- Victor Martinez became the first big name off the board when he signed with the Detroit Lions to play outside linebacker. Wait a minute... that doesn't sound right....
- Jayson Werth made the Nationals severely overpay for his services by signing a 7-year, $126 million deal. That's the price you pay for quality free agents when you are a bad team. Rumor has it that there wasn't another team even willing to go 5 years on the outfielder with the awesome beard. In fact, his agent, Scott Boras, didn't even bother going to the other teams in the bidding for a counter-offer because the Nationals overpaid by that much.
- Mark Reynolds, the holder of the top 3 spots in "most strikeouts in a season" was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for a pair of relievers. He should solidify an already mediocre lineup with his 2010 sub-.200 batting average. Let's face it, though, it doesn't matter what the Orioles do, they are the fifth best team in a division with four good teams.
- In a move that can only be explained by the Padres hatred of almost winning the NL West in 2010, Adrian Gonzalez was traded to the Boston Red Sox. This is a move that had an effect on another free agent, who will be discussed next.
- Adrian Beltre got the shaft in Boston. With the other Adrian being traded to Red Sox nation, Beltre is out of luck. Gonzo plays 1st, Youk moves to 3rd, Beltre gets left off the roster.
- Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko are going to be wearing White Sox uniforms next season, which won't be odd for Konerko because that's what he has been wearing for quite some time, but Dunn will actually be playing on a team with a shot at its division title, which will be a first for him.
- Carl Crawford inked a 7-year deal with the Red Sox, which is significant for two reasons: 1) he becomes the highest paid "Carl" in the history of the world (at $142 mil over the 7 years), and 2) the Red Sox have turned into the Yankees North.
- Speaking of the Red Sox and Yankees, rumor has it that the Red Sox contacted Mariano Rivera's agent about bringing the lifelong Yankee to the Yankees North. In turn, the Yanks got involved in the Crawford negotiations. You see how that worked out for both teams, as Crawford is a Red Sox and Rivera is still a Yankee.
- While we're on the topic of Yankee players, the Jeter negotiations went smoothly, didn't they? Cashman and Jeter decided that the best way to negotiate this contract was through disparaging remarks in the media. I think they trade him to the Orioles in two years.
- In the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, apparently the Yankees really, really want the 32-year old pitcher because they have now upped their offer to seven years for around $160 million. After all, who doesn't want to pay a 38-year old pitcher $20+ million for two more years? There's no way that's a bad contract for the Yankees.
- A couple of mid-name shortstops are on the move. J.J. Hardy was traded to the Orioles, who will be trading for Jeter in two years, and Jason Bartlett was traded to the Padres, where he will be teamed up with whoever it was the Padres got from Boston for auctioning away their future.
Well, that about sums up the major and minor news from the Winter Meetings. The Rule 5 Draft is taking place Thursday morning, but it's doubtful that anything significant will come from there.
No comments:
Post a Comment