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.

SIGNED! Delmon Young

One Year $750K to the Phillies.

Uuuuuughhhhh...yikes. Ok I really don't know what's going on in Philadelphia. As I established in my offseason review, the Philadelphia Phillies are an aging franchise who seem unwilling to give up the ghost. I really don't think Delmon Young is going to be some sort of game changer in Philadelphia, but I can see some logic in his contract being used as a trade chip down the line. Young could have made a lot more money but his burdensome behavioral track record made him arguably a "bargain"depending on how you look at it. I personally don't really want guys who get intoxicated and shout anti-Semetic slurs at passerby no matter how much of a bargain they are, so this signing doesn't impress me. So yep, I guess this one makes sense, assuming you're capable of overlooking and/or taking advantage of really unlikeable character traits in a player and inflicting that on the rest of your clubhouse. Not for me.

Offseason Review: The Milwaukee Brewers

Going in to the 2012 season the Milwaukee Brewers were expected to viable contenders to repeat as NL Central Champions. There was a lot of concern as to how things would flow without Prince Fielder  holding down first base; but with Braun, Hart, Weeks, an emerging Lucroy and the addition of slugging third baseman Aramis Ramirez, offense wasn't too much of a worry. It was also easy to look at the Crew's bullpen as a major advantage given John Axford's lights out performance in 2011 and a returning Francisco Rodriguez. With the starting rotation the same as it was the year prior, it would basically take a major meltdown for the Brewers to not be serious contenders in their division. That's exactly what happened.

Rickie Weeks, an all-star in 2011, started the season in a slump that carried through almost the entire season. Randy Wolf performed with a degree of mediocrity that saw his release near season's end. The bullpen absolutely erupted, posting an MLB worst 4.66 ERA and 29 blown saves. Axford temporarily lost his closing role to Jim Henderson. K-Rod's heyday looked like a distant memory as well, proving to be absolutely hittable, posting career worst 4.38 ERA. The Crew did have a late season surge of relative competence but it proved too little too late, and they lost their Wild Card hopes to their nemesis Cardinals.

LHP Tom Gorzelanny with his pitching face

It would seem obvious given the Brewers absolutely blundering 2012 that a drastic overhaul would be in order. Things seemed headed that way, as the Brewers made the moves to non-tender or release a huge chunk of their bullpen. Kameron Loe, Manny Parra, Tim Dillard,  and Francisco Rodriguez are all relievers who are going to be wearing different uniforms next season. Taking their place will be former Washington Nationals LHP's Mike Gonzalez and Tom Gorzelanny, and sinkerballer Burke Badenhop who was acquired from the Rays for prospect Raul Mondesi Jr. All of these moves make a lot of sense for the Brewers. Gorzelanny is effectively Manny Parra with way higher pitchability, and the same could be same of Badenhop as a more effective Loe. Mike Gonzalez has closing experience and fits in as a set up man, back up for Axford if he breaks down again, and is generally a decent veteran arm.

The bullpen overhaul is essentially complete, so problem solved, right? Not even close. After 2012 saw the release of Randy Wolf, trading of Zack Greinke and free agency of Shaun Marcum, the Brewers starting rotation was stripped. The only definite starter left is Yovani Gallardo, followed by a slew of young talent competing for various slots. Also indefinite and by no means complete is the Brewers' bench. It could be said that this type of inaction is a reasonable way to cut down on spending that hasn't resulted in a championship, but it could also be said that the Brewers front office is behaving like they completely oblivious to the fact that they have a window of potential right now that isn't getting the support it needs to stay propped open. I abide by the latter notion.

Is the untested Michael Fiers up for the challenge
of a full year in the bigs? 

Ryan Braun is maybe the best all around outfielder in baseball right now. The 2011 MVP has several good years in front of him, but his contributions as an elite five-tool player have a logical deadline. Why Doug Melvin is wasting any of his years putting anything besides the best possible team together and building it around Braun is completely beyond me.  It wouldn't have broken the bank to sign a pitcher like Dan Haren just in case Mark Rogers does what he always does and gets injured. It wouldn't have sank the team to sign Sean Burnett or Koji Uehara in case the bullpen's ailments weren't a fluke last year. Now that Corey Hart is injured Mat Gamel is going to get another chance as a full time first basemen for the Crew, but he missed almost all of last year with a serious knee injury, you'd some depth there may be worth looking in to.

