Baltimore and Minnesota trade players

According to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun the Minnesota Twins and the Baltimore Orioles have made a multi-player trade. The Twins shipped infielders J.J. Hardy, Brendan Harris and $500,000 in cash to the Orioles for minor league relievers James Hoey and Brett Jacobson.

In 2010 Hardy hit .268 with 6 HRs and 38 RBI. In 340 at-bats Hardy had 91 hits (19 2B/3 3B/6 HR) with 54 strikeouts and 28 walks. Defensively, Hardy had 11 errors for a fielding percentage of .972. Harris hit .157 with 1 HR and 4 RBI while playing 1B/3B/2B/SS/DH for the Twins.

According to Connolly:
Hoey, a 27-year-old right hander, had a combined 6-0 record with a 3.25 ERA in 42 outings between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. He made 35 appearances for the Orioles during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, going 3-5 with an 8.13 ERA. He missed all of 2008 with a right shoulder injury. The Orioles drafted him in the 13th round of 2003. He was put back on the 40-man roster earlier this offseason.

Jacobson, 24, went 8-1 with a 2.79 ERA in 34 relief appearances for Single-A Frederick. He was dealt to the Orioles in August 2009 in the trade that sent Aubrey Huff to the Detroit Tigers.

In terms of what the deal looks like for the Twins along with the anticipated signing of Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minnesota Star-Tribune gives his views on the deal:

1. Nishioka can play: One NL East scout saw Nishioka late in the season and called him another Kaz Matusi, which isn't good. But others think he can play in the majors.

2. Casilla will hold down a spot. It's time for Casilla to prove he can be an every day player. I will say this, Casilla might need a hug sometimes instead of tough love if he makes a mistake in the field.

Injuires to either player puts Matt Tolbert or Trevor Plouffe in the lineup.

The benefits are that the Twins have better speed and a tad more range up the middle. The money they save should help them re-sign Carl Pavano. And they get two hard throwers in Hoey and Jacobson. They also rid themselves of Harris and $1.75 million.

If Hoey and Nishioka perform well,it's a good deal. Hoey needs to throw more strikes

An interesting point-of-view on the Twins side of the trade comes from Jesse of the Twinkietown.com website:

But the money isn't for Hardy. The money is for Brendan Harris; about one third of what he'll be paid in 2011.

Instead, this is a deal about Hardy and the two arms the Twins are receiving in return: Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey. Two career minor leaguers, two power arms, two guys who aren't getting paid more than the Major League minimum. Hoey, who will be the one who plays for the Twins if either of them do, offers a mid to upper-90s fastball as well as a changeup and slider. We talked this morning about his strikeout track record in the minor leagues: it's amazing. It looks like it's Anthony Slama-type amazing, but they're good numbers nevertheless. Jacobson, meanwhile, is projectable but 24 and about to pitch in double-A for the first time.

It's obvious that the Twins didn't like something about Hardy. If I can make it ever more plain: the Twins just didn't value Hardy. As an organization, they were clearly looking at the future and decided that Hardy wasn't going to be in their plans beyond 2011.

I'm not sure my friend Topper from Curve for a Strike blogpage would agree with this assessment. As it is he says on his Facebook page: Nothing really leads me to believe that either Alexi Casilla or Tsuyoshi Nishioka will be better than JJ Hardy this year. I don't think I'm on board with this move...

First things first Nishioki needs to be signed by the Twins. Rumors has it that Nishioki is on his way to the Twin Cities for his physical so the signing is imminent. Whether or not this signing benefits the Twins.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for access to J.J. Hardy's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here for access to Brenden Harris' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here for James Hoey's career statistics from BaseballCube.com
- Click Here for Brett Jacobson's career statistics from BaseballCube.com

Carl Crawford signs with the Boston Red Sox

Scratch one big name free agent off of the list. Ian Browne of MLB.com announced that the Boston Red Sox signed outfielder Carl Crawford 7-year $142 million dollar deal. This signing gives the Red Sox a multiple of advantages.

Most importantly Crawford gives the Red Sox a stellar outfielder who will solidify an outfield that was decimated by injuries during the 2010 season. Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew all spent time on the disabled list causing the Red Sox to dip into their minor league system and rely on various players to fill the gaps. The signing further depletes the Tampa Bay Rays who have already lost Carlos Peña, Juaquin Benoit and Dioner Navarro to free-agency, Jason Bartlett to a trade and Rafael Soriano remains unsigned. To most of the Red Sox nation, the most important part of the signing is that the hated New York Yankees will not get Crawford.

