Note: This post was originally published on April 2, 2014. It has been updated to include two players who joined the club during the 2014 season. It does not include the recently-traded Matt Kemp, Yasmani Grandal, Joe Wieland, or Tim Federowicz since they have yet to play a regular-season game with their new teams, and I already made that mistake once when I prematurely included Josh Johnson on a list of alliteratively-named Padres. We now return to your regularly scheduled rerun.

I started making this quiz last winter and forgot about it, but with the Dodgers in town, now seemed like the perfect time to finish it up and put it out on Front Street. It's the largest quiz I've made so far, weighing in at 93 95 names, and one that I expect will produce low success rates. I doubt the results will be as low as they were for the quiz about guys who wore number one, but I could be wrong. It has happened before. Shocking, I know.

You get ten minutes to hammer out all of the last names you can remember or guess. I've provided the years the players hit the field for each team, and arranged the names in alphabetical order for bonus hintitude. Once you run out of time and wipe the sweat from your brow, log your results in the poll below. Feel encouraged to discuss the ones you got right and the ones you missed in the comments section, but use the spoiler bar feature where applicable.

Kemp to the Padres, Masterson to the Red Sox, and much more. Meanwhile, the Indians aren't stopping at Moss.

It was a heck of a busy Winter Meetings session, making it hard to keep track of all the moving parts. Now that the festivities are over, let's try to sort out the big happenings:

Tribe-related news & notes

Tribe hopes first move a pre-cursor to more | Indians.com - The Indians kicked off the frenzy with their Monday signing of Brandon Moss, and GM Chris Antonetti isn't done yet. He'd still like to add some pitching depth, but he's also pretty happy with the shape the team is in now. There's also a handy sidebar in this article recapping every transaction that went down on Thursday.

Indians consider Anderson an option to improve rotation | Cleveland.com - Brett Anderson may be part of the pitching depth Antonetti seeks. A power lefty would be a nice get for a righty-dominated rotation, but Anderson is a big dude and has had more than his fair share of injuries.

Moss reunion creates boon, challenge for Francona | Indians.com - Terry Francona managed a young Brandon Moss when he came up with the Red Sox. Now, the reunited pair presents an intriguing puzzle to be solved. Where does Tito plug a potentially-injured, no defense slugger into a lineup that's already got one of those guys?

Finding a role for Swisher | Did The Tribe Win Last Night? - Speaking of potentially-injured, no defense sluggers, Nick Swisher seems essentially obsolete now that we've got Moss. DTTWLN's Laurel Wilder think Swish-bro could find a role as the new Jason Giambi, but I'm skeptical.

Indians claim Delvi Francisco in Rule 5 | Cleveland.com- Francisco won't light the world on fire, but he throws hard. Hey, why not.

Winter Meetings recap | Indians Baseball Insider - Nice, in-depth recap of the Indians' moves and strategy and accomplishments during the Winter Meetings.

Winter Meetings fallout from around MLB

Red Sox add Masterson on one-year contract | Hardball Talk - Justin Masteron returns to his roots on what seems like a pretty reasonable contract. I'd say I'm rooting for him, but I'm not.

Twins sign Ervin Santana | Twitter (Jeff Passan) - Four years, $54 million, the largest FA contract in Twins history. What in the blue hell are they thinking?

The all-Winter Meetings team | Sports On Earth - How would all the moving parts stack up as a team? Encouraging stuff for Tribe fans here.

Andrew Friedman makes his mark | Sports On Earth - The new Dodgers GM wasted no time making his presence known in Chavez Ravine and across MLB. After a crazy Winter Meetings spree, he may still not be done.

The Kemp trade feels like the Vernon Wells trade | Fangraphs - I really wish we could have worked out a deal for Matt Kemp, but I doubt we could have topped the Padres' weirdly aggressive pursuit. And for what? Fangraphs thinks they're still gonna suck.

Matt Latos' wife followed trade rumors on Twitter | CBS Sports - A reminder that atheletes have families, and those families are real people.

The Houston Astros added Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek to their pen for a combined $31 million.

The Houston Astros went from pretender to pretender with a much stronger bullpen over the course of the Winter Meetings, signing both Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek to what seem to be pretty good deals on paper.

Note: the date of the Taylor Swift 1989 tour show at #MMP is subject to change if it conflicts with an #Astros postseason home game.

— Houston Astros (@astros) December 11, 2014

Despite what their twitter account suggests, these two moves don't a playoff contender make. That doesn't mean these signings are bad for the Astros, though.

Although I am a firm believer in a theory that suggests building a bullpen is the last thing on the checklist to being a contender, that doesn't mean the Astros have wasted an investment. With plenty of young arms on their way in Houston, it will be nice to show the starters that they are committed to closing out games. I'm fully aware these are professional athletes, but I really do think it would be frustrating for a starter to put forth enough effort for a win just to have it blown by a weak bullpen again and again. Similarly, Neshek and Gregerson, who have been through a lot in their career, will be able to help the young relievers who find themselves going through rough patches early in their career. While the move was likely more about their on field value, the psychological impact of having competent relievers can't hurt.

Luke Gregerson was removed from the free agency pool by his previous AL West competitors with a three year offer worth $18.5 million. With fellow relievers David Robertson and Andrew Miller signing 4 year deals worth $46 million and $36 million respectively, Gregerson's deal is undeniably a great value. The 30-year old right-hander joins the Astros having only played for two other major league teams, but, over that time, has carried a relatively heavy workload.

