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Diamondbacks related
[AZ Central] Miley's preparation habits were apparently an issue for Diamondbacks - As noted by shoe in his FanPost, and now rumbling through Boston. " I might not have a six-pack and be shredded and this and that, but I feel like I eat healthy enough. I've made it through three full seasons. I feel fine. My body feels great. I don't understand why they'd make such a big emphasis on the health part of it." The part that bothers Miley is that he's weighed 220 pounds in each of the past three seasons, and it was only this year, when his ERA swelled by a run, that he started to hear anything about his diet.
[UPI.com] Oakland Athletics acquire De La Rosa from Arizona Diamondbacks - The Oakland Athletics acquired pitcher Eury De La Rosa from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations on Thursday. In 25 games with Arizona last season, De La Rosa went 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA. The 24-year-old left-hander allowed just two home runs in 36 2/3 innings and held right-handed hitters to a .233 batting average. De La Rosa is 2-1 with a 4.21 ERA in 44 career appearances over two seasons with the Diamondbacks.
[FOX Sports] Diamondbacks follow off-season script - The D-backs made three major moves in three days in an attempt to distance themselves from an everything-that-could-go-wrong-did 2014 season. The winter plan was to add a bat, shed salary and get younger and deeper, and the D-backs made inroads on all of that by announcing the signing of Cuban free agent Yasmany Tomas, trading catcher Miguel Montero to the Cubs and adding four controllable pitching prospects in trades that cost them Montero, Didi Gregorius and Wade Miley.
And, elsewhere
[New York Post] Pitcher’s tragic spiral: ‘Coked up’ for Bonds HR, dead in cliff plunge - Poor former Diamondback Brad Halsey. Among the details compiled by USA Today: He said he heard voices calling him to join a mystic cult in France; he hocked his NCAA title ring to fund a session with a medium who "communicated" with aliens; he told independent league teammates about a force from the fourth dimension sapping his energy; he waded into a Texas river and called himself "Lucifer"; he was arrested, in one of seven petty busts, for trying to steal a barge on the San Antonio River Walk.
[USA Today] Will the United States’ new Cuba policy benefit Cuban baseball players? - Without more details of the eased restrictions between the two countries, it’s hard to say if or when Wednesday’s developments will provide easier and less exploitative routes for Cuban baseball stars to play in the Majors... But it seems like at the very least a positive step toward allowing some of the world’s best baseball players to play the sport at its highest level without first risking their lives to do so.
[Reuters] Black-market chemist pleads guilty in U.S. baseball doping scandal - A black-market chemist pleaded guilty on Thursday to concocting testosterone in the garage lab of his Florida home that was used to supply performance-enhancing drugs linked to the U.S. baseball doping scandal. Paulo Berejuk, 51, faces up to 10 years in prison. Berejuk was part of the supply chain linked to Anthony Bosch, the owner of a now-defunct Florida anti-aging clinic at the center of the scandal who has pleaded guilty to conspirig to distribute testosterone.
[SI.com] Three-team trade to send Rays OF Wil Myers to Padres - A three-team trade that would send Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Wil Myers to the San Diego Padres has been agreed upon by all sides, ESPN's Jim Bowden reports. The Washington Nationals are the third team and the deal is expected to include 11 players in all, according to Bowden. [Sounds like Twitch must have been running that one!]
Looks like the trade has gone through now, but got to laugh at this one:
The holdup in Matt Kemp trade is because the physical revealed arthritis in both hips. The #Padres continue to consult medical experts.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 18, 2014
Pretty sure this deal will be albatross-shaped for the Padres by the time it's over. And we can cross this one off the list as a possible acquisition this year.
Hiroshima Carp tell Kenta Maeda they will not post him this season. Maeda will not be an unrestricted free agent until after 2017 season.
— Jim Allen (@JballAllen) December 18, 2014
Finally, guess who it looks like will be coming back to the NL West?
Sources: #Padres getting Upton.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 19, 2014
18 games a year, Man, I'm looking forward to those Gameday Threads...