Baseball

Some unbelievably tragic news tonight. The St Louis Cardinals' top prospect Oscar Tavares has been killed in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic. He was a hugely talented and exciting player. Could've been a big star. Terribly sad.

Giants blank the Royals 5-0 to go 3-2 up in series as we move back to Kansas for game 6

Royals 9-0 up in game 6 in middle of 6th Inning helped by 7 run 2nd Innings so baring a huge Giants rally we are going to a game 7 to decide the champions

Game 7 is shaping up so well. And it's only been 2 innings ! Tied 2-2 and already there have been pitching changes. Great fans Kansas have- booming loud !

Aaaaand so, that's the season at an end. San Franscisco defeated Kansas City 3-2 in Game 7. A hearty well done must go to the San Francisco Giants. World Champions 2014. They weren't especially favoured at the start of the season. Plenty of better (on paper, anyway) teams in the National League were tipped ahead of them. But, with great pitching and a pinch of luck here & there, they managed to go all the way. Their 3rd World title in 5 years. An extra congrats to pitcher Madison Bumgarner, named the 2014 World Series MVP. Hard luck to Kansas, but they'll be buoyed by their American League pennant, and will start next season as early favourites to win the American League Central Division- which, in recent years, has been dominated by Detroit. It'll interesting to see where the big free agents all go this off-season. Max Scherzer, James Shields, Jon Lester, and SF World Series hero Pablo Sandoval should all be in line for $100M + contracts before the 2015 season starts.

Here's to another fine season. Cheers.

Well, it's been a few weeks since San Francisco won the World Series, and the Baseball world continues to move at rapid pace. Mike Trout of the Anaheim Angels, was predictably American League MVP. And Los Angeles Dodgers main man Clayton Kershaw was named National League MVP- the first pitcher to be named MVP since Justin Verlander. Some big trades and deals made already this post-season. The Detroit Tigers have re-signed American League MVP runner-up Victor Martinez to a four-year $68M deal. The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed a deal to sign free agent catcher Russell Martin to a five-year $82M contract. The St Louis Cardinals have traded starting pitcher Shelby Miller, and reliever Jordan Walder to the Atlanta Braves for star outfielder Jason Heyward, and pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins. However, the biggest deal so far discussed is the MEGA contract the Miami Marlins have agreed with their star man, home-run machine, Giancarlo Stanton. The (just turned) 25 year old will sign the biggest contract (not just in Baseball, but ALL sports) in history: a thirteen-year deal, worth a colossal $325M ! WOW.

Since the big Stanton deal there have been a few more big moves. Oakland have signed free agent first baseman Billy Butler to a three-year $30M deal. Another free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche has signed a two-year deal worth $25M with Chicago White Sox. Seattle's third baseman Kyle Seager has agreed to a seven-year contract extention, worth $100M. The Boston Red Sox have signed the two biggets free agent batters available- San Francisco's third baseman Pablo Sandoval has signed a five-year deal worth $95M; and Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez put pen to paper on a four-year deal, worth $88M, and thus returned to the very team that signed him as an international free agent way back in 2000. And finally, heavily hyped Cuban free agent Yasmany Tomas has apparently agreed to a six-year, $68.5M deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Something of a shocking trade was finalized this morning. Oakland have traded their star man- third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for fellow 3B Brett Lawrie, pitchers Sean Nolin & Kendall Graveman, and exciting shortstop prospect Franklin Barreto.

My weekly/bi-weekly update is due, and it's been a VERY busy 10 days in MLB. Free agent outfielder Nelson Cruz, who led the league in home-runs this season, with 40, has signed a four-year deal worth $57M with the big spending Seattle Mariners. Another free agent- Torii Hunter has signed a one-year deal worth $10.5M with Minnesota. The Atlanta Braves have signed free agent outfielder Nick Markakis to a four-year deal, worth $44M. The New York Yankees have, apparently, found a replacement to their now retired shortstop (and captain) Derk Jeter by acquring Didi Gregorious in a three-team trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers. The Yankees sent pitcher Shane Greene to Detroit, who in turn sent Robbie Ray and Domingo Leyba to Arizona. The Yankees also completed the signing of highly coveted free agent reliever Andrew Miller to a four-year, $36M deal. The Chicago Cubs have re-signed pitcher Jason Hammel to a two-year $20M deal. The Cleveland Indians have signed Oakland hitter Brandon Moss in a straight swap for second baseman Joe Wendle. And, in a couple of surprise moves, the Chicago White Sox have signed free agent relief pitcher David Robertson to a four-year $46M deal, AND, traded for Oakland pitcher Jeff Samardzija. Oakland, in return, get Marcus Semien, Chris Beck, and Trayce Thompson.

If only I'd waited one extra day there would've been even more juice to squeeze. The Pittsburgh Pirates have re-signed pitcher Francisco Liriano to a three-year, $39M deal. However, the emerging Chicago Cubs made a BIG statement of intent yesterday, firstly by trading for Arizona Diamondbacks' former All-Star catcher Miguel Montero, in exchange for young pitching prospects Zack Godley and Jeferson Mejia; and more impressively they announced yesterday that they had come to terms with one of the biggest free agent fishes in the pond, signing former Oakland and Boston ace pitcher Jon Lester to a six-year deal, worth a huge $155M. With their young core of quality hitters, and an ever improving pitching staff, the Cubs may very well be one to watch in the National League next season.