Former two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay dies when the private plane he pilots crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, 10 miles west of St. Petersburg, FL.
Winners of the Gold Glove awards in the major leagues are announced. There is significant turnover in the AL, as only RF Mookie Betts is a repeat winner, although five others have won the award in previous years. In the NL, both Nolan Arenado and Jason Heyward win their 5th, with Arenado’s awards coming consecutively.
Marlins 3B Casey McGehee wins the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award while P Chris Young of the Mariners is the winner in the American League. McGehee came back from a strong year in Japan following a couple of disappointing seasons, while Young had seen his career stopped by a string of arm injuries.
The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame inducts its first players since the Cuban Revolution (groups of Cuban exiles had voted players in in some scattered attempts in the interim). They pick five players from the post-Revolution era: Omar Linares, Orestes Kindelan, Braudilio Vinent, Luis Casanova and Antonio Muñoz. Also selected are five pre-Revolution individuals: Minnie Minoso, Camilo Pascual, Connie Marrero, Steve Bellan and Amado Maestri.
Rick Renteria becomes the Cubs’ 53rd manager in franchise history, the fourth in the last five years, when he signs a three-year contract with two club option years with the last-place team that finished the season with 96 losses. Chicago’s new 51 year-old skipper has spent the last three seasons as Bud Black’s bench coach in San Diego.
Brien Taylor, a former top Yankees pitching prospect who received a record $1.55 million signing bonus, is sentenced to 38 months in prison after pleading guilty to distributing crack cocaine. The East Carteret High School’s hard-throwing southpaw was the No. 1 overall selection in the 1991 draft, but two years later his career was cut short when he got into a fist fight, severely injuring his pitching shoulder when he throw a punch which missed his opponent.
With a year remaining on his contract, outfielder Jason Bay is released by the Mets after three very disappointing seasons with New York. The move will not save the team any money as they will be responsible for the $21 million owed to the former National League Rookie of the Year, who signed a big free-agent deal with the club in 2009.
The Rockies, after informing their season-ticket holders via e-mail before making an official announcement, name Walt Weiss as the sixth manager in the 20-year history of the team. The 48 year-old new skipper, a popular shortstop with Colorado during the early years of the franchise, replaces Jim Tracy, who resigned last month.
The Twins replace GM Bill Smith on an interim basis with Terry Ryan, who had previously held the post. The dismissal marks the first time since 1961, when the club left Washington to move to Minnesota, that the franchise has fired a general manager.
The Giants bolster their anemic offense by acquiring OF Melky Cabrera from Kansas City for Ps Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo.
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