Kevin Towers is a man on a mission when it comes to upgrading the Arizona Diamondbacks’ pen. After acquiring two relievers via trade, Towers turned around and signed the team’s prospective closer in the form of J.J. Putz. Ken Rosenthal reports the deal to be worth $10 million over two years, although $1.5 million of that is in the form of a third-year buyout; the maximum value of the deal is $15 million.

Read the rest of this entry »

Parting with a star player is difficult regardless of the circumstances, but no one could blame San Diego if they admitted their internal struggle was fiercer than the usual. Just two months ago, Adrian Gonzalez played in the regular season finale that proved to be a bittersweet ending to a surprise run that lasted all season. The team fell just short of the playoffs, but still won 90 games.

Teams often make decisions coming off emotional highs or lows. These decisions seem to find a way to bite the team in the hand down the road. San Diego’s season represents a high. The emotional response would ostensibly be to hold onto Gonzalez and make one more run at the division crown before bidding him farewell. As such, it appears the Padres relied on rationale thought instead of emotional response.

They had three options to weigh. One being to keep Gonzalez and collect the draft pick compensation once he went in search of a major payday; the next being to trade Gonzalez now; and the last being to trade Gonzalez in-season. Did they make the right one?
Read the rest of this entry »

In a pairing that appears most unusual, Lance Berkman will play with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2011 season.

Read the rest of this entry »

In recent years, Eric Hinske has become nothing more than a bench player. Is being a reserve a disappointing career arc for a