Everything Baseball: Winter Meetings Review, Trade Analysis, and News Around the League

Prince Fielder celebrates his game-winning homer with his Milwaukee Brewers' teammates in unique fashion. (AP/Morry Gash)

Trades and Free-agent signings during the Winter Meetings In Indianapolis

Free Agent Signings

• The Reds signed Chris Burke to a minor league deal.
• The Astros signed third baseman Pedro Feliz to a one-year, $4.5 million deal.
• The Astros reached an agreement with reliever Brandon Lyon on a three-year, $15 million deal, netting the Tigers a supplemental draft pick.
• Starter Rich Harden reached an agreement with the Rangers.  Harden will get $6.5 million plus incentives in 2010, and has an $11m mutual option for 2011 with a $1 million buyout.
• The Mariners signed outfielder Corey Patterson to a minor league deal.
• The Brewers signed reliever LaTroy Hawkins to a two-year, $7.5 million contract.
• The Pirates signed shortstop Bobby Crosby to a one-year deal worth $1 million with $500,000 in incentives.
• The Yankees re-signed starter Andy Pettitte to a one-year, $11.75 million deal.
• The Brewers agreed to a three-year, $29.75 million deal with starter Randy Wolf that includes a fourth-year club option.
• The Cardinals signed starter Brad Penny to a one-year deal worth $7.5 million, with another $1.5 million in incentives.
• The Phillies reached an agreement with infielder Ross Gload on a two-year deal.
• The Nationals signed outfielder Jerry Owens to a minor league deal.
• The Tigers signed catcher Robinzon Diaz.
• The Nationals signed catcher Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year, $6 million deal.
• The Red Sox signed pitchers Fabio Castro and Kason Gabbard.
• The Tigers re-signed shortstop Adam Everett to a one-year, $1.55 million deal.
• The Red Sox signed reliever Scott Atchison, who was pitching in Japan, to a one-year deal worth $420,000, with two club options.

Trades

• The Red Sox and Rangers agreed in principle to a trade that would send Mike Lowell and a lot of cash to the Rangers for Max Ramirez.
• Starting pitcher Boof Bonser was designated for assignment by the Twins and acquired by the Red Sox for a player to be named later.
• Reliever Rafael Soriano accepted arbitration, and the Braves later traded him to the Rays for reliever Jesse Chavez.
• The Rangers traded starter Kevin Millwood and $3 million to the Orioles for reliever Chris Ray and Rule 5 pick Benjamin Snyder.
• The Astros acquired reliever Matt Lindstrom from the Marlins for shortstop Luis Bryan, pitcher Robert Bono, and Rule 5 pick/third baseman Jorge Jimenez.
• The Yankees acquired Curtis Granderson, the D’Backs acquired Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy, and the Tigers acquired Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth, Phil Coke, and Austin Jackson in a three-team blockbuster.
• The Nationals acquired reliever Brian Bruney from the Yankees for Rule 5 pick/outfielder Jamie Hoffmann.
• The Rangers acquired lefty Clay Rapada from the Tigers for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

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• November 3rd–First Trade of Offseason (though the World Series is still going on): Tampa Bay Rays traded Akinori Iwamura, their second baseman, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for reliever Jesse Chavez. Iwamura’s season was shortened due to injury, but he hit .290 in 60 games. The 30-year old Japanese import hit .274 in 2008, his best season, and knocked out 174 hits. He will be a valuable addition to the Pirates, a team in need of veteran leadership and solid offensive ability. Chavez, 26, posted a 4.01 ERA in 67 1/3 innings this past season as a rookie, and had 6.3 K/9 ratio. The Rays need bullpen help, and Chavez has the talent to make a significant impact on a team desperate to regain their status as an elite team in the American League.
• October 4th: Boston Red Sox center-fielder Jacoby Ellsbury swiped his 70th stolen base of the season and, with one hit, finished with a .301 batting average. He also had a .355 on-base percentage, which is respectable, 188 hits, 94 runs scored, 10 triples, 27 doubles, and 60 rbi’s. What a year for the former Oregon State Beaver.

Durango lifts Padres to comeback win over D-Backs

Speedy outfielder Luis Durango, making his major league starting debut, collected three hits and scored twice, including on Everth Cabrera’s single in bottom of the tenth inning to complete the San Diego Padres comeback against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He reached on a drag bunt against Diamondbacks starter Doug Davis in the second, with his speed forcing a errant through by the pitcher. Durango hustled through the bag then, as the ball trickled down the right-field line, sprinted to second base. It was his first major league hit.

With the Padres behind by one in the sixth, he singled on another bunt to Davis, loading the bases with nobody out. He would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Tony Gwynn Jr. later in the inning.