Just because Milwaukee's pen was the biggest problem Milwaukee faced last year doesn't mean that it's the only hole they should fill. I know that there are constraints that come with being a middle market team and that you can't acquire every major talent free agent that comes around, but that's not what it would take to make the Brewers viable contenders in 2013. The Brewers are probably going to be good, but extremely fragile. If one young arm gets injured or under-performs, what are they going to do to replace them? Given Milwaukee's pretty modest depth the only resource they could have tapped in to enhance their armory is the free agent market, and every signing that goes elsewhere makes that pool a little thinner.

GM Doug Melvin's Ron Swanson lookin' ass.

I think it's going to be the lack of depth that pushes the Brewers out of contention in 2013. Milwaukee is a really good team, but a really thin and inexperienced team with a lot that can go wrong. Their is a minute chance that absolutely everyone stays healthy, something I've never seen from any team ever, and they eek their way in to a wild card spot. There is a much much much much greater chance that the Brewers experiment with a rotation built almost entirely on inexperience and a limited bench proves futile, the Crew loses a whole bunch of games in frustrating fashion, and a rebuilding era is reigned in prematurely in Miller Park. I think the Brewers finish with a similar record as they did last year and miss the play offs again.

Offseason Review: The Cincinnati Reds

The Reds new leadoff man Shin-Soo Choo

The best team in the NL Central, and most underrated team in baseball, got a whole lot more dangerous this offseason. After winning 97 games and dominating their division last year, Cincinnati decided to further thicken their armor with some smart trades and free agent acquisitions. Shin Soo Choo (who also epitomizes "underrated") was an excellent lead off hitter for the Indians, and will now be wearing Ohio's other colors in Cincinnati. The brutal bullpen was maintained with the signing of Broxton and extension of Logan Ondrusek. The oft-injusted and soon-to-be retired Scott Rolen was replaced at the hot corner by another former Indian, Jack Hannahan. Moves like this combined with the implicit threat of players like Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto almost ensure another dominant year by Cincinnati, but it's my opinion that fickle management may disrupt some of this seemingly ensured success.

It's always been my opinion that what isn't broken shouldn't be fixed, and while that tired platitude may seem obvious, it isn't always honored in baseball. Young closer Neftali Feliz won rookie of the year in 2010 and took the Rangers in to the World Series. The Rangers repeated this feat in the following year and had the Cardinals all the way down to their last strike, before they miraculously rallied and ended up winning the next two games to take the ring. Following that year, Feliz was put in to the starting rotation after the Rangers signed veteran closer Joe Nathan. His first appearance as a starter was nasty, seven shut out innings against the Mariners. So what's the problem? His stint in that rotation didn't last very long because he blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery.

CLOSER Aroldis Chapman. Not starter Aroldis Chapman.
CLOSER Aroldis Chapman

It might seem weird that an article about the Reds would have an entire paragraph focusing on the Rangers former closer, but Cincinnati is considering enacting the same totally fucking asinine transition for Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is a rare talent, combining brutal speed with ever improving control. Last year after Sean Marshall struggled in the closer role, Chapman came in and just SLAUGHTERED competition. In July he recorded 13 consecutive saves without allowing a run, and ended 2012 with 1.51 ERA having completed 38 saves in 43 opportunities. The reason he has that success is because he's a natural closer. He's deceptive, he throws with extreme power and he has the requisite confidence to shut down games. What he doesn't have is the build or delivery to be an enduring, excellent starter. Excellent closing mechanics and top of the rotation starting pitching are mutually exclusive ideas, and it would be in Cincinnati's best interest to acknowledge that.

If Cincinnati can resist the urge to experiment with their brutal bullpen, they will be a vicious team to deal with. Their starting rotation from top to bottom should be pretty damn good. Their offense is an absolute recipe for domination. My basic assessment is that Walt Jocketty is too intelligent, and Dusty Baker is too experienced to do something that stupid, but only time will prove me right. If everyone stays healthy, the Reds win 100 games this season.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Billy Hamilton is going to be brought up this year and win Rookie Of The Year and steal like 45 bases. It's gonna be wild.

