Hudson about to take the midnight train to Georgia...

Like I predicted a while ago RHP Tim Hudson is about to be traded to the Atlanta Braves to fill the no.1 pitcher void the Braves have had for the last few seasons. In return Billy Beane is going to receive RHP Juan Cruz, OF Charles Thomas, and LHP Dan Meyer. And yes Cub fans, that is the same Juan Cruz who could never live up to his potential here in Chicago, and had only a decent season out of the 'pen under the best pitcher coach in baseball. This is where I start screaming outloud. I CANNOT believe that this is all that the A's are getting in return for Tim Hudson. A backup outfielder, a decent lefty prospect, and Juan Cruz as the centerpiece of the deal. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. Your telling me that the Cubs could have had Hudson filling their 5 hole this year with Tim Hudson if they dealt Cruz, Andy Sisco, and some random backup outfielder to the A's. This is of course if they hadn't dealt Cruz to the Braves in the first place for a guy that was released two months into the season. (*after finding more information on the players involved in this deal I would have to change my thinking, Thomas is now the centerpiece in my opinion, and Meyer has better stats than i thought, since I apparently saw older numbers of his from the minors, with Cruz being the third best guy. But this brings up more questions as to how good the Braves think Thomas will do in the majors since they have a giant hole in thier OF. Although the prospects are better than i thought in this deal, I still believe that the Braves have gotton the better end of it, by far. 12/17 1am)

Something smells mighty fishy to me, especially since the Orioles and Dodgers were offering much better pitching prospects in Erik Bedard and Edwin Jackson respectively - and the A's never got the 2B that they demanded be part of any deal for the Stud righty. Something must be wrong, like Hudsons Hip troubles are much more serious than previously thought, otherwise I cannot understand how the A's would make a deal when better ones were known to be on the table. I guess Beane really liked the outrageous on base numbers that Thomas put up in the International league before his call-up last year, but with the pitching prospects other teams were offering....

If Hudson does not have any major problems and is healthy, congratulations to Braves GM John Schurholtz for again getting guys to fill holes to make one more season of the Braves being on top in the NL east. They now only need an outfielder and possibly a stopgap 3B to replace Mark DeRosa until super-prospect 3B Andy Marte will be ready in 2006 or 2007. Schurholtz always seems to fill the holes on his team with new players and their minor leagues have constantly been stocked with talent, even after winning for so many years in a row. If you even look to the team that won the division two years ago the rosters will have very little looking the same.

The Braves also re-did John Smoltz's deal today basically creating a one-year extension for him. Though no details have been given, the contract was most likely reworked from the deal he had previous, where he got a $100,000 bonus for each start, to a higher guaranteed deal without the games started bonuses. He was to make $12 million next season.

The $114 million question...

Will adding 80 HR's and gold glove caliber defense at the corner infield positions be enough to push the Mariners back into the AL west contention?? Here's to saying...maybe. But it is a start, and a pretty good one at that. By signing 1B Richie Sexson to a 4 yr/$50 million deal and supposedly on the verge of signing 3B Adrian Beltre to a 5 yr/$64 million deal the team solidifies two of the three holes they had on offense for the upcoming season - although it appears they will not be signing a new starting pitcher after spending $25 million on these two players for the next season. The signing of Sexson was not a shock, given his stating that he would like to go back home to play, but the amount of money given to him is. $50 million for a guy who not only hurt his shoulder last season, but came back and hurt it again later in the year, seems to be a little much and a risky investment. The deal does seem to have less risk than the one recently struck by the New York Mets with Pedro Martinez, but it is risky none-the-less. Another shock was the apparent signing of Beltre by the Mariners, who as recently as a couple of days ago were thought to be all but out of the race for Beltre, but the team apparently ponied up the money in the end to make Beltre the highest paid player in team history. But even all the money they are spending now doesn't make up for the fact that if they spent just a bit more from 1999-2002 they could have possibly turned into the dominate team of that era, instead of playoff fodder for the Yankees. The move makes the Mariners very right-handed heavy, but overall, if Sexson can stay healthy, the Mariners have two solid signings, with their need now being a left-handed power DH guy.

Mets get Pedro...

