Riding the Pine…Winter Meeting Wrap-Up

Winter Meeting Wrap-up
The winter meetings, the most important time in the off-season, has finished after a slow start; the first major signing and the first trade happened the second day. Some expectations were met (Drew to the BoSox) and some were not (Manny leaving the BoSox). One thing is for certain: more was rumored to happen than actually did.

The Signings
Athletics and P Alan Embree,
Athletics and C Mike Piazza,
Cubs and P Ted Lilly, 4 yrs $40 mil
Dodgers and P Jason Schmidt, 3 yrs $47 mil
Dodgers and OF Luis Gonzalez,
Dodgers and C Mike Lieberthal,
Dodgers and P Takashi Saito,
Giants and OF Barry Bonds, 1 yr $16 mil
Giants and C Bengie Molina,
Indians and P Joe Borowski,
Mets and P Guillermo Mota, 2 yrs $5 mil
Orioles and C Paul Bako,
Padres and P Greg Maddux,
Red Sox and OF JD Drew, 5 yrs $70 mil
Red Sox and SS Julio Lugo,
Rockies and P LaTroy Hawkins,
Royals and P Gil Meche, 5 yrs $55 mil

Some expected, some not”¦The Dodgers walked out the winners, buy getting an ace, an experienced outfielder, a back up catcher, and their closer; the 3 from outside the organization will help the young guys on the team mature and learn”¦The Blue Jays lost out on the 2 players they wanted most (Lilly and Meche); they did nothing to make up for it”¦Bonds will get his shot to break Aarons record; he would have been better off in the AL”¦We’ll see if Piazza can fill in for Frank Thomas”¦The Red Sox won’t be happy in 3 years when Drew only have played 100 games per season for $14 mil a year”¦Mota will miss the first 50 games of the season for violating the Substance Abuse Policy”¦

The Trades
The Mets trade P Brian Bannister to the Royals for P Ambiorix Burgos.
The White Sox send P Freddy Garcia to the Phillies for Ps Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.
The Braves send P Horacio Ramirez to the Mariners for P Rafael Soriano.
The Cubs trade IF Freddie Bynum to the Orioles for a PTBNL.

All of these deals filled needs”¦Bannister pitched well before he was injured”¦Burgos will be a project for Rick Peterson; he also makes Aaron Heilman expendable”¦Garcia will anchor the staff for the Phillies; look for Jon Lieber to be offered up”¦Floyd lost his prospect status and is looking for a change of scenery; Gonzalez was traded to the Phillies last year in the Jim Thome deal”¦Braves needed bullpen help and got one of the most underrated arms in baseball; all it cost them was an often-injured starter”¦

The Accepted Arbitration
2B Tony Graffinino accepts arbitration from the Brewers.
2B Todd Walker accepts arbitration from the Padres.

Graffinino was offered arbitration because the Brewers wanted draft picks; they already have Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy, Craig Counsell, and Bill Hall for the middle infield”¦Walker is expected to be the everyday 2B for the Padres if they don’t go after Mark Loretta or Ronnie Belliard”¦

The Rule V Draft
1. Devil Rays – Ryan Goleski (OF, Indians)
2. Royals – Joakim Soria (P, Padres)
3. Cubs – Josh Hamilton (OF, Devil Rays)
4. Pirates – Sean White (P, Braves)
5. Orioles – Alfredo Simon (P, Rangers)
6. Nationals – Jesus Flores (C, Mets)
7. Brewers – Edward Campusano (P, Cubs)
15. Reds – Jared Burton (P, Athletics)
17. Astros – Lincoln Holdzkom (P, Cubs)
19. Phillies – Adam Donachie (C, Royals)
20. Red Sox – Nick DeBarr (P, Devil Rays)
21. Blue Jays – Jason Smith (SS, Cubs)
23. Padres – Kevin Cameron (P, Twins)
26. Athletics – Jay Marshall (P, White Sox)
28. Twins – Alejandro Machado (IF, Nationals)
30. Yankees – Josh Phelps (1B/DH, Orioles)
2.1. Nationals – Levale Speigner (P, Twins)
2.2. Phillies – Jim Ed Warden (P, Indians)
3.1. Phillies – Ryan Budde (C, Angels)

The Devil Rays’ Gorleski (1) was traded to the Athletics for Marshall (26) and cash; the Cubs traded Hamilton (3) to the Reds for cash; the Pirates traded White (4) to the Mariners for cash; the Orioles traded Simon (5) to the Phillies for Donachie (19) and cash; the Brewers trade Campusano (7) to the Tigers for cash.

All players selected cost $50,000 and must stay on the 25 man roster for the full season; if they do not, the team has to send them back for $25,000″¦Eligible players in the draft: if signed at 18 years or younger, they had to be on the 40 man roster after 5 seasons in the minors or if signed at 19 years or older, they had to be on the 40 man roster after 4 seasons; if the player was not added, they were eligible to be drafted”¦Hamilton was an interesting pick; he played his first game this past season since 2003 due to drug and alcohol problems; he was a former #1 pick for the Devil Rays…

The Dead and Alive Rumors
Rumors were going crazy for a few days”¦Manny was attached to the Dodgers, Angels, Mariners, Indians, and Giants, but the Red Sox were asking for too much”¦The Astros and White Sox were working on a deal that would have sent Jon Garland to Houston for Ps Jason Hirsh and Taylor Buchholz”¦The Dodgers could file a complaint with the commissione’s office; some believe the Red Sox coaxed JD Drew into opting out of his contract”¦Jason Jennings was linked to the Cubs, Twins, Cardinals”¦Octavio Dotel passed on an offer from the Red Sox and is expected to sign with the Royals; Dotel has said he wants the opportunity to close”¦Jon Lieber is on the block; their was a deal with the Brewers for Derrick Turnbow, but talks have ended”¦Barry Zito is still fielding offers; the Rangers, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Giants and Cardinals are considered the frontrunners”¦Benito Santiago is playing in Puerto Rico and is asking teams for a minor league contract”¦Eric Gagne is talking with the Red Sox, Royals, Indians, Giants, and Devil Rays”¦Tony LaRussa was looking for Barry Bonds at the meetings, which led to much speculation; either the Cards were interested, he was speaking on behalf of friend Jim Leyland, or was looking for Bonds’ help with an ARF fundraiser”¦The BoSox are no closer to signing Matsuzaka than they were a few weeks ago; the deadline is the 14th”¦Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens could be headed back to the Yankees; look for the Rocket to follow Pettitte”¦The Mets talked to the A’s about Rich Harden and Joe Blanton; the A’s would like Lastings Milledge and/or Aaron Heilman in any deal”¦The Angels asked about Todd Helton, but are worried about his health”¦The Astros, Tigers, and Orioles had a deal in place that would have sent Rodrigo Lopez to Houston, Luke Scott to Detroit, and Marcus Thames to Baltimore; it’s unsure why the deal died”¦