Opinions on some transactions...

Weighing in on some of the more significant transactions so far in the MLB offseason...

Free Agent signings

Brewers sign C Jason Kendall to a one year contract worth $4.25M

After trading Johnny Estrada to the Mets, I guess they decided to go with defense over pop at the plate, but Kendall just can't hit. And for over $4 million? I would have probably went after Paul Lo Duca, a bit more pop for roughly the same amount of money. But that's just me. Grade: C

Reds sign CL Francisco Cordero to a four year contract worth $46M

Wow, after basically given to Milwaukee by the Rangers, one good year makes the guy an $11.5M per year pitcher? Clearly more indicative of the market - but overpaying has been the norm this year. Well, maybe it's not overpaying if EVERYBODY is doing it - it's just the baseball economy. At any rate, Cordero was clearly the best closer available this offseason (since nobody really thought Mariano Rivera would leave the Yankees) and I like the fit for Cincinnati. Their bullpen is still suspect, but sliding David Weathers back into the more comfortable 8th inning setup role should give them about 3 more wins than last year. Unfortunately, now the Reds probably don't have any more money to spend this offseason. Grade: B+

Yankees re-signed C Jorge Posada to a four year contract worth $52.4M

Nobody really expected Posada to leave the Yankees, except maybe for the crosstown Mets. But the Bronx Bombers threw enough cash at him to make sure that wouldn't happen. Four years for a 36 year old catcher though? By year three (maybe even the latter part of two) Posada will likely be the starting 1B or DH for New York. He had a career year with the bat, so no reason to think the decline will happen overnight - but with older catchers, you just never know. Risky move. Grade: B-, if only for the contract length. A two year deal would have been an A+ move. Four years is far too long.

Rays signed CL Troy Percival to a two year contract worth $8M

I love this deal. Love it. Percival pitched to a 1.80 ERA for the Cardinals in 2007, a year after retiring due to arm troubles. He got a clean slate of health by the Rays' physicians prior to the deal - and at $4M per, this was a no-brainer. The caveat: the Cardinals' reluctance to use Percival on back-to-back days may be an indication that they felt either his arm couldn't handle it or his conditioning was poor. For the Rays' sake, they hope it was the latter. With Al Reyes and Percival at the back of the bullpen, Tampa Bay won't be blowing as many saves as years past. Grade: A

Astros signed 2B Kaz Matsui to a three year contract worth $16.5M

Why? Matsui has largely been terrible since coming to America with the Mets, and aside from part of last year (and really only at Coors Field) he's consistently remained fairly terrible. If I were the Astros I would have re-signed Mark Loretta and handed him the starting job, or finally promoted Chris Burke. Looks like Burke will get traded after waiting years for Craig Biggio to retire. Life's not fair! Grade: D


Trades

Twins traded SP Matt Garza, P Eduardo Morlan, and SS Jason Bartlett to Rays for OF Delmon Young, OF Jason Pridie, and IF Brendan Harris

Not often do you see teams swapping young potential stars, if only for the factor that they don't want them to come back and bite them in the rear down the road. Tampa turned its surplus of outfielders into a major piece of its 2008 rotation by acquiring Garza from Minnesota, a team with a dearth of young starting pitching. Very even. Beyond the two marquee names, the trade favors Tampa, improving their SS defense and production with Bartlett and getting the flame-throwing prospect Morlan. I'll call this one in favor of Tampa, but I like it for both teams.

Mets traded OF Lastings Milledge to Nationals for OF Ryan Church and C Brian Schneider

I had to do about a triple-take when I saw the headline for this. Did the Mets really trade Lastings Milledge for NOTHING? Apparently so. As recently as 2005, Milledge was going to be the centerpiece in a deal for Manny Ramirez, but negotiations fell apart. He, along with Aaron Heilman, was going to Oakland for Barry Zito, but that never happened. A few cups of coffee with the Mets since, and the guy's value plummets so low that he's traded for one of the worst hitting catchers in baseball and a fourth OF / platoon player? A head scratcher, for sure, especially considering the Mets acquired Johnny Estrada to be their starting catcher a few weeks prior to this trade. With Milledge, Washington gets an outfielder with lightning-fast bat speed and an attitude problem, which is a gamble I'm sure they were willing to take for what they gave up. Nationals take this in a landslide.

Nationals traded P Glenn Gibson to Rays for OF Elijah Dukes

I must admit that I've never heard of Gibson. This trade was a case of the Rays basically giving Dukes away, after his poor attitude and legal run-ins cost him his good graces in Tampa. He wasn't going to play for Tampa again, so getting anything was a bonus. Still, he's young and has upside, so make this two in a row for the Nationals.

White Sox traded 1B Chris Carter to Diamondbacks for OF Carlos Quentin

Carlos Quentin was a highly regarded prospect for Arizona whom they balked at throwing into the Randy Johnson deal with the Yankees last year. He spent the year up with the big club in 2007 and didn't really impress, spending time on the DL and battling general ineffectiveness at the plate. Carter played the year at single A, hitting 25 homers and nearly knocking in 100 runs. The jury is out on this one, but since Carter seems to be so far away, I'm giving this to Chicago. After all, depending on how things shake out, Quentin may be their starting left fielder on opening day 2008.