Adrian Gonzalez, their lone power threat, socked an opposite-field two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at five.

Then, in the bottom of the tenth, Durango singled to first baseman Brandon Allen to begin the inning, stolen second base (the first, presumably of many, in his career), and was off once Cabrera made contact on a 2-2 pitch from Yusmeiro Petit.

Durango played for my hometown Eugene Emeralds in 2007. In attending many games at the ancient Civic Stadium, I recognized his talent immediately. He played in 69 games and was one of the better hitters in the Northwest League, batting .367 with a .422 on-base percentage. He had 17 stolen bases and only struck out three times more than he walked (32:29). He spent 2008 with Single-A Fort Wayne and High-A Lake Elsinore, and hit a combined .368; he was a hitting machine, with 133 hits in only 110 games. Because of his impressive statistics with these minor league teams, he was promoted to Double-A San Antonio to begin the 2009 season. There he hit .281 with 44 stolen bases, prompting a September callup to the Padres.

He hasn’t missed a beat.

News and Notes: September 6th

• The Milwaukee Brewers turned a 5-4-3 triple play against the San Francisco Giants. It was the fifth time the Brewers have done so in their history. On top of that, slugger Prince Fielder smacked a game-winning home-run in the bottom of the twelfth inning. He celebrated with his teammates in clever fashion. Once he jumped onto the plate, his teammates, which were surrounding the plate, fell backwards.
• Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki became the second fastest to reach 2,000 hits in major league history, accomplishing the feat with a leadoff double in the first inning against Oakland Athletics’ Gio Gonzalez. Surely he’s a Hall of Famer, right?
• Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester was in top form once again, and has become one of the game’s elite pitchers, writes Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald.
• Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett looks to get back on track, writes Ian Browne of MLB.com. Beckett has allowed 27 runs over his past five starts. And, after allowing 10 home-runs over his first 22 starts, has allowed 12 homers in those five starts. If his struggles continue, Boston is in serious trouble.
• Mike Lowell, despite being discontent with his part-time role, will go full out for Boston, writes the Boston Herald’s John Tomase. He has been bothered by a lingering hip injury, but has been one of the best hitters for the Red Sox this season, hitting .296 with 17 homers and 69 rbi’s.

Aftermath of Red Sox-Tigers brawl

• Boston Red Sox first baseman/third baseman Kevin Youkilis, for charging the mound and fighting with Detroit Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello, was suspended for five games. Porcello, who, through manager Jim Leyland, stated that hitting Youkilis was “unintentional” recieved a five-game suspension as well.
• Losing Youkilis is a big loss for the Red Sox, considering he’s been their best hitter and the team is struggling to score. But, this makes Victor Martinez that much more valuable. He can take Youkilis’ place at first; Jason Varitek would catch; and Mike Lowell would play third base. Hopefully he can step up and fill Youkilis’ big shoes in the lineup.
• Meantime, Porcello will probably miss only one start, if that, because the suspension is for five games not five starts.

David Ortiz’s opening comments at press conference to discuss steroid use:

“I find out last Thursday that I was on the list and right away, I put myself in contact with the union to get more information about this list and they confirmed that the newspaper came out and that I was on the list. I was trying to get more information about why I’m on the list and I don’t know why; nobody can tell me why I’m on the list. You know, I consider myself one of the guys that — I definitely was a little bit careless back in those days when I was buying supplements and vitamins over the counter. Legal supplements, legal vitamins over the counter. But I never buy a steroid or use the steroids.

I was one of the guys that I kind of got educated more about the situation when the [indistinguishable] came out and I started to put more attention to it. But I never thought that buying supplements and vitamins, it was going to hurt anybody’s feelings and that happened. And I’m sorry about that. But that wasn’t my case, my situation.

One of the things that I want to talk about is that there was a misunderstanding about my statement when I first talked about meeting with the union back in 2004. I did meet with Michael [Weiner] in 2004, but I was never told that I tested positive for steroids. We had this five-minute meeting and it was a little confusing, but I was never told that I tested positive for steroids, so as this thing was going on — I don’t know how I had no idea about this going on now. I never put too much attention to it.

That’s why when I had my statement, I talk to you guys, that I was kind of surprised about the news, because I wasn’t too much involved with it. But like I say, I’m not here to make any excuses or anything. I used a lot of supplements and vitamins and even I have companies sending me supplements and things back then, but I never used or bought any steroids.

I’m the kind of guy that I want to apologize to the fans for the distraction, my teammates, our manager. We’re going through a situation right now. This past week has been a nightmare to me, because I’m the kind of guy that I look forward to — I think about the fans every day. I don’t think this game could have been as good as it is without the fans. I’m a guy that people look at not only as the guy that hits the ball. I try to do things the right way. Your reputation, sometimes, when situations like this are going on, people get kind of confused.