SIGNED! Mike Napoli

One year, $5MM to the Boston Red Sox

You know how every time a player is signed, the details of the contract are always punctuated with "pending physical"? Yeah, that physical cost Mike Napoli two years of job security and about $34 million dollars. Apparently after agreeing to terms with the Boston Red Sox it was revealed via physical that Napoli had been dealing with a hip issue, causing Boston to retract their offer in exchange for something vastly more team friendly. The contract isn't cut and dry at $5MM, incentives could boost the deal up to $13MM.

Napoli's numbers dropped substantially in 2012 from the career season he had the year prior, but he still made the All Star roster and reached 20 homers for his fifth consecutive season. It's a very small sample size, but in 73 plate appearances in Boston, Mike Napoli has absolutely demolished the ball. His line at his new home stadium thus far is .309/.397/.710. While it is just a sample size, those numbers are totally outrageous and probably worth a $5MM risk. It's pretty impossible to say at this point what Napoli is going to do in light of his injury history, but with a team friendly contract and an easier position to stay healthy at (moving from catching to first base) he still looks like a bargain and a chance worth taking.

TRADED! Michael Morse

To the Mariners from the Nationals in a three team trade
with the Athletics.

The Mariners acquire: OF/1B Michael Morse
The Nationals acquire: RHPs A.J. Cole and Blake Treinen
The Athletics acquire: C John Jaso

After Adam LaRoche re-signed with Washington earlier this month it was essentially a done deal that Morse would be traded.  Morse, who had built a mediocre career as a Mariner from 2005-2008, will be a key addition the offense starved Seattle Mariners. The Mariners had tried and failed to pry Justin Upton from the Diamondbacks, and had in fact completed a deal, but were denied by proxy of Upton having Seattle on his no trade list. Seattle also expressed heavy interest in Josh Hamilton before he signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

This trade makes sense for all teams. A.J. Cole was originally drafted by the Nationals and traded to the A's for Gio Gonzalez. John Jaso is a very serviceable (and in my opinion underrated) catcher who will provide good depth for the Athletics and turn George Kottaras in to a possible trade chip. Michael Morse's offense is much improved from his first term in Seattle and will be hugely appreciated in 2013. This is also the only logical way Morse will be able to perform as an every day player.

Offseason Review: The St. Louis Cardinals

With no Albert Pujols or Dave Duncan, first year
manager Mike Matheny led the Cardinals to their
second consecutive wild card.

After going deep in to the playoffs for the second consecutive year as wild card contender (the first yielding a World Series championship) the Cardinals are being appropriately quiet in this offseason. Going in to 2012, St. Louis needed to fill the deep void left by homegrown hero Albert Pujols and long time manager, the mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad Tony LaRussa. Those roles were covered with surprising grace by Carlos Beltran and Mike Matheny respectively, justifying the relative inactivity on behalf of the St. Louis front office. Lack of flash aside, the Cards did make some moves and roster tweaks that look to make them as pesky as ever in the NL Central.

One notable quality addition is Randy Choate, a journey man left handed relief arm that has been absolutely lights out at points in his career. The signing makes some sense in light of Mark Rzepczynski's relative lack of consistency, but signing any 37 year old to a three year deal, no matter how cheap, carries significant implied risk with it. That being said, the Cardinals seem aware of what their window for success is and are adapting as intelligently as everyone has come to expect them to. Even if Choate sucks or breaks down, the St. Louis pen still has plenty of capable arms to float them through a season.

You can almost hear the fans at Busch Stadium chanting
"CHOATE! CHOATE! CHOATE!"

The Cardinals have one of those problems everyone wants, a glut of young talent. Rafael Furcal is the front runner for starting shortstop with Kozma having proven himself a more than competent backup and Kolten Wong waiting in the wings. The end result is the creation of a certain expendability in players like Skip Schumaker who as a versatile player who would be desirable in many lineups becomes more valuable as a trade chip, which is exactly what he became. Having a roster loaded with youngish talent like that helps you keep your window jammed open that much longer.

