2019 – As spring training gets underway, Bruce Bochy, long-time manager of the Giants and winner of three World Series titles with the team, announces that he will retire at the end of the season.
2019 – The Yankees sign their young ace Luis Severino to a four-year contract extension for $40 million, with an option for a fifth year at $12.25 million.
2019 – Kyler Murray, the 9th overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft by the Oakland A’s, announces that he is giving up baseball to concentrate on becoming an NFL quarterback. Murray, an outfielder, was originally committed to give professional baseball a try and accepted a $4.66 signing bonus from the A’s, but his plans changed after a tremendous season as a junior at the University of Oklahoma that saw him win the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in the nation. He has declared for the NFL draft and is expected to be a top pick.
The long-rumored trade of All-Star C J.T. Realmuto is finally completed as the Phillies agree to send three young players – C Jorge Alfaro and Ps Sixto Sanchez and Will Stewart – in return for the outstanding young backstop.
Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, a member of the 500 Home Run Club, a Triple Crown winner, the first player to win the MVP Award in both leagues, and the first African-American manager in major league history, passes away in hospice care in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 83. He was also a senior executive for Major League Baseball and was still serving as the honorary President of the American League.
2019 – The Rockies and Nolan Arenado agree on a one-year deal worth $26 million, thus avoiding an arbitration hearing. The amount sets a record for an arbitration-eligible player, topping the $23 million obtained by Josh Donaldson a year ago.
2019 – The Dodgers sign OF A.J. Pollock for four years at $55 million. Most observers thought they were looking to sign another free agent, Bryce Harper, after trading OFs Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig earlier this off-season, but this signing likely means that they will cease pursuing Harper.
The Mariners offer a minor league contract to 45-year-old outfielder and living legend Ichiro Suzuki. While the Mariners released him last May, Ichiro has not officially retired and has made it clear that he would love to play for the M’s when they open the season in his native Japan on March 20th.
2019 – Mariano Rivera becomes the first unanimous inductee in the Hall of Fame, being named on all 425 ballots cast by members of the BBWAA in the 2019 Hall of Fame Election. Joining him are fellow pitchers Roy Halladay, who becomes a posthumous first-ballot Hall of Famer, and Mike Mussina, and DH/3B Edgar Martinez, the latter in his 10th and final year of eligibility.
2019 – The Yankees get rid of an unwanted member of their pitching staff by sending veteran starter Sonny Gray to the Reds in return for minor league infielder Shed Long and a Compensation Round A pick in the 2019 amateur draft. They then turn around and trade Long to the Mariners for OF Josh Stowers. For their part, the Reds immediately sign Gray to a three-year contract extension worth $30.5 million.
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