Morning Mound Visit: Michael Brantley re-signs with Astros

Eric Huysman | Crawfish Boxes: Michael Brantley’s free agency came to a roller coaster ending. Initial reports were that Brantley had followed George Springer to Toronto, but those turned out to be false. Brantley actually did the less interesting thing and re-signed with the Astros.

Tony Wolfe | FanGraphs: Shortly after the Springer news broke, José Quintana signed a one-year deal with the Angels. Quintana’s time in Chicago might be clouded with his recent struggles and the rise of Eloy Jiménez who the Cubs dealt to acquire Quintana back in 2017, but the lefty is an underrated middle of the rotation option.

Max Rieper | Royals Review: Speaking of pitchers who weren’t as good with the Cubs as they were previously, Wade Davis has re-joined the Royals. Kansas City brought back the closer of their championship run on a minor league deal. In his last 45 innings with Colorado, Davis gave up 52 runs, he’s very much looking to get his groove back.