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Mariners Moose Tracks, 1/31/20: Pitching Acquisitions, Prospects, and Chess

Some links to finish your week with a bang

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Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Hello everyone, and a very happy Friday to you. Congratulations on making it through another week! Please take a look at some nice links to start your Friday journey.

In Mariners news...

  • The Mariners reportedly made two notable acquisitions yesterday! First, the Mariners have reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with veteran lefty Wei-Yin Chen. As Greg Johns notes, the Mariners themselves have not yet confirmed the deal, which is contingent on Chen passing a physical.
  • Secondly, the Mariners officially announced the signing of relief pitcher Yoshihisa Hirano to a Major League contract. Per Ken Rosenthal, Hirano’s contract includes a bonus each time he’s traded.

Around the League...

  • The Pirates are reportedly considering Kevin Pillar, Billy Hamilton, and Cameron Maybin for the CF vacancy.
  • The Dodgers have reportedly emerged as the most likely trade partner with the Red Sox for star OF Mookie Betts.

Zach’s picks...

  • In case you didn’t know, the Women’s World Chess Championship wrapped up last week! The championship match pitted the defending champion, 28-year-old Ju Wenjun of China, against 21-year-old Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia. The match itself was extremely exciting, with Goryachkina securing a needed win in the 12th and final game to send the match to a four-game set of rapid tiebreakers. Wenjun edged out Goryachkina in the tiebreakers 2 12 - 1 12 to win the championship.
Courtesy FIDE
  • Fifth-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria won a thrilling match against top-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain two days ago in the quarterfinal of the men’s Australian Open. Thiem played in the semifinal last night against ninth-ranked Alex Zverev of Germany, though I’m admittedly writing this before the match has taken place. The winner will face the fearsome Novak Djokovic in the finals. (edit: Thiem defeated Zverev and will face Djokovic in the finals on Sunday.)