Last Saturday, the Dodgers reportedly agreed to a one-year, $10 million contract with J.D. Martinez, to presumably act as their every day DH. The 35-year-old is coming off a disappointing season, posting his lowest wOBA over a full season since his debut years in Houston, before he transformed into an elite hitter. Will the move to Dodger Stadium fuel a rebound? Let’s check the park factors to find out if his new home park might boost his performance.

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Yesterday, the Cubs officially signed Jameson Taillon to a four-year, $68 million contract, after agreeing to such a deal earlier in the month. In the never-ending debate over which style of pizza is better, Taillon will now have the chance to become an expert in Chicago’s signature deep dish version, after spending two years noshing on New York’s thin crust pizza. We all know which style he’ll deem superior, right? RIGHT? So how might the switch in home park affect his results? Let’s consult the park factors and find out.

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On Friday, the Giants signed left-hander Sean Manaea to a two-year, $25 million contract. Luckily for Manaea, he didn’t have to travel too far to find his new home, as he’ll remain in California. Incredibly, he has now played for three teams, all of which call California home. Coming off a mightily disappointing season that saw him post a career worst 4.96 ERA, will the park switch help fuel a rebound in 2023? Let’s consult the park factors to find out.

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Yesterday, the Cubs signed 2019 National League MVP Cody Bellinger to a one-year, $17.5 million contract. On the one hand, who would have ever guessed that the former star would have to settle for a one-year deal in his age 27 season?! On the other hand, he still managed to receive a $17.5 million contract, despite posting an ugly .266 wOBA over the past two seasons. Clearly, teams aren’t ready to give up on him, but are hesitant enough that a multi-year deal wasn’t in the cards. So with the move to Chicago, will a fresh start turn around his career? Let’s consult the park factors to see if the park could help spark a rebound or if he’s on his own.

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On Monday, it was reported that the Blue Jays signed Chris Bassitt to a three-year, $36 million contract. After spending one season with the Mets after the majority of his career with the Athletics, let’s consult the park factors to find out how the park switch might affect his performance.

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Last Friday, the Rangers signed Andrew Heaney to a two-year, $25 million contract. The oft-injured southpaw has called Los Angeles his home for the majority of his career, so how will the park switch affect his performance? Let’s consult the park factors.

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Last Friday, the Padres signed Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract, which gives them quite the middle of the order assuming a healthy Fernando Tatis Jr. Having spent his entire career in Boston, let’s consult the park factors to see how a move to a new home park for the first time might affect his results.

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In mid-May, I reviewed a group of hitters who had most underperformed their Statcast calculated xwOBA marks. While we all acknowledge that xwOBA isn’t perfect, it’s the best all-encompassing estimator we have, so it’s a good star to identifying players who are underperforming and overperforming. Now, I want to find out how these xwOBA underperformers ended up doing over the rest of the season. Did their wOBA marks rebound close to their early season xwOBA marks? Did their skills improve or decline so their rest of season xwOBA marks varied, making the RoS and early season comparison apples to oranges? I’m always curious how my lists turn out, so let’s dive in.

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Just three days after Jacob deGrom signed with the Rangers, it was reported that the Mets agreed to a two-year, $86.66 million contract with Justin Verlander. That’s a lot of money for a 40 and 41 year old pitcher! Ignoring his age and the possibility of performance decline, let’s consult the park factors to determine how the move from Minute Maid Park to Citi Field might affect his results.

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The hot stove is in full swing! Yesterday, fantasy superstar Trea Turner agreed to an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Finally, Philadelphians will learn whether Turner prefers Geno’s Steaks, or its competitor across the street, Pat’s King of Steaks. I took a weekend trip to Philly last year and tried neither, but did highly enjoy a version from Woodrow’s sandwich shop that was topped with truffle whiz. If you’re a fan of truffles (not the chocolates!), this is the pick. So now Turner joins his third team and a new home ballpark. Let’s consult the park factors to find out how his performance might be affected.

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