Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 12/11/19

FanGraphs | Dan Szymborski: Didi Gregorius has a new home in Philadelphia, signing to a one-year, $14 million deal with the Phillies. It’s a rebuild-your-value deal for Gregorius, who had Tommy John and whose performance has suffered since then. It could still be a huge boost for the Phillies, who need every advantage to keep pace with the Braves in the NL East.

Baseball Prospectus | Matthew Trueblood ($): Keeping changeups out of the zone is incredibly important as a pitcher, while also making it deceptive by having it look like a strike. A few pitchers had notable changes in CSprob% for their change, like Lucas Giolito, who paradoxically hit the zone with that pitch to great effect, or Dallas Keuchel, who did it the traditional way of keeping the ball down in the zone as much as possible.

The Athletic | Ken Rosenthal ($): Part of the Astros’ payroll crunch means that, for one, they will likely not be signing Gerrit Cole. It also means they could trade a member of their core for a long-term savings, meaning—possibly—Carlos Correa. The timing likely won’t work out and a lot of stars have to align, but it’s telling that the Astros have reached the point of their contention cycle where they have to (or just want to) make these decisions.