Another slew of deals were closed late Wednesday as MLB's Winter Meetings draw to a close on Thursday. Teams appeared to be looking for pitchers and outfielders in the last round of moves.
The Cubs made the biggest splash of the latest round of deals, signing pitcher Ted Lilly to a four year, $40 million deal. Wow...that's entirely too much money for a pitcher who has had exactly one season above league average. Barry Zito and Jeff Suppan have to be licking their chops after Jason Schmidt signed a seemingly low deal, especially compared to the Lilly signing. If Lilly can turn the corner and provide the Cubs the #2 starter they badly need behind Carlos Zambrano, this deal could be good. But on its face, it appears the Cubs paid a fortune for a #3/4 type starter.
Meanwhile, another starter was the centerpiece in a notable trade. The White Sox traded Freddy Garcia to the Phillies for pitcher Gavin Floyd and a player to be named, which was expected to be minor league pitcher Gio Gonzalez. Little is known about Gonzalez, but Floyd has excellent stuff, but has never harnessed it into any solid success at the Major League level. Garcia is a free agent after the 2007 season, but the Phillies at least get a top quality starter for next season. The Phillies also get a shot at retaining Garcia long term, and they will have the money to do so if he performs well. At the moment, the trade slightly favors the Phillies in my mind, but Gonzalez is a wild card that we may not know anything about for some time.
More starting pitching was traded Wednesday, as the Braves traded oft-injured starter Horacio Ramirez to the Mariners for reliever Rafael Soriano. What are the Mariners thinking? They had the money to put together a reasonably good starting rotation behind Felix Hernandez, and they had the setup and closing roles sewn up for years with Soriano and JJ Putz. Seattle's other relievers are all interchangeable, and I assume that George Sherrill would probably get set up duties next sesason. Ramirez had one good season with 12 wins and a 4.00 ERA with the Braves, but has had numerous injury problems. However, he was for the most part solid in a handful of starts last season. If he can stay healthy, Ramirez could be a reasonable option in the back of the rotation.
Meanwhile, Atlanta's bullpen gets a major boost with Soriano setting up Bob Wickman this season, and with Soriano likely becoming the closer next season (and sooner if Wickman gets hurt). Soriano gives Bobby Cox the shut-down reliever the Braves have sorely needed, and he should make giving up the ball a little easier for John Smoltz and company to swallow.
In other deals, the A's were busy yesterday, first signing Mike Piazza to a one year, $8.5 million deal to be their DH. I don't believe the career National Leaguer will put up quite the numbers Frank Thomas did, but I believe Piazza will be solid for the Athletics. He could also back up their regular catcher, and take over in a pinch if there's an injury. The A's also signed reliever Alan Embree to a two year, $5.5 million deal, and this is a really nice signing. Embree's been one of the most solid lefty relievers in all of baseball the last couple years. Getting him long term is a major coup for Billy Beane.
Catcher Bengie Molina inked a three year deal with the Giants worth $16 million. It's a reasonable enough signing, but it doesn't solve the problem that the Giants are a really old team. The Giants are pretty much stuck with Molina at that price, as catchers are not commonly traded at the deadlines. Molina is a good hitter and is mid pack in defense.
The Dodgers continue to pull free agents away from their NL West competitors, as they have signed outfielder Luis Gonzalez to a one year deal worth $7 million. Gonzalez won't replace JD Drew offensively, but he's close enough to make this a good signing. Gonzalez will likely play left, while Andre Ethier moves to right field. The Dodgers will have a reasonably solid outfield in 2007, which is a must, especially if Brad Penny is still in the rotation. He and newly signed ace Jason Schmidt are power pitchers and will give up a fair share of popups and fly balls.
Finally, we have received rumblings that the St Louis Cardinals are courting Barry Bonds, but money will certainly be an issue. Bonds doesn't look receptive to a pay cut, nor is he interested in cutting back his playing time. The Cardinals don't have $18 million to pay Bonds, as the team sorely needs at least one more (and really two more) starting pitchers. Bonds is no longer the player he used to be, and for this season, I don't see him being significantly better on either side of the ball than Chris Duncan. If the Cardinals had a deal in place for Juan Encarnacion that didn't require them to pay part of his salary, a Bonds deal might be doable, but it only gains walks. In 2006, Bonds was a feast-or-famine hitter outside of the walks, and I don't believe he'll get walked as much this year. Bonds' defense fell to atrocious levels in 2006 due to a bum knee that has showed no signs of getting much better. The Cardinals already have one defensive liability in the outfield in Duncan, and Encarnacion isn't much better. So, I don't understand the interest in Bonds, especially when he will likely command an eight figure salary if he plays at all.
There's one more day of winter baseball activity to go, and we will keep you posted on all the deals and what we think of them at To the Point and Back!
About the Author
Author Robert Griggs is an avid follower of baseball. He is a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan so you can be sure to see many articles like this one in the future. Mr. Griggs currently writes for the commentary website: http://www.tothepointandback.com. If you would like to check out more of his works, feel free to do so. | |