Since his debut with the Padres in 2009, Gregerson has pitched more than 66 innings in all but one season. Over the past ten seasons, only 13 pitchers have pitched more innings than Gregerson before their age 31 season. Most interestingly however -- especially to Houston Astros fans -- is that, among this crop of pitchers, Gregerson is 7th in fWAR over the same span. That list looks like this:

What is troubling though, is what happens to these pitchers during and after their age 31 seasons. Ramon Ramirez, for instance, has pitched a combined 6.2 innings during his age 32 and 33 seasons. Carlos Marmol just wrapped up his age 31 season and was good for -0.5 fWAR. K-Rod did roughly the same with -0.6 fWAR. To be fair, in his age 32 season last year, Jesse Crain had his best season ever with 1.9 fWAR, so it's not all bad news. Pitcher aging curves really do start to tailspin around this time but, luckily, the Astros only committed for three years. For more on pitcher aging curves, check out Ryan Romano's piece on Andrew Miller here.

As for Pat Neshek, can we really take a moment here to appreciate that this man can throw a 95mph fastball and look like this doing it:

Pat Neshek was worth 1.8 fWAR last season which is 0.1 fWAR better than David Robertson. That being said, this was an outlier year for Neshek whereas David Robertson has had four seasons of 1.6 fWAR or better. Neshek also set a personal best in HR/FB rate with an unbelievably minuscule 4.3%.

During Neshek's latest stint in the American League, he pitched 2 seasons for the Oakland Athletics, worked for 60 innings and contributed -0.2 fWAR. Not so great and, still in recent memory. Was his year in St. Louis magic? Can a pitcher benefit from pitching in the National League that much? It's tough to say. In 2013, Neshek's slider, which he threw 15.9% of the time, was only good for a 5.7% swinging strike. However, in 2014 Neshek leaned on the pitch a lot more (33.9%) and it fooled hitters way more (16.9 SwStr%). If Neshek's slider ends up somewhere in the middle of these for the next two years, Neshek's $12.5 million deal (plus a club option for a third year) should definitely be worth it.

I really do like these deals for the Houston Astros despite the obvious concerns I have for the team elsewhere. A bullpen alone can't win championships, just like any other facet of a roster. Making additions to the third worst bullpen in FIP last season shouldn't be criticized too heavily though. There's plenty of off-season left for the Astros to address more glaring needs, but they come out as quick victors of the Winter Meetings for this one and it's plausible to see these arms fetching nice returns in trades in a year or two or potentially propping up their pen during their first year of contention in 2016 or beyond.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.

Michael Bradburn is a Contributor for Beyond the Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @mwbii. You can also reach him at michaelwbii@gmail.com

Almost 48 hours later, and nothing's official. What if Jimmy Rollins hasn't been traded?

Everyone who follows baseball knows it by now - Jimmy Rollins has been traded to the Dodgers.  Fewer people know it, but most who follow the Phillies or Dodgers closely enough know that in return the Phillies received two minor league pitchers, Zach Eflin and Tom Windle.

Except, if you look at both teams' official transaction lists, there's no mention of these moves.  The Phillies page has the Antonio Bastardo trade and the Rule 5 acquisitions from this week.  The Dodgers page has the Marlins trade and the Angels trade.  But nothing about Rollins on either page.

Look through news reports, and you'll find a ton of reporters talking, but nothing from the teams.  No press releases.  No press conferences.  No statements from the players, either.  And certainly no tearful goodbye from Rollins to Phillies fans.

Which makes my skeptical mind wonder - maybe none of this happened.  Maybe this is all a ton of smoke, but no fire?  Maybe this is just the new media landscape following each other like lemmings instead of waiting to report on actual confirmed information?

Not that I'm thinking the Dodgers and Phillies never came to an agreement here.  It sure seems like talks got far enough for every reporter and his mother to start announcing the trade.  But, as best as I can tell, there are many things that still have to happen before the trade is official:

- Matt Kemp needs to be traded to the Padres, so the Dodgers officially have Zach Eflin to then trade to the Phillies.  Click the link above with the Dodgers transactions and you'll notice there is no Kemp trade either.

- Presumably, this means that there are medical reports or physicals that are being reviewed still by the Padres and/or Dodgers.

- Once that happens, if it happens, the same will have to happen with the Phillies and Eflin (and possibly Windle too).

- By all accounts, there may be money moving in the deal from the Phillies to the Dodgers, which means the deal has to be approved by the commissioner's office.

There may be a lot more that is contingent that I don't known about, but this leaves at least four serious contingencies before Rollins is officially traded to the Dodgers.  If you've followed sports for even a short period of time, you know that these contingencies tank deals on a regular basis.

In other words, what we have been treating as an event that has occurred in the past (and I'm just as guilty here!) is something that has a non-negligible chance of never happening.

In which case, what would that mean?  I guess there are three possibilities:

1) The Phillies and Dodgers work out another deal, maybe swapping a different prospect instead of Eflin.  But they are determined, especially the Dodgers who are re-tooling their infield, and will make this happen.

2) The Phillies move on to other suitors for Rollins.  Getting this far with the Dodgers makes it clear the Phillies want to trade Rollins.  But will they get him to waive his no-trade clause again?  And are other teams willing to depart with two good pitching prospects, what the Phillies now probably think they are owed?

3) The Phillies keep Rollins.  This would surely be welcome news for my sons, but after the Phillies came so close to trading Rollins, it would be an awkward result.  Though, given what we know about Rollins, I'm sure he'd handle it with aplomb and continue playing for the Phils with his signature smile.

