In the whole scheme of things, it wasn't too long ago that fantasy baseball leagues were keeping track of stats on "paper."
Prior to 2000, there really wasn't that option on the very young Internet — young millennials like Choo may have a hard time grasping that. Note that Choo just made a fist and fired up his Twitter: @jimmysjargon...
I can't imagine ever doing a fantasy league like ours on paper, but I know it happened. The whole idea of creating a minor league system back in 2010 came from a story I heard from someone I worked with at the Reading Eagle. He and his buddies had a fantasy baseball league that was nearly 20 years old, and not only did they have to look up scores in the newspaper boxscores the next day, but they also had a full minor league system.
It blew my mind.
There was no texting. There was no Facebook. Email at the time of that League's inception was not common. So how the hell did they trade talk?
Could you imagine having to dial up another owner before 9 p.m.?
**RING, RING**
"Hello, Choo?"
"Yes?"
"You interested Chris Archer?"
"Sure. I'll give you Jesus Luzardo."
"OK, I'll call you back."
**HANGS UP, DIALS CROX ... RING RING**
"Hello, Crox?"
"Hello, Crox?"
"Yes?"
"Can I get your input? Choo has offered Luzardo for Archer? I'm thinking I'll do it?"
"It's fair. ... But I'd give you Jack Flaherty and Wil Myers for him."
"Ooh, let me think on it."
**HANGS UP, DIALS PARKER ... RING RING**
"Hello?"
"Is your refrigerator running?"
"Yes??"
"You better go catch it!"
**HANGS UP, DIALS SAM ... RING RING**
"Hey, Sam?"
"Yes?"
"Eloy available?
"No?"
"OK, well I have multiple deals in for Archer, let me know what you'll do. I'll wait by the phone."
**HANGS UP, DIALS CROX AGAIN ... RING RING"
"Hello?"
"Oh, hi, Melanie. Is the Crox there?"
"Yes, but he fell asleep."
"Ah, OK, I'll call him later."
**HANGS UP, DIALS CHOO AGAIN ... RING RING"
"Choo?"
"Yes?"
"I'll take your deal. I'll send up the smoke signals."
That would truly be a nightmare. Thank god for technology. And thank the baseball gods for Slack. Our Winter Meetings would have had to been just a bunch of dudes (and Gina) sitting around a table out in the snow.
And there wouldn't be a Jargon recap, like this one.
Let's start right away with the big deal on the final day.
That’s right, the Sex Panthers pulled the trigger on a Trevor Bauer deal on the last day of the 2019 JLB Winter Meetings, sending him and an eighth-rounder to Big Ol’ Country for Lorenzo Cain, Jo Adell, and a fifth-round pick.
At face value, everyone looked at that deal and wondered, “Where the hell is Eloy Jimenez in that deal?”
I certainly did and I heard a few others say the same thing.
But at the end of the day, Sam isn’t budging on Eloy right now. I certainly know that, too.
So, when we delete him from the equation and look at what the Panthers now have as a starting lineup, it’s looking pretty good. Cain provides power, speed and average, and Adell provides the promise of a future star.
For Sam, he bolsters a rotation that needed another arm after Lance McCullers and Sean Manaea went down.
Now with Bauer, Robbie Ray and Chris Sale, he’s got a high strikeout trio that should lead him all season.
And for him, it didn’t cost much from his team’s standpoint because Starling Marte was an extra center fielder and steps in for Cain.
There were two other deals to close out the Winter Meetings, and Sam was once again a big mover in another one.
He sent Charlie Morton and Yasmani Grandal to Quad Eh for Hunter Renfroe and Michael Kopech. Sam’s bolstering his DL players in the offseason with Kopech.
Morton gives Quad Eh an extra starter for protection in the event he moves one of his big dogs, and Kopech may be the biggest part of this deal as in a year’s time, Sam could be in a position to have an ace.
He also could have a dud — #Giolito — but at least he didn’t trade Anthony Rizzo to get him. Am I right?
Lastly, Crox Sox shipped off another closer — his second of the offseason — to collect a second-round pick.
Overall, I want to issue a big thanks to all 11 owners for their participation in the Winter Meetings. I thought it was awesome to have everyone jump in and chat for a few.
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