(AP)Knowing he was about to sign a free-agent contract with the Detroit Tigers, outfielder Torii Hunter crowd-sourced Twitter, the social media micro-blogging site, for a new place to live. He asked about suburbs:

Looking for a place to stay for the season. I heard Troy and Birmingham was nice.

— Torii Hunter (@toriihunter48) November 16, 2012

Several fans responded, asking that he give the city itself a look. One (at least) even said:

@toriihunter48 if you get a house in the city you'll be a hero to Detroiters. But yeah- Birmingham is OK. — zakpashak (@zakpashak) November 16, 2012

Ah, civic pride. While it remains to be seen where Hunter will live during the season, the part about him signing with Detroit has come true. The Tigers got Hunter for $26 million over the next two seasons. And here's the thing: If Hunter helps the Tigers win a World Series, he'll be plenty heroic in the eyes of Detroiters — no matter if he lives in a casino across the river in Canada. And while Hunter is no grand bargain at $13 million per season (do the Tigers ever sign anyone good cheaply?), he should make them better in 2013.

(AP)The Toronto Blue Jays and their GM, Alex Anthopoulos, obviously mean business in the AL East. Earlier this week, they answered the ad for the most recent Miami Marlins fire sale, adding several huge names — Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle — in a trade for some prospects. On Friday, a report from ESPN Deportes broke the news that free-agent outfielder Melky Cabrera was headed to Toronto for $16 million over two years.

(Here's the original report in Spanish, which brings to light that "Blue Jays" translates to "Azulejos." The Jays should pick a day and wear Azulejos jerseys for a day. Just a thought.)

Of course, given that Cabrera in 2012 missed 50 games for the San Francisco Giants, plus the playoffs, because of a drug suspension, his signing brings to mind at least one question: Which Melky are the Jays getting? Whole? Two percent? To what degree did PEDs help Cabrera, a below-average hitter and don't-ask outfielder for the first five years of his career? Did they just help him get into shape after he realized he was throwing away millions of dollars in future earnings? Or did little steroid faeries push his bat faster through the strike zone?

[Related: Bud Selig reviewing controversial Marlins-Jays trade]

(St. Louis Cardinals)

The St. Louis Cardinals are getting new uniforms for 2013. Now, before any traditionalist fashionistas out there lose their breakfast, it's OK, it's OK. They're not bringing back the blue Underoos from the prime of Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee. Instead, the Cardinals are reaching deeper into their own past in order to update their look.

What's the same? The trademark redbird twins still perch upon the famous yellow bat. Except the birds have eyes instead of dots, and the bat looks more like a bat. And the base color of the jersey is off-white, and a red yoke runs around the neck and down the chest — similar to a uniform that Stan Musial wore with the Cards in the 1950s.

[Also: Giants hero and NL MVP Buster Posey comparable to Willie Mays?]

Oh, and it says "St. Louis" instead of "Cardinals" on the front. Not since 1932 has any Cardinals jersey done that.

These are the duds the Cards will wear at Busch Stadium on Saturdays this season. They're pretty sweet, at least in two dimensions. The Cardinals already had one of the more popular looks in sports uniforms, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch points out. Only the NHL's Montreal Canadiens and the NFL's Chicago Bears have cooler jerseys, according to a recent ESPN poll. Cards team president Bill DeWitt III doesn't think this addition will harm his team's uniform tradition.

"Yes, it's traditional," DeWitt said. "And if you ask me should we stay in that elite company of having home whites and road grays, I would say we should, but … Look at this (third) jersey. I see it and think, 'We've got to wear that thing.' "

Agreed, though it leaves the Yankees, Dodgers and Tigers as the only teams not to employ a third jersey. (Although, didn't the Tigers wear a blue third jersey for a handful of dates about 20 years ago?) There's something to be said about sticking to tradition. But there's also a balance to be struck between selling jerseys (marketing makes the world go 'round!) and keeping connected with the past.

(Getty Images)

So 2012's great American League MVP debate is finally over and Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera is walking home with the hardware after being placed first on 22 of the 28 ballots. He certainly had a stellar season so it's hard to label Mike Trout's second-place finish as one of the bigger injustices in baseball history.

But if there's any disappointment for those who believe the Los Angeles Angels super rookie should have been named MVP — and I count myself solidly in that crowd — it comes in both the size of Cabrera's victory and his voters largely being unable to offer anything other than a "But, er, uh ... Triple Crown!" rebuttal when a Trout supporter made his or her case.

(AP)

Comparisons to Johnny Bench, another catcher, are one thing. But did you realize that Buster Posey has actually been Willie Mays all over again?

Yes, that Willie Mays.

In case you missed her post on ESPN's Sweetspot in late October, Anna McDonald noted the eerie parallels between the first few seasons of Mays' and Posey's careers. The BBWAA awarded Posey the NL MVP award on Thursday, keeping him on a pace that's — well — kind of A-Mays-ing.

[Y! Sports Fan Shop: San Francisco Giants World Series champs apparel]

Here's what McDonald wrote just before the World Series:

Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey were named 2012's MVP winners on Wednesday. (AP)

BREAKING: Baseball's MVP awards have been announced and the world is still spinning.

After months of debate and name-calling from supporters on both sides, Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera won his first American League MVP award on Thursday, beating out Los Angeles Angels phenom Mike Trout in a sizable victory. Cabrera took first place on 22 of 28 ballots, beating Trout 362-281 in overall points. Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre took third. BBWAA.com has the full results.

Meanwhile, the National League MVP winner was someone who was also near the plate during the final out of the World Series last month, though in a much happier capacity. San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey took home the NL MVP award, earning the first-place vote on 27 of 32 ballots. Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun finished a distant second and Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen placed third. BBWAA.com also has the full results.

An illustration of Safeco Field's new scoreboard (Seattle Mariners)

The professional sports experience sure is getting weird. The quality of today's televisions are attempting to turn our living rooms into ballparks and arenas and they're doing a pretty good job of it. Meanwhile, those same ballparks and arenas are trying to turn themselves into our living rooms. It's really only a matter of time until some rabbit hole opens up and we're all sucked into some alternate reality where everyone on the field looks like Max Headroom.

[Also: Cardinals add 'St. Louis' to new uniforms]

I bring this up because the Seattle Mariners announced on Thursday that Safeco Field will have baseball's biggest video board in place for the 2013 season. It's absolutely monstrous and just a tad smaller than the one the Dallas Cowboys had installed in Jerry World a few years back. The Seattle Times pegs the board's estimated cost at around $10 million.

From the Seattle Times:

Hugh Nicol and Jack BoyleAccording to Baseball Reference's events calendar, today is the 126th anniversary of the first trade in baseball history.

The swap: The Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association sent rookie catcher Jack Boyle and the tidy sum of $400 to the St. Louis Browns for veteran outfielder Hugh Nicol.

The deal was first reported via telegraph by Tim Brown's great-great grandpappy and was instantly declared an abomination by town criers and pamphleteers in both cities. The rest of the baseball world, enamored by the birth of the hot stove season, turned its attention elsewhere five seconds later while wishing for a medium like Twitter that would break and then completely dispel trade rumors within the span of three minutes.