SIGNED! Kelly Shoppach

To the Mariners. One year for $1.5MM

The Mariners took a hit offensively when they dealt catcher John Jaso to the A's in part of the three team trade that brought Michael Morse to Seattle. The signing of Kelly Shoppach positions him as a viable catching option in case Jesus Montero (arguably a natural DH) proves himself unable or unready to perform full time catching duties. Shoppach will be reuniting with manager Eric Wedge who he played for during his time with the Cleveland Indians. The Mariners also signed Ronny Paulino to a minor league contract as depth move in light of the Jaso trade.

Offseason Review: The San Francisco Giants

Manager Bruce Bochy is building a hall of fame
worthy resume in San Francisco.

After a team wins the World Series for the second time in three seasons, you can pretty well assume that they have a roster that they are confident in. The San Francisco Giants responded to their World Series ring by being relatively quiet on the free agent front. In fact, the only additions to the San Francisco roster are veteran reliever Scott Proctor who pitched in Japan in 2012 and Andres Torres who has been a Giant from 2009-2011 before being traded to the Mets in December of 2011. Other than that the only offseason strategy was re-signing many of the free agents who made their championship series possible. NLCS MVP Marco Scutaro, Jeremy Affeldt and Angel Pagan were all awarded for their efforts with large contracts keeping them in San Francisco for the next few seasons.

Marco Scutaro, acquired from the Rockies,
quickly became a force for the Giants.

It might be easy to see what's happening with the NL West and Los Angeles' attempt to crush their division and say that the Giants need to follow suit and make more drastic moves, but that would be drastically underestimating the tremendous feat that is accomplishing two world championship's in three years.  Effective team chemistry and a management staff that's a proven recipe for victory shouldn't be altered drastically, no matter who finds themselves on the free agent market. The Dodgers are attempting to take the Giants crown by way of mass acquisition of major talent, whereas the key to the Giants consistent success has been subtlety and solidity. There are no blatant weak spots in the Giants front office (with the exception of 2011's incredibly short sighted trade of Zack Wheeler for Carlos Beltran) lineup, rotation or bullpen.

Rookie of the Year
MVP
Two World Series Rings
Very Kind Smile

It's not as if the Giants front office hasn't had some difficult decisions to make. All of the players re-signed with the Giants are of veteran status and largely without an all-star pedigree. This reality makes the prospect of injury or decline a very real possibility. The Giants also assessed Sergio Romo's fantastic season as leverage enough to part ways with (inexplicable) fan favorite Brian Wilson after his second Tommy John surgery. The Giants won the World Series with an MVP catcher, a top five pitcher, extremely modest offense, and an ace in serious decline after two time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum posted a 5.18 ERA with a 10-15 record. Despite adversity and quiet aspects of their play, the Giants seems to have found a recipe for consistent contention that they are careful not to tamper with. Expect them to contend in the fierce NL West again in 2013.

SIGNED! Alex Gonzalez

One year with the Brewers for $1.5MM guaranteed
and $1MM in incentives

Veteran shortstop Alex Gonzalez will re-join the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013.  Alex Gonzalez had a promising start to his 2012 campaign posting a .259/.326/.457 line in 24 games before a severe knee injury ended his season.  According to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, Gonzalez will serve primarily off of the bench or platooning with young shortstop Jean Segura who was acquired in last years Zack Greinke trade. Gonzalez is a solid addition to the Brewers lineup, who desperately needed some proven players for their bench to help support and nurture a largely very young Milwaukee lineup. The Milwaukee Brewers are looking to add further veteran presence depth, including perhaps reuniting the Brewers with former fan favorite Lyle Overbay.

SIGNED! Shaun Marcum

To the Mets, one year.

The details are not yet finalized, but Shaun Marcum looks all but confirmed to be a New York Met next year pending his physical. Marcum was a quality pitcher for the Brewers the last couple of seasons when he was healthy, posting a 3.70 ERA over 21 starts. Marcum's health has been spotty throughout much of his career, missing chunks of 2012 with an elbow issue and the entire 2009 season after undergoing elbow reconstruction surgery.  Assuming he passes the physical he'll be a very serviceable addition to the Mets rotation which also includes Johan Santana, Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey and Dillon Gee. As the Mets would have to pull out some pretty miraculous stops to contend in 2013, Marcum also becomes a credible trade chip to a contending club come mid-season.

TRADED! Justin Upton

To the Braves with Chris Johnson for five players.

I'm glad that a mutually beneficial Justin Upton trade happened because I was beginning to think it was impossible. The Diamondbacks acquire third basemen Martin Prado, right handed pitcher Randall Delgado, shortstop prospect Nick Ahmed, minor league first basemen Brandon Drury and another right handed prospect in Zeke Spruill in exchange for Justin Upton and Chris Johnson. Justin will be joining his older brother B.J. in the Braves outfield that also contains the slugger Jason Heyward, providing quite a formidable core of young starters who project to be good for a long time.

Justin Upton had previously been "traded" to the Seattle Mariners for a huge package headlined by excellent pitching prospect Taijuan Walker. Upton rejected this trade as per the limited no-trade clause in his contract, and in my opinion saved Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik's job by doing so. Upton is by no means anything besides a very good player, but their is a lot of hype in his name. His defense is at best slightly above average, and while his offensive numbers suggest the potential of superstar status, they aren't definite. His stats took a bit of a dive from his 2011 to 2012 campaigns, devolving from a .281/.369/.529 line to a .280/.355/.430 line.  At 25 years of age wavering numbers are no necessary cause for immediate alarm; but they do make players like Randall Delgado, who is older and has a lower ceiling, more of an appropriate trade target than Seattle's Walker.

