LAS VEGAS -- In the blink of an eye, or in the roll of the dice, dramatic things happen at these winter meetings and, subsequently, on the field.
"Our organization last year was probably the opposite of 2006," Detroit manager Jim Leyland was saying the other day. "In '06 we had a good year, and that probably was a surprise. In '08 we had a bad year, and that was probably a surprise."
From that blockbuster winter meetings afternoon a year ago, when the Tigers acquired Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis, everybody expected the moon. And the Tigers didn't even deliver the stars.
So now comes the exotic 12-player trade involving the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners, a deal that brought the Mets a second marquee reliever in two days.
So of course when a guy told Omar Minaya that, with both Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz aboard, he expects to see the Mets' GM with his feet up and sipping lemonade during the late innings next year, Minaya flashed back to the Tigers' glee at last year's winter meetings in no time.
It's still all on paper.
Changes? Yeah, there remains much to do for most clubs preparing for 2009. But there was plenty of change in baseball's winter meetings this week. ...
Changes we can believe in
New York Mets: The Mets baseball people came up with a list of closers they thought might be available this winter and then ranked them. Atop the list? K-Rod and Putz. That the Mets were able to acquire both was like ordering the cheesecake after you've already had the crème brulee for dessert. Somewhere, Johan Santana is smiling big. The Mets' bullpen blew seven saves in Santana's starts last year. With help like this, Santana might be able to win another Cy Young award.
"All I kept hearing in the streets of New York, if you go get bagels in the morning, it was, 'Please, address the bullpen,'" Minaya said. "Well, to you Mets fans, we've addressed the bullpen."
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| J.J. Putz will go from closer to set-up man. (Getty Images) |
New York Yankees: Open wallet, close deals. The Yankees bagged CC Sabathia with a seven-year, $161 million deal. Why $161 instead of a simple, round number like $160? At $161, the average annual value of Sabathia's deal is $23 million -- which hops him over Johan Santana's $22.9 million per year.
They've offered five years and $80 million to A.J. Burnett and hope to close that deal within the next couple of days. Then they'd like to add Derek Lowe, Ben Sheets or Andy Pettitte. Recession? What recession? The Yankees continue to print money. Purchasing the borough of Manhattan might be next.
Cleveland Indians: They added a hard-throwing closer in Kerry Wood. They dealt from their strength -- excess outfielders -- to pick up another bullpen piece from the Mets, Joe Smith (fan favorite alert: He's from Ohio). They worked toward patching up a thin infield by adding a prospect they really like, second baseman Luis Valbuena. Plus, by involving themselves in the three-way deal with the Mets and Mariners, they kept Putz away from the Tigers.
Seattle Mariners: New GM Jack Zdurencik's biggest task is to buy Clorox in bulk, dump it over the Mariners' ill-fitting roster and begin anew. His first trade, the three-way deal with the Mets and Indians, was a great start in that direction. The M's acquired seven players, including pitcher Aaron Heilman and outfielders Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez. Gutierrez will chase all kinds of balls down in center field and immediately help upgrade the Seattle defense, which is overdue. Heilman is versatile enough to start or relieve, and the change of scenery should do wonders for him. In New York, it had reached the point where he couldn't walk to his mailbox without getting booed.
Detroit Tigers: This year's winter meetings is to last year's for the Tigers as Rosie O'Donnell is to Marisa Miller. But guess what? The glamour didn't work last year. Maybe extra makeup will this year. The Tigers filled three key holes by trading for a catcher (Gerald Laird) and a starting pitcher (Edwin Jackson) and signing a shortstop (Adam Everett).
Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles' Collection Agency program continues. A year after GM Andy MacPhail traded Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada for 10 players, he turned catcher Ramon Hernandez into three more by dealing him to Cincinnati for the versatile Ryan Freel and two infield prospects. Best thing about it is, it clears the way for Matt Wieters, the Orioles' first-round draft pick two summers ago, to take over as catcher sooner rather than later.
Changes we can't believe in
Milwaukee Brewers: Their rotation is decimated. CC Sabathia is only a fond memory and Ben Sheets, who is being pursued by the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, will be remembered by the Ben Sheets Memorial Tape Display in the club's trainer's room. Milwaukee made an honest and admirable effort to retain Sabathia, but when you shop at Wal-Mart, you don't get Gucci. Now Brewers' GM Doug Melvin sets his sights on pitching help and told bearded Brewers beat man Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the club will investigate Randy Johnson, Randy Wolf, Jamie Moyer and even John Smoltz.
Los Angeles Angels: In one of baseball's most underrated and cool traditions, they light the halo on the Big A outside of Angel Stadium following a win, but keep it dark following a loss. Right now, in winter meetings terms, it's dark. The Halos lost Francisco Rodriguez. They watched Sabathia while the Yankees snatched Sabathia off the market. They're still working on Mark Teixeira but might be fighting a losing battle.
San Diego Padres: Ten weeks and counting and they still haven't been able to pull the trigger on a Jake Peavy deal. There's more deliberating in a dysfunctional front office than in a Congressional filibuster. They should have taken the package Atlanta was offering: Shortstop Yunel Escobar, pitcher Charlie Morton, outfield prospect Gorkys Hernandez and reliever Blaine Boyer. Their ham-handed handling of the split with closer Trevor Hoffman was a disaster. GM Kevin Towers admits they probably "sold low" on shortstop Khalil Greene (traded to St. Louis) because of financial pressure. Nice ownership, John Moores.
Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies would love Cubs infielder Mark DeRosa (all-around extra bat and insurance while second baseman Chase Utley recovers from hip surgery) and were really, really hoping to be a part of that failed three-way trade with the Padres and Cubs. The Phillies still haven't replaced outfielder Pat Burrell, and negotiations with Jamie Moyer aren't going well.
Minnesota Twins: The poor Twins' attempts to upgrade at third base are the longest running soap opera this side of The Young and the Restless (shameless CBS plug). They failed to land free-agent third baseman Casey Blake (the Dodgers got him). They attempted to work their way into the multi-team Cubs-Padres trade and acquire DeRosa to play third. Their attempts to trade for Colorado's Garret Atkins and Seattle's Adrian Beltre have been rebuffed. The Kevin Kouzmanoff rumor is so old it's covered in mold. Hey, at least manager Ron Gardenhire got his shortstop in Nick Punto.
Chicago White Sox: Hey, wait! How can they be in the wrong column of an Obama-themed winter meetings wrap? Well, they still haven't added a starting pitcher and they still haven't unloaded outfielder Jermaine Dye and his $11 million salary. But give them time. GM Kenny Williams, conspicuously silent during the meetings, usually comes up with something.
