Issue #534
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! ⚾
Well, we’ve made it to the month of February. Spring Training is still a few weeks away — something I can tell by looking out my window in Rochester, NY where I have 25 inches of snow on the ground. But we are at least in the month that Spring Training starts in, so that is something.
And per an article by Will Leitch at MLB, here are the upcoming Spring Training dates to be aware of:
Feb. 10-13: Pitchers and catchers report
Feb. 20: Grapefruit and Cactus League games begin
March 4-17: World Baseball Classic
March 19-22: Spring Breakout
March 25: Yankees-Giants matchup kicks off the season
March 26: Opening Day
As for offseason news, yesterday there were two notable free agent signings:
Giants sign 1B/2B Luis Arraez. According to an article by Maria Guardado at MLB, the Giants are signing infielder Luis Arraez to a 1-year, $12 million contract.
Arraez is the most extreme contact hitter in the game today, with by far the highest career AB/SO ratio at 15.09, which is twice as high as second-place Jeff McNeil at 7.55. And he has only gotten better in this regard — in 2025 that figure was actually 29.5, or said another way, a career-low 3.1% SO% (strikeouts per total plate appearances).
In 2025 he had a down year in terms of batting average at only .292 for the Padres, but that came after winning three consecutive batting titles including .316 for the Twins in 2022, .354 for the Marlins in 2023, and .314 for the Marlins/Padres in 2024.
He turns 29 years old in April, and doesn’t provide much power or speed (8 HR and 11 SB in 154 games in 2025), but what he does he does well.
Outlook: I had previously noted that 2B was the one remaining spot that lacked a clear starter for the Giants entering into Spring Training. And as Guardado noted, they had been rumored to be looking for a 2B by either trade or the free agent market, so its not a big surprise they are signing Arraez. He’ll play most of the time at the keystone, with the ability to fill in at 1B for Rafael Devers or pick up some at-bats at DH too.
White Sox sign OF Austin Hays. According to an article by Jeffrey Lutz at MLB, the White Sox are signing OF Austin Hays to a 1-year deal.
He came up with the Orioles and hit 16-22 HR each year from 2021-23.
He is 30 years old now, and missed some time due to injuries in 2025, but did fairly well otherwise with 15 HR and 64 RBI in 103 games for the Reds.
Outlook: He will presumably be in the mix for the corner OF playing time for Chicago in 2026, backing up Andrew Benintendi in LF, but likely getting in more games in RF.
Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is Paul Blair. He won eight Gold Glove Awards as an outfielder, and only seven other OF have had more: Roberto Clemente (12), Willie Mays (12), Ken Griffey Jr. (10), Andruw Jones (10), Al Kaline (10), Ichiro Suzuki (10), and Torii Hunter (9). In addition to Blair, six other OF also had eight Gold Glove Awards — how many of them can you name?
Countdown to Spring Training!
Continuing with this fun series… Spring Training games are now just 19 days away, so here are some top players who had uniform #19 for extended periods of time (and the teams they wore it with):
SP Bob Feller - Indians (1939-41, 45-56)
SS/OF Robin Yount - Brewers (1974-93)
OF Tony Gwynn - Padres (1982-2001)
1B Joey Votto - Reds (2007-23)
SP Billy Pierce - White Sox (1949-61), Giants (1962-64)
SS Bert Campaneris - Athletics (1964-76), Rangers (1977-79), Angels (1979-81)
OF Fred Lynn - Red Sox (1974-80), Angels (1982-84), Orioles (1985-88)
2B/3B Jim Gilliam - Dodgers (1953-66)
SP Bob Friend - Pirates (1953-65), Yankees (1966)
OF Juan González - Rangers (1989-99, 2002-03)), Tigers (2000)
OF/3B José Bautista - Pirates (2006-08), Blue Jays (2010-17), Phillies (2018)
SP Josh Beckett - Red Sox (2006-12)
2B Bill Doran - Astros (1982-90), Reds (1990-92)
OF/DH Greg Luzinski - Phillies (1971-80), White Sox (1981-84)
SP Dave McNally - Orioles (1962-74)
OF Jay Buhner - Mariners (1989-2001)
OF Charlie Blackmon - Rockies (2013-24)
SP/RP Dave Righetti - Yankees (1981-90) and two other clubs
1B Chris Davis - Rangers (2008-11), Orioles (2011-20)
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 February 1…
1959: Zack Wheat is selected for the Hall of Fame. “Zack Wheat, a Brooklyn Robins favorite of the 1910s and 1920s, is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Wheat, a .317 hitter over his 19-year career, batted .300 or better 14 times.”
