Winter Meetings Roundup

Throughout the entirety of the Winter Meetings, we had two big name free agent signings, a lot of smaller moves, and the Rule 5 draft. I'm going to try to cover as much as I can here, so I'm not even going to try to use transitions, just headings, and my thoughts on them. If you're looking for stuff about the Angels, I'm planning on doing a whole post about them later, so you won't find that here.

Mets: 

The Mets signed two free agent relievers, and pulled off a trade. The 2011 Toronto closers, Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco, both signed with the Mets. I'm assuming that the Mets weren't willing to hand Bobby Parnell the closer role quite yet, and he should slide into a 7th inning role with the club. Frank Francisco is a better pitcher than Rauch, when healthy, and should be first in line for saves in New York. Francisco also got a two year deal, as opposed to Rauch's one year deal, which signifies that the Mets believe he's the better player. Citi Field, even with the fences in next year, should help Francisco's problem with the home run ball also. 

In a separate move, the Mets acquired another relief pitcher when they traded Angel Pagan to the Giants for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez. The Giants have a glut of relievers, and leveraged one of them to get younger in center field. Torres and Pagan have similar skillets, with the difference being Pagan's defensive downturn in 2011. Pagan went from a well above average center fielder, to a well below average center fielder by the metrics. San Francisco must either believe that this was an aberration, or plan to play him in a corner spot, or enjoy having terrible defense up the middle. 

Dodgers: 

The Dodgers continue to add bench players. They signed Jerry Hairston Jr. to a two year six million dollar deal, and they signed Aaron Harang to a two year twelve dollar deal. With Adam Kennedy, Mark Ellis, Juan Rivera, Chris Capuano, along with Hairston Jr. and Harang, the Dodgers are spending significant money on bad players, and they're signing them for two years. These players are more palatable on one year deals, but these guys are getting two year deals. It's terrible, and I don't understand it. 

Rockies:

The Rockies made a minor move by getting Kevin Slowey from the Minnesota Twins. The Rockies are trying to get younger in the rotation, and have started out well with a base of Alex White, Drew Pomeranz, Tyler Chatwood, and Kevin Slowey. All of these guys are under club control for at least the next few years, but I'm not a fan of the Slowey acquisition. Slowey has a career 31.6% ground ball rate, with a 47.9% fly ball rate. He isn't a good match for Coors Field, and I think the Rockies would have been better of looking elsewhere for pitching help.

Pirates: 

The Pirates made two interesting signings during the week. They got Nate McClouth and Erik Bedard, both on one year deals. McClouth had previous success in Pittsburgh, and I believe can still have value as a left handed bat who can hit right handed pitching. With Jose Tabata Alex Presley, and Andrew McCutchen penciled in as starting outfielders for the Pirates, McClouth could be a sub against righties, or come off the bench to hit righties later in the game. I think used in the right capacity, McClouth could rekindle his career. 

The Erik Bedard signing is also a good one I think. Bedard is on a one year deal, and if healthy, could be a bargain. I think that the Pirates plans for Bedard will be to try to get him healthy, and bolster their rotation in an attempt to make a playoff run in 2012. They were competitive in 2011, but faded late. If they're in it this year, and Bedard is healthy, he could be an impact pitcher for them. If Bedard is healthy, but the Pirates fall out if contention, he could be an interesting trade chip for them. If Bedard is healthy, he's usually effective. I like the signing, but it's paramount that the Pirates keep him healthy to get results. 

Sergio Santos for Nestor Molina Trade: 

The White Sox got rid of a major leaguer for a minor league prospect on Tuesday. It's a good sign that Chicago is starting to rebuild, but Sergio Santos is a good player with a very friendly contract. He is signed through 2014 for under $8 million total, with three club options after that. Santos is a converted catcher, and relied on his fastball/slider combo to strikeout over 13 batters per nine innings this past season. The White Sox could easily be competitive before Santos' contract runs out, but Santos is already 28, and could be ineffective or suffer an injury be then. For the Blue Jays, Santos helps to bolder a bullpen which has lost a lot of talent, either at last year's trading deadline, or to free agency this offseason. 