Judging by my inquiries along these lines with the TGP blog lord email list as well as questions on Twitter to people in the know, I'm pretty sure this piece is going to be received as if I'm a crazy person.

But it's worth keeping in mind what I'm writing here - deals fall through all the time and for the most minute of reasons.  An unofficial deal with as many working contingencies as this one is no exception.

PS. To be clear, contrary to what it may seem based on what I posted this morning, this is not the sentimental side of me writing.  Rather, this is the lawyer side of me.

LOS ANGELES -- The first time Joe Wieland pitched in a major league game was at Dodger Stadium, on April 14, 2012. He took the loss, thanks in large part to a pair of home runs in the first two innings by Matt Kemp. Now the two are traded for each other, on opposite ends of a five-player deal between the Dodgers and Padres, which will be official at some point soon.

Wieland allowed three home runs in that game - Andre Ethier hit the other one - and six runs in his five innings. Wieland would lose his first four starts, the longest streak to start a career since Ben Hendrickson lost his first six appearances in 2004.

After his fifth start, Wieland was placed on the disabled list with a right elbow strain, an injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery that July. Wieland missed the entire 2013 season, though he did pitch two one-inning relief appearances in November that year in the Arizona Fall League.

Wieland needed another surgery in March 2014, an arthroscopic procedure to repair an impingement and remove loose bodies in his right elbow, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune. That extended his rehab even further, and his first time back on a mound was July 19 in the Arizona rookie league.

After six weeks in the minors - from rookie level to Double-A and Triple-A - with a 3.03 ERA and a combined 36 strikeouts and just six walks in 38⅔ innings, Wieland was called up back to the majors in September. Wieland pitched in four games, including two starts, for the Padres and put up a 7.15 ERA, with eight strikeouts, five walks and three home runs in 11⅓ innings.

Three years ago, Wieland was rated the Padres' No. 7 prospect by Baseball America, who also said he had the best control of any pitcher in the system.

Wieland has walked a miniscule 4.4 percent of hitters in his minor league career, and in his brief time in the majors has walked 8.1 percent of hitters (7.0 percent without counting intentional walks), roughly matching the National League average of 7.8 percent from 2012-2014.

Baseball Prospectus tabbed Wieland as the No. 74 prospect in baseball before the 2012 season as well.

But now Wieland is three years older, with 85 total innings logged in the last three years. He'll turn 25 in January.

He has two years, 161 days of service time, and last week avoided salary arbitration with the Padres, signing a one-year deal worth $590,000. Wieland has two option years remaining, having used one in 2014.

Wieland figures to give the Dodgers depth, and I imagine will likely be a part of the rotation in Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Another former Blue Jay with an injury history may be San Diego bound.

Source: Padres?src=hash">#Padres have made one-year, incentive-laden offer to free-agent RHP Brandon Morrow. Only 87 2/3 IP in 2013-14 due to injuries.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 13, 2014

We may have seen this movie before. Former Blue Jay starting pitcher with injury history comes to San Diego for a shot at redemption while playing under a contract with a bunch of incentives. The first time we watched this movie, Josh Johnson never made it past the opening credits. The Padres are now trying to buy the rights to a sequel with a better ending. And the opportunity still exists for Johnson to make a cameo in this movie.

Brandon Morrow, a 30 year old starting pitcher has had his share of setbacks as of late. As Rosenthal states in his tweet, Morrow only has 87 2/3 innings to show for 2 full seasons worth of baseball. In June 2013, Morrow was sidelined with a right forearm strain followed by a setback associated with it, then he was diagnosed with an entrapped radial nerve in his right forearm that kept him out for the rest of 2013. This past season, Morrow suffered a torn tendon sheath in his right hand in May that kept him sidelined until September when he returned as a reliever. Toronto declined Morrow's $10 million option for 2015 thus making him a free agent.

Morrow began his ML career as a reliever with the Seattle Mariners in 2007 and by the end of the 2008 season, he was making starts for the Mariners. He started 2009 as a closer, but soon transitioned to the starting rotation. Following a trade to Toronto in that offseason, he took his place in the Blue Jays rotation until 2014.

Morrow has a career 4.28 ERA with 42-43 record through 8 seasons in the majors. In 2011, his only season with over 30 starts, Morrow finished with an 11-11 record and 203 strikeouts. According to Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors, Morrow would prefer to remain a starter rather than be relegated a reliever role again. If the Padres intend to have Morrow join the rotation, it may create an opportunity to flip one of the starters for offensive help. Right now, it's just an offer. But, there is an offer out there. We'll find out soon what pans out as we continue to watch A.J. Preller work his way through his first offseason as Padres GM.

If you haven't taken the quiz about every player who has seen action with both the Padres and Dodgers, and would like to, you should probably do that before reading this, since this whole post is one big spoiler.

One running theme I've been beating into the ground doing for awhile is making combined teams out of guys who played for both the Padres and any other given team, using Baseball Reference's multi-franchise finder tool to bring up the pool of players to choose from. With the Padres and the Dodgers in the news for the trade which sends Matt Kemp and Tim Federowicz to San Diego, and Joe Wieland, Yasmani Grandal, and Zach Eflin to Los Angeles, now seemed like a perfect time to take a look at the other players they've shared. 95 players have suited up for both teams, and I had to eliminate some extremely good ones in paring the roster down to 25.

