Happy birthday to the Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti! At one time, he was an above-average starting pitcher for the Yankees before being switched to the bullpen full-time in 1984. He was even better as a closer, racking up over 12 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) between 1984-1988. After that, however, he was never really the same pitcher, never again posting 1 WAR in a single season.

Righetti signed a 4-year, $10 million deal with the Giants after the 1990 season, but never really lived up to it. After an effective 1991 season, he was just never an elite bullpen arm again. He did have a decent swan song in 1995 as a long reliever for the Chicago White Sox.

He's been the Giants pitching coach since 2000 and doesn't appear to be leaving that role any time soon.

Being the younger brother of Baseball Hall of Fame player Cal Ripken Jr., it's not a surprise that Billy Ripken has remained a popular player among Baltimore Orioles fans. He played 12 seasons in the Major Leagues, 7 of them with Baltimore. He never hit much (69+ OPS, yikes!) but his glove was enough to keep him in the big leagues. Billy only had one truly good year in the Majors, 1990, when he hit .291/.342/..387 good for a 107 OPS+. By today's advanced metrics, he wasn't much more than a replacement level player after that.

What Billy Ripken has become most famous for his is 1989 Fleer card #616. It's not a rookie card or anything.  Yet, this Bill Ripken card is one of the most valuable 1989 Fleer baseball cards. Its popularity has to do with an unfortunate thing he wrote on the knob of his bat - F**k Face. Really, he only did it to make sure that he knew which batting practice bat was his. But a photo was taken with him holding that bat. Fleer didn't catch it before the set went to print and a PR disaster ensued.

CNBC has a full report about the obscenity card from 2008. There's also a website, billripken.com, dedicated to that one card, and it's still being updated! Several variations of this card exist, including a "clean" version and many others with various amounts of blackout over the obscenity on the bat handle.

Today, copies of this error card sell for $20 or more. It's perhaps the most famous "error" card in the history of baseball cards. If you're a Billy Ripken fan, and you happen to come across copies of his #616 1989 Fleer card, see if it's the error. If you don't want it, there are plenty of people that do.

Becoming the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees does a lot for your reputation. Considering that the Yankees only gave up pitcher Shane Greene (who imploded in Detroit) for the services of shortstop Didi Gregorius, this is one of the better trades made during last offseason. While Gregorius was below average with the bat (91 OPS+) he built on his already above-average defensive tools. His defense made him a well above-average starter for the Yankees, compiling 3.3 WAR (Wins Above Replacement).

While obviously Gregorius is no Derek Jeter, he's proven that he can hold down the future Hall-of-Famer's former position. This realization has made Didi Gregorius's 2015 baseball cards a rather valuable commodity. Joining the most valuable and most recognizable baseball team in the world certainly helps his cards' collect-ability, but becoming an above average starter is good for anyone. There are so few copies of his cards available. If you're a Yankee fan, he's a must have for your baseball card collection. If you're not, he's still a solid addition to your collection and definitely one to make sure is in any 2015 Yankees team set.

Kris Bryant truly lived up to the hype in his rookie season. He was an All-Star in his first season and won Rookie of the Year. He hit .275/.369/.488 with an OPS+ of 133, or 33% above league average. Bryant was also a positive on defense at 3rd base, netting him 5.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) according to Baseball-Reference.'

Not surprisingly, the market for Kris Bryant rookie cards is quite hot. The premier base card for Bryant right now is the 2015 Topps #616 Rookie Card (RC). There's also a photo variant version that is currently selling for a couple of dollars less, and the original seems to be the much more desirable version.

The Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome rookie cards of Kris Bryant are fairly good values right now, as well, although warping issues tend to make these somewhat less desirable. The Topps Chrome Prism Refractor is probably the best overall value as far as rarity is concerned and it would be my pick if you're a serious Rookie Card collector.

With both pitchers eligible for arbitration raises in 2016, the Colorado Rockies have removed both pitchers John Axford and Rex Brothers from the 40-man roster. If they aren't claimed on waivers, which is highly likely, they will become free agents. This is clearly a financially motivated move. Reliever Tommy Kahnle and long time catcher/first baseman Wilin Rosario join them on the waiver wire.

Axford had an OK season in 2015, but the walks continued to be a problem for him. He's probably iffy as a closing option at this point, but there are major league bullpens that will be happy to have his arm for the late innings. Rex Brothers is another interesting case. The lefty has always had trouble with walks. He imploded to the point that he ended up spending most of 2015 in the minor leagues. He came back and posted good results, but had 8 walks to only 5 strikeouts in about 11 innings. Both will get a guaranteed Major League deal most likely.

Kahnle has pretty much been just a replacement level middle reliever and will probably latch on with another major league organization on a minor league deal. Rosario has put up some significant power numbers in the past, but he's a negative defensively. Some organization may look to see if he can rebound offensively.

The moves are expected to save the Rockies roughly $11 million, per MLB Trade Rumors’s arbitration projections.  With the Rockies needing to upgrade in a number of positions, relief pitching understandably isn't a priority at the moment, especially all guys with minimal upside.

It's been known that the Atlanta Braves were shopping their Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons. But the return that they ended up with is seemingly less than anticipated. Last night, the Los Angeles Angels acquired Simmons for their own shortstop Erick Aybar (who's a free agent after the 2016 season), their top pitching prospect in Sean Newcomb, and another potential starter in Chris Ellis. The Angels also get a low-minors catcher in the deal for organizational depth.

Obviously, the Braves thought it was a good time to sell high on the best defensive shortstop in the game. While lefty Sean Newcomb has potential to be a top-line starting pitcher and Chris Ellis could be a decent rotation piece, this seems like an underwhelming return. The Braves do get Erick Aybar coming off a down year and going into a contract year, so they get an obvious replacement for at least 2016.

The primary motivation for the Braves here seems to be saving money. Simmons is due $53 million over the next five years, which if his defensive value continues to remain so extraordinary, isn't all that bad. The issue is more with his offense, and if his bat will start to take too much away from his overall value to keep him an above-average regular. The Braves figure that they'll move on and get a couple of arms to add to the stockpile. While I feel like this is a move that could come back to haunt the Braves, it's obvious that the Angels really, really love Simmons' glove and with their own shortstop a free agent after 2016, you're not going to find a better option on the free agent market.