Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/18/18: Bryce Harper, Michael Brantley, and CC Sabathia

Well, there was no Mariners news yesterday. But that doesn’t mean there were no interesting stories.

By Anders Jorstad@AndersJorstad Dec 18, 2018, 7:00am PST

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MLB: Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals — I feel like I need to stop selecting a picture of the middle player mentioned in the title

Good morning everybody! I hope your week is off to a roaring start. Here are some links to get this day started for you.

In Mainers news...

Another Julio video for your enjoyment.

Hard work pays off!!! #JRODshow pic.twitter.com/YtYOgdDsmr
— Julio Rodriguez (@J_RODrodiguez44) December 17, 2018

Gabe Lacques at USA Today argues that the Mariners should sign Bryce Harper.
Jason Churchill at Prospect Insider is not concerned with the Mariners farm system rankings.

Around the league...

This is awesome!

We're proud to reveal the six members of the Women's Advisory Panel, who will set the framework for the Women's Australian Baseball League!#WABL

FULL STORY: https://t.co/ErreZUr4Tw pic.twitter.com/Li7jsKPRyD
— Brut® Australian Baseball League (@ABL) December 17, 2018

I didn’t realize sinkers were so ineffective lately.

AVG pVAL by pitch type when thrown over 250 times:

Slider: 4.4
Cutter: 4.1
Change Up: 2.0
Curve: 0.7
Four-Seam: 0.8
Sinker: -0.1

Stop. Throwing. Sinkers.
— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) December 17, 2018

The Mets machine keeps on churning.

We’ve signed outfielder Rajai Davis (@rajai11davis) to a minor league contract with an invite to major league #SpringTraining. #Mets pic.twitter.com/IgByNAx8Xj
— New York Mets (@Mets) December 17, 2018

And the Astros continue to get better.

#Astros closing in on free-agent outfielder Michael Brantley, sources tell The Athletic. Rival executives expect deal to be in two-year, $32M range.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 17, 2018

Sheryl Ring at Fangraphs wonders what would happen if Kyler Murray played football.
Eric Stephen at SB Nation got an inside look at what it’s like to job hunt at the Winter Meetings (like I did last week!)
The Pirates are taking a look at Troy Tulowitzki.
CC Sabathia received his bonus even though he fell just short of the innings mark he needed to qualify because he was ejected.

Anders’ picks...

Sheesh, that’s a great move.

South Carolina commit Zia Cooke had an incredibly nasty 43-point game: https://t.co/Fcs5gESBWn pic.twitter.com/8ZxlyFUP8u
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) December 17, 2018