Pedro Martinez formally signed with the Mets today in a press conference in New York, inking a 4yr/ $53 million deal. Martinez immediatley becomes the team's no.1 starter and main attraction for thier new television network which starts up next season. This move will be good no matter what for Pedro and the Red Sox, but will only work out for the Mets if Pedro somehow stays healthy for at least 3 years of the contract, which would be a miracle in itself. It's good for the Red Sox since they do not have to overpay for a pitcher with a decline in usefulness - which frees up money to pursue other things, and its good for Pedro since he gets the years and money he wanted. He also gets to pitch in the NL in a much better pitchers park than Fenway, which will probably equate to at least a half point drop in his ERA alone for next season.

This is a real make or break signing for the Mets, who always seem to overpay for veterns on the decline, and especially for new GM Omar Minaya. Past mistakes like the Mike Piazza contract extension and Mo Vaughn Trade were not done by him, but he will be thrown into that catergory if Pedro gets hurt or is ineffective early into the contract. However if he remains healthly the Mets will boast a very good rotation with 5 legitimate starters: Martinez, Tom Glavine, Kris Benson, Victor Zambrano (when he returns from surgery), and Steve Trachsel. Personally I believe that this deal is gonna backfire on the Mets when Pedro torn-up shoulder finally gives way either this season or the next. The Cardinals were also rumored to have offered Pedro a 4 year deal, but not as high moneywise as the Mets offer.


Where have you gone, El Caballo?

To Milwaukee. Thats right, the White Sox dealt the RBI horse to the Brewers for CF Scott Posednik, RHP Luis Vizcaino, and the infamous PTBNL. Originally utilityman Kieth Ginter was supposed to be part of the deal but the Brewers backed off giving him up and then added bullpen man Vizcaino. On the surface this deal looks to be all Brewers but if you look a little deeper you can see what Kenny Williams is trying to do. First off, the key to this deal is Posednik, obviously. If Posednik can bounce back from a season where he admittedly, 'tried way to hard too much' and 'simply failed', then the trade will have worked out for both teams. A legitimate leadoff hitter in 2003, Posednik regressed in 2004. However, if Posednik proves to be a one year wonder with speed the Brew Crew will have taken the Sox in this deal. Vizcaino solidifies an already revamped bullpen, making it much better now with 4 legitimate options (Shingo, Marte, Hermanson, Vizcaino) so the Sox should not have the problem of closing out games in the late innings that they have had the last few seasons. The pitching staff will also get better just because of Posednik's presence in the outfield as well. He covers much more ground than Aaron Rowand can in CF, and Rowand will be able to cover much much more ground in LF than Lee could. The number of balls to the gaps should be cut down dramatically for the team next year and the picthers ERA's could reflect that. The other part of this deal is that the Sox will be saving a little more than $6 million - which Kenny Williams says will go towards other parts of team, including another starting pitcher. However i do have to question this fact for the Sox, Carlos Lee is only 29 and is a legitimate hitter and powersource. With Magglio Ordonez and Jose Valentin gone this offseason, and Frank Thomas most likely on his way out of town after the upcoming season, unless Joe Crede and Ben Davis become big time power guys within the next year the Sox will be down to only one power guy on the team, Paul Konerko. So trading a guy who is arguably your best hitter, and youngest power guy, might be a move questioned in years to come.

The Brewers needed a right handed power hitter and that's exactly what they got. And they didn't give up to much either as they have some potential CF's in thier system coming up as well as extra help for their 'pen to replace the guys departed in Vizcaino and the Danny Kolb trade to the Braves. Coupled with lefties Geoff Jenkins in front of him, and double machine Lyle Overbay behind him, the Brewers should have a formidable middle of the order punch next season. More offensive help is on the way as well with 2B Richie Weeks and 1B power hitting lefty Prince Fielder due to come up for good in either 2005 or 2006. Milwaukee also seems intent on signing RHP Ben Sheets to an extension, and if they can get some more pitching to come out of thier system it could mean that better days seem to be ahead for the Brewers.

The trade does have some bad news for the Cubs, as Lee is a carrer Cub-killer and will now have to face him 18 times a season instead of 6. The last three seasons he has hit .343 with 5 HR's and 15 RBI against the Cubbies.

