Angels Out Of Left field

I don’t really want to write an article right now but I must. The Angels have signed Albert Pujols to a 10 year $250 million deal and CJ Wilson to a 5 year $75 million deal. I think they would now be the favorites from the AL mainly because of their pitching staff. They now have Weaver, Haren,Santana, and Wilson as a pretty strong top 4. Their lineup doesn’t look too bad now either after adding Pujols. I think they have the best pitching in the AL, and I think with the upgrades at 1^st with Pujols and Catcher with Iannetta, the Angels will be able to produce enough runs to win a lot of ballgames. I think the Mike Trout, easily a top 5 prospect in all of baseball, will step up and contribute a lot to the team this year too, so they have a lot of help coming their way to add to last year’s squad which was 10 games back of the division winners the Texas Rangers. They were 3^rd in the wild card race and with 2 teams getting in the wild card it even betters their chances of making the playoffs which I think is where they will shine due to their pitching staff. The Rangers are no doubt still a strong team, but they LOST their ace CJ Wilson to the Angels so that is a big swing in the Angels favor. I think the worst case for this Angels club now is a wild card spot, but I think this puts them ahead of the Rangers as of now. I wasn’t expecting them to land Pujols, Wilson yes, but not Pujols so I am a little shocked still. This has been a crazy offseason already. A few more quick things, K-Rod now expected to sign arbitration deal, and Octavio Dotel close to a 1 year deal with the Tigers. Oh and LaTroy Hawkings signs a 1 year $3 million deal with the Angels so they are on a bit of a shopping spree, and there goes 3 relievers on a pretty deep relieving market.

More Marlins Talk, Plus Some Other Stuff

So Mark Buehrle signs a 4 year $58 million deal with the Marlins. I think he is deserving of every penny as he has been a consistent ace. This definitely adds a sense of security to a rotation that can be very erratic with its play, the Josh Johnson injuries don’t help. I personally like this move better than signing CJ Wilson, who I think is very good, but I think Buehrle is a better fit, and he comes with less risk in my opinion. It now seems the offer the Marlins have reportedly offered Wilson will be off the table and they will focus on Pujols, and if that doesn’t work Fielder. More news out of Miami, Hanley Ramirez apparently wants a raise, even after a down season in ’11, so the Marlins may be looking to trade him. This would hurt the team as Ramirez is a phenomenal player to say the least, but could definitely bring in a lot in return through a trade, as well as give them even MORE money to spend possibly. That’s all I got on Miami right now so let’s move on for the moment. Houston Street was rumored to be traded to the Padres earlier today for a prospect, with the Rockies eating $8 million on his contract. That is apparently false, although the deal may still happen at some point. The padres were also looking into signing K-Rod which seems like it won’t happen at this point. The Padres are aggressively trying to fill the closer roll Heath Bell left open when moving to Miami, but it isn’t quite certain who will fill the void yet. I also hear that the Yankees have won the right to negotiate with shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima and this time it appears to be true (I think). As for free agent CJ Wilson, it looks like he may be going to the Angels, nothing done yet, but that’s where I’d be putting my money if I was a betting man. Nate McLouth and Erik Bedard appear to have been signed by the Pirates. The Pirates had a little more success that usual last year; let’s see if these additions can help things get even a little better for these notorious bottom dwellers. Finally it appears David Ortiz will accept arbitration with the Red Sox and not sign a multi-year deal. That’s all I got for now.