One major thing the Cardinals are going to have to cope with is the loss of free agent pitcher Kyle Lohse, who after putting a up Cy Young level performance in 2012 is not likely to re-sign with St. Louis. The aging rotation is probably the biggest risk facing St. Louis, but even if Lohse was re-signed there would be a good chance he wouldn't repeat that kind of year.  I don't expect the Cardinals to win the division with Cincinnati's absolutely staggering lineup looming over the division, but the addition of a second wildcard in each division does make St. Louis a likely contender for the next several seasons to come.

SIGNED! Rafael Soriano

Two years and $28MM to the Washington Nationals.

The best team in baseball just got better. The Washington Nationals responded to worries about their bullpen by making Rafael Soriano the richest reliever in baseball. He will join fellow relievers Craig Stammens, Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and more in the almost exclusively right handed Nationals bullpen. After Soriano put up Mariano Rivera-like numbers for the Yankees he opted out of his contract and declined a qualifying offer to become a free agent. His contract with the Nats includes 2015 option that vests automatically if he finishes 120 games over the initial two year deal, which should be automatic if he can stay healthy and the Nationals are anywhere near as good as they look like they are going to be.

Offseason Review: Chicago Cubs

President of Baseball Operations Theo
Epstein, the man in charge of untangling Jim
Hendry's ball of bullshit.

Spare the signing of Edwin Jackson the moves have been quiet on Chicago's north side, but the Cubs have been busy. Theo Epstein is entering his second year as President of Baseball Operations for the Cubbies, and much to the dismay their notoriously reactionary fan base it looks like it will continue to be an uphill battle towards relevance. When you inherit the disarray Epstein did coming in to the 2012 season the chore comes not only in righting a ship that's desperately off course, but doing so in a time frame that keeps seats filled and jobs in tact. What needs to be remembered is that that job can't be accomplished by crushing the free agent market and being impulsive with trades.

The only thing the Cubs can really do now is float on stop gap acquisitions and intelligent drafting. Signing players like Hisanori Takahashi and Brent Lillibridge isn't going to win a world series, but it will provide an infrastructure for young talent to develop. Granted these names aren't glitzy, but the time for glitz at Wrigley Field isn't now. If you were to substitute the above mentioned names for Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton all you'd have a is an expensive and rapidly aging mistake, a tired theme for Cubs fans. The Cubs don't have a whole lot of wiggle room so it's hard to discuss exactly how well they are handling business. All Epstein and Hoyer can really do is maneuver their roster and it's develop intelligently and carefully whenever the window for that development opens.

Journeyman no more. The Cubs give Edwin Jackson a home
for the next four years.

The biggest move pulled off by Chicago this offseason was the signing of Edwin Jackson for four years  at $52MM. It's pretty easy to look at $52 million and say that's a relative overpay given Edwin Jackson's lack of overall dominance; but I think when you take in to consideration the Cub's specific situation that this is a good signing. At age 29, Jackson is more than likely still going to be at the very least a serviceable player by the time the contract expires. Edwin Jackson's resume is an extremely unique one. The Cubs are his eighth team since his debut in 2003. In 2010 Jackson authored a no-hitter with the Diamondbacks and in 2011 he won a ring with the St. Louis Cardinals. Experience like this is an invaluable off the field merit, perfect for assisting young talent in their maturation. 

All in all, the Cubs are doing what they need to do. No rational person expects a championship season out of Wrigley in 2013; but if the Cubs' fan base can refrain from acting on their stereotypical hot headedness and let the farm system build in to something meaningful, something good can happen.  I expect Soriano to get traded by opening day and Garza before the trade deadline. The Cubs finish last in the division, but with a better record than last year.

The Hall Of Fame is a Stupid, Meaningless Farce

I vividly remember Robin Yount's 3000th hit. I was lying on the brown carpet of my mom's house with my brother, eyes fixed on the TV watching for my grandparents in the crowd. I had no idea what the hall of fame was, or it's merits, or the gravity of accomplishing 3,000 hits. I liked Robin Yount a lot and I was excited to tell all my other eight year old friends about the game and brag about how my grandparents were there because when you're eight that sort of thing makes sense. I LOVED Robin Yount and going to baseball games and eating candy and I couldn't give a shit less about stats as long as the Brewers won and I saw some fun stuff.

