Thursday, December 08, 2005

Winners and Losers

With baseball's Winter meetings winding down, there have been winners, and there have been losers. Here are some of the biggest in each category:

Mets - winners - Funny as that may sound, the Metropolitans are looking up. Sure they lost one of the best hitting catchers in the history of the game, but they have made some good signings. Perhaps the most notable being the flame-throwing lefty Billy Wagner, who many had tabbed to remain with the Phillies. He will add stability to an otherwise shaky bullpen, allowing them to move hot and cold closer Braden Looper into the set up roll. The addition of Carlos Delgado also bring in a powerful left handed bat, and gives them one of the best set of corner infielders in the business. With the addition of Xavier Nady, the Mets also have some good young talent to go with Jose Reyes (and Wright). And let's not forget the signings from last year, Carlos Beltran cannot possibly do as bad again this year, can he? With all that said, its still going to be a battle for the Wild Card for the Mets, because if you read anything I write, last year was the year to knock off the Braves in the NL East.

Red Sox - winners - No Theo? No problem. At least so far. Someone is pulling strings, and I like it so far. Andy Marte for Edgar Renteria? Brilliant. A young 22 year old third baseman that should grow into a stud for years to come, in return for a disgruntled (though not disruptive), overpaid shortstop, who frankly, wasn't all he was hyped up to be. Beckett, Lowell and Mota for Hanley Ramirez, Anibel Sanchez, and another prospect? Brilliant. Health permitting, the young Beckett has all the makings of an ace. And as seen in game 6 of the '03 World Series at Yankee Stadium on three days of rest, the moxie of an ace as well. Mota adds depth to a young, and often patchwork bullpen. And Mike Lowell might be in the best situation in the majors. He's making big bucks, and there are absolutely no expectations for him to do anything this year. He was essentially a throw in in the trade, a piece the Sox had to take on in order to get Beckett. So the Sox took him, knowing at worst they were getting a Gold Glove third baseman, but also knowing that bringing him to Fenway, with that short left field porch, Lowell could rediscover his power stroke again. So just how good does he have it? If he hits .250 with 10 homers, nobody will bat an eye, but if he suddenly hits .275, 25 homers, and drives in 80 (which are all well within his career averages), he'll be a Godsend. Throw in Mark Loretta, a promising young second baseman, and suddenly losing Theo doesn't seem like the crisis it once was in Boston. They gave up an aging back up catcher, who played at most once every five days, for a young talented middle infielder. And don't get me wrong, Mirabelli was no slouch, but he was still a back up. And the Red Sox group of GM's also made a wise PR move by talking to Tim Wakefield before trading away his personal catcher. And besides, how could a team be a loser when they didn't lose Manny Ramirez? Man-ram, is not getting traded. They couldn't give him away last offseason, and they couldn't trade him this past season to teams that could clearly have used a mighty right handed bat in their lineup in the midst of a playoff race. Manny will play for the Sox next year, or he won't play.

Yankees - sleeping giant - No major moves from the Yankees. Surprising? Not really. They're still targeting plenty of free agents. The fact is that the Winter meetings have traditionally been more for trades, not so much free agent signings, and the Yankees just don't have the chips to trade. But make no mistake, even though they reportedly lost money last year, Steinbrenner will not stand pat this offseason. Look for some big moves down the line to add a few more bats to an already potent lineup.

Philadelphia - losers - Billy Wagner? Gone. Jim Thome? Gone. Granted, young phenom Ryan Howard looks to be the real deal and is ready to take over for Thome, but the Wagner loss is huge. The Phillies main concern is pitching, and the loss of one of the best closers in baseball. There were a few rumored deals, the most notable sending Bobby Abreu to the Red Sox in return for Matt Clement and Trot Nixon, but that never happened. With big free agent pitching names already signing (Kenny Rogers, AJ Burnett, Wagner, BJ Ryan), the Phillies are back to the drawing board to hook up some pitching for the upcoming season. I don't see them swooning Kevin Millwood back to the city of brotherly love, but with the Nationals making deals as well, I do see another long and heartbreaking summer for Phillies fans.

Rangers - losers - God that young lineup is good. But for some reason the poor Rangers just can't draw pitching to the lonestar state. They lost out on the bidding for Kenny Rogers, though I'm not sure how interested they were in him. And the market out there for 2nd baseman Alfonso Soriano just wasn't what they thought it would be. Texas was hoping for pitching, they ended up with Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and a pitching prospect, hardly immediate big league help for a team desperate for pitching. While they're still looking for pitching, perhaps trying to turn around and trade some combination of Wilkerson, Laynce Nix or even Hank Blalock (gaining interest from the Twins), the market is not going to get any easier from here on out.

Blue Jays - biggest spenders - You can laugh if you want to, but the Blue Jays aren't laughing. They've got the money to spend, and they're doing it. The problem with teams who have been cellar dwellers in their respective divisions for years is that they have to overspend. Just look at how much money the Tigers gave Magglio Ordonez and Troy Percival last year. The Blue Jays are closing the gap on the Sox and Yankees, and it's closing fast. The Jays have catapulted themselves into a possible 90 wins. And, as ESPN's Peter Gammons reported, if the Yankees and Red Sox end up dropping to the 93-95 win range, anything can happen.

Marlins - losers - The biggest losers here would actually be the Marlins fans. Firesales are never fun, unless your team is reaping the benefits (see Josh Beckett). What is poor Dontrelle Willis to do? We know he can hit, but I'm not sure he can play all 9 positions as former teammate AJ Burnett suggested. So, firesale of the team, raising ticket prices for individual games, and no refunds offered to irate season ticket holders, what a mess in South Florida. In all fairness, ownership is not in the easiest of situations in Florida, part of the reasons they have asked MLB for permission to scout out new locations for the team. So the fans won't go to the games anyways, but they get mad when the team trades away all their big contracts, it seems that in this battle, nobody is right, and everybody is a loser in the end.

Kenny Rogers - winner - Perhaps the biggest winner of the Winter meetings was the 41 year old lefty. Sure there are arms over 40 that can still hurl it with the best of them, but Rogers is no Rocket or Big Unit. I'm not sure which part of the deal is more surprising, the two years he was given, or the $16 million he will be given. Either way, Rogers should be smiling from ear to ear about the contract that he just got from the tigers.

White Sox - winners - Sometimes teams that win a championship make the mistake of thinking that they won it this year, why can't this same team win it next year? Because everyone else is getting better around you, thats why. The addition of Jim Thome as a DH will add some much needed protection to the lineup for Paul Konerko, who they luckily retained through free agency. The pitching is still there, and maybe one or two moves makes the White Sox the team to beat in the AL Central for another year.