Bye-bye, Blanco
Addendum: If the Cubs do, in fact, replace Henry Blanco with Paul Bako (per all the rumors) and the explanation is tied to the team wanting to "become more left-handed," these numbers might be of interest:
Paul Bako's lifetime batting line against RHP: 2015 PA's, .240 / .317 / .321 / 638 OPS
Henry Blanco's lifetime batting line against RHP: 1708 PA's, .222 / .281 / .352 / 633 OPS
Not much of a gain, especially considering all of those intangibles that Blanco was said to have contributed to the team--the same intangibles that are cited by the Padres upon their signing him.
The Padres signed 37-year-old Henry Blanco to a one-year, $750K deal on Wednesday. Blanco will back-up and mentor young Nick Hundley (no relation to Randy or Todd).
From the Padres Web site:
"I thought it was very important," (Padres GM Kevin) Towers said of the mentorship. "Two of the guys we identified were Brad Ausmus and Henry Blanco. And a lot of it was what they have done throughout their career.
"Henry has done it with [Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany] Soto. Hopefully he will help Nick develop into one of the elite catchers in the game."
Blanco, who hit a career-high .292 for the Cubs last season while throwing out 10 of 22 would-be base-stealers (46%), seems to be a consolation prize for the Padres, who lost out in the bidding for the longtime Astro, Ausmus. The 39-year-old signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Dodgers, also on Wednesday.
No closure yet on the numerous reports--make that threats--that the Cubs are planning to sign Gabor Bako as Soto's new caddy.
TCR roster change: Joe Aiello, who joined us a few weeks ago from View From The Bleachers, has decided to unjoin us and get VFTB back up and running. We wish Joe the best and implore him to forget the secret TCR handshake we shared with him during the indoctrination process.
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