As time went on and the kids in my grade developed in to their own individual people, I was quickly bracketed in to the nerd group of kids. I was very sensitive, not very athletic, extremely gawky and maintained an interest in dinosaurs long after they stopped being cool to everyone else my age. I'd say that by the time I was 10 or 11 years old my love of baseball had all but fallen by the wayside. Spare some random games I caught with my grandparents I had zero interest in the sport. I couldn't tell you who Jeff Cirillo was or what he played or who was our ace or who was our best bat off the bench, nothing. Further alienating me from my interest in baseball, or sports in general, was that I had accepted by proxy of some aggressive bullying that kids who liked sports all had to be macho, musclebound shit heads. So there I was, puny and disenchanted with athleticism.

And here I am now. About a week after the complicated circumstances surrounding the hall of fame ballot proved to an inept body of voters that not a single person on that ballot was worthy of entering the sanctified hall of fame. Almost all of the reasons for this sanctimonious display of priggish horse shit and incompetence were intangible platitudinous concepts like "integrity". The self congratulatory stance held by much of the voting body was just gross. Behind the cacophony of squabbling over whether or not some juicers or suspected juicers belong in the holy confines of the hall of fame was the quiet news that former MLB outfielder Milton Bradley is facing thirteen years for abusing his estranged wife. This story broke only a couple weeks after former Braves star Andruw Jones was accused of dragging his wife down the stairs of their home by her neck.

You could look at Bradley and Jones' careers and say they are not Hall Of Fame caliber, and you'd probably be right. I'd also venture to guess that it's most people's opinion that cheating the game of baseball by enhancing yourself physically is not half as repugnant as racism, or beating your spouse. Using this logic, you'd think that the journalists responsible for voting in a candidate worthy of undeservingly esteemed hall of fame, the same journalists who absolutely fetishize the concept of "integrity", would perhaps shift their focus from the hall of fame to the very real and pandemic problem of abuse that exists in the lives of athletes so many young people come to admire. Instead no, we focus on whether or not Barry Bonds is allowed to join the ranks of athletes like Cap Anson and Ty Cobb in the prestigious fucking Hall of Fame.

Of course, Anson and Cobb wouldn't want the likes of Bonds in the hall, but it has nothing to do with steroids. These two enshrined gentlemen would have denied Bonds based on the color of his skin. If it were up to them they would deny known amphetamine user Willie Mays on the same racist basis. Mays wasn't denied based on those amphetamines, but fellow greenie user Pete Rose was. Rose was of course denied for betting on baseball. Wow, good thing we kept that scoundrel out! Wouldn't want him tainting the same establishment that honors known wife beater Babe Ruth.

Get the point yet? The Hall of Fame is a museum for the greatest players in baseball history. Honor, personal integrity, and how a person attained whatever stats got them in the discussion should not enter in to it.  If we are using the hall to honor the merit of players historically then we need to expunge a huge number of the pre-existing entrants for being scum. If we are using the hall to recall baseball history, we should not use journalists to vote players in based on their merit. If those journalists are so concerned about merit, steroid use from the early 2000's should maybe be less of a concern than the pervasive drug, alcohol and spousal abuse that exists amongst the athletic community. Maybe if athletes were condemned more for these abuses than the comparably trifling notion of cheating the game, young people prone to aggression and bullying would be assuaged by the examples made of their heroes.

Intelligent, critical sports analysis is what appealed to the geek in me and let me fall back in love with baseball. It's my opinion that any disgusting, awful person who played the game well should be enshrined in the hall of fame in all of it's meaningless glory. Baseball's history is too rich and interesting to determine subjectively who belongs and who doesn't. Let them in, and treat them fairly.

Offseason Review: The Philadelphia Phillies

New Philadelphia 3B Michael Young
casually surveying his new
 home in full uniform.

What should a team do when for the first time in five years they are not dominating their division? How do you respond when your team goes from having the most wins in all of baseball one season to a piddling .500 season the next? And when everyone professional analysts to your everyday fan can tell that the reason your dominance has suddenly disappeared is because your older stars are no longer able to remain healthy, and can't compete with the same tenacious viciousness they used to? If your answer is to acquire even more old talent and dying flames than you should put your application in at Citizen's Bank ball park, because the Phillies like your style!