In 2010, Crawford batted .307 with 19HRs and 90 RBI. In 600 at-bats Crawford had 184 hits (30 2B/13 3B/19 HR) with 104 strikeouts, 47 walks and 47 stolen bases. His OPS was .851 (.356 OBP%/.495 SLG%). Defensively Crawford made 2 errors in the field with 7 assists for a fielding percentage of .994. Crawford was an All-Star this past season and earned his first Golden Glove and Silver Slugger award.

In nine seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Crawford has a .296 batting average with 104 HRs and 592 RBI. Crawford has 1,480 hits (215 2B/105 3B/104 HR) and 409 stolen bases. Defensively, Crawford has a career .991 fielding percentage. Crawford is a 4-time All-Star and has led the American League in triples and stolen bases four times each.

I believe the key to the Red Sox next season is staying healthy. The moves of signing Crawford and trading for Adrian Gonzalez will definitely help but the team has to stay healthy in order to make the postseason. Here is the lineup from where I see it:

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Jason Varitek
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Dustin Pedroia
SS Marco Scutaro
3B Kevin Youkalis
LF Carl Crawford
CF Jacoby Ellsbury/Mike Cameron
RF J.D. Drew

Add the pitching rotation of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mix and the Boston Red Sox move to the top of the list of teams to beat in the American League.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Peter Abraham's article Sox sign up Crawford for $142m from Boston.com dated December 9, 2010
- Click Here to watch Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe talk about the Crawford signing
- Click Here to access Ian Browne's article Red Sox fire another salvo, add Crawford from MLB.com dated December 10, 2010
- Click Here to access Toni Massarotti's article Red Sox speak loudly, carry big sticks from Boston.com dated December 9, 2010
- Click Here to access Carl Crawford's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Winter Meetings Day Three Part Three

Feel asleep soon after coming home from my Rockefeller excursion so here goes:

- Koji Uehara re-signs with the Baltimore Orioles
Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun report that the Orioles have come to terms with relief pitcher Koji Uehara on a 1-year deal with a vesting option for the 2012 season which is pending a physical, includes several escalation clauses that will kick in depending on how many games Uehara finishes. Originally a starter for the Orioles during 2010, Uehara came off the disabled list and eventually became the team's closer for the final month and a half, converting 13 of 15 save opportunities. In total Uehara compiled a 1-2 records with a 2.84 ERA in 43 games. He struck out 55 batters while walking only 5 and giving up 37 hits for a WHIP of 0.955.

According to Zrebiec and Connolly Uehara set a franchise record by not walking a batter in 32 consecutive appearances spanning 34 innings. He ended the season with a streak of 44 strikeouts since his last walk allowed. So keeping this quality pitcher in the Orioles bullpen for the 2010 season will be a plus for manager Buck Showalter.

- Click Here to access Koji Uehara's career statistics (including Japan) from BaseballCube.com

- San Diego Padres trade for shortstop Jason Bartlett
The Friarhood.com reports that the San Diego Padres and the Tampa Bay Rays made a trade during the Winter Meetings. The Rays sent shortstop Jason Bartlett to the Padres in exchange for pitchers Adam Russell and lefty Cesar Ramos.

In Bartlett the Padres get a good shortstop who hit .254 with 4 HRs and 47 RBI. In 468 at-bats Bartlett had 119 hits (27 2B/3 3B/4 HR) while striking out 83 times and walking 45 walks with 11 stolen bases. Defensively, Bartlett made 11 errors in 1104 innings at shortstop for a fielding percentage of .977.

Tampa gets in Russell a reliever that went 0-0 with a 4.02 ERA in 12 appearances while Ramos went 0-1 with an 11.88 in 14 appearances.

While Bartlett fills a hole in the Padres' infield, I'm not sure if Russell and Ramos will fill the gaping hole in Tampa's bullpen created with the loss of Juaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano. I think the Padres got the better end of this deal.

- Click Here for Jason Bartlett's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here for Adam Russell's career statistics from BaseballCube.com
- Click Here for Cesar Ramos' career statistics from BaseballCube.com

- The Milwaukee Brewers sign catcher Wil Nieves
Tom Haudricourt on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel announced on his twitter feed that the Milwaukee Brewers had signed catcher Wil Nieves to a contract. The terms were not disclosed as of yet.

