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Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 12/24/19

Finding intrigue in the AL Central; the best pitches, swings, and bat flips of 2019; way-too-early 2020 rotation rankings

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MLB: General Managers Meetings Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Baseball Prospectus | Jeff Wiser ($): People may not pay as much attention to the AL Central, but it’s probably one of the most competitive divisions going into 2020. With Cleveland Corey Kluber -less, the White Sox adding Dallas Keuchel and Yasmani Grandal, and the Twins trying to repeat their excellent 2020, the few tanking teams can be partially forgotten because there is still excellent talent at the top.

The Athletic | Eno Sarris ($): Sarris goes through some of the best whiffs, pitches, and bat flips of the year, ranging from Patrick Corbin’s dynamic slider to Charlie Morton’s curve, to a Ronald Acuña Jr. bat flip.

ESPN Insider | Bradford Doolittle ($): How would we start ranking MLB rotations for 2020, if we were to guess? The Nationals are probably still in the top stop given their retention of Stephen Strasburg, and the Yankees probably aren’t too far behind with their acquisition of Gerrit Cole. The bottom of the pack probably resembles 2019 in a lot of tanking-type ways, like the Orioles, Marlins, Royals, and Mariners.