All joking aside, the Phillies offseason wasn't a total bust. The core rotation that made the Phillies the absolute monster they were in 2011 is largely in tact, just no Roy Oswalt and a couple years older. Philadelphia also replaced Shane Victorino and Juan Pierre in center field with Ben Revere, who is an extremely promising young talent who they acquired from Minnesota. The problem with that? They had to trade a comparably valuable talent in RHP Vance Worley. Granted the starting rotation is still very good, arguably dominant even, but exchanging young talent for young talent to fill an empty slot doesn't make sense unless you're poised to win now, and the Phillies are not.

New Phillies CF Ben Revere, young
talent for young talent trade from
Minnesota for Vance Worley.

Other curious additions include veteran infielder Michael Young and veteran reliever Mike Adams. The operative word for these additions is "veteran", and why the hell any more veteran presence in the Phillies roster is necessary is beyond me.  Most puzzling is Michael Young, who at 36 is not exactly a candidate for a boost in performance that comes with some players who are given a change of scenery. I'm not saying Young isn't decent, he is. Michael Young is a team captain type of player with valuable experience. Mike Adams is also a very good reliever who's seen the post season and been completely lights out at times, so what's the problem? The problem is this: the Phillies are looking up at two pretty elite teams in Atlanta and Washington, both in their division, and no amount of realistic spending or acquiring can put Philadelphia in their opposition's, so they should consider sitting this one out.

Philadelphia's fate gambled
 on aging stars (above:Roy Halladay)
 staying healthy.

The Phillies management woes are only woes in my opinion. It might seem weird to look at an upgraded team  (the addition of Adams, Young over Polanco) and consider it an unsuccessful offseason, but it just doesn't seem plausible that these additions are going to be playing in any meaningful capacity by the time Philly is ready to contend again. What reinforces my wary attitude towards Philadelphia's management is who they were/are looking who hasn't become a Philly. Vernon Wells? Alfonso Soriano? It's just not going to work. The Phils window is momentarily slammed shut by insurmountable divisional competition. Management needs to remember that they are only about a half a season separated form a reality that had them shipping out Hunter Pence and debating the same fate for young ace Cole Hamels. Barring fluke circumstance, Philadelphia will end up third or fourth in their division.

Offseason Review: Washington Nationals

Washington Nationals

Scowlin' ass home-stealin'
Bryce Harper. 

The Washington Nationals are the best team in baseball and didn't really need to do a whole lot with their offseason. Mike Rizzo is a genius, Davey Johnson is a very good manager and top to bottom the whole roster ranges from competent to prodigious. To make matters much, much worse for their competition is the fact that the bulk of their talent has years of excellence ahead of them; most notably staff ace Stephen Strasburg and the 20 year old total-bro NL Rookie Of The Year wunderkind Bryce Harper. The Nats are so goddamn good that they are actually in a position where they will either have to trade or bench the coveted and versatile Michael Morse due to the surplus of talent they have built up.

Washington is only responsible for two major moves in the offseason. One is the addition of RHP Dan Haren, an MASSIVELY underrated pitcher who after one underwhelming year was signed on a remarkable one year $13MM contract. If Haren bounces back, which I think is almost inevitable given his age and prior track record, this is going to be a major steal for the Nationals. Worst case scenario, Haren duplicates or degrades from his 2012 performance and Washington has a little money to chew. My estimation is that Haren will win 15 of his 30 or so outings and get extended by the end of the 2013 season and 29 other teams are going to look salty as hell.

Washington's new center fielder Denard Span

The other major move by the Nationals was the acquisition of center fielder Denard Span from the Twins for pitching prospect Alex Meyer. I am a little iffy on this move (I'd have preferred Ben Revere) but Span should play well in Nationals Park. Span has proven to be an exceptional leadoff hitter thanks to a career .357 OBP. His defensive prowess when paired up with Harper and Werth make an already formidable Nationals outfield an exceptional force to be reckoned with. I personally think that Meyer has what it takes to be a pretty damn good starting pitcher, and while exchanging a potentially good pitcher for a pretty good center fielder might look silly in a few years, the Nats have enough young up and coming talent to not really need every competent farmhand they have in stock. 

