Issue #503
The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!
⚾ Welcome! ⚾
The first Friday of 2026 didn’t have much MLB offseason activity, with one trade as reported in an article by Matthew Leach at MLB:
Twins acquire 1B Eric Wagaman from the Marlins
Marlins acquire minor league reliever Kade Bragg from the Twins
Eric Wagaman is 28 years old and after playing briefly for the Angels in 2024 he had his first full major league season in 2025 as the Marlins primary 1B. A right-handed batter, he hit .250 with 9 HR and 53 RBI in 140 games and 476 at-bats. He showed a bit more power in the minors, with 17 HR in 121 games between AA and AAA in 2024, and 13 HR in only 69 games between A and AA in 2022.
The Twins already signed Josh Bell earlier this offseason, and he will presumably see the majority of games at 1B in 2026. Wagaman can also play 3B, and so will likely backup both Bell at 1B and Royce Lewis at 3B. Kody Clemens also plays those positions, and 2B too, so he’ll be in the mix also—and all of these guys and others will see at-bats at DH too.
As for Kade Bragg, he was a Twins 17th round draft pick in 2023 after excelling at Angelo State University (and he did excel, with a 1.20 ERA, 15-1 record, and 124 K in 104.2 IP in 2023). In 2025 he had a 2.94 ERA with 5 saves and 82 K in 67.1 IP across A, A+, and AA levels.
Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is reliever Gary Lavelle. He pitched mostly for the Giants and his 127 saves for the club rank fourth on their all-time leaderboard. Can you name the top three in saves with the Giants?
Countdown to Spring Training!
As I did recently in counting down the days to the end of 2025, we’ll now count down the days until Spring Training games start (February 20th). It is now 48 days away… so here are some top players who had uniform #48 for extended periods of time:
SP Rick Reuschel - Cubs (1972-81, 84) and three other clubs
OF Torii Hunter - Twins (1997-2007, 2015), Angels (2008-12), Tigers (2013-14)
SP Jacob deGrom - Mets (2014-22), Rangers (2023-25)
SP Sam McDowell - Indians (1964-71) and three other clubs
OF Andy Pafko - Cubs (1944-51), Dodgers (1952), Braves (1953-59)
SP Ramón Martínez - Dodgers (1988-98), Red Sox (1999-2000)
1B/DH Travis Hafner - Indians (2004-12)
3B Pablo Sandoval - Giants (2008-14, 17-20), Red Sox (2015-17), Braves (2021)
RP Joakim Soria - Royals (2007-11, 16-17) and four other clubs
New Baseball Books!
The following are some new titles that are being published during January, 2026.
A League of His Own: A.G. Spalding and the Business of Baseball
by Mark A. Stein
Lyons Press
January 6, 2026
352 pages
Black Baseball in Alabama: Rough Diamonds of Dixie
by Shane J. Earnest
The History Press
January 27, 2026
224 pages
Simulating Satchel: A What-If History of Integrated Major League Baseball in 1934
by John Graf
McFarland
January 25, 2026
341 pages
We Would Have Played Forever: A History of the Coastal Plain Baseball League, Revised Edition
by Robert Gaunt and Chris Holaday
McFarland
January 25, 2026
120 pages
On this day in baseball history…
Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. All quoted descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.
📅 On January 3…
1973: Steinbrenner leads a group in buying the Yankees. “A group of investors, headed by shipbuilder George Steinbrenner, purchases the New York Yankees from CBS for $10 million. Incredibly, this is less money than CBS paid for the team back in 1964.”
1977: Lindy McDaniel’s long career comes to and end. “The Kansas City Royals release pitcher Lindy McDaniel, ending his career after 21 years. He has appeared in 987 games, second only to Hoyt Wilhelm's 1,070.”
2022: Fanatics acquires Topps. “A few weeks after taking over the licensing deals for baseball cards that had been previously granted to Topps by MLB and the Players Association once they expire in the coming years, Fanatics announces that it is acquiring the venerable sports card company as a whole, for a reported price of $500 million. This will ensure that it has the expertise required to implement its new mandate.”
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Darren Daulton, A.J. Burnett, Gary Lavelle, Gus Suhr
Darren Daulton (1962-2017)
14-year major league career, spanning from 1983-1997, mostly as a catcher for the Phillies
Three-time All-Star
Had some power, hitting 27 HR with an NL-leading 109 RBI in 1992, and then 24 HR and 105 RBI in 1993
Overall had 137 HR, a .245/.357/.427 slash line, and a 114 OPS+
A.J. Burnett (1977)
17-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1999-2015, mostly with the Marlins, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Pirates
Had 190+ strikeouts six times, including leading the AL with 231 K in 2008, when he also posted an 18-10 record
Recorded a no-hitter on May 12, 2001 leading the Marlins to a 3-0 win over the Padres. He struck out seven, but also walked nine and hit one batter, while still managing to keep the shutout intact.
Was finally an All-Star in his final, age-38 season with the Pirates in 2015.
Overall had a 164-157 record, a 3.99 ERA, and a 104 ERA+
Gary Lavelle (1949)
13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1974-1987, almost all with the Giants
Two-time All-Star
Had between 12-20 saves six times
Overall had 136 saves, a 2.93 ERA, and a 126 ERA+
Gus Suhr (1906-2004)
11-year major league career, spanning from 1930-1940, mostly as a 1B for the Pirates (in fact, he is their all-time leader in games played at 1B)
Had modest power, with 10+ HR five times, with a high of 17 HR as a rookie in 1930. Also had 10+ triples an impressive eight times.
Was an All-Star in 1936 when he had a career-high .312 average, 11 HR, 12 triples, and career highs of 118 RBI and 111 runs
Overall had 84 HR, 114 triples, a .279/.368/.428 slash line, and a 113 OPS+
Currently active players who were born on January 3 include ATL José Suarez and CIN Sam Moll.
Baseball Quote of the Day
I considered a theme for today, and since it is January 3rd, I looked for quotes about triples. Here are two I found:
"The triple is the most exciting play in baseball. Home runs win a lot of games, but I never understood why fans are so obsessed with them." - Hank Aaron
"Where triples go to die." - Dodgers executive Fresco Thompson... describing Willie Mays incredible CF capabilities
Today’s Trivia Answer
The three relievers who had more saves for the Giants than the 127 that Gary Lavelle had are as follows:
206 - Robb Nen
199 - Rod Beck
171 - Brian Wilson
Good Reads
Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.
A way-too-early attempt at predicting 2026 award winners, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 1/2/2026
The 10 most interesting contract years to watch in 2026, by Thomas Harrigan at MLB, 1/2/2026
Prospects who are primed to break out in '26 -- one for each team, by Jesse Borek, Sam Dykstra, and Ben Weinrib at MLB, 1/1/2026
Here’s How Andruw’s Cooperstown Plaque Should Read, by Dan Schlossberg at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 1/3/2026
See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!
How did you like this edition of Now Taking the Field?
Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.
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