Triple Play Podcast: NL East & Twins Previews, Herrera & Holland Deals

This week on the Triple Play Podcast, Matt was out of town, so Reese and I had to hold down the fort. We started things off by discussing the final figures of James Shields‘ contract with the Padres, including the opt-out he can exercise after the 2016 season, which is an interesting twist. We also talked about Rickie Weeks signing with the Mariners, despite the somewhat odd fit.

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Former Royal Jamey Wright signed a minor league deal with the Rangers, his 9th such contract in the last 10 seasons. He broke camp with the club in each of those previous 8 times, so it seems safe to bet on him making it 9 for 9.

We also spent some time on the contracts signed by Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland, who will both be making far less than they’re actually worth to the Royals. Joe Blanton is currently in the Royals organization, although his two opt-out dates suggest that may not last.

From there, we kicked off our MLB previews by taking a look at the National League East, a division that has some clear lines between the haves and the have-nots. The Nationals have what looks like the best team in baseball, while the Phillies and Braves most certainly do not. The Marlins should be a lot of fun to watch, and the Mets have an exciting pitching staff, led by a now-healthy Matt Harvey.

Finally, we started our look at the teams in the AL Central by breaking down the Twins’ offseason and their projections for this year. Minnesota had a sneaky-good offense last year, and while they should expect some regression, they’ll still score runs. The problem, of course, is that their pitching and defense will likely allow many, many more runs. Luckily for Twins fans, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Alex Meyer are waiting just around the corner.

Feel free to listen to the podcast with the player above, or at this link. To get in contact with the show, send us an email at KCTriplePlay@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter here:

Aaron Reese
Matt Vernon
Hunter Samuels

Thanks for listening!

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