Starting Lineup:

C- Mike Piazza
1B- Adrian Gonzalez
2B- Mark Loretta
SS- Enzo Hernandez
3B- Gary Sheffield
LF- Rickey Henderson
CF- Steve Finley
RF- Matt Kemp

Originally I automatically penciled Steve Garvey in at first because, you know, #re6pect, but it's a much better team on both sides of the ball with Adrian at first. Fred McGriff also had a hand in making this a tough decision. Most of the other positions had a clear-cut starter; it did pain me to include Enzo Hernandez among that list of big names and big bats, but he was the only player in the pool who spent most of his career as a shortstop. I was tempted to jettison Enzo entirely, start Garvey at third base since he began his career there, and slide Sheffield over to shortstop since he started his career there, but that seemed to violate the spirit of the rules I made up as I went along. Starting Sheffield at third base was already pushing it a bit, since he played 1,160 games in right field and 487 games in left field compared to 468 games at third, but he did spend three full seasons at the hot corner, so Judge Mills Lane says "I'll allow it!" Also, Sheffield was just about as much of a defensive liability in the outfield as he was at third, and this makes room for (barring any unforeseen circumstances) the newest member of the combined team.

Bench:

C- Brad Ausmus
1B/3B- Steve Garvey
2B/SS- Jody Reed
IF/OF- Derrel Thomas
OF- Willie Davis

This bench would be Bud Black's dream. Garvey's right-handed bat and ability to play third base, along with the fact there is no way I was going to leave him off the roster, edges out McGriff. Jody Reed got the nod over Eric Young since his secondary position of shortstop is more helpful to this particular team than Young's ability to play left field. Derrel Thomas went to work at every position except pitcher in his 15-year career, playing seven positions in two seasons and six positions in six others. The criminally underrated Willie Davis, who would start on most combined teams, would provide all five tools at a moment's notice.

Starting Rotation:

Greg Maddux
Kevin Brown
David Wells
Johnny Podres
Fernando Valenzuela

Not only were all five starting pitchers terrifyingly good both in their primes and over time, you could make a decent rotation out of the guys that didn't make the cut for this one.

Bullpen:

Elias Sosa
Paul Quantrill
Antonio Osuna
Bob Miller
Jesse Orosco
Vicente Romo
Matt Herges

This is by no means a big-name bullpen, with no marquee closer to be seen, but all of its members had long, productive careers with at least one remarkable season as well. Romo is considered by some to be the greatest starter in Mexican League history, but he spent most of his time in the states coming out of the 'pen, so he makes it as the long-man and spot starter. With 83 saves, Sosa had the most out of the bunch, so he becomes the default closer.

Organizational Depth:

C- Sandy Alomar, Jr., Jim Leyritz, Chris Cannizzaro, Carlos Hernandez, Ramon Hernandez, Henry Blanco, Brian Johnson, David Ross, Miguel Olivo, Rick Wilkins, Gary Bennett

1B- Fred McGriff, Mark Sweeney, Eddie Williams

IF- Eric Young, Dave Hansen, Jerry Royster, Orlando Hudson, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Craig Shipley, Tommy Dean, Oscar Robles, Wilson Valdez, Adam Riggs

OF- Shane Victorino, Tony Gwynn, Jr., Chris Gwynn, Milton Bradley, Dave Roberts, Jose Cruz, Jr., Al Ferrara, Von Joshua, Bobby Valentine, Ron Roenicke, Jay Johnstone, Brady Clark, Billy Bean, Leron Lee, Mike Baxter, Hiram Bocachica, Thomas Howard, Trenidad Hubbard, Brian Myrow

SP- Andy Ashby, Aaron Harang, Jon Garland, Randy Wolf, Edinson Volquez, Kevin Correia, Chan Ho Park, Ismael Valdez, Eric Stults, Pedro Astacio, Fred Norman, Brett Tomko, Alan Foster

RP- Mike Maddux, Rudy Seanez, Duaner Sanchez, Doug Bochtler, Al Osuna, Buddy Carlyle, Dennys Reyes, Bill Krueger, Bryan Corey, Rodney Myers, Al McBean, Jim Bruske, Jose Nunez, Brian Falkenborg, Charlie Haeger

That "AAA" team is better than most of the first-string 25-man combined rosters I've put together, and some of the "AA" guys aren't that bad, either. Who would you call up to your team, and which of the guys I picked would you demote?

This day in 2006, the Padres signed free agent and eventual first-ballot Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to a one-year, $10 million contract with an escalating player option for a second season. Maddux was coming off his twenty-first major league season and still in demand. He wasn't the Maddux of old, but about a dozen clubs were interested in his services. Wanting to stay close to his Vegas home, he narrowed his choices down to San Diego and a return to Los Angeles, where he had spent the last two months of the '06 season following a deadline deal.

As Bernie Wilson reported at the time, the Padres put forth more effort and a deal was in place by the time the winter meetings wrapped. That article also included a fascinating piece of information that was news to me.

"Last year I felt as good as I've ever felt," said Maddux, who pulled on a No. 37 jersey. "I do like the game, I do like the competition, I do like wearing a major league shirt. I like the atmosphere, I like everything about it. I'm not ready to give it up."

Not the part about him feeling good or not wanting to quit; that's in the transcript of every press conference. What I found interesting was that he was initially given number 37. Of course he couldn't be issued the 31 he'd worn in Chicago and Atlanta since it's retired for Dave Winfield, but Maddux never ended up wearing 37 for the Padres, going with 30 instead. I guess they didn't give him 30 right off the jump since Ryan Klesko hadn't signed with San Francisco yet, but I wonder why he or they went with 37 and why he switched.

