Snake Bytes, 11/14: Toasting marshmallows on the hot-stove

Team news

[Arizona Sports] Report: D-backs interested in Japanese P Kenta Maeda - Maeda, 27, has compiled a 97-67 record with a 2.49 ERA over eight seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Central League. In 2015, he posted a 15-8 record with a 2.09 ERA while striking out 175 batters in 206.1 innings pitched. While most in baseball expect Maeda to be available to MLB teams this offseason, the Carp have yet to announce when the pitcher will be posted.

[StarTribune.com] Twins love potential of Herrmann-for-Palka trade - Herrmann turns 27 next week, and I heard him described as "more of a National League player" last season. Turns out, Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart — who was Herrmann’s agent before he went into management — thought so, too. "They envision him as a good guy off the bench, because he can play first base, second base, third base, outfield and catch," Antony said, though he was mostly a catcher last season. "That fits better in the National League, because they pinch-hit so much more. You can double-switch and always be protected at any position, because Chris can handle just about anywhere."

[FOX] Paul Goldschmidt's top 11 homers of his 2015 Silver Slugger season - Now that Paul Goldschmidt has been granted his second-career Silver Slugger Award for his spectacular performance at the plate in 2015, let's take a look back at the highlights of the Arizona Diamondbacks slugger's season. Goldschmidt hit a total of 33 home runs and drove in 110 runs in 2015, which leaves us with no dearth of awe-inspiring blasts, but here are the top 11 out of the many of Goldschmidt's dazzling homers this past season.

Earlier in the week, I chatted with Chase Thomas for his Cut to the Chase podcast about the Diamondbacks' past, present and future. Here's the episode in question.

And, elsewhere

[CBSSports] Inside Baseball: Rival executives upset by Marlins' tiny revenue - Teams sharing their money often has led to upset on the part of the payers, but the extra unhappiness in this case is that monies go to a team with the supposed benefit of a new stadium. "They're a joke," says the executive of one team who can't understand how the Marlins' revenues can be lower than those of the Rays and A's, two teams long embroiled in thus far unsuccessful endeavors to get new stadiums.

[FanGraphs] The 2015 Rookie Class Was the Best in 100 Years - There’s no other way to put it: this is remarkable. No other year even comes close to 2015, with 1987 and 2007 being the only years in remote proximity based on WAR/600. The 1987 season featured Mark McGwire (5.1 WAR), Kevin Seitzer (5.1), Devon White (4.6) and Mike Greenwell (3.4) among its most notable rookies, while 2007 offered Troy Tulowitzki (5.2 WAR), Dustin Pedroia (3.7), Hunter Pence (3.5), and Ryan Braun (2.5). Those were amazing rookie classes. And yet 2015 blows them away.

If MLB works out details and government approval, #Rays will be team that goes to Cuba for spring exhibition.

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) November 13, 2015

[ESPN] Dodgers narrow managerial candidates - The Los Angeles Dodgers have interviewed nine candidates for their managerial opening and are going to bring back four of them as finalists next week. The four will be: Bud Black, Darin Erstad, Gabe Kapler and Dave Roberts. The rest of the field is no longer in contention, according to sources familiar with the search. Kapler, the Dodgers' director of player development, is still considered the front-runner by many despite his lack of managerial experience and denials from the team of that being the case. So, no Kirk Gibson.

[Boston Globe] Modification lets you play 'Fallout 4' in David Ortiz jersey - An independent developer this week created a modification for the video game "Fallout 4" that lets players fight mutants in a post-apocalyptic Boston using a character in a Red Sox jersey bearing David Ortiz’s name. But Major League Baseball officials are ruling it foul. "The use of these marks is an infringement of our rights. We plan to enforce those rights," an MLB spokesman said in an e-mail Thursday.

[NBC 7] 600 Padres Bobbleheads Mysteriously Left Near Local Residents' Doorstep - Several roommates were miffed when 600 bobbleheads bearing the face of a former Padres player mysteriously turned up near their doorstep in University City, San Diego. Now they're resorting to handing them out as party favors. The woman who answered the phone at the San Diego Police Department told Philip Jia it was the strangest call she’d ever received. Jia and a handful of his young 20-something roommates in University City asked if an officer could come out and take a look at the items someone dumped in the middle of their condo complex street.