MLB news & notes: games are back, but we’re mired in Astros-talk

Welcome to ‘Marty’s Musings’, my weekly column of numbers summarizing the happenings in the baseball world. I am your guide for taking an analytic look at the news and notes throughout the game, and highlighting this week’s key pitching matchups.

The Astros sign-stealing scandal is an everyday thing all across baseball, the White Sox continue to lock up their young talent, and Blue Jays fans across Canada get some bad news related to black outs.

News & Notes

2017 - The year that will live in infamy for the Houston Astros, and the year that every MLB team seemingly cannot and will not move on from, at least during Spring Training. Players across the league tweeted and said stinging rebukes of the Astros cheating, that it was basically top-of-mind for every team in their first weekend of Spring Training games. Jim Crane thought the entire incident would blow over (out of touch, much?), as the Astros simply want to “move past it”. It’s obvious this will not go away, and seemingly the sign-stealing public relations repercussions will follow Houston all season….not that they don’t deserve every bit of it.

5 - Year, $16 million extension the White Sox agreed to with lefty Aaron Bummer. Total earnings, if two options are exercised by Chicago could get the deal just under $31 million. The White Sox have been one of the most active teams both on the free agent market, and in signing their young talent over the last few months.

2 - Teams that are supposedly interested in Yasiel Puig, the Rockies and White Sox.Puig had a rough 2019, with the Dodgers trading him to the Reds in the middle of the season. He’d certainly welcome the offensive environment of Colorado, but Chicago may actually be the team on the rise that could benefit by a corner outfield addition.

0 - Canadians will be able to legally stream Blue Jays games in 2020. The Blue Jays being available to stream in Canada is a relatively new thing, but the party is over, as Sportsnet, which is owned by Rogers Media, which owns the Jays, will force fans to subscribe to their sports services regardless of distance to Toronto. In a world of increasingly large cord-cutters, there has to be a better way.

31 - Days until Opening Day.