As for what i think the White Sox are going to do with the saved money, my guess would be a run at newly released catcher A.J. Pierzynski. But for pitching help, with the recent spike of interest i would say they are out of the Matt Clement derby, unless he takes a paycut to play in the 'town he loves so much', Chicago. He has stated he and his wife want to stay in town, but i doubt he would take so much less money to do it. The Indians, Red Sox, Angels and others are hot on Clements trail raising his price tag. I say if they Sox get anyone this offseason it's Odalis Perez, but with the way things are going this offseason even he may get into a price range that the team will not think is worth it.

The White Sox are also going to re-sign Juan Uribe for $9.5 million over 3 years, with an option for a fourth.


Royals making moves...

The Royals picked up OF-C Eli Marrero from the Braves today for minor leaguer Jorge Vasquez. They also formally announced trading Catcher Benito Santiago to the Pirates today in a long-awaited deal for minor leaguer Leo Nunez. Santiago became expendable after the acquisition of John Buck from the A's in the Carlos Beltran deal last season. The Royals will pick-up $1 million of Santiago's $2.15 million contract this season.


If you can't beat um....

Edgar Renteria has agreed to a 4 yr/$40 million deal to play SS for the Boston Red Sox. This move, which was predicated on the Sox losing Pedro Martinez to free up the dollars for it, actually upgrades the Red Sox on offense, however they now have a large void in thier rotation left to fill. This is a kind of surprising move considering how high the Sox are on SS prosect Hanley Ramirez, who might be asked to learn a new position or in fact might be included in a possible deal for a starting pitcher. The Sox are rumored to be hot on the trail of Marlins pitcher A. J. Burnett. Either way I think this is a good, but puzzling signing for Boston. If they can use Ramirez to get Burnett it will work out even more for the Sox and GM Theo Epstien.


Baseball in Washington already finished...

The Washington D.C. city council approved a plan for a stadium yesterday, it just wasn't the plan that MLB thought they had agreed to when they moved the Montreal Expos there last month. The council changed the original proposal to one where half of the staduim was to be privately funded, up from the no private funding originally agreed upon. MLB has said the council has till the end of the month to create a new proposal, otherwise the Nats will be moved once again at the end of next season.


Randy Johnson deal back on....

According to the Sporting New's Ken Rosenthal a new trade proposal where the Yankees would get Randy Johnson, the Dodgers would get Javier Vasquez and prospect, and the Diamondback would get Shawn Green is close to completion. In the deal money would be sent towards LA, while the D-backs would get a hodgepodge of minor leaguers/major league ready pitchers or MLB pitchers.

It is interesting to see this happening and exactly how it will go down, as the D-backs previous demands were unfathomably unreasonable and the White Sox proposed this same deal with Carlos Lee or Paul Konerko going to the D-backs. Any deal where the Arizona does not get good ML pitching in return, in my opinion, will be a wasted trade and proves how absurd the front office of that team is.


Cubs lose two in Rule 5 draft...

The Cubs only lost two players in the rule 5 draft earlier this week, surprising me and im sure many others with the number of lively arms they left available. Andy Sisco, taken by the Royals, and Luke Hagerty, taken by the Orioles, are both LHP with very good stuff, although both had down years in the minors last season comeing off previous injuries. While the Royals have a desperate need for pitching and barring injury, will keep him on the 40-man roster. Hagerty however, is coming off major arm surgery and might not be ready to pitch at the start of the year. He will most likely be offered back to the Cubs at some point during this season. In one of the better happenings of the draft, the Cardinals lost one of thier top pitching prospects Tyler Johnson, who they inexplicably left off of thier 40-man roster.


Other notes...

- The Reds have shored up thier bullpen somewhat with the signings of David Weathers and Ben Weber. If anything, this means I get to watch Weber's funky motion for 18 games this year.

- The Brewers have sent Kieth Ginter to the A's for OF prospect Nelson Cruz and RHP prospect Justin Lehr. Cruz could develop into a very solid OF one day, potentially an all-star. It is funny however, that one day after refusing to include Ginter in the trade of Posednik to the White Sox they deal him almost immediatley to the A's.