Once he did put on the number 30 jersey, Maddux did everything the Padres expected of him. New manager Bud Black slotted him fourth in the rotation behind Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Clay Hensley, and ahead of fellow quadragenarian David Wells. Hensley faltered and lost his rotation spot after the season's first month, and Wells pitched himself out of a job by August; All-Star Game Final Vote winner Chris Youngmissed a few starts in late July and early August, leaving Maddux tied with that year's Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy for the team lead with 34 starts. Those 34 starts matched both the 34 he started in 2006 and his career average. On the surface, his 14-11 record and 4.14 ERA were improvements on the 15-14 and 4.20 he posted in 2006, but when you account for park factors and other variables, a slight decline is evident. Slight decline being slight, the Padres were eager to welcome him back for round two.

Maddux's second-year option started at a base of $6 million with a mil here and a mil there tacked on for hitting various innings marks. The final innings milestone Maddux had to hit for an increase was 200, which would bump his option up to $10 million. He ended up pitching 198 innings in 2007, but coming up two innings short ended up being close enough when he and the team agreed on a second one-year, $10 million contract on November 18, 2007. But I'm getting ahead of myself... or behind myself; I guess I could have written about that one 25 days ago.

This day in 2007, the Padres acquired center fielder Jim Edmonds from the Cardinals in exchange for a relatively unknown minor league third baseman by the name of David Freese. The trade blew up in San Diego's face nearly immediately when Edmonds fell flat on his face in every aspect of the game, and Freese did his part to ensure that Padres fans had insult added to their injury for years to come.

Edmonds started the season with a six-game hitting streak, collecting eight hits in his first 26 at-bats for a .308 average. It took him the next 20 games to match those eight hits, and his batting average was down to .178 when he was released on May 9. In his 90 at-bats with the Padres, Edmonds managed just two doubles and a lone homer for an absolutely atrocious .233 slugging percentage.

Since the Cardinals included $2 million to offset a quarter of Edmonds' 2008 salary, the Padres "only" had to pay $6 million for those 26 disappointing games. He then signed with the Cubs and instantly began playing like his younger self; he slashed .256/ .369/ .568 with 17 doubles and 19 home runs in 250 at-bats spread over 85 games.

Freese was coming off a good season at High-A Lake Elsinore, but was old for the league as well as buried below Chase Headley and others on the organizational ladder, with Kevin Kouzmanoff still entrenched at the hot corner for the big club. The Cardinals sent him directly to AAA Memphis and he had an even better year. He was called up for the first time in 2009, and then for good in 2010. He hit well, but never as well as he did in the 2011 postseason. With the world watching, Freese took home MVP honors in both the NLCS and the World Series. He rode that wave of fame and acclaim into the next year's All-Star Game, with talking heads bringing up this trade every step of the way.

Today is former Padres reliever Kevin Cameron's thirty-fifth birthday. The Friars snagged him up from the Twins in the 2006 Rule 5 draft and he settled in as an integral part of the 2007 team's outstanding bullpen, but that's a story for another day. December 15, 2015, perhaps.

While I was looking at Cameron's stats I noticed that he didn't allow a single home run the whole time he was with the Padres, a span of 58 games, and wondered if that was some sort of team record. I used Baseball Reference's Play Index to pull up all the pitchers who went their entire Padres careers without allowing a home run and sure enough, Cameron pitched in over twice as many games with the Padres than runner-up Adam Russell's 27. Cameron also had the most homerless innings with 68; Ken Reynolds is second with 32.1.

Cameron holds no such record for the other team he played for. He signed with Oakland for the 2009 season and pitched his final 11 games in green and gold. He came so close to going his entire big league career without allowing a home run, but Nelson Cruz touched him up in his penultimate game.

In case you were wondering, Cameron only owns the team record, not the major league record for most homerless games in one's entire time with a team. Using 58 games as a baseline, I started checking other teams in alphabetical order and stopped after I ran the query for the Marlins. I don't know if Joe Klink's 59 games with Florida are the record because if Cameron doesn't own the record, I don't care who does.

The Yankees bring Headley back, closing a hole at third base before it fully opens.

Third baseman Chase Headley has signed a 4-year, contract for "a little north" of $50 million with the New York Yankees, per CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, taking the best remaining third baseman off the free-agent market.

Headley began 2014 in San Diego before the Padres dealt him to the Yankees prior to the trade deadline. The switch hitter batted .243/.328/.372 in 531 plate appearances, finishing with 13 home runs and 34 extra-base hits in 135 games.

Headley's performance did improve after he swapped the pitcher's paradise of Petco Park for Yankee Stadium. In 58 contests for the Yankees, Headley hit .262/.371/.398 with six home runs and also impressed with his glove at the hot corner.

An eight-year veteran, Headley has spent his entire career minus that brief Yankees' stint, in Petco Park, making his true offensive talent level hard to measure. He finished fifth in NL MVP voting in 2012 after a career-best campaign when he batted .286/.376/.498 with 31 home runs. Since then, Headley has hit 13 home runs in each of the last two seasons.

Regardless, Headley remains one of MLB's best defenders at third base, so his value isn't entirely tied up with his bat, and this deal seems like it could be a bargain for the Yankees at around just $12.5 million per year.

The 30-year-old earned just over $10 million in 2014, his final year of team control, and previously had turned down multiple extension offers from the Padres before he was traded. Headley also reportedly received a five-year, $65 million offer from the Astros, but chose the Yankees' lesser contract instead.

The third baseman will remain in New York.

The Yankees have successfully retained third baseman Chase Headley after trading for him midway through the 2014 season. The two sides agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal today, pending a physical.