As soon as news of Upton's trade and subsequent rejection-of-trade to the Mariners broke, it pretty much became necessity to move him. There was probably no better place for the former Diamondback to land than Turner Field. The team is young and competitive and it's been described by both brothers as a "dream come true" to be on the same team. I think the Braves got the better deal in the situation, adding a mix of youth and experience to an already exciting team. The D-Backs let Upton go for a good, not great package, and did so to build a team of "gritty" players. I think intangibles like that are totally inane, and I don't see why a "gritty" Cody Ross is going to be better than Justin Upton, but I'll save that critique for the Diamondbacks offseason review. I don't think this trade will put the Braves on the Nationals level, but it will make them that much more of a brutal contender.

SIGNED! Scott Hairston

Two years  and up to $6MM to the Cubs.

Scott Hairston is going to be a North Sider for the next two years. A solid addition to the roster, Journeyman Hairston joins a relatively crowded Cubs left field, but will be a good addition to a lineup that's comparably weak against left handed pitching. Hairston will likely platoon with fellow newcomer Nate Schierholtz who's numbers against righties parallell Hairston's offensive work against southpaws (.867 OPS in 2012). I view the addition of Scott Hairston as a logical move for a team that's conceding they won't win in the coming season. Solid presence, bargain price and capable of being a solid trade chip.

Offseason Review: Pittsburgh Pirates

The past few years, the Pirates have started their seasons with such tenacity that even the slothiest, drunken Milwaukee homer has had to concede that they don't look like the pitiful and hapless bunch of dopes they were only a few years ago. In 2012 they took the first place slot in the NL Central and took everyones attention as a potentially very exciting dark horse candidate. Then July happened and everything fell apart. The mix of young undeveloped talent and very, very veteran presence couldn't sustain themselves, and the Pirates plummeted in to their twentieth consecutive losing season. This motif is getting very old for Pittsburgh fans.

Manager Clint Hurdle's face basically says it all.

The way Pirates GM Neal Huntington has responded to this record of prolonged failure is a little perplexing to me.  The only legitimate gold that his draft board has yielded that's been an impactful big league presence is Andrew McCutcheon. There are a few good-ish players (Neil Walker, maybe Pedro Alvarez) who could contribute to a solid run, but they are weighed down by a massive body of mediocrity. Walker hitting slightly above average isn't going to matter if Michael McHenry or Garrett Jones is expected to knock him in. This puts Huntington in an extremely awkward, difficult-to-apply-blame-to position.  Building the right chemistry between young and developing talent and influential veteran presence in an environment where losing is becoming an inexcusably tired theme is a frustrating and extremely difficult one, especially when you're given extreme budgetary constraints.

New Pirates catcher Russell Martin,
PIRATED from the Yankees. Har har.

Sadly, it looks like the Bucs strategy isn't going to shift too far off course from 2012 to 2013. The tactic of adding old, former Yankees who are past their prime has repeated itself in the signing of backstop Russell Martin.  Martin signed a 2 year $17MM contract after posting a pretty modest .211/.311/.403 line last year in the Bronx. The signing caused a little bit of commotion in the world, not because it was particularly intelligent per se, but because the Pirates outbid the Yankees for a player. Martin does figure to be an upgrade over Rod Barajas, but to what end?  Replacing one mediocre, aging backstop with a slightly better but much more expensive one enhance a team like the Pirates in to competitive relevance.

Notorious bathroom slipper, Francisco Liriano

Russell Martin may not be the only major signing by the Bucs. The signing of Francisco Liriano was all but official until the requisite physical necessary for completing a player's signing revealed a broken arm. Apparently Liriano damaged his non-throwing arm in a "bathroom fall", an injury claim as vague as it is suspiciously silly. Whether or not the injury happened by it's claimed cause doesn't matter, the alleged bathroom tumble has gummed up the works quite a bit. As of tonight, Liriano is still officially a free agent, but the latest reports suggest that he has agreed to a newly worded contract containing "protective language" ala Mike Napoli's new deal with Boston. What does it mean though? Adding a pitcher who hasn't posted an ERA under 5.00 in two seasons doesn't bode well for the fragile Pittsburgh roster.

The two things I've seen make sense out of the Pirates front office are the trading of Joel Hanrahan and the re-signing of Jason Grilli. Grilli will be a fine stopgap closer and ultimately a decent trade chip if the  Pirates do what I expect, which is implode again and again for a few more years until the talent they still have in the minors continues to develop. Their isn't really anyone to blame for this, and Pirates fans owe it to their General Manager to be patient for a few more years. Losing has been such a constant for the Pirates that Neal Huntington couldn't help but inherit a losing team. Trading their all-star closer is a conscientious move proving that an attempt is being made, despite limited resources, to right the ship in Pittsburgh.

Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon

The other moves have been or minuscule importance. Trading Chris Resop for Zach Thornton and signing Brad Hawpe isn't going to bring a ring to PNC Park. The Pirates won't taste victory in the NL Central as long as the Cardinals and Brewers are relatively competent and the Reds are in powerhouse mode. All pessimism aside, their farm system provides things to be optimistic about.  Players like Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole will be major league ready while Andrew McCutchen is still an elite player, and when that time comes, the Pirates will be a force.