Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network, as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
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On Friday afternoon, Jenrry Mejia made baseball history. Normally, if you’re making baseball history during the month of February, either you waited a very long time to sign an extremely lucrative contract or it’s some extremely bad form of history. Unfortunately for Mejia, it’s the bad type of history as he ended up failing another test for performance-enhancing drugs. That was his third failed test, and it ended up being the one that earned him a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball.
It’s a staggering fall from grace for Mejia, who not too long ago was considered to be a bright prospect for the New York Mets. After recovering from Tommy John surgery, Mejia made it back and seemed to be on his way to locking down the job of closer for the Mets back in 2014. That was before he kicked off the 2015 season with an 80-game suspension, then earned himself a 162-game suspension a few months later with a second failed test. Now, here we are: February 2016, and Jenrry Mejia has joined Pete Rose as one of only two living players who are actively banned from baseball.
Now, there is a possibility that Mejia could be reinstated and make a return. However, if you take a look at what it takes for reinstatement in this situation, you could probably make a safe bet on never seeing Mejia in the majors again. You won’t be seeing him playing in Japan, Mexico or South Korea, either. The irony here is that Mejia is actually still eligible to play in the winter leagues in his home country of the Dominican Republic. However, it’s evident that his time as a big league pitcher is over, and it’s truly shameful that this is the circumstance under which it had to happen.
- Oakland is Khris Davis’ new home, as the Brewers traded him to the Athletics in exchange for Jacob Nottingham and 80-grade name Bubba Derby.
- Speaking of the A’s, they’re still caught up in a stadium debate that’s being pushed in public by their football-playing co-tenants.
- After getting into a debate with local authorities, the Braves have decided that they’ll just build a new statue of Hank Aaron at their new home, instead of bringing the statue that’s currently at Turner Field with them.
- The Braves figure to be one of the teams in baseball that will be pretty bad this season. Having a handful of bad teams in baseball is a normal thing and we shouldn’t be panicking.
- Aroldis Chapman and the New York Yankees avoided arbitration by coming to an agreement on a one-year, $11.325 million contract.
- There will be a new hybrid helmet cap for pitchers to test out during spring training this year.
- Our friends at Bless You Boys believe that Vegas odds are undervaluing the Tigers and their chances of hitting 85 victories this season.
- We’ve still got a ways to go before Bryce Harper potentially hits the free agent market, but Harper apparently sees a potential $400 million contract as “selling him short.” Phew!
- Pitchers and catchers will be in camp by this time next week, which means that this is a good time to take a look at the (somewhat meaningless) winners and losers of the offseason.
- The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are currently engaging in scoreboard warfare. The offseason is almost over, folks. We’ve almost made it.