Before coming over to the Big Apple, the 30-year-old Headley spent eight seasons with the Padres, hitting a combined .266/.346/.410. The highlight of his San Diego career came in 2012, an MVP-caliber season in which he hit .286/.376/.498 with 31 home runs, taking home a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove in the process. He has since struggled to live up to his breakout 2012 campaign, only managing an OPS south of .700 in the intervening seasons.

Headley showed some signs of life with New York, as a much more hitter-friendly ballpark helped him to a .262/.371/.398 line and six home runs in 224 plate appearances. These numbers are still nowhere near his MVP campaign, but much more in line with Headley's career figures. This was enough to convince Yankees GM Brian Cashman to pull the trigger and solidify the Yankees' hot corner with this signing.

The Yankees signed Chase Headley to a four-year deal Monday morning, keeping the third baseman they acquired from the Padres this past summer in pinstripes for the foreseeable future. In a stunning development, most of the internet seemed to think the Yankees got a pretty good deal! Here's how Twitter reacted to the news of Headley's return.

Guess we're starting with the one negative thing I could find. Get it out of the way early and stuff.

Random thought: Chase Headley's signing prob. makes Robert Refsnyder expendable. Feel like Jose Pirela top backup option now. #Yankees

— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) December 15, 2014

Refsnyder > Pirela. Hopefully the Yankees think so too. They do need pitching, though. You have to give up something to get something. Ugh. I need a prospect to come up and do well for my own personal happiness. It was supposed to be Refsnyder.

Now, onto the celebration.

WE HAVE A THIRD BASEMAN!

— Sean (@SMM0606) December 15, 2014

One who doesn't have hips that are being consumed by moths, even! Pretty hilarious how the left side of the infield went from hilariously bad joke to pretty darn respectable in basically two weeks.

If Yankees get Scherzer and a half-decent DH (flyer on Rasmus?), this looks like a pretty viable team in a lousy division.

— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) December 15, 2014

Yes to Scherzer, please. I don't want Colby Rasmus on my team, but maybe the Yankees' policy on regular showers and personal grooming would help a little? No, probably not.

Didi Chase and Headley Gregorius star in "Deep in the Hole," featuring the return of A-ROD.

— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) December 15, 2014

Oh boy.

#Yankees would have preferred 3-year deal for Chase Headley, but fourth year cost of doing biz this offseason

— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) December 15, 2014

You get a four-year deal, and you get a four-year deal, and you get a four-year deal, and you get a four-year deal!

pic.twitter.com/DgEr1UY6fd

— Matt Keegan (@mkeegan17) December 15, 2014

This is probably my favorite thing about bringing Headley back.

Pablo Sandoval, 2012-2014: .759 OPS, 116 OPS+, 8.2 WAR, $90 million Chase Headley, 2012-2014: .782 OPS, 123 OPS+, 13.6 WAR, $50 million

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) December 15, 2014

Also one is going to have nearly unlimited access to clam chowder and Dunkin Donuts. So there's that.

4/50 for Headley is a very solid deal. If Yankees are actually the high bidders, several teams that need a 3B should be embarrassed.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 15, 2014

The only reason I see to hate the Yankee signing of Headley is that I'm an Orioles fan.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 15, 2014

People who aren't Yankees fans...praising something the Yankees did. I don't know what to make of this. This is weird.

Chase Headley at four years and $50 million actually seems like a bargain for Yankees, relatively. Above-average offensive and defensive 3B.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) December 15, 2014

More of that!

And now for the most glorious idea to have come out of the Headley signing:

Go get A-Rod to play third base, Hart. MAKE IT HAPPEN

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) December 15, 2014

This. would. be. glorious!

Nothing happened in Birdland yesterday. Nothing will likely happen today. But we can still while away workday with speculation!

Steve Melewski: Asking O's fans, "How did it all start for you?"
Sitting in my parent's kitchen, pouring over newspaper boxscores while listening to Chuck Thompson on AM radio.

To fill right field, O's eye free agency or in-house move | orioles.com
well, that's 2 of the 3 possible ways to fill a positional vacancy. Might as well have just added 'trade' to the headline to cover all the possibilities.

Alvarez creating interest in Orioles organization | Comcast SportsNet Baltimore
Seems as if someone in the front office is trying to temper trade/free agent demands by putting Alvarez's name out there as a potential OF solution for the O's.

Exploring Justin Upton’s Trade Value | FanGraphs Baseball

In which it is suggested that Atlanta fans should lower their expectations

Ken Rosenthal: Even if the San Diego Padres add Justin Upton to Matt Kemp in their outfield, they will need more pieces than those two to make a serious run at the playoffs in the NL West | FOX Sports
The Bowtie'd One reports the O's as one team interested in Padres OFer Seth Smith.

Baseball Prospectus | Prospectus Feature: The Surprising Math Teams Use to Value a Compensation Pick

Warning: #GoryMath layeth beyond yon link

Minor League Baseball to Seek Congressional Protection from the Minimum Wage | FanGraphs Baseball

In non-O's related links, I found this piece to be interesting legal development for MLB

Happy 50th birthday, Billy (nickname redacted) Ripken! Mike Flanagan would have turned 63 today. Big day for O's shortstop signings. On this date in 2002 the O's signed Deivi Cruz. And there was -much- no rejoicing. In 2003, Petey shelled out the dough, $72m over 6 years, for Miguel Tejada. In 2008, Ceaser 'Maximum' Izturis was brought in. In '09 the O's signed Mike Gonzalez and Garrett Atkins. The horror...the horror...

According to sources, Brandon Morrow is Petco Park bound

The San Diego Padres continue their offseason with the addition of right handed pitcher Brandon Morrow.

