Congrats to the Marlins for being able to grow beards

Huge news from Marlins camp, where manager Mike Redmond announced that players are now allowed to grow beards as long as they keep them nice and neat:

This year, we’re going to let them have beards, but they have to keep it trimmed up. And the hair, too. We just don’t want it to be sloppy, I guess. You can have a beard now. We’re just always adjusting.

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com notes that, before being traded to the Dodgers last season, Ricky Nolasco stretched the Marlins’ facial hair rules by “sport[ing] a mild beard on occasion.”

“Mild beard.”

Gonna be a wild year in Miami.

(Note: Thankfully the NBC facial hair policy is non-existent, because I have a lot of ugly face to hide.)

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The White Sox have reportedly picked up first baseman Yonder Alonso from the Indians, according to Stadium. The return for Alonso is expected to be nothing more flashy than a “fringe prospect,” though the minutiae of the deal is still pending a formal announcement from both teams.

Alonso, 31, inked a two-year deal with the Indians during the 2017 offseason. His first campaign with the club yielded a modest .250/.317/.421 batting line, 23 home runs, .738 OPS and 0.7 fWAR in 574 PA. The real boon for the White Sox may not be a passable veteran bat, however, but something more intangible — like Alonso’s clout with his brother-in-law and highly-coveted free agent slugger, Manny Machado.

While Alonso’s 2018 output represented a significant decline from the career-best numbers he posted in 2017, he’s still a solid contributor at the plate and, more importantly, slated to remain under team control for the next two years with just $8 million owed in 2019 and a $9 million option in 2020. As MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince notes, the $17 million the Indians just erased from their payroll should give them enough room to accommodate the contracts for right-handers Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber — a bonus regardless of what they happen to get in the trade.