Assuming that the deal actually goes through as planned, which is easier said than done on the North Side these days, the Chicago Cubs will have made their most noteworthy signing of the offseason, in bringing in starter Edwin Jackson. 

Jackson, who has become the very definition of a journeyman over the last several years, finally gets a home for more than a few months in agreeing to a four-year, $52 million contract. While it seems like a tremendous overpayment by the front office, it's actually only a raise of $2 million from what he made with the Washington Nationals last season.

During an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on Friday morning, new Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Josh Hamilton claimed that the Texas Rangers never made him a contract offer this offseason.

Hamilton said that he gave the Rangers no promise to counter any offer he received, and that he gave the Rangers the first shot to re-sign him after the season. Apparently Texas never even took that shot, leading to Hamilton signing with the division rival Angels. Hamilton also claims that he wasn't offended by the lack of an offer from his former team, but that the Rangers' assumption that he was comfortable with the team and wouldn't go anywhere was a mistake.

Before the season, Hamilton said in an interview that he didn't feel like he owed the Rangers anything, words that irritated Texas general manager Jon Daniels. Daniels also claimed that at the Winter Meetings, the Rangers and Hamilton had talked about a "concept" for a contract, with nothing actually offered. At the end of the day, if Hamilton's claims that he never even got an actual offer from the Rangers is true, Daniels and his staff have egg on their faces. You can't expect the best hitter on the free agent market to sit around and wait for you to make an offer if another team is jumping in on the act. It just doesn't work that way anymore.

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The Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" standup routine is one of the more famous baseball comedy routines in history. On Thursday's episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the routine was reprised by Fallon, along with cameo appearances from Billy Crystal and Jerry Seinfeld (playing the roles of "who" and "I don't know" respectively).

It's a classic routine, and while nothing can top the original as performed by Abbott and Costello, Fallon did a solid job at paying tribute to the original spirit of the act whle also adding a bit of his own spin with the introduction of the players being spoken of. I'm not a fan of his comedy at all, but I'll give him and his staff a B+ for this skit, even if the appearances by Crystal and Seinfeld took a bit away from the performance with the rousing ovations they got from the studio audience.

[Cut4]

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Earlier this week, the Tampa Bay Rays made a somewhat quiet signing in bringing aboard Roberto Hernandez on a one-year, $3.25 million deal (insert witty comment about identity fraud and whether or not they got the right guy).

The move was a bit surprising, given the Rays’ depth in their rotation, as well as the fact that the contract seems a bit heavy for a team like the Rays, especially when they have that depth in their rotation. And especially when it’s a guy who has been anything but consistent in the past few seasons, even before everyone found out he wasn’t exactly who we thought he was.

If you're reading this blog post, congratulations: the world did not end in a blaze of glory like the Mayans predicted. And now we can move on with our lives and not worry about the Mayan calendar ever again.

Anyway, over the last couple of days, we saw some things that could be a hint that the end of the world is arriving soon, like Gregg Zaun going off on the women of Toronto, Pablo Sandoval judging the Miss Universe pageant, and the Cubs finally signing an ace in Edwin Jackson.

Despite those armageddon-related events, some more normal things happened. The Angels solved their outfield logjam by trading Kendrys Morales to the Mariners for Jason Vargas. The Blue Jays still are searching for a long-term solution at catcher, because JP Arencibia is clearly not that guy (despite the numerous tweets I've gotten from Blue Jays fans telling me the opposite is true).

To put you in the holiday spirit, how about you check out TOC's Christmas wishlist for every MLB fanbase? Think happy thoughts now that our Mayan destruction has passed, and we can move on with our lives.

Enjoy your offseason, everyone.

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After failing to trade for Dan Haren of the Angels and failing to sign Anibal Sanchez of the Tigers, the Chicago Cubs finally have the veteran starting pitcher they've been craving: journeyman Edwin Jackson, who the team agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal with on Thursday, substantially less than the $80 million that Sanchez got over five years from the Tigers.

Jackson made $11 million in 2012 on a one-year deal with the Nationals, who ironically signed Haren to a one-year, $13 million deal after the Angels declined their club option on him. The Cubs had a deal worked out with the Angels to acquire Haren in exchange for reliever Carlos Marmol, but the trade fell apart, and Haren ventured into the free agent market. After striking out with Sanchez despite tentatively agreeing to a five-year, $75 million contract with him, the Cubs shifted their focus to Jackson. Earlier this week, the Padres dropped out of the bidding for the veteran righthander, leaving the Cubs and Rangers as a finalist. And as they have with the rest of their big name free agent targets this winter, the Rangers failed to get their man, leaving Jackson to sign with the Cubs.

In 2012 with Washington, Jackson had a 4.03 ERA in 189 2/3 innings, serving as the team's fourth starter behind Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jordan Zimmermann. Jackson posted a career-bests in both strikeout rate (7.97) and walk rate (2.75). However, Jackson's homer rate was once again an issue as it has been throughout most of his career, and his 2.9 fWAR was his lowest in a season since 2008 with the Rays.