In 2010 Nieves, formerly of the Washington Nationals, batted .203 with 3Hrs and 16 RBI. In 158 at-bats he had 32 hits (8 2B/0 3B/3 HR) with 29 strikeouts and 8 walks. On the defensive end, Nieves threw out 24% of base stealers (10 of 31).

Haudricourt says that the Nieves signing was done for the following reason:

it puts another guy in the mix to battle for the backup job behind young starter Jonathan Lucroy. The Brewers still have last year's backup, George Kottaras, on their roster and not too long ago signed former backup Mike Rivera to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training. The Brewers also added minor-leaguer Martin Maldonado to their 40-man roster over the winter.

It was also pointed out to me that Lucroy probably will catch at least 120 games, so the backup isn't going to play a tremendous amount. And I was also told that the report on Nieves is that pitchers like throwing to him, which is an important component.

We'll see if Nieves catches on after Spring Training or ends up wearing a different uniform during 2010.

- Click Here to access Wil Nieves' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Dioner Navarro signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers
According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed catcher Dioner Navarro to a contract pending the result of a physical. Navarro previously played with the Dodgers in 2005-2006 before being traded to Tampa Bay where he was through 2010.

In 2010 Navarro batted .194 with 1HR and 7 RBI. In a limited 124 at-bats Navarro had 24 hits (5 2B/0 3B/1 HR) with 20 strikeouts and 12 walks. Defensively Navarro threw out 39% of base stealers (12 of 19). His playing time was greatly diminished in favor of John Jaso and Kelly Shoppach getting time behind the plate.

Gurnick says that Navarro will compete with A.J. Ellis as backup to starting catcher Rod Barajas who recently signed a $3.25 million dollar contract. For the Dodgers this means that former catcher Russell Martin probably moves on for the 2010 after coming off of a fractured hip.

- Click Here to access Dioner Navarro's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

It seems with the last few days that the Tampa Bay Rays are back at the starting block in terms of putting their team together. Since the end of Game 5 of the ALDS, the Rays have lost Peña, Benoit and Navarro to free-agent signings, Bartlett in a trade and Soriano is still unsigned (and as I will report with my next post, the big name of Tampa's free agent's has reportedly signed elsewhere).

FH

Winter Meetings Day Three Part Two

More signing, more signings and more signings:

- Paul Konerko re-signs with the Chicago White Sox
Not to be outdone by their Northside rivals, the Southside White Sox re-signed their captain (in a negotitation much less contentious than the New York Yankees' negotiation with their own captain. Take notes boys, this is how it is done) Paul Konerko to a 3-year $37.5 million dollar deal.

According to Dave van Dyck of Chicagobreakingsports.com Konerko, will receive $12 million in each of the next two seasons, then $6.5 million in the third year. The rest will be paid in $1 million installments for seven years.

The longtime White Sox had a very productive 2010 season. Konerko batted .312 with 39 HRs and 111 RBI. In 548 at-bats, Konerko had 171 hits (30 2B/1 3B/39 HR) with 72 walks and 110 strikeouts. His OPS was a career high .977(.383 OBP%/.584 SLG%). Konerko's effort resulted in his being voted 5th in the American League MVP race.

The White Sox look offensively impressive with Konerko and Adam Dunn sharing first base and DH duties. Look for these pair of slugging teammates to put a hurting on opposing pitching.

- Click Here for Paul Konerko's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Kansas City signs Jeff Francouer
Bob Dutton reports on his Twitter feed that outfielder Jeff Francouer has signed a contract for the 2011 season with the Kansas City Royals. According to Dutton, Francouer will receive $2.5M for 2011, with $500K in incentives, and a $3M mutual option for 2012.

Sharing time with the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers in 2010, Francouer batted a combined .249 with 13 HRs and 65 RBI. In 454 at-bats Francouer had 113 hits (18 2B/2 3B/13 HR) with 30 walks and 81 strikeouts with 8 stolen bases. His OPS was .683 (.300 OBP%/.383 SLG%)

- Click Here for Jeff Francouer's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Jack Cust signs with the Seattle Mariners
Goeff Baker reports on his blogpage that he has spoken to Jack Cust who confirmed that he in fact signed a 1-year $2.5-million deal plus incentives with the Seattle Mariners.

