Winter meetings for baseball, if nothing else, equals a pleather of rumors. True, false, or something in between, but how can you tell? You can’t! Early stages of rumors are generally the least reliable and I don’t put too much into anything until I hear multiple sources that are generally good, say they are so. A lot have been spreading and I’m here to spread them some more, although at this point I feel I actually have a pretty good grasp on what is going on (said optimistically). The big one so far, is that the Marlins have reportedly offered Albert Pujols a 10 year deal most likely with an annual salary exceeding $20mil. Pujols decided not to sign a deal with the Cardinals last year because he wanted more than the $22mil per year they were offering for 9 years. So assuming this deal is greater in per year salary, and taking into consideration the money the Marlins have already spent, the Marlins will have spent more money this offseason than their entire payroll in the last 9 seasons combined if they sign him. Now Pujols wants a no trade clause and the Marlins “don’t do those” so that’s another obstacle, there is no guarantee this deal will get done, but it’s looking more and more likely. Two trades to report, Twins send Kevin Slowey to the Rockies for a player to be named, this should help the Rockies pitching staff add depth, Slowey definitely a quality pitcher, although last year was tough on him with a 6.67ERA in a small 14 game showing. White Sox sent Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays for Nestor Molina. Santos is a solid arm for the Jays pen as he had 92 punchouts in just under 64 innings last season, he will be immediate help for them. Molina will be in the minors almost certainly next season but he will add to a barren farm system in the south side Chicago organization (not that the north side is any better in that department). Molina split time between A/AA and compiled 148k’s/16BB’s in 130.1 innings. I like the deal a lot for Chicago. A few names that are also on the trade block are Kyle Loshe of the Cardinals, John Danks of the White Sox, and Andrew Bailey of the Athlestics, among others. I heard that the Red Sox won the bidding war on shortstop Nakajima, but then heard this was FALSE, Cherington (Sox GM) says they didn’t even put in a bid! Crazy rumors. While there definitely some moves at the winter meetings, don’t expect a ton. A lot of times the meetings are just a spring board for deals to come later. A lot depends on arbitration cases, which are generally very much up in the air at this point, and it can be hard to get deals done in such a short span when there are so many deals to be made. Some other things I’m hearing, Fielder likely done in Milwaukee. The Red Sox offered David Ortiz 2 year deal worth $18 million, but Ortiz wants $25 million, so they are still working on it, the Sox would most likely like to get something done since Ortiz will make a killing in arbitration, which in my opinion they shouldn’t have offered him. I don’t find him to be worth arbitration, and feel the Sox were in the driver’s seat because Ortiz’s market seems bleak. Follow me on twitter @ryandana1 to stay posted on the latest news, or keep checking my blog as I will update with news as much as I can. Gotta love them winter meetings!
No comments:
Post a Comment