If Jackson is able to keep his homers under control at Wrigley Field (which is no small feat), he could be a bargain for the Cubs at $13 million per season. Chicago's rotation is suddenly looking pretty good with Jackson, Matt Garza, Jeff Samardzija, Scott Feldman, and Scott Baker (once he recovers from Tommy John surgery), along with long relievers Travis Wood and newly-signed Carlos Villanueva.

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World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants was a judge during Wednesday's Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas as part of a panel that included Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, among others. Miss USA Olivia Culpo was chosen as the winner by the judges, the first Miss USA to win the title in 15 years.

I'm not exactly sure what the criteria were to become a judge, but Sandoval (along with Walsh Jennings and Morimoto) stood out on the nine-judge panel that included numerous fashion and beauty personalities, such as Scott Disick (boyfriend of Kourtney Kardashian), Ximena Navarette (Miss Universe 2010), Nigel Barker (fashion photographer), Diego Boneta (actor), Claudia Jordan (model/TV host), and Brad Goreski (stylist).

Sandoval's exposure on a major program like the Miss Universe pageant (which drew 6.1 million viewers according to overnight ratings) on NBC is good exposure for baseball, and for one of its bright stars on a team that has won two of the last three World Championships. Considering NBC has no stake in baseball (unlike the Olympics, represented by Walsh), the selection seems peculiar in hindsight. But that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. Buster Posey and Tim Lincecum dominate mainstream headlines when talking about the Giants, and getting the reigning World Series MVP some face time on a major network could be a boost for MLB and the Giants.

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We've got less than a week until Christmas, and there are plenty of fanbases that are still itching for something related to their team's onfield performance for the 2013 season this winter. So I decided to put my thinking cap on, and ponder just what exactly each fanbase wants for their team for the 2013 season. I came up with three items for each team. Enjoy, and happy holidays.

Arizona Diamondbacks
1. Justin Upton isn't traded in July for spare parts
2. Didi Gregorius evolves into a capable hitter and fielder, and becomes a cornerstone at shortstop
3. Kevin Towers stops trading prospects for veterans

Atlanta Braves
1. Jason Heyward signs an extension to become a Brave for life
2. Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado finally have success in the major leagues, and lead up the new era of Atlanta's rotation
3. Brian McCann rebounds from a down 2012 and reasserts himself as the face of the franchise, post-Chipper Jones

Baltimore Orioles
1. The team proves last year wasn't a fluke, and wins 90 games again
2. Manny Machado continues to draw comparisons to Cal Ripken Jr, and perhaps exceeds Ripken's potential
3. Dylan Bundy becomes a right-handed Clayton Kershaw in 2013

Boston Red Sox
1. The team's patchwork offseason results in a competitive team as opposed to the disaster of 2012
2. John Farrell is universally more well-liked by the fans, media, and players than Bobby Valentine
3. Jacoby Ellsbury stays healthy and signs an extension to stay in Boston

Chicago Cubs
1. The Cubs keep moving forward under Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, and don't spend money for the sake of spending money
2. Anthony Rizzo turns into Mark Grace with more power
3. Some silly team trades actual talent for Alfonso Soriano (and pays at least half of his contract)

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have quickly fixed the logjam in their offense that was created when they signed Josh Hamilton by dealing designated hitter Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for starting pitcher Jason Vargas. The trade will allow the team to keep Peter Bourjos (who Jon Heyman predicted would now be the team's center fielder), along with getting a glove away from Mark Trumbo and putting him at DH.

This trade seems a little bit odd from both standpoints. After playing in just 51 games in 2010 after breaking his leg, Morales missed all of 2011, returning to the Angels for a full 2012 season. The 29-year old largely scuffled through the season, hitting 22 homers with a .787 OPS as the Angels' primary DH. Now, he'll head to a Seattle team that already has a full-time DH in Jesus Montero, perhaps indicating that Montero will see more time behind the plate in 2013 and that Justin Smoak's playing time at first base will drastically decrease after his game hasn't taken the leap to the next level. On the bright side for Seattle, Morales immediately becomes the team's best power threat. No one on the Mariners hit more homers than Morales' 22 in 2012, and his .194 ISO also would have led the team. Of course, there's the Safeco Field factor to account for here with Morales, though he has a .904 OPS and seven homers in 34 career games there.

The rich girls from TO must be home from college. Tubby, unfortunately manish, and super stuck up are all at Hemingways tonight

— Gregg Zaun (@greggzaun) December 19, 2012

Former Toronto Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun is one of the more insufferable ex-athletes on Twitter, with relentless plugs for parties he's hosting and other antics which seem a little bit off for a retired 41-year old. At nearly 1 AM Wednesday morning, Zaun tweeted the above, criticizing the quality of women at a Toronto area bar, which apparently has a New Zealand theme.

Anyway, judging by their website, the bar appears to be a place where old men troll for young women who are trying to just have a good time with their friends, who are apparently tubby, mannish, *and* super stuck up. Gregg Zaun deserves the best, because dammit, he's the only career backup catcher who named his fanbase after a TV show!

[Deadspin]

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