In 2010 Cust, formerly of the division rival Oakland Athleticcs, batted .272 with 13 HRs and 52 RBI. In 349 at-bats Cust had 95 hits (19 2B/0 3B/13 HR) 68 walks and 127 strikeouts. His OPS was .834 (.395 OBP%/.438 SLG%).

Baker attributes the following as the reason that Cust chose to sign with the Mariners:

Cust told me his priority is signing was to find a team that appreciated what he could do as a player -- make that, a full-time player.

"From what it sounds like, I'm going to be in there both way (versus lefties and righties) and that's the way I like it," he said. "I've always been able to hit lefties pretty well."

- Click Here to access Jack Cust's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Ok folks, I guess that's enough for now. Have to get ready to head down to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and find a Santa to take our yearly family picture with. Later.

FH

Winter Meetings Day Three

A few of these transactions were reported after I signed off. So here goes day Three:

- Carlos Peña signs with the Chicago Cubs
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated reports that the Chicago Cubs and Carlos Peña have agreed on a 1-year $10 million dollar contract. Peña, formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays, is coming off of a disappointing season at the plate. In 2010, Peña hit .196 with 28 HRs and 84 RBI. In 484 at-bats he had 95 hits (18 2B/0 3B/28 HR) to go along with 87 walks and 158 strikeouts. His OPS was .732 (325 OBP%/407 SLG%).

From 2007-2009 Peña averaged 39 HRs (144 in the last 4 seasons) and 108 RBI with 95 walks and 157 strikeouts so we know he can be an offensive force from the left side of the plate. His signing with the Cubs fills a need for the team since Derreck Lee was traded last season to the Atlanta Braves. Peña joins Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez in a lineup that has the potential to be potent. The question remains whether or not one or all of these players can stay healthy and play at their potential.

- Click Here for Carlos Peña's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Matt Diaz signs with the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates continued with their very active showing at the Winter Meetings by signing outfielder Matt Diaz. Pirates beat reporter for MLB.com Jen Langosch reports that Diaz, formerly of the Atlanta Braves, signed a two-year agreement for "approximately $4.25 million.".

In 2010 Diaz batted .250 with 7HRs and 31 RBI. In 224 at-bats, Diaz had 56 hits (17 2B/2 3B/7 HR) with 13 walks and 44 strikeouts.

Langosch says the following about Diaz in relation to his role with the Pirates:

The Pirates have been looking for someone who can be a threat against left-handed pitching, and Diaz is exactly that. He batted. 273 against lefties last season and is a career .335 hitter against southpaws.

Diaz played primarily in left while with Atlanta, but his fit with the Pirates would be in right. He has played 78 career games as a right fielder and batted .305 in his five-year stay with Atlanta.

I'll be honest when I say I don't know much about Diaz. Guess I'll have to track him in the box scores to see his progress.

- Click Here to access Matt Diaz's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

That's all for now. I'll be back soon with (hopefully) some more news and signings.

FH

Winter Meetings Day Two Part Two

So continuing with the trend of highlighting the signings during the Winter meetings, here goes:

- Scott Olsen signs with the Pittsburgh Pirates
William DePaoli reports on the InsidePittsburghSports.com website that the Pirates and pitcher Scott Olsen have agreed to the framework of a 1-year $1 million dollar deal with incentives that seem to not have been agreed to by both sides.

Scott Olsen, formerly of the Washington Nationals, has had an injuries limit his pitching the last two seasons. In 2010, Olsen compiled a 4-8 record with a 5.56 ERA in 17 games, 15 of which were starts. He struck out 53 while walking 27 and allowing 93 hits in 81 innings pitched for a WHIP of 1.481.

Maybe Olsen can stay healthy and join a rotation that seems to be full now with the acquisition of Kevin Correia yesterday by the Pirates and Maholm, McDonald and Ohlendorf. If so, the Pirates might have one of the better young rotations in baseball.

- Click Here to access Scott Olsen's career statistics at Baseball Reference.com

- Tony Gwynn Jr. signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers
Tony Jackson of ESPN Los Angeles reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed Tony Gwynn Jr., to a 1-year deal after being non-tendered by the San Diego Padres last week.

After a productive 2009 season for Gwynn, 2010 was a bit of a let down. Gwynn batted .204 with 3 HRs and 20 RBI. He had 59 hits (9 2B/3 3B/3 HR) in 289 at-bats while striking out 50 ties and walking 41 times and stealing 17 bases out of 21 attempts.

