Dodgers and White Sox and Other Harper Destinations, Valbuena Was Murdered, and Other Bullets

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Dodgers and White Sox and Other Harper Destinations, Valbuena Was Murdered, and Other Bullets

Chicago Cubs

I failed to comment on it yesterday, but man, the first Avengers 4 trailer was basically perfect, right? You can’t give up much in this situation, but you still have to tease and get people excited … very much mission accomplished. I would like to watch that movie today, please.

  • Handicapping the Bryce Harper market as we begin the weekend before the Winter Meetings:

  • I would certainly say that, entering the offseason, those top two teams sounded right to me. Indeed, despite the Dodgers’ internal documentation about staying under the luxury tax for years to come, I have a hard time buying it. Throw in the fact that the Dodgers are now looking to trade outfielder Yasiel Puig (who is under control for only one more year anyway), and Harper to the Dodgers just seems so right. It always has, if you set aside the Cubs (which, apparently, is probably the smart bet). There’s a need fit, a long-term fit, a geographic fit, a financial fit (I suspect), and a star-power fit.
  • And now that the Cubs don’t seem like a good bet to land Harper, well, sure, you can throw the White Sox in there as the third team. I’d probably have the Yankees there because I can’t possibly count them out (or maybe even the Cubs), but the White Sox have the money, and have the need to get a franchise cornerstone guy like Harper to anchor a young, just-about-ready-to-go lineup. Who’s excited to watch Bryce and Eloy go back-to-back for the next five years?!?!? (sigh … )
  • That said, it does seem like the White Sox will have to be the top bidder, solidly, to land Harper. I’m sure there’s a little bit of an allure to be the franchise face, but he could get that in Philadelphia, too. Heck, he’d probably become the face in L.A., too, and the spotlight shines just a little brighter there. The more I think about it, my likeliness rankings for Harper would probably go something like:

1. Dodgers

2. Phillies

(big drop-off)

3. Cubs

4. Yankees

5. White Sox

6. Nationals

7. Cardinals

8. Astros

  • Paul Goldschmidt was introduced as a Cardinal yesterday:

  • And the internet is undefeated:

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  • The 48 hours when this signing and the simultaneous Starlin Castro trade to the Yankees were percolating was so much fun:

  • The Giants new front office did a little poaching from the Brewers:

  • It certainly feels like this pitch cannot hold up forever (he’s now 33 and only just had his first truly elite season), but it’s something to behold:

  • It was already a horrible situation, but this is just even worse:

  • It’s just so horrible to think about that kind of callousness. Luis Valbuena was murdered. That wasn’t some car accident. Ugh.
  • Remembering the good:

  • Not bad:

  • This is not baseball and it’s only barely sports, but it’s pretty wild, so I’ll share it anyway:

Filed to: Chicago Cubs
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Author: Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Editor and Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and @Brett_A_Taylor.