The Mets Doing Business

The Mets traded Angel Pagan to the Giants for Ramon Ramirez and Andres Torres. They also signed Frank Francisco to a 2 year $12 million deal, and Jon Rauch to a 1 year $3.5 million deal. The signing of Rauch and Francisco are great moves, helping their horrendous bullpen greatly, without long term commitments or overspending on a flooded relief pitching market. This will certainly help their bullpen greatly along with Ramon Ramirez acquired in the trade with the Giants. This is a good sign for the Mets as they are making quality moves, and with their organization in shambles that is a nice thing to see. Getting Andres Torres is certainly a downgrade over Angel Pagan in my mind, but a worthy downgrade with the addition of Ramirez to the deal, so the Mets may not be getting big named players like they tried to do in the recent past, but they are building a team that might not lose every single game next season. They likely don’t have much more money to spend this offseason though as they’ve said they had $20-25 million and they are at like $20 million, but it’s been money well spent. Unrelated to the Mets (I’m assuming they aren’t in on one) there are rumored to be some blockbusters in the work. Whether they get done or not is uncertain, but the Indians seem they might be involved in one so watch out for that. Also Andrew Bailey might be on his way to Boston in a package with Josh Reddick and some prospects. This would mean the Sox are relying on Darnell McDonald, and or Ryan Kalish in right field, unless they go out and get someone. I suggest they get someone else if they lose Reddick. Also Gio Gonzalez could be leaving Oakland as Bailey might, but it would take 3-4 very good prospects, but Gonzalez is the kind of pitcher you expect to give up top prospects for, although 4 would be a lot. Stay tuned, I think the next day or two will have some good action. If you want to hear about it, come here because I give you what you need to hear.

Rumor Mill: Winter Meetings 2011 Edition

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!

Marlins Hook Reyes

Like I said, Heath Bell just the first big name to land in Miami this offseason. Second, Jose Reyes, who just inked a 6 year $106 million deal. Also I apologize for not mentioning the Marlins also landed Ozzie Guillen, who should be recognized as a big name acquisition, however he is a manager so I’m just talking about players in this case. Jose Reyes who has had durability issues in the past, played 126 games this past season which isn’t that bad so hopefully he can play at least that many in Miami for years to come. He was the NL batting champ this past season, 5^th in the NL in runs and 6^th in stolen bases. He was probably the most coveted free agent outside of Pujols and Fielder this offseason. The Marlins now have filled a void at 3^rd base as it’s assumed Hanley Ramirez will move their while Reyes takes shortstop, also this will give them a stud leadoff hitter in Reyes. It’s being said that the Marlins are now focusing their attentions on Pujols, which to me is very unlikely of actually happening, but if it did that would certainly shift the dynamics of the NL East. They are also continuing to pursue CJ Wilson and Mark Buherle. The winter meetings are now upon us so we may see them land someone else big soon. This proves the Marlins are definitely committed to spending money and competing this offseason. With Reyes gone from the Mets, as well as virtually everyone else besides David Wright and Johan Santana, look for the Mets to listen to offers for the two remaining vets. Replacing Reyes at short for the Mets will most likely be Ruben Tejada, the young shortstop prospect. The Mets are clearly in a rebuilding phase, and the Marlins are clearly in a reloading phase. Reyes seems to be a risk due mostly to durability, not production concerns, so only time will tell if this is truly a good signing. I guess the Marlins decided they’d rather go big than go home this year.

Some Acquisitions To Catch Up On

I haven’t made to many posts lately so here’s one to catch up on some player acquisitions of late. One story that will have implications beyond the players involved in the swap is Chris Iannetta being dealt from the Rockies to the Angels for Tyler Chatwood. This will help the Rockies add to their young pitching options, and make a spot available for Ramon Hernandez. Colorado is rumored to be a favorite destination for Hernandez to land, in order for the veteran to handle the young pitching staff with prospect Wilin Rosario. This also gives the Angels a guy who will most likely see at least a solid share of the catching duties in 2012. Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have made their first big move with the cubs (still waiting on that compensation issue to be dealt with…anyways) signing David DeJesus to play right field for them on a 2 year $9 million deal with an option for a 3^rd year. DeJesus had a down year with Oakland in 2011 but was a solid player for Kansas City from 2003-2010. He’ll look to bounce back as the cubs look to actually win some games this season. Now to a player who I’ve been saying is under the radar, Jonathan Broxton signs a 1 year deal with Kansas City for $4 million with $1 million more in incentives. The former Dodger closer will be KC’s setup man while trying to rebound from elbow surgery. Broxton is still young and if he pitches like he is capable of, it will be quite the bargain, we’ll see how he holds up along with their closer Soria, as he has had his share of shoulder problems. Broxton a good arm out of the pen, and insurance policy for Soria. Some good action in the offseason so far and the winter meetings just around the corner, the hot stove is going to heat up, prepare yourselves.