This past week has been a really major distraction and I want to apologize to fans, my teammates, our team’s owners and everybody for that situation.”

After being routed by Yankees, Red Sox make flurry of moves

• John Smoltz, who was lit up against the Yankees in the 13-6 loss and had pitched poorly in his previous seven starts, was designated for assignment. Boston has ten days to either trade him or put him on release waivers. Smoltz, a future Hall of Famer, was just 2-5 with a 8.36 ERA. If he never pitches again, what a sad ending to a fabulous career.
• Reliever Billy Traber, who relieved Smoltz against New York, was designated for assignment as well. Traber allowed five runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings during his lone appearance with Boston.
• The Red Sox called up highly touted Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa, who was 9-5 with a 2.57 ERA with Double-A Portland and 0-2 with a 2.38 ERA after a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket. Presumably, Tazawa will pitch in either become the Red Sox fifth starter or pitch in long relief as their new version of Justin Masterson.
• Boston also acquired first baseman Chris Woodward from the Mariners. Oh, great, another first baseman. Doesn’t General Manager Theo Epstein know that manager Terry Francona was forced to use first baseman/third baseman Kevin Youkilis in left field last night because their outfield is so thin?

Pujols’ Grand Slam completes Cardinals comeback versus New York Mets

• Cards’ Pujols slams his way out slump, says Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. His slam in the tenth inning completed a furious comeback against a terrible Mets bullpen. It was Pujols’ fifth grand slam of the season, one off the record.
• Injured shortstop Jose Reyes has another setback, and Mets add to the pain, says Jack Curry of the New York Times. Reyes is one of nine impact players on the disabled list for the Mets.
• New York got revenge today, shutting out St. Louis, but even their victory came with a price, says Chris Hine of the New York Times.

Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez was almost traded to Boston Red Sox

• Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times heard that the Boston Red Sox gave the Seattle Mariners a list of prospects they could choose from in exchange for Hernandez. Apparently they could choose any five:

1. Clay Buchholz, 24, starting pitcher, threw no-hitter against Baltimore Orioles in 2007; top ranked prospect in 2008, according to Baseball America.
2. Daniel Bard, 24, relief pitcher, has a 2.01 ERA in 27 appearances with the Red Sox; their fourth-ranked prospect entering this season, who has recently been deemed “untouchable” by Boston.
3. Justin Masterson, 24, relief/starting pitcher who was included in the deal that brought Victor Martinez to Cleveland to Boston; was fourth-ranked prospect entering 2008 season.
4. Nick Hagadone, 23, starting pitcher who was also included in Victor Martinez deal; third-ranked prospect entering this season.
5. Michael Bowden, 22, starting pitcher; was second-ranked prospect entering the season.
6. Felix Doubront, 21, starting pitcher; highly-touted prospect currently pitching in Double-A. He is 6-4 this season with a 3.68 ERA with the Portland Sea Dogs.
7. Josh Reddick, 22, outfielder; made his major league debut recently. He is 4-11 in his short career, hitting his first career home-run in his third game. Reddick, who didn’t expect to play for the Red Sox this season, or even the next, has two rbi’s and two runs scored. He was their fifth-ranked prospect entering this season.
8. Yamaico Navarro, 22, versatile infielder; ninth-ranked prospect in Red Sox system entering this season. He is currently playing for Double-A Portland.

The Boston Red Sox would have been out of their minds to do this deal. Apparently they were willing to do so for Hernandez, who is only 23 and has 12 wins this year with a 2.78 ERA.

I am surprised that the Red Sox would be willing to trade five of their top prospects, especially these five, but an more stunned by the fact that the Mariners didn’t follow through on the deal. Sure Hernandez is a talented pitcher, but they could have potentially acquired a replacement in Buchholz, another future starting pitcher in Bowden or Masterson, their future closer in Bard, a future starting outfielder in Reddick, and their future shortstop in Navarro. Why would they not do that?

If this deal went through, the Red Sox would have received one of the top pitchers in the game, but they would have regretted parting with so much talent. Five-for-one deals, no matter how talented ‘the one’ is, are never wise to do, let alone think about.

