Yeah, pretty disappointing
Now, as the winter meetings are wrapping up here, that's what we have had. Nothing much. There was one blockbuster trade, some lesser moves, a couple of free-agent signings and a whole lot of talk. Of course, the end of the winter meetings is not a deadline, and deals that did not happen this week could well go down next week. These guys do have telephones. Still, more was expected. In the end, here's what we learned about:
1. Pitching. Everybody wants it, and they want it badly. But they sure don't want to overpay for it. We entered the winter meetings with three stud pitchers being discussed, Minnesota's Johan Santana, Oakland's Dan Haren and Baltimore's Erik Bedard, and the possibility that all three would be moved. None was, because their teams were simply asking too much.
The Santana saga has been much chronicled, even with a bidding competition between the Red Sox and Yankees, the Twins could not create a package they deemed worthy of moving Santana. But the same applies to Haren. The A's were asking nearly as much for Haren as the Twins were for Santana, in part because he does not require the $150 million contract extension that Santana will demand.
In Baltimore's case, teams seeking Bedard would also have to take on one of the team's albatross contracts, especially that of Melvin Mora. No one wants to do that.
2. Dave Dombrowski. The guy has guts. The deal that landed Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis has been portrayed as a no-brainer, but that overlooks the risks the Tigers are taking.
As good as Cabrera is, questions about his weight, his ability to play third and his approach to the game have dogged him. He's a huge bat, of course, and if he stays healthy and gets himself in shape, then he's going to be a star in Detroit for a long, long time. But those are not guarantees.
Willis was 10-15 last season, with a 5.17 ERA and a career-high 87 walks. At times, he did not look healthy. Chances are, he will regroup and pitch like his old self again. But what if he doesn't? What if Cabrera's conditioning issues lead to an injury? The team gave up six prospects, including its top two.
Dombrowski believes he has a championship window in Detroit now and he acted accordingly. But don't make the mistake of assuming he did not take a risk here.
3. The Dodgers. Clearly, GM Ned Colletti doesn't love the team's prospects as much as some in (and outside) the organization. But, at the same time, the Dodgers want to keep their payroll under control and keeping their prospects rather than dealing them for immediate help seems to be the plan.
So, rather than giving Torii Hunter $90 million, rather than emptying the farm system for Cabrera or Santana, the Dodgers got Andruw Jones on a reasonable two-year contract, ensuring that Joe Torre is not the team's only major offseason acquisition. That will free up Colletti to deal one of the team's young outfielders, Andre Ethier or, more likely, Matt Kemp, for pitching help.
4. The little guys. Some of the lesser moves made in the past couple of days are easy to overlook. But two teams who helped themselves are the Nationals and the Rays. Washington took on some risky personalities in landing Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes, but both guys have unquestioned talent. Milledge is 23he can hit and is a very good athlete, but alienated teammates with his attitude. Nationals manager Manny Acta has a relationship with Milledge from his days on the Mets coaching staff, and is confident a change of scenery can get Milledge turned around. Dukes might be a bigger risk, but again, the Nationals think he can be straightened out.
Dukes' former team in Tampa got itself a quality young starter, Matt Garza, in a deal with the Twins, and solidified their defense with Jason Bartlett at shortstop. They also added closer Troy Percival, a veteran who should provide stability, professionalism and, hopefully, saves to the team's relief unit.
5. The Mitchell Report. Well, we learned nothing on this front, except that it should come out in the next 10 days or so.
to Yankee fans...key is,will they deal Jacoby Ellsbury in that deal or not.Yankees should be really aggressive at next week's meetings,and if it means goodbye to Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera,and a couple of good prospects,so be it.
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