean to call him out, because he’s not the only one, but my word. What were you thinking?
• Speaking of what were you thinking? Someone made this sign and then was like, yeah … looks good:

New sign posted at entry to #Cardinals half-field training area for infielders. #Oz #STLCards pic.twitter.com/fTWqizOAGD

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 7, 2018

• No punctuation after “OZ,” backwards quotes at the end … also why is it in quotes at all if it’s all capitalized like that? This is really making my day.
• The Mets have DFA’d another player (4th in a month), and so far, they haven’t been able to keep two of them:

The Mets have designated Matt Reynolds for assignment to clear 40-man roster space for Todd Frazier. It's their fourth such DFA in a month, and they lost two of the previous three players (Bradford, Smoker).

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 7, 2018

• Earlier today in the Lukewarm Stove we mentioned that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was traded from the Rangers to the Yankees, and it just so happens that it went down on a notable inter-sport day:

On this date in 1994, MJ made his move to baseball official and signed with the White Sox. pic.twitter.com/HvEfLNhi8C

— ESPN (@espn) February 7, 2018

• Brett wrote about Michael Jordan’s time in baseball and how it’s actually the most impressive thing he’s ever done. I know what you’re thinking, but give it a read. Brett lays out some fair points. [Brett: I wrote that originally a long time ago, but I do think it stands up. I know it sounds click-bait-y on its face, but I think I make a good argument.]
• And finally, at MLB.com today, Joe Posnanski wrote about Albert Pujols’ one unbreakable record: most double plays. For more on that – and ten straight minutes of Pujols grounding into double plays (most of which come with the Cardinals) – check out our Baseball is Fun post from December.