I was thinking about running through the title contenders in the NBA and NHL this week, but a quick look at the calendar gave me a shock – baseball’s first day for pitchers and catchers to report is Feb. 14 (Happy Valentine’s Day, honey), less than one month away. So while there’s still plenty of time left for the hockey and basketball playoff pictures to shake themselves out, I wanted to focus on the biggest moves and storylines of the baseball offseason, because while trades can still go down between now and spring training, most of the major transactions have already happened.
So here’s how baseball’s hot stove played out.
Best moves
• Marlins trade 3B Miguel Cabrera and P Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers for six prospects, including OF Cameron Maybin, P Andrew Miller and C Mike Rabelo. At first glance, the Tigers pulled off a completely one-sided traded here, landing one of the best young sluggers in the game as well as an inconsistent but talented pitcher without giving up anyone Major League-ready. But upon further review, the Marlins picked up some talented prospects (both Miller and Maybin are former No. 1 picks) while slashing their payroll, a key winter goal for Florida. Make no mistake, though – the Tigers made the biggest impact of the offseason, and their lineup might be the deepest in the A.L. – and that includes the Yankees.
• Diamondbacks trade six prospects to the A’s for P Dan Haren and P Connor Robertson. Although Twins’ ace Johan Santana may still move, the Diamondbacks made the biggest pitching pickup of the offseason in landing potential No. 1 starter Haren from the A’s for a package of prospects. With 2006 Cy Young winner Brandon Webb already penciled in at the top of the rotation, Haren gives the D’Backs the best top-two starter tandem in the league and makes the defending NL West champions an early World Series favorite in the wide-open National League. Definitely a move that says, “We want to win now.”
• Yankees sign Alex Rodriquez to a 10-year, $275 million contract. The offseason got off to an inauspicious (not to mention early) start for the Yankees, when Alex Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras announced Rodriguez’ intention to opt out of his Yankees deal and hit the free agent market. But after an initial contract request proved too big to attract any real attention from other teams, Rodriguez reached out to the Yanks and negotiated a gigantic deal without the services of Boras. A-Rod’s contract is the largest in Major League history, but he’s become a key part of the Yankees’ lineup, and his production would have been impossible to replace. Coming off an MVP season, he’s the linchpin of New York’s offensive attack, and a sure Hall of Famer. So while he might not be worth $275 million, at least he didn’t jump to Boston. That would have been a catastrophe.
• Padres sign P Mark Prior to a 1-year, $1 million contract. You remember Prior, don’t you? Went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA in 2003, almost leading the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series since 1908? Well, he’s been a poster boy for arm and shoulder injuries since bursting onto the scene in his third season, and after missing most of the past three years, he was finally let go by the Cubs. I have no idea whether he’ll eventually regain any part of the form that he displayed five years ago, but in this era, a 1-year, $1 million contract for a veteran pitcher with the kind of repertoire Prior has (when healthy) is an excellent gamble to make. Even if he doesn’t bounce back, he’s hardly costing the Padres anything. But if he’s healthy and pitching in cavernous Petco Field, he could be one of the biggest surprises in the league this season.
• Cubs sign OF Kosuke Fukudome to a 4-year, $48 million contract. Another offseason, another Japanese sensation. This time it’s Fukodome, a former Central League MVP who hits for contact, has plenty of speed and gets on base often. Although players coming from Japan tend to be overvalued in the American market, Fukodome has a chance to impact fans in Chicago beyond the outfield – marquee signings like this one are usually good for additional merchandise and advertising revenue, as well as international exposure – all good things for a Cubs squad struggling to make itself relevant and competitive. Even if Fukodome doesn’t post MVP-caliber numbers this season (and he probably won’t), it should end up being a savvy signing for the Cubs.
Worst moves
• Giants sign OF Aaron Rowand to a 5-year, $60 million contract. Make no mistake, the Giants will be the worst team in the National League this season. They went into the winter knowing they had to replace Barry Bonds and add power to the middle of their lineup, and their big signing was … Rowand? Decent glove, maybe 15-20 home runs a season, batting average in the .280s – all good for a third outfielder, no doubt. But a $60 million contract? The Giants failed to get enough bang for their buck, and by the time they cobble together a lineup this year, they’ll be lucky to just stay competitive in most of the games they play.
• Mets trade OF Lastings Milledge to Nationals for C Brian Schneider and OF Ryan Church. I’ve resisted piling on the Mets too badly ever since their historic collapse last fall, but this deal made no sense. For several years, Milledge was one of their most prized assets, an eventual five-tool outfielder and possible future franchise cornerstone. Granted, he had some discipline problems over the past few seasons, but in trading him for 75 cents on the dollar, Mets fans may one day look at this trade the same way they do the Victor Zambrano/Scott Kazmir deal from a few seasons ago. To refresh, Kazmir is a potential top-line starter the Mets traded away. Zambrano? Like saying “Bucky Dent” to a Red Sox fan. This one may come back to haunt the Mets.
• Reds sign P Francisco Cordero to a 4-year, $46 million contract. On the surface, this looks like a good deal – Cordero compiled excellent stats last season closing for Milwaukee, and the Reds definitely needed bullpen help after an ugly year. But signing a 32-year-old closer who’s had consistency problems in the past doesn’t seem like the most judicious use of $46 million, and besides – the Reds have bigger problems than simply protecting ninth-inning leads. They need a few more starters first, and Cordero isn’t going to make $46 million worth of difference.
• Astros trade P Brad Lidge and INF Eric Bruntlett to Phillies for prospects, and trade OF Luke Scott, P Mike Albers, P Troy Patton, P Dennis Sarfate and 3B Michael Constanzo to Orioles for SS Miguel Tejada. The Astros were one of the busiest teams on the market this winter, but look at where it got them – they’ve emptied their farm system and deal their inconsistent but at times overpowering closer Brad Lidge for a menagerie of prospects and shortstop Miguel Tejada, who can still hit for average but little else. They also acquired Diamondbacks’ closer Jose Valverde in a separate deal for more prospects, but they’ve strip-mined their bullpen and farm system to make a negligible improvement to their lineup. For one of the worst teams in the National League last year, that won’t be enough.
• Brewers sign P Eric Gagne to a 1-year, $10 million contract. In perhaps the least impressive deal of the offseason, the Brewers signed Gagne to a 1-year, $10 million contract. Remember how I said I liked the Prior deal? Consider me horrified by the Gagne signing. On top of the way Gagne ended his season last year, with a 6.75 ERA after getting traded to Boston near midseason, he also played a prominent role in the Mitchell Report, with a paper trail linking him to steroid use during his Cy Young season of 2004. With the injuries he’s suffered since then, he’s never been the same, and there’s no reason to think he’ll regain that form with a bloated contract this season for the Brewers. For a team that was a move or two from the NL Central title this past season, this one’s hard to swallow.