Miscellaneous

• Red Sox rookie Josh Reddick making his mark with team, says the Boston’s Globe’s Monique Walker.
• Red Sox rookie Josh Reddick enjoying time in majors, even if it’s not a long stay, says Bleacher Report’s Todd Civin.
• In light of the news that current Red Sox David Ortiz and former Red Sox Manny Ramirez did performance-enhancing drugs, New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica says the Players’ Union fails to protect the innocent.
• Might the Red Sox trade Daisuke Matsuzaka after the season? Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo thinks so. After two productive seasons, he pitched terribly earlier this season prior to getting injured. He has recently been at odds at the Red Sox management regarding his rehabbing regimen. I think they should field offers for him, especially if he comes back this season and pitches well. They have pitchers waiting in the wings, like Michael Bowden, who are more deserving of a slot in the rotation.
• In his article featuring his winners and losers of the trade deadline, CBSsports.com’s Scott Miller defends the moves made by Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neal Huntington. Personally, I like what the Pirates have done. They knew they weren’t going to contend this year and probably next year as well, so they decided to restock their farm system.
• The Texas Rangers are going to call up top pitching prospect Neftali Feliz, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. GM Jon Daniels had this to say about Feliz: “We think he has the ability to help us over we wouldn’t have brought him up. We’re not expecting to come in and save the day. He’s here to make a contribution when he’s called up. He’s improved in the areas we’ve asked him to work on. He deserves the opportunity.” Take a look at Feliz’s statistics here.
• Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal wonders if Japanese import Junichi Tazawa could fill the bullpen spot left vacated by Justin Masterson, who was included in the Victor Martinez trade. The 23-year old was just promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket. He shouldn’t stay there long.
• Why didn’t the Blue Jays trade ace Roy Halladay? General Manager J.P. Ricciardi explains.
• A breakdown of how the deadline deals affect each divisional race by Fox Sports’ Bob Klapisch.

Yankees pound Buehrle, White Sox

• Melky Cabrera hits for cycle, leads Yankees to win over White Sox–New York Times’ Tyler Kepner
• White Sox unable to complete sweep of Yankees, says Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune; Jake Peavy interview included in article.

Lincecum dazzles again for San Francisco Giants

• Lincecum’s tough enough, says Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
• There is plenty of love in Giants’ August, says Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Martinez traded to Boston Red Sox

• Masterson says trade to Indians “bittersweet.” Boston, in order to acquire Victor Martinez, had to give up a prized asset. Personally, I would have rather had it been starting pitcher Clay Buchholz, who General Manager Theo Epstein continues to gush over despite his ineffectiveness in the major leagues. I was looking forward to watching a 7-8-9 inning relief setup of Masterson, Daniel Bard, and Jonathan Papelbon for years to come, but that’s not possible now. I wish Masterson the best in Cleveland; he should as the centerpiece of their rebuilding effort.
• Buchholz is relieved that he’s still with the Red Sox.
• First Cliff Lee, now Martinez? Indians fans are infuriated and rightfully so.
• Martinez had a tough time saying goodbye to Cleveland. He was drafted by the Indians in 1996, joined the team for good in 2003, and had an illustrious career, hitting .297 over six-plus seasons, so why wouldn’t he?
• Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Bill Livingston disapproves of the Martinez trade, saying the team loses credibility.
• Red Sox manager Terry Francona has his hands full incorporating Martinez into the offense while still finding time for Designated Hitter David Ortiz, first baseman Kevin Youkilis, third baseman Mike Lowell, and catcher Jason Varitek, says Sports Illustrated’s Cliff Corcoran.
• ESPN’s Jayson Stark pegs Boston as a trade deadline winner, and breaks down every trade made.

Peavy traded to Chicago White Sox

• White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams just made the dumbest trade in team history or one of the smartest, says Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Rodgers.
• Williams discusses his trade for Jake Peavy.
• After a failed attempt to acquire Peavy prior to the season, the White Sox finally get their guy, says Chicago Sun-Times columnist Toni Ginnetti.
• Padres traded Peavy solely for salary relief, says San Diego Union-Tribune’s Tim Sullivan.
• Peavy news shakes Chicago Cubs clubhouse, says Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Why? Well, they were supposedly one of his top suitors prior to the season. Now’s he’s with their cross-town rival.

Cliff Lee to Philadelphia Phillies

• Lee delivers in debut with Phillies, says Philadelphia Inquirer’s Andy Martino. Lee had a no-hitter through five innings, and allowed only four in his complete game victory over the San Francisco Giants. Oh, and he had two hits as well.
• A Giant first step for Lee in Philadelphia, says the Inquirer’s David Murphy.

Jarrod Washburn to Detroit Tigers

• Washburn solidifies rotation, but Tigers fail to get bat, says Tom Gage of the Detroit News.
• Tigers still have plenty on to-do list, says Lynn Henning of the Detroit News.
• Seattle Times’ Larry Stone has the skinny on pitcher Luke French, whom the Mariners acquired for Washburn.
• Though the Mariners are excited about French, the key to the deal was the acquisition of Class-A hurler Mauricio Robles, says the Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker.
• Playing for Mariners a dream come true for French, says Jim Street of MLB.com