Well there. That's what I get for my last blog post about how uneventful the offseason has been so far. After a seemingly boring week last week, this week presented us with possibly the most exciting week of baseball without any games played that I can remember. Now with the Winter Meetings starting today, I'll review the major acquisitions of this past week and share my opinion on just a few of them, one of which will undoubtedly be the Mariners signing of Robinson Cano...
Week in Review (major moves):
Seattle Mariners - Signed Robinson Cano to 10 year/$240 million deal.
New York Yankees - Signed Jacoby Ellsbury to 7 year/$153 million deal and Carlos Beltran to 3 year/$45 million deal. Re-signed SP Hiroki Kuroda.
New York Mets - Signed Curtis Granderson to 4 year/$60 million deal.
Miami Marlins - Signed Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Rafael Furcal.
Detroit Tigers - Signed Joe Nathan.
Washington Nationals - Signed Nate McLouth, traded for Doug Fister.
Oakland Athletics - Signed Scott Kazmir, traded for Craig Gentry, Luke Gregerson, and Jim Johnson.
Boston Red Sox - Signed A.J. Pierzynski and Edward Mujica, re-signed Mike Napoli.
Colorado Rockies - Signed Justin Morneau.
Kansas City Royals - Traded for Norichika Aoki.
Tampa Bay Rays - Signed Ryan Hanigan and Heath Bell.
Houston Astros - Signed Scott Feldman and traded for Dexter Fowler.
(source - MLB Trade Rumors)
Wow. Of course the Mariners signing of Cano is the biggest news of the week but there is plenty to digest here. I'll start with a few of the week's biggest winners and losers:
Winners: Robinson Cano, Jay-Z, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox
As far as the winners go, I applaud Robinson Cano and his new agent, Jay-Z, for accepting the deal with the Seattle Mariners. Jay-Z said he would get Cano ten years and delivered on that promise with his first MLB player's contract. While the idea of Cano playing for the Mariners takes a little while to get used to, the bottom line is that the Yankees were not offering anywhere near what Cano and Jay-Z were demanding, so I give them a lot of credit for making an unconventional decision and going elsewhere in favor of more money, even if it meant leaving New York.
The Athletics made some great minor moves, filling in a lot of their holes at a low price and gearing up for another AL West pennant chase. The Red Sox were happy to get Mike Napoli back after he helped to fuel a World Series championship run and were also able to add bullpen depth with Mujica and replace the departed Saltalamacchia with A.J. Pierzynski. Not too shabby. And the Nationals swung what may end up being the steal of the offseason, sending Steve Lombardozzi, Ian Krol, and minor-leaguer Robbie Ray to Detroit for Doug Fister, who has quietly become one of the best pitchers in baseball. That coupled with the addition of speedster Nate McLouth has definitely bolstered the Nats roster for this coming season.
Losers: Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Tigers in the Doug Fister trade, Royals (with Carlos Beltran signing with the Yankees)
With the flurry of free agent signings and trades, Orioles GM Dan Duquette has repeated over and over again that they are "about to make a move" but yet the Orioles continue to miss on every big free agent. Duquette dealt closer Jim Johnson, he of 101 saves over the past two seasons, for virtually nothing in a panic trade in the middle of the week. Now with most of the top free agents signed, the Orioles still have gaping holes in their rotation, outfield, and now at the back end of their bullpen. We'll see if Duquette can deliver anything to help the Orioles have a chance of competing in the AL East this coming season.
The Tigers have had a solid offseason so far but the Doug Fister trade just doesn't make sense on so many levels. Luckily they signed Joe Nathan to address their biggest need, that of a closer, so things aren't all bad. Still, if I were a Tigers fan I'd be upset at the return that they got on Fister. The Mets also panicked and felt the need to sign a big free agent, also grossly overpaid Curtis Granderson to do so. Finally, Royals fans had to be excited at the idea of seeing Carlos Beltran return but alas, as so many players do, he took a bigger contract with the Yankees.
Well I'll wrap it up here but I'm sure these upcoming Winter Meetings will give me plenty to write about next week!
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