Hot Stove Update: Twins Sign Donaldson; More Fallout From "Signgate"

The Twins emerged as winners of the Josh Donaldson sweepstakes, but at a hefty cost.  The deal calls for 4 years/$84 M with a $16 M option for a 5'th year with an $8 M buyout for a total guarantee of $92 M.  That's a lot of years for a 34 year old, but hey!  The Twins are built to win now and Donaldson is still a ferocious hitter coming off a healthy season.  Twins still have issues with their pitching, but those pitchers won't lack for run support! Unlikely this deal will have any impact on the Giants but there is an outside chance it could create a market for Evan Longoria.

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Ever since a certain political scandal brought down a POTUS over 45 years ago, all scandals have to have the suffix ....gate attached to them.  So we'll call this one Signgate.  The fallout continued today as the Boston Red Sox read the tea leaves and decided not to wait for Rob Manfred to bring down the ax on Alex Cora.  They fired him which now makes two MLB managers and one GM fired within 24 hours and two teams without managers within 1 month of the start of spring training.  Gotta wonder if a third, Carlos Beltran, might be the next to go since he is also deeply implicated, but apparently not at risk for discipline since he was a player at the time.  There is lots of talk about the Astros and Red Sox hiring Dusty Baker or Bruce Bochy.  Dusty is almost certainly available, but Boch is reportedly sticking to his pledge to step back from the game for awhile.

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Well, that didn't take long!  The Giants DFA'd Zack Cozart to make room for.....anyone ever hear of Jake Jewell?  Me neither!  Jewell is 26 years old and according to MLBTR "....has yet to find big league success..."  He's pitched parts of two seasons with the Angels and allowed 20 runs in 28.1 IP.  He is reportedly a hard thrower with a plus slider, but also has "persistent" control issues.  A project for the development gurus Farhan has put together.  Cozart was likely to start the season on the DL so I figured the Giants would keep him on the 40 man until the season then 60 day IL him kind of like what they did with Steven Vogt last year, but apparently Farhan just couldn't pass up the opportunity to keep the churn going.  We'll see.  There's still a chance Cozart stays on the organization on a minor league deal while collecting his guaranteed $12 M. In that case it could be a smart move by Farhan.