The prospect that Chicago receives, Nestor Molina, is a young arm, who put up big strikeout numbers this past year in High-A and AA. He's done is with great control, but scouts don't think that the numbers match what they see. The overall consensus is that Molina could reach the majors by 2013, and eventually develop into number three. This is a great trade for the Blue Jays. They got a great contract, and only had to give up one prospect. A prospect who's only thrown 22 innings above A ball, and who's upside is only a middle rotation starter.

Alex Anthopoulos pulled off a great move here, and I'm starting to worry about Kenny Williams ability to rebuild this White Sox club.  It's a task he's never had to perform before.

Marlins: 

I already wrote about the Jose Reyes signing, and the risks that come with it. But the Marlins other big move this winter meetings might be more important. They signed Mark Buehrle to bolster their rotation, and provide a veteran for the team. I think it's more important signing than the Reyes signing, because Buehrle is a reliable veteran, who is durable, and familiar with the Marlins new manager, Ozzie Guillen. He should slot in behind a healthy Josh Johnson, and in front of Anibal Sanchez and Nicky Nolasco in the rotation. The Marlins paid more for the reliability than the stuff with Buehrle, and although it's a four year deal to a 33 year old pitcher, I think the Marlins will get their moneys worth. 

The only thing that I don't like about the Buehrle signing is that he relies on his defense to make plays behind him. But the Marlins defense isn't a group which inspires a lot of confidence. They now have a shortstop at third base, a third baseman in centerfield, a first baseman in left field, and a utility infielder at second base. It's pretty ugly. 

Also, I don't think that there's any way that Hanley Ramirez will be traded. Even though the Marlins have been acting somewhat irrational with their money (their proposed offer to C.J. Wilson was 6 years, $98 million), I don't think that they'd sign Jose Reyes, and then trade away the better, cheaper player, in Hanley Ramirez. The Marlins will shop Hanley, but they'll be requesting two or three top prospects, or impact players with less than two years of service time. I don't see it happening. 

Padres: 

The Padres got Huston Street from the Rockies for a player to be named later. After losing Mike Adams and Heath Bell from the back of the bullpen, the Padres decided to add Street as their closer for the upcoming season. I'm assuming that the PTBNL isn't anyone of importance, and think that the Padres thinking is that they can let Street pitch in Petco for half a season, hopefully sure his HR/FB rate (14.5% last season), and then flip him at the deadline for something better than they gave away. It makes total sense, because there's no reason that the Padres should be bringing in high priced relief talent for any other reason, as their ballpark allows them to use anyone in that role, and get good results. For the Rockies, it's a very smart move, as since they're trying to rebuild their roster, they also don't need to be paying big money for a closer. 

Other Notes: 

Now that the Winter Meetings have colluded and Pujols, Wilson, and Buehrle have found homes, and Francisco Rodriguez has accepted arbitration from the Brewers, the market is starting to thin. I think we could see the last big impact bat (Fielder), the last big name closer (Madson), and the next best starting pitcher (Edwin Jackson) all sign or at least gain significant interest soon. They should be in high demand as teams try to put themselves in the best position to win in 2012. 

We've also seen players like K-Rod and David Ortiz accept arbitration, when they normally wouldn't in seasons past. I'm not sure if this is because of changes in the new CBA, or other circumstances. For instance, under the previous CBA, teams may have not even offered these players arbitration, or if they did, they knew that the players wouldn't accept. I'm not sure exactly how the new rules work, and hat the teams gain by these actions. 

It could also be the environment of the players. For instance, in an attempt to stay with the Red Sox, David Ortiz accepted simply because he didn't want to go anywhere else. K-Rod could have seen the market for closers drying up, and wanted to make sure he got paid in 2012, and with only a one year deal, he would be back on the market next season... Just something that I found curious.