SnakeBytes, 12/12: Meetings adjourned

"We are trying to win now, but also setting ourselves up for a sustainable and competitive run. We believe you win with pitching and defense, and that is what we are focused on right now."
-- Derrick Hall

D-backs news

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks conclude meetings with more rotation options - Dave Stewart said that when he interviewed for the Diamondbacks' general manager's position this fall, he sold them on his vision of a starting pitching influx, on creating depth and flexibility with the addition of more and better rotation options. Nearly every move he's made in his first off-season at the helm has reflected that vision, including the apparently forthcoming deal that will send left-hander Wade Miley to the Boston Red Sox.

[Facebook[ Derrick Hall answers fan questions - A change of location for this month's HallChat, which allows for rather more expanded questions...and also responses to his replies. Quite an interesting read, both in terms of organizational responses, and what the fans think of it.

[NJ.com] Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he tried to make trades - Add the Yankees to the list of Miley suitors. Cashman "made an effort — however symbolic — to get Wade Miley before the Arizona Diamondbacks deal him ... possibly to Boston, too. The problem? The Yankees didn't have the goods to take part in baseball's annual swap meet. "Did I call Arizona? Yes,’’ Cashman told the New York Post as he left the Winter Meetings."

[dbacks.com] D-backs Fan Fest - The Arizona Diamondbacks will host the 11th annual SUBWAY® D-backs Fan Fest (#DbacksFanFest) on Sunday, February 22, 2015 from noon-4:00 p.m. at Chase Field, with early VIP entry at 11:00 a.m. Interesting to note, the event has been moved from a Saturday to a Sunday, and also appears to have been reduced in lengfth for 2015.

[dbacks.com] Arizona Diamondbacks Podcasts - Second edition of the team podcast should be out later today, with Tony La Russa the special guest. I put in a request that they ask him about the alleged Matt Kemp for Archie Bradley trade..

And, elsewhere...

[ESPN] MLB winter meetings winners and losers - The Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers and Marlins walked away winners at this week's winter meetings, while the defending champion Giants and three other teams left San Diego empty-handed and searching for answers. Don't worry, we weren't one of the latter category!

[MLB.com] Think this year's Winter Meetings were crazy? Try '92 when Maddux, Cone and Bonds changed teams - As the article points out, "While our Twitter feeds looked like a glitch in the Matrix these last few days, it's hard to imagine how 1992 would have shaken out. Because Twitter didn't even exist yet, if you wanted to keep up with the flurry of transactions, your options were either the newspaper, the 6 o'clock news, or, if you were really plugged in, an internet chat room."

[AP] Man to plead guilty in smuggling of Puig - Tuesday plea change hearing for 40-year-old Gilberto Suarez, who had previously pleaded not guilty to an alien smuggling conspiracy charge. The charge carries a potential 10-year prison sentence. Authorities say Suarez was one of the Miami-based financiers of the 2012 smuggling venture that brought Puig by boat from Cuba to Mexico. The financiers were to receive a cut of the seven-year, $42 million contract Puig later signed with the Dodgers.

[BaseballAmerica] MiLB Opposes Players, Supports MLB In Lawsuit - Stan Brand, Minor League Baseball’s vice president, used words like "perilous" and "unprecedented" to describe the class-action lawsuit filed earlier this year by former minor leaguers that charges Major League Baseball with illegally suppressing minor league player salaries in violation of federal and state labor laws. And it is one that the minor leagues will help their big league brethren fight.

[UTSanDiego.com] Minor League Baseball jobs chased at San Diego Winter Meetings - But, note: it's not just the players who are lightly-remunerated. "I got the job offer in December of 2008, two weeks later, drove cross country to California, and was there making $500 a month, working 15 hour days and loving every minute of it," Labban said. "They are always looking for just hard working people who are willing to sacrifice." I bet they are....

[Deadline] Penny Marshall To Direct Baseball Biopic Of First Female Hall Of Famer - A League Of Their Own director Penny Marshall is swinging away at a baseball biopic about Effa Manley, the sports trailblazer who became the first woman to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Manley made history by rising in the ranks of the Negro National League in the 1930s and ’40s as a co-owner and business manager of the Newark Eagles, the team that went on to win the 1946 Negro World Series.

[HardballTalk] Baseball’s Most Handsome Managers: 2015 Update - One year ago today I changed managerial analysis forever by introducing the one metric that people should, if they had any sense, care about the most: how handsome each one is compared to the others. We have several new managers this year and some of the existing ones have had their handsomeness either enhanced or diminished by circumstances, so it is time to revisit the subject.