The inherent risk in either of the aforementioned deals is pretty much washed out by the brilliantly designed team already set up and ready to play, so what do they have left to do?  The only glaring issue right now lies is the bullpen. The Nationals let a substantial bulk of their pen walk. Mike Gonzalez signed with the Brewers, as did Tom Gorzelanny who was non-tendered by the Nationals. Sean Burnett signed a two year contract with the Angels, leaving Zach Duke as the only lefty in the pen. GM Mike Rizzo said that a second lefty was not necessary given the dominant splits over left handed hitters on behalf of several of the right handed relievers. While many of the RHP's do appear more than capable holding together a capable pen, I think re-signing Gonzalez or a more aggressive pursuit of J.P. Howell would have been a prudent move given the Nationals relatively inexpensive offseason.

Small imperfections aside, the Nationals are set up for their second consecutive year of domination. Strasburg is going to pitch his first complete year and dominate his way to a possible Cy Young THANKS TO THE SMART THINKING ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONALS MANAGEMENT TO LISTEN TO MEDICAL EXPERTS AND SHUT HIS SEASON DOWN, REGARDLESS OF PLAYOFF CONTENTION, SEE ROBERT FUCKING GRIFFIN THE THIRD. The offense is going to crush and the defense is going to shut opposition down behind a dominant starting rotation. The Nationals, best team in baseball, are going to win the 2013 world series. I'll put a beer on it*.

Sneak preview of everyone getting me beer after they thought
some other team was going to win the World Series and
foolishly bet against me and had to buy me beer.

*Applicable to the first 12 readers ages +21.

Offseason Review: New York Mets

New York Mets

It's relatively difficult to assess with any real accuracy how the Mets performed in this offseason because it seems like they still have work to do. The Mets are in an interesting place franchise-wise and kind of remind me of the Nationals a few years ago. Lots of young, developable talent that has yet to prove itself; but no realistic ambition of contending immediately. That being said, there are still a few loose ends in the bullpen and off the bench that need to happen and an major extension for David Wright that needs to prove itself worthwhile.

David Wright
Lovin' the game.

It's almost impossible to disagree with extending a player with franchise status such as David Wright. He's given the Mets an all-star performance in all but one of his eight seasons, as well as two gold gloves, two silver sluggers and a 30-30 performance. Not too shabby. The problem being that he's a little older, has a little bit of a history with injuries and is playing in the difficult-to-inspire role of being the cornerstone in a franchise that isn't poised to be do a whole lot in the immediate future. This hasn't discouraged Wright from expressing a desire to stay with New York for the remainder of his career, and my guess is he'll repay Sandy Alderson for his $140MM investment.

Travis d'Arnaud
Centerpiece in the Dickey trade

It's pretty unlikely for a team in the Mets position to make several major moves in one offseason, but after 38 year old R.A. Dickey's unlikely Cy Young season, that's just what needed to happen. The Mets appeared to be willfully inactive on a ripe market for Dickey through early December until he made his displeasure for that inactivity known. The Mets struck a deal with the hyperactive Blue Jays and shipped Dickey, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas for fine young catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud as well as Noah Syndergaard, John Buck and Wuilmer Becerra. The bounty hauled in by the Dickey trade is an unexpected and well-played boost for a team in need of rebuilding.

Ike Davis
I haven't mentioned him at all in this post but he looks
a LOT like a young Bruce Springsteen, right?

The Mets aren't going to make the playoffs next year and probably not for a couple years after that. The NL East of today is the AL East of yesterday. Every other team with the exception of the stupid ass Marlins looks like they are at least capable of contending for the next several years, forcing the Mets to be at least marginally docile. With players Frank Francisco as the incumbent closer and Lucas Duda, Collin Cowgill and Kirk Nieuwenhuis heading up the outfield, it's clear that the Metropolitans need some bandage additions to even breach relevancy; but they are proving to be competent in their plans for the future. Expect the Zach Wheeler and Travis d'Arnaud era to be an exciting one in Queens, but until then expect to see a few consecutive second to last seasons for New York. 