1973: Monte Irvin is selected for the Hall of Fame. “Monte Irvin is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues. Irvin becomes the fourth player to gain election through the committee, joining Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard. Irvin won two batting crowns for the Newark Eagles before joining the New York Giants.”
1985: The Cardinals trade for Jack Clark. “In an effort to add some much-needed power to a lineup essentially composed of speedsters, the St. Louis Cardinals trade OF/1B David Green, SS Jose Uribe (who is still known as "Jose Gonzalez" at that time), P Dave LaPoint, and OF/1B Gary Rajsich to the San Francisco Giants for slugging OF/1B Jack Clark.”
2008: The Mets sign Johan Santana to a big contract. “Johan Santana signs a six-year, $137.5 million deal with the New York Mets to become the highest-paid pitcher in major league history, breaking Barry Zito's record. The contract is the penultimate step in a trade of Santana to New York; only a physical remains and this will be passed a day later.”
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Paul Blair, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Jackson
Paul Blair (1944-2013)
17-year major league career, spanning from 1964-1980, mostly with the Orioles and Yankees
Two-time All-Star, and won 8 AL Gold Glove Awards as a CF
Had some power and speed, with 15+ HR in three seasons and a high of 26 HR in 1969, and 15+ SB in six seasons with a high of 27 SB in 1974
Overall had 134 HR, 171 SB, and a .250/.302/.382 slash line
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (1998)
So far has had a six-year major league career, playing for the Marlins and Yankees
Has been versatile in the field, playing a mix of 2B, 3B, SS, and CF
Two-time All-Star
Hit 24 HR with 40 SB in 2024, and then had 31 HR and 31 SB in 2025
Is already the best of the nine major league players who have been born in the Bahamas
Overall so far has 108 HR, 130 SB, a .248/.316/.454 slash line, and a 109 OPS+
Austin Jackson (1987)
9-year major league career, spanning from 2010-2018, playing mostly CF for the Tigers and six other clubs
Was drafted by the Yankees, but then was traded in December of 2009 as part of a three-team trade to the Tigers in a deal that brought Curtis Granderson to the Yankees
Although he led the AL with 170 strikeouts in 2010, he also came in second in the Rookie of the Year voting as he hit .293 with 103 runs and 27 SB
Led the AL in triples with 11 in 2011 and 10 in 2012
Overall had 114 SB, a .273/.333/.396 slash line, and an even 100 OPS+
In addition to Jazz Chisholm Jr, other currently active players who were born on February 1 include NYM Sean Manaea and ARI Ryne Nelson.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of yesterday's Birthday Boys was the great Ernie Banks. He had one of the most famous short quotes in baseball history, but also produced many other fine words of wisdom:
"It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!"
"The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose."
"Loyalty and friendship, which is to me the same, created all the wealth that I've ever thought I'd have."
"The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money."
"Awards mean a lot, but they don't say it all. The people in baseball mean more to me than statistics."
"People ask me a lot about the values I got from playing for the Cubs for so many years. The value I got out of it was patience. A lot of people these days are not very patient."
"My theme is, 'The spirit of friendship is the balance of life.' Not money. Not the World Series. It's friendship. The relationships I have with people, that's enough to keep me happy."
"Everybody believed you had to have a big piece of lumber and then muscle the ball over the fence. But by the time I and Hank Aaron - another guy who did it with his wrists - were through, there were a lot of guys ordering light bats and playing handball."
Today’s Trivia Answer
In addition to Paul Blair, the other six guys who had eight (but not more) Gold Glove Awards as an OF are as followers:
Barry Bonds
Andre Dawson
Jim Edmonds
Dwight Evans
Alex Gordon
Garry Maddox
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.
Who's left on the free-agent market as February begins?, by Brian Murphy at MLB, 1/31/2026
These stars got their start in Negro Leagues, by Thomas Harrigan at MLB, 1/31/2026
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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