Source: The #Padres have signed RHP Brandon Morrow to a one-year contract. Team has not confirmed.

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) December 16, 2014

Methinks adding Morrow (low-risk, upside move) to provide rotation depth -- possibly a precursor to the #Padres moving pieces for a bat.

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) December 16, 2014

This should be interesting. As I said in the article about the Padres making the offer to Morrow last week, his presence in the starting rotation would allow for the opportunity to go after offensive help. That help may be found in Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves. But that's in the possible future for the Padres. For now, the Padres add Morrow to their already capable pitching staff.

Unfortunately, this signing does not come without more risk than usual. Morrow's injury history places some kind of doubt as to what type of pitcher could be heading to San Diego. Here's a bit from the article about the Padres offer to Morrow on Gaslamp Ball

Brandon Morrow, a 30 year old starting pitcher has had his share of setbacks as of late. As Rosenthal states in his tweet, Morrow only has 87 2/3 innings to show for 2 full seasons worth of baseball. In June 2013, Morrow was sidelined with a right forearm strain followed by a setback associated with it, then he was diagnosed with an entrapped radial nerve in his right forearm that kept him out for the rest of 2013. This past season, Morrow suffered a torn tendon sheath in his right hand in May that kept him sidelined until September when he returned as a reliever. Toronto declined Morrow's $10 million option for 2015 thus making him a free agent.

....

Morrow has a career 4.28 ERA with 42-43 record through 8 seasons in the majors. In 2011, his only season with over 30 starts, Morrow finished with an 11-11 record and 203 strikeouts.

For now, we can only hope that Morrow will be able to pitch to his fullest potential. What has also been mentioned is that Morrow prefers to start so that is obviously something that will become a reality since I doubt he'd sign with the Padres if they didn't put that on the table.

For me, this signing shows that the Padres are still working to get deals done. Especially ones that look to be foreshadowing a bigger, more dramatic move. A.J. Preller is working hard to make this a December to remember.

Update

Morrow's deal with the #Padres: $2.5 million guarantee + chance to earn $5 million in bonuses for starting and $1 million for relieving.

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) December 16, 2014

That part about relieving is interesting. Like if he doesn't work out as a starter, the Padres could put him in the bullpen and still allow him an opportunity to get incentives.

Brandon Morrow signed a 1-year contract with the San Diego Padres. He gets $2.5 million guaranteed, with different incentive deals, if he starts he can earn an extra $5 million and if he relieves he can get an extra $1 million.

I always figured that, one day, we'd get to see a no-hitter from Brandon. He came so close, August 8, 2010. He had the no-hitter through 8.2 innings, then Evan Longoria hit a ground ball just a little too far to Aaron Hill's left. He finished the game with a 1-hitter, 2 walks and 17 strikeouts, in 137 pitches. That might just be the best pitching performance I've ever seen. It really is too bad for us all that he didn't get that last out.

We never got that no-hitter. He had some other good starts. 3 complete game shutouts in 2012, a 2-hit and a pair of 3-hitters.

He had one very good season with us, putting up a 2.96 ERA in 21 starts in 2012.Unfortunately he missed a couple of months with an oblique strain, after leaving his June 11 start in the first inning. That was a bad week, Kyle Drabek left his start on the 13th and  Drew Hutchison left left his start on the 15th, both ending up needing Tommy John surgery.(yes, yes, I was at the games, shut up).

Brandon seemed to have a good rapport with former pitching coach Bruce Walton. I asked Walton about Morrow before the 2012 season:

What does Brandon Morrow have to do to be more consistent?

Brandon, it's my second year with Brandon. His first year we went through some walk issues, base on balls, command issues. We pretty much ironed it out. We got to the point where now we left a lot of balls in the middle of the plate. So we went from one extreme to the other extreme and we gave up a lot of home runs last year. He's a fly ball pitcher at times, he doesn't get a whole lot of ground balls, so when the ball sits in the middle of the plate belt high and they get a piece of it, it goes. So now it is just staying down in the zone consistently. I think for Brandon to be consistent, his pitches have to be down consistent. We have to plan the effort level to pitch at consistently. Consistency is what we have to work on in every aspect. Keeping the ball down, keeping our emotions in check. Keeping our work effort at a certain level, consistently. All those will come. This is the year for that to come. There's steps to becoming a major league starting pitcher. The first step was that we needed to throw strikes. We accomplished that. It took us a year and a half. Our next step is to manage the game a little bit better and manage our emotions a little bit better and manage our season a little bit better and become more consistent. That's where we are at.

Brandon would go on to have his best season with the Jays, in 2012. I do sometimes wonder if Brandon would have had a better time of it if Walton had stayed with the team.

The last two seasons have been a mess of injuries and bad starts. The injuries, for the most part, seemed to have been of the freak type. A 'entrapped radial nerve' cost him most of 2013. I had never heard of that injury before. This past season it was a 'torn tendon sheath', another injury that is pretty unusual. It was good to see him come back and throw so well out of the bullpen.

I really was hoping that the Jays could talk him into re-signing with them, the same sort of contract would have worked for me. A guy that can throw 100 mph is handy to have in the bullpen, but if he looked good in a starting role through spring training, Sanchez could take the job of the hard throwing right-hander in the pen.

I'm sorry to see him leave, he has been one of my favorites to watch, since becoming a Blue Jay, in that rather inspired trade with the Mariners. I'm a sucker for guys that can throw hard and could have that great game at any time. I enjoyed watching him work at his craft, especially those first three seasons with the team. Watching young players improve is one of my favorite parts. I always prefer to cheer for the guys with a ton of potential and hope they figure it out. It's too bad that the potential never quite came to the top for us.

