All posts tagged: Hot Stove League

Hot Stove League (Continued)

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In an earlier post I got it half right.  Despite a good effort by the Nationals and their owners the Lerners, the big free agent catch Mark Teixeira got away…but to the Evil Empire (a.k.a. New York Yankees) instead of the Boston Red Sox.  With that signing, the Yankees now have the four highest paid players IN BASEBALL HISTORY on their team at one time.  What recession?  Jeez… But I’m going to take the positive view about this from the Nats perspective.   At least they finally decided to play in the big leagues of free agency, and they went after the right player this time as well.  I think in my heart of hearts I knew the Nats were on the margins in the Teixeira chase even with their strong offers.  But they can’t stop here.  A career 48-59 pitcher with a 5.05 ERA for the Orioles can’t be the big news out of the Hot Stove League for our Nationals.  Fans deserve more than a Triple-A team playing in a major league ballpark.  That’s my Christmas wish …

Hot Stove League

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It is 30 degrees outside, we’re approaching winter solstice, so naturally a young man’s thoughts turn to…baseball! Yesterday at work I used the term Hot Stove League in a memo to some colleagues, referring to rumors about projects that were heating up.  A friend who loves baseball said she wasn’t familiar with the term, so as is usual I sent her the link from Wikipedia.  According to that source of all knowledge: The Hot Stove League is a baseball-related term, referring to the off-season. Therefore, it is not actually a “league”, but the term instead calls up images of baseball fans, anxious for the start of the new season, gathering around a hot stove during the cold winter months discussing their favorite baseball teams. The term has also come to refer to the wave of off-season player transactions (trades, re-signings, free agency, etc.) that occur between seasons, especially during the winter meetings.  Since most free agent signings and trades occur during the off-season, this time of significant player transactions (including rumors and speculation about possible trades), is …