Tuesday news

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s time in the AFL is coming to an early end as he is leaving Arizona prior to Tuesday’s game to tend to a family matter (according to MLB Pipeline).

Guerrero went 1-for-3 with two RBIs on Monday and finished with a .351/.398/.446 slash line as the youngest player in the Fall League. He hit safely in each of his first 13 games, recording multiple hits in seven of those, and was batting .462 before going 3-for-25 over his final two weeks (six games). He ranks fourth in the league in average and RBIs (17) and is tied for second with 27 hits.

At 10-17, Guerrero’s Surprise Saguaros squad has three games remaining and has been eliminated from contention for Saturday’s championship game.

And here is Vlad’s swing in ‘Kendrys Morales real time base running speed’:

Rookies of the Year

Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. won the National League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday. He received 27 of 30 first-place votes, with Nationals outfielder Juan Soto finishing second and Dodgers righty Walker Buehler third.

Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani won the American League Rookie of the Year Award after a season in which he did something (pitching and hitting on a regular basis) no player had done in 99 years.

Ohtani also won easily, receiving 25 of 30 first-place votes, with a pair of Yankees -- third baseman Miguel Andujar and second baseman Gleyber Torres -- finishing second and third.

Trades and qualifying offers

According to The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (subscription required), the Yankees have been doing “particularly extensive” background work on Manny Machado, Sources told Stark that Yankees manager Aaron Boone, front-office members and scouts are all among those who “calling around” about Machado.

I imagine it would be short phone call something like this:

Boone: What can you tell me about Machado?

Everyone else: Good player but a massive asshat who doesn’t try very hard. And he could start a fight in an empty room.

Bryce Harper is the blue chip free agent on the market this year. But as well as having massive upside, any buyer will have to risk a $350m black hole of a contract...its enough to put off any interested team. That and Scott Boras being his agent too.

To help you all with the possible trade options, Bleacher Report have a handy B.S Meter on the top free agency and trade rumours.

Elsewhere 6 players declined their qualifying offers and the real reason for doing so (honest!)

• A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks - because Arizona is too hot
• Bryce Harper of the Nationals - he needs more money for his hair care products
• Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox -he is considering playing in the Amish league
• Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks - see Pollock above
• Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers - he missed the offer they threw his way
• Dallas Keuchel of the Astros - he realised that his first name means he should be playing for the Rangers instead

Hyun-Jin Ryu has accepted the Dodgers’ qualifying offer, just to be different.

With the lovely Joe Mauer retiring, the question needs to be asked. What is he going to do with his time? Here are some interesting suggestions.

And to end on a slightly serious note, this free to read piece in the Athletic by Gabe Kapler details how he lost his home and is wanting to keep people aware of the ongoing destructive wildfires in California.