I believe that Gwynn will play a similar role with the Dodgers as he did with the Padres. He is versatile by playing all three outfield positions as well as having the speed to be a pinch runner.

- Click Here to see Tony Gwynn Jr's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- New York Mets Sign Two Players
Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports that according to sources the New York Mets have agreed to a one-year, $1.3 million contract with catcher Ronny Paulino and a two-year, $2.5 million contract with reliever D.J. Carrasco. Both deals are pending physicals.

Ronny Paulino, formerly of the Florida Marlins, was suspended for 50 games in late August after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. His suspension ran for 42 games last season and will be in effect for the first 8 games of the 2011 season. Up to the time of the suspension, Paulino was batting .259 with 4 HRs and 37 RBI. In 316 at-bats, Paulino had 82 hits (18 2B/0 3B/4 HR), striking out 51 times and drawing 25 bases on balls.

D.J. Carrasco, played with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2010 season compiling a 3-2 record with a 3.68 ERA in 63 games. In 78.1 innings pitched, Carrasco struck out 63, walking 34 and giving up 68 hits for a WHIP of 1.302.

It is believed that Paulino will platoon at catcher with Josh Thole while Carrasco will try to bring some stability to a Mets bullpen that lost Hisanori Takahashi and Pedro Feliciano to free agency. For a small price the Mets have plugged two critical holes within their team.

- Click Here for Ronny Paulino's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here for D.J. Carrasco's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Well, day two of the Winter Meetings was a bit anti-climactic since there wasn't any news concerning the main free agents Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford. There's always tomorrow.

FH

My Impressions of the Derek Jeter Contract Press Conference

I just finished watching the Derek Jeter press conference and came to a realization: We've just seen the transformation of Derek Jeter. Sure he had the cool demeanor we have grown accustomed to seeing in Jeter. But we saw something new out of him: Anger.

I thought that there were a few statements that he made that seemed to stand out more than others. When asked about what if any frustration he felt at the negotiations, Jeter said:

Honestly the thing that bothered me the most was how public this became..This was a negotiation that was supposed to be private...It was an uncomfortable position that I was in...it was not an enjoyable experience...throughout the years I have prided myself on keeping things out of the papers and out of the media and this became a private thing...This was something I was not happy about...I'll let my feelings be known this situation this free agency thing, I never wanted to be a free agent, it was the situation that I was in...I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't angry at how some of this went

When asked by Sweeney Murti of WFAN on who he was angry at Jeter responded (after an attempted moment of levity directed towards Murti):

I'm not sitting here pointing fingers at anyone...You see we're one big happy family here up at the podium...I was more angry at the process and how I was portrayed...You know there was alot of things said out there...I try not to read the papers and try not to listen to the stories...No matter how you look at it your friends and family are filling you in...I was angry at how I was portrayed through all of this...I've heard greed...I've heard all of a sudden I have ego and arrogance...I don't think that was portrayed correctly because this was a negotiation and from my understanding of a negotiation, one side makes and offer the other side makes an offer and you try to come to an agreement...All the statements of salary demands I'm in no position to demand anything since I basically said this is where I wanted to be, what can I demand...It was just a matter of coming to an agreement between sides...I just thought it was portrayed incorrectly.

Those of you who know me are familiar with how I stand in respect to the whole Derek Jeter contract negotiation. I felt the haughty public stance taken by the Yankees was wrong for a player of Jeter's caliber. Sure he is getting older. He's not the same fresh faced player that we saw come up with the team in 1996. But from what I understood from his words, his stance and his mannerisms, the fire to succeed has not been diminished in any way from then to now. I think the negativity that surrounded his contract renewal will serve to ignite him even more, though he has way too much class to be public about it.

I've never seen Jeter with that look on his face and to be honest I'm glad to see it. I hope he goes out and puts up an MVP type season and shuts the critics up. For all of you out there with your metrics and statistics that are used to measure up players, knock Jeter all you want. At the end of the day, I'll take the Yankee Captain to play the #6 position on the field of Yankee Stadium. If I wasn't a Jeter fan before today, I am now.

FH

- Click Here to access the video footage of the Jeter press conference from the YES Network website

- Click Here to access the video footage of the post-press conference interview with Derek Jeter done by Bob Lorenz and Jack Curry from the YES Network website