Kris Bryant made headlines again Tuesday as the accolades for the National League MVP and World Series Champion keep rolling in.
Kris Bryant tied for fourth in the voting for the AP Male Athlete of the Year with Steph Curry. LeBron James was named the Associated Press’ Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in his career.
Bryant came within a vote of being named by the BBWAA the unanimous winner of the NL MVP Award last month. Bryant had already added a Hank Aaron Award to his trophy case during The World Series.
Kris Bryant had just a sensational season for the best team in baseball. Bryant followed up his NL Rookie of the Year campaign by hitting .292/.385/.554 with 35 doubles, three triples and 39 home runs for a .939 OPS. Bryant scored a league high 121 runs and had 102 RBI in 155 games in the regular season.
Bryant stepped up in the postseason. His home runs seemed to loosen up his teammates when the offense wasn’t producing. It was a fitting end to The Series that Bryant would field a groundball and throw to Anthony Rizzo for the last out … and a Cubs World Series Championship.
LeBron James was named the Associated Press’ Male Athlete of the Year. James received 24 of 59 first place votes. Michael Phelps was second (16 votes) and Usain Bolt (nine votes) was third ahead of Bryant and Curry.
Simone Biles was named AP’s top female athlete on Monday.
• Full Report from The Associated Press
The Cubs World Series Championship was voted as the top AP Sports Story of 2016.
Brian Dozier
Reports on Monday added the Cardinals to the list of teams that have talked to the Twins about second baseman Brian Dozier. The Dodgers appear to have the most interest in working out a deal for Dozier. And Andrew Friedman has the prospects to swing a trade for the slugging infielder.
According to Mark Saxon, the Cardinals “are not actively pursuing” Dozier. Jim Bowden reported Tuesday that the Cardinals might not have the high-end prospects the Twins are asking for in a trade for Dozier.
The Cardinals talks with the Twins have included INF/OF Kolten Wong and RHP Luke Weaver. The Twins have placed a higher price tag on Dozier than players like Wong and Weaver and want more in return for him. Bowden confirmed Saxon’s report. The Cardinals and Twins have not talked in a while.
Jose Quintana, The White Sox and Yankees
The Jose Quintana rumors picked up Tuesday with conflicting reports. For all the back and forth, one thing appears certain … the White Sox will trade Quintana in the near future.
Bob Nightengale reported early Tuesday that the Yankees have expanded their talks with the White Sox for Jose Quintana to include David Robertson. Rick Hahn would have to be willing to “eat part of the contract” for Robertson.
According to Nightengale, the Yankees and Pirates are “currently the most aggressive teams” in talks with the Sox about Quintana. And the clubs have even discussed a three-team trade.
Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman shot down Nightengale’s report about Robertson being included in a possible Quintana deal with the Yankees.
Sherman reported that he “checked with a few folks and the Yankees are not working on a deal that involves Quintana and Robertson.” The Yankees maintain that in order to take on any significant money players like Chase Headley and/or Brett Gardner would have to be traded.
Heyman indicated he has not heard “of any serious David Robertson” to the Yankees talk going on at the moment. Heyman is hearing a lot of “interesting Chisox rumors lately, some true.”
Bruce Levine reported the White Sox are pushing teams that are interested in Quintana. And a package from the Yankees would likely have to include SS Jorge Mateo and RHP James Kaprielian.
The Yankees, Pirates, Astros and Rangers appear to be the teams with the most interest in Jose Quintana.
News, Notes and Rumors
• Jayson Stark posted his annual must-read column on the strange but true feats from the year that was in baseball (Subscription required) … and yes, there are some cool Cubs things in there.
• Sports Illustrated posted the best plays you forgot about in 2016.
• Buster Olney reported don’t use Bud Selig as a reason to change Hall of Fame vote.
• The Giants may have a hole in left field but according to a report from FanRag Sports, they are in no rush to fill it, nor should they.
• Ken Davidoff posted a report on everything we freaked out about in baseball in 2016 … the annual list of the overrated and over-hated from the year. The Cubs over-waited, Theo Epstein overachieved, Joe Maddon over-grated and David Ross over-serenaded.
• Mike Petriello detailed the most extreme Statcast throws of the 2016 season.
• The Blue Jays have considered trading for Andrew McCutchen but according to Jon Heyman “it’s seen as nothing serious to this point.”
• Joe Blanton’s market is picking up according to Jerry Crasnick. There is a possibility that Joe Blanton could re-sign with the Dodgers. Crasnick reported Blanton’s poor performance against the Cubs in the NLCS “overshadowed a dominant regular season.” Blanton would prefer to pitch on the West Coast with “all things equal.”
And last, but not least, Tyson Ross said on his Twitter account that he is training and looking forward to being healthy for a big 2017.
This Day in Cubstory
2014 – Cubs signed free agent Taylor Teagarden
2001 – Cubs signed free agent Angel Echevarria
1981 – Cubs acquired Paul Mirabella from the Blue Jays for a PTNBL. The Cubs sent Dave Geisel to Toronto on March 25, 1982 to complete the trade.
1975 – B.J. Ryan, born
1970 – Cubs released Tommy Davis
1925 – Cubs traded a PTBNL and additional compensation to Louisville (American Association) for Red Shannon. The Cubs sent Pinky Pittenger to Louisville later in the day to complete the trade.