There are still some bigger name free agents available, but they aren’t doing anything these days. However, we do have some movement on the stove. It’s not exciting, but it’s newsworthy.
Pirates sign John Jaso. Not the first person you’d think would be wearing black and yellow since they were searching for infielders and Jaso is best known as a catcher or designated hitter.
Nieuwenhuis – known to Mets fans as Captain Kirk – was picked up to contend for the open center field position for Milwaukee. A .208 batting average last year isn’t great, but it’s on par with Logan Schafer, who has been a regular fixture in Miller Park’s outfield.
Ryan was the player to be named later in the Starlin Castro trade. Slash line isn’t great, but he’s known for defense and should find an opportunity soon.
Ah, yes, Chris Johnson, late of the Indians and best known as a massive disappointment for all Braves fans. He was actually released on the 17th, but no one bit. He’s looking for milk money at this point of his career, since the Braves are still on the hook for about $17 million dollars with this guy.
Fan Interference 
So the Cubs traded for Brendon Ryan, and then immediately released him? I’m confused here.
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I’m not in the front office, but I suspect it’s one of two things…or maybe a combination of both…
1 – The $1M Ryan is owed for 2016 is just a tiny bit of salary-eating the Cubs took on in exchange for not eating any actual money from Castro’s contact.
2 – Back on Dec 4th, the Cubs picked up Edgar Olmos on waivers. A couple days later, they waived him to make room on the 40-man, because that was the day that Lackey, Zobrist, and the Castro trade were all officially announced. The Orioles picked Olmos up. Then, Olmos was recently waived by the Orioles to make room for their new acquisition, Hyun Soo Kim. So the Cubs snatched Olmos back up and sent Ryan packing.
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