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The Rundown: Pirates Tanking, Epstein Authorized to do ‘Whatever He Needs,’ Contreras Knows He’ll Be MLB’s Best Catcher

Some numbers to start your day:

There are 29 days until pitchers and catchers report. Only 52 of 203 eligible free agents have contracts, including just two of the top 10. And one of those, Masahiro Tanaka, re-signed with the Yankees just as free agency kicked off in November. We keep saying the market is about to break but there is nothing to really indicate that. Yesterday was a pretty busy day in terms of player movement (as defined this offseason), but nothing really earth-shattering,

Andrew McCutchen was traded by the Pirates to the Giants for minor leaguers Kyle Crick and Bryan Reynolds plus $500,000 in IFA dollars.