Riding the Pine is back and better than ever. This has been a crazy week, especially for Randy Johnson and Shawn Green, but I’ll get into that in a minute. The free agent market will be slowing down until the beginning of the new year. I would be shocked to see a Carlos Beltran or Jason Varitek be signed in 2004. Most involved parties will stop bickering over money and spend time with family.
Angels – With a new shortstop on board, the Halos are looking for one more bat. They would like to target Mike Piazza for their DH, but they would have to give up a few prospects and the Met would not eat any of the contract. I think this would be a good fit; Piazza cannot stay healthy playing a position any more (he wasn’t a very good position player in the first place). The are still interested in also adding a starting arm. Eric Milton is now a front runner, and the Angels can afford him at the $8 million a season he wants.
Cardinals – The Redbird middle infield is still in shambles (they did accomplish there main goal in picking up a top notch starter, which I will cover later). After being spurned by Edgar Renteria, the Cards didn’t know what direction they wanted to head. As a result, Orlando Cabrera was snatched up by the Angels. This may have actually helped the Cardinals, though. Cabrera went way above his value (4 years, $32 million), so he save them money. His signing also lead to David Eckstein not being tender a contract. Eckstein is the type of player Cards’ fan love; a small, gritty player who wears his heart on his sleeve (see Bo Hart). Eckstein could also be moved to second, with the Cardinals showing interest in Tampa Bay’s Julio Lugo. Lugo, currently blocking B.J. Upton’s natural position, would be an easy trade for the D-Rays, but a few other team may be interested. The Cards could also look at Alex Cora, recently non-tendered by Los Angeles.
Devil Rays – The D-Rays have 3 main holes and limited money to fill them. They are searching for an affordable DH, third baseman, and left fielder. They have many targets in mind, with a few possible trades lined up. Recently let go Dustan Mohr, Eric Munson, and Josh Phelps are just 3 of the many players they could sign cheaply. As I mentioned with the Cardinals, teams are asking about Lugo. The Rays could get one of those positions filled by a spare part of another team (i.e. John Mabry). The Rays are also interested in Charles Johnson, catcher for the Rockies. The only hold up is Johnson’s contract, which Colorado will have to eat part of to move him.
Dodgers – At this point in time, it is almost impossible to tell what the Dodgers want to do. In the middle of last season, they want Randy Johnson. Once Johnson shot down that idea, the Dodgers decided that they could help him get to New York. The proposed trade got very confusing. First, the Yankees would get Johnson; the Dodgers would get Javier Vazquez, 3B prospect Eric Duncan, and catching prospect Dioner Navarro; the Diamondbacks would received Shawn Green, Brad Penny, reliever Yhency Brazoban, prospect Brandon Weeden. Los Angeles didn’t think they were getting enough for the their money, so the deal was amended. On top of what was already on the table, the Dodgers would send Kaz Ishii to New York (to dump his salary) along with cash, and they would received reliever Mike Koplove from Arizona. Los Angeles then withdrew from the deal because a) the Dodgers believed this deal wasn’t going to improve their team for next year, and b) Javier Vazquez said he wouldn’t play on the west coast; it was too far from his home in Puerto Rico. This should save Shawn Green from rejecting the trade; he has been vocal that he doesn’t want to leave. The Dodgers did have a deal for Vazquez in place before any of this happened; he was headed to the White Sox for Paul Konerko, Jon Garland, and Damaseo Marte. They also had a deal in place with J.D. Drew (5 years, $55 million) to replace Green’s stats. With everything that has happen, they have surprisingly appeared to have left this deal on the table though (someone has to replace Beltre).
Mets – The other New York team, the one who has made headlines this off-season, is not done making deals. The Mets have offered deals to Carlos Delgado (beleived to be 3 years at $10-12 a season), Moises Alou (they offered 1 yr, $6 million, but he is headed to San Fransisco for 2 years, $13 million), and Andres Galarraga (a minor league deal). They have also shown interest in A’s outfielder Eric Byrnes (to replace Mike Cameron while he starts the season on the DL), Red Sox 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, and D’backs 3B Shea Hillenbrand.
Orioles – Still searching for their big aquisition of the off-season, the Orioles are interested in all the big names left. I still feel they will land Carlos Delgado; they are willing to offer him $12-14 million a season. They are thinking out of the box, too. Apparently, management has approached Javy Lopez about moving to first base so they can make a run at catcher Jason Varitek. Varitek’s negotiations with the Red Sox are at a stand still, so it would be easy for another team to sneak in. They feel that they could lure starter Derek Lowe if they could bring in Varitek.
White Sox – The White Sox are close to a 2 year deal with former Yankee Orlando Hernandez. The deal will be incentive laden, in case Hernandez has another break down like the end of last season. Even though they have one time prospect Ben Davis behind the plate, the ChiSox are also looking for catching help; A.J. Piersynski is their main target.
Recent notible non-tenders:
– Wade Miller – What were the Astros thinking? They just let a good, young arm (injured yes, but still good) walk for no reason. They only know of 3 pitchers coming back (Pettitte, Oswalt, Backe), with Clemens still up in the air. Miller has been pretty impressive. It’s just too much of a risk to let him walk. Boston has signed him for 1 year, $1.5 million; this is a steal for a pitcher of his caliber.
– David Eckstein – I’m not surprised. There had been talk of this happening for some time, and became inevitable when Cabrera signed. He will have a strong market.
– Alex Cora – Again, another decent player who got pushed out by a big name. He became expendable when Jeff Kent went home to LA. Cora had a career season, so expect teams to be interested here too.
Most of the rest have been or will be resigned by their team at a lower value.
Trade analysis:
I know I said I would start breaking down trades; I’m going to start with some of the smaller ones and save the big one for next week (how many signings are there really going to be around Christmas and the New Year).
The Brewers send closer Dan Kolb to the Braves for pitcher Jose Capellan – This was really a steal for the Brewers. Don’t get me wrong, the Braves got a closer so John Smoltz can move back to the rotation. But Jose Capellan was one of there top pitching prospects. The guy can bring the heat (he has been clocked at 100 miles multiple times). His one problem now is that he tends to be wild, which, at age 23 this past season, should pass. He will be the number 2 pitcher in the Brewers rotation in a year or 2. Atlanta gets a former All Star closer who came out of nowhere in 2003. Since he became the closer, he has converted 60 out of 67 save opportunities. The downside was he was in a no stress situation in Milwaukee; he will be pitching for the division favorites now. I’m not saying he will breakdown; just don’t be surprised if it happens.
The Yankees send centerfielder Kenny Lofton to the Phillies for Felix Rodriguez – One aging, declining player gets traded for another aging, declining player. This deal does have an upside for both teams though; the Phillies don’t have to start Marlon Byrd and Jason Michaels at center and the Yankees have another proven reliever for their weak spot last year, the bullpen. Lofton give the Phillies a legitimate lead off hitter, with so-so defense. Rodriguez should help bridge the starts to Mariano Rivera, which the bullpen had troubles doing last year.
That’s it for today. I’ll be back next week with more trades.
Eugene Tierney