Offseason Review: The Miami Marlins

Miami Marlins

If you've ever wondered what the
poor man's Jack Nicholson looks
like, Jeffrey Loria.

Fuck this team. Last year the Miami Marlins attempted to make a run at the playoffs by being impatient and signing every big name they could their stupid little hands on, which resulted three huge contracts for closer Heath Bell, shortstop Jose Reyes and veteran pitcher Mark Buehrle. Miami also signed notorious short-sighted loud mouth manager Ozzie Guillen, built a hideous new stadium and designed some weird ugly Nickelodeon uniforms to complete the makeover. This offseason they doubled down on all that impulse by firing Guillen and shipping all three of those major contracts out as well as unloading homegrown ace Josh Johnson.

The logic offered up by owner Jeffrey Loria for all this erratic behavior was that the team finished last and needed to be made over again. This was met with extreme backlash from fans, players and media. Mark Buehrle claimed that the Marlins lied on multiple occasions and violated the verbal no-trade contract agreed upon by the pitcher and the team. Giancarlo Stanton, arguably the only remaining player of any real value angrily tweeted  "Alright, I'm pissed off!!! Plain & Simple." He never apologized or went back on the tweet and is now being listened on by other teams who are more deserving of the raw talent that Stanton has to offer.

Giancarlo Stanton does not like this
WHACK SHIT.

The Marlins suck and I feel bad for all the young talent they acquired or claimed off of waivers, because I can't imagine a worse or less deserving team for that young talent to come up in.  I also feel bad for all of the fans who actually invested hope in this joke of a franchise. The only good thing Miami has done in the offseason is unload Yunel Escobar (acquired from Toronto in the Reyes/Buehrle/Johnson trade) to the Rays who were apparently looking to fill the mediocre prejudiced douche void left by Luke Scott, other than that it's all been bad. They need to do what's right and trade Stanton while he can utilize his vast talent. I'd also say that Jeffrey Loria should sell the team but since he's a soulless dickhead I can pretty much count that out. Logic says: Marlins finish in last place. 

Offseason Review: Atlanta Braves

The majority of major players have been taken off the board and it doesn't look too likely that there are going to be anymore major blockbuster trades unless Justin Upton FINALLY gets shipped out, so a preliminary assessment of all 30 teams seems fair. Here we go.

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta's new set up man and all around
handsome fella, Jordan Walden.

The Braves have been pretty quiet ever since trading Tommy Hanson to the Angels for Jordan Walden and signing BJ Upton to a stupid 5-year $75.25MM contract.  Atlanta didn't really need to do much to be a contending team, but I really don't understand substituting Upton for Bourn. The Braves essentially traded speed, defense and hitting for flashes of power and one-year-younger player. Obviously Upton has crazy skills in his own right, but I honestly think he's always gotten way to much credit. The Hanson for Walden trade is risky but I think it'll pay dividends. The Braves bullpen went from very good to almost unstoppable. Kimbrel is, without question, the best closer in baseball. With Venters and now Walden joining that battalion, any Braves lead going in to the 7th inning is going to be death for the opposing team. So essentially, a very good Braves team is going to stay very good. One risk that the team faces lies in attempting to fill the void left by Chipper Jones. That kind of leadership can't really be substituted, so it's on the Braves to figure it out. I expect them to finish second in the division.

BACK

Alright... It's been a really long time. 

I say that like I ever had plans of returning to this blog, when in actuality it was all but left for dead in my mind. This year has been a shit show and it put my interest in baseball on forcible hold, and blogging about something that I'd have to half ass sounded stupid. Well, the dust has settled and the codger is back. Anyone who could have possibly missed me should be happy I didn't cover last years. What did we miss? John Axford pissed the bed and the annoying Giants won the stupid World Series again. Boring.

For anyone who could possibly care, the format will be essentially the same. I'll review significant contracts (DONTRELLE WILLIS TO THE CUBS, ANYONE?!), major trades, big games and other fun happenings and goings-ons in baseball. The frequency of this codger may be hampered by wedding planning and school, but I'll REALLY TRY to keep up with y'all this time. Thanks for having me. 

Love,

-FC

D-Train

THE CODGER RETURNS

Expect some rudely-worded baseball related updates soon.