Blog dedicated to the Trade and Free Agent Rumor Mills in Major League Baseball
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Gabe Kapler signs with Tampa Bay Rays
OF Gabe Kapler signed a one-year, $1-million contract with the Rays Monday, which came as a little bit of a surprise after a weekend in which he was rumored to be headed to Philadelphia. Kapler hit .301 with Milwaukee last year.
The Hot Stove Report, which is derived from the old term "Hot Stove League", was basically a coined term to talk about the off season in baseball. Baseball's offseason is in the Winter, so the image was of the owners during the Winter Meetings discussing trade deals with other teams related to baseball personnel while warming themselves over a hot stove.
A "Hot Stove Report" was typically an advance on the news from the Winter Meetings, and was a rumor about where players were headed and for whom they would be traded. Trading in baseball is kind of a tradition of its own, since hope was another Spring Training eternal with new personnel to cheer.
Today, a Hot Stove Report is not just trades, it involves all free agent signings, rumors, and personnel moves in the offseason, but also sometimes trade rumors related to the trading deadline. In this 24 hour news world, it fits that the Hot Stove doesn't just heat up in the Winter anymore.
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