And Brandon seemed like a good guy. You'd hear stories of him visiting kids in hospitals, and yet he didn't have to make a big deal out of it each time. And he was always a good interview. He also seemed to be a good, if fairly quiet teammate.

I hope things go well for Brandon, he really does deserve some good luck.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

According to Ken Rosenthal and his sources, the Padres are discussing a HUGE deal with the Tampa Bay Rays that would send outfielder Wil Myers to San Diego.

Sources: #Padres, #Rays discussing significant trade. Talks involve a number of players. Wil Myers would be main piece going to SD.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 16, 2014

That's some serious deal making going on there. Obviously this is just a "discussion" and "sources", but the fact that there is a discussion and the Rays are willing to part with Wil Myers is something to pay really, reallllllly close attention to. With this in the works, rumors of Justin Upton coming to Petco would be a thing of the past.

Myers is coming off a "down" year in 2014 following his 2013 Rookie of the Year campaign. Only batting .222 with 6 HRs last year, Myers is still a very hot commodity. His 2014 season was hampered by a broken wrist, which played a huge part in his troubles. He's only 24 years old and has got until 2017 to become arbitration eligible.  For now, we just need to wait and watch. But, this could be the next big trade for San Diego in an already interesting offseason for AJ Preller.

The Padres might want to buy low on a cost-controlled outfielder and the Rays are listening.

The Tampa Bay Rays have discussed a trade involving outfielder Wil Myers with the San Diego Padres, according to SB Nation's Chris Cotillo.

The Rays have specifically asked about pitchers R.J. Alvarez, Burch Smith and Matt Wisler, per Cotillo. Some combination of those hurlers might make for a good return for Myers, the 2013 American League Rookie of the Year. Myers finished with a .293/.354/.478 line in his debut campaign but went through a sophomore slump in 2014, hitting just .222/.294/.320 in 361 plate appearances. He won't become a free agent until after the 2019 season.

All three hurlers Tampa Bay reportedly expressed interest in rank among the Padres' top 20 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. Wisler, the No. 2 prospect in the organization, posted a 4.42 ERA in 28 starts between Double-A and Triple-A in 2014.

The Rays have also asked about San Diego's top prospect, catcher Austin Hedges, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden. Hedges was the No. 18 overall prospect in baseball entering the 2014 season, according to Baseball Prospectus. The 24-year-old California native struggled at the plate, hitting .225/.268/.321, but is considered the best defensive catcher in the minors.

The 24-year old outfielder could be sent to San Diego in a deal that may include several top prospects.

San Diego left the Winter Meetings with Matt Kemp as one of its starting outfielders, but the club might be looking for more outfield depth. According to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Rays and Padres are discussing a trade that would send Wil Myers to San Diego. The Rays could receive several prospects in a proposed deal.

If the Padres were able to acquire Myers, Rosenthal notes they would no longer be interested in pursuing Justin Upton. After adding Kemp, the Padres are still looking to add a bat to the middle of their lineup. The club is seeking consistent offensive production, and General Manager A.J. Preller had also considered adding Jay Bruce and Pablo Sandoval this offseason.

Myers, 24, was a key piece of the deal that sent James Shields to Kansas City. He batted .222/.294/.320 and drove in 35 runs in 87 games last season for the Rays. He is under club control for five more seasons, which likely made him more attractive than Upton, who will become a free agent after 2015. Although the 2013 American League Rookie of The Year established himself as a starting outfielder in Tampa, he struggled to remain healthy last season after breaking his wrist.

Despite the fact that Myers had difficulty bouncing back from the wrist injury last season, the Rays are expected to ask for top prospects in a deal that involves him. According to our Chris Cotillo, Tampa Bay is reportedly interested in Matt Wisler, Burch Smith, and R.J. Alvarez. ESPN's Jim Bowden notes San Diego catching prospect Austin Hedges could be on the Rays' radar, but that no deal is close.

Both sides are likely working on the return, and Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan is hearing there is "significant optimism" that a deal between the two teams involving Myers will get done. CBS Sports' Jon Heyman confirmed the report, noting that the deal "has a chance."

I was out and about this evening so bear with me as I get up to speed. Join me won't you?

The Padres, the Rays and a third mystery team are said to be deep in negotiations.  The Padres want 2013 AL Rookie of the Year winner Wil Myers.  To get him the Pads would have to give up some of their top prospects. Padres GM A.J. Preller might be more willing to trade them since he doesn't have a connection or long history with them.

The UT's Dennis Lin suggests that pitcher Matt Wisler might be a starting point.    ESPN's Jim Bowden says that catcher Austin Hedges has been discussed as part of the deal.  SB Nation's own Chris Cotillo says Rays have been inquiring about pitchers R.J. Alvarez and Burch Smith as well. If Preller were able to trade for Myers, Ken Rosenthal says that it would likely mean they'd no longer be in contention for Justin Upton, likely because both teams are after some of the same prospects. Bowden says the Padres continue to check in with the Braves about Upton while negotiations with the Rays continue.

Meanwhile Rosenthal hints that the Padres have shown some interest in Josh Hamilton, then quickly dismisses the likelihood of the Padres taking a risk on such a large investment.  While Hamilton may still be a source of power for the punch-less Pads, it's been a long time since his 2010 MVP season.

As for Matt Kemp, he has yet to officially sign with the Padres after his physical today.  The team will continue discussions on Wednesday, which makes me worry that he'll need TJ surgery soon.