Hot Stove Digest: Astros place Jon Singleton and his unprecedented contract on waivers

Welcome to The Stew’s Hot Stove Digest, our daily rundown of MLB news, rumors and gossip for Hot Stove season. Here you’ll find a quick recap of all the day’s action and other fun stuff from around the internet that we think is worth your time.

CHANGE OF PLANS: The Houston Astros have placed first baseman Jon Singleton on outright waivers less than three years after signing him to an unprecedented five-year, $10M contract. The deal also include three team option years, which could raise the total value to $30M.

The deal was unique in that Singleton signed it before taking a single MLB at-bat. It was the source of much debate, even drawing criticism from the MLBPA after it was perceived he’d given up a large chunk of his future earning potential to ink a team-friendly deal. As it turns out, Singleton may have actually done well to land that money. He hit just .171/.290/.331 over 420 plate appearances in 2014-15 and he didn’t play in the bigs at all in 2016. Now the Astros are outright removing him from the 40-man roster as they welcome in Brian McCann and Josh Reddick.

Singleton is expected to clear waivers when eligible on Tuesday. Once he does, he’ll remain in the Astros organization, likely as a Triple-A player. He’ll also remain locked into that contract. A claiming team would also have to assume the contract. An offseason trade is possible too, but not likely until Singleton shows some semblance of value. [Houston Chronicle]

MARKET CHANGER: Veteran reliever Brett Cecil landed a four-year, $30.5M contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. [Yahoo Sports]

Here’s a look at how Cecil’s huge contract could change the landscape of the reliever market in free agency. [The Stew]

SUPER BULLPEN: On Thursday we noted the Marlins desire to build a “super bullpen,” preferably around free-agent closer Kenley Jansen. Another key piece they’re reportedly considering is left-hander Travis Wood, who just compiled a 2.95 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 47/24 K/BB ratio over 61 innings with the Chicago Cubs. [Miami Herald]

READY TO WORK: FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal thinks the Yankees are poised to make a bigger splash this winter than we anticipated now that their payroll flexibility is increasing. Rosenthal also notes a superior farm system and declining home attendance as reasons they could take a more urgent approach. {Fox Sports]

FIRE SALE?: We already knew the Chicago White Sox were open to entertaining offers on top tier players like Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. Now comes word that the White Sox are telling teams they’re willing to trade any player on their roster who is under team control for less than four years, That opens up the trade options considerably and could indicate a team ready to build from scratch. [ESPN]

PERFECT MATCH: Based on the latest White Sox news, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan notes that the Dodgers are best positioned to propose a trade to Chicago’s liking.

MVP: Here’s one final award in a week filled with them. Teenage shortstop Gleyber Torres, the main prospect the Yankees received from the Cubs in the Aroldis Chapman trade, has been named MVP of the the Arizona Fall League.

Torres, 19, put up some ridiculous numbers as that graphic shows. In fact, he’s the first player under 21 to win the AFL batting championship. During the regular season, he hit .270/.354/.421 with 29 doubles, 11 home runs, and 21 stolen bases in 125 games at high Class-A. He’s expected to be a top 10 prospect entering the 2017 season. [CBS Sports]

CUBS WIN AGAIN: The Mesa Solar Sox won the Arizona Fall League title Saturday with a 6-1 win over the Surprise Saguaros at Scottsdale Stadium. That means for the second time in a little over three weeks, members of the Chicago Cubs were celebrating a championship.

Of course, this time around they had to share the spotlight with the five other organizations represented on the Solar Sox roster. Oddly enough, one of those teams was the Cleveland Indians. The others were the Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins and Oakland A’s.

It was the Cubs that truly stole the show though, as coveted prospect Ian Happ connected for home runs from both sides of the plate. Mesa also got a three-run homer from Marlins prospect Brian Anderson and five innings of one-hit ball from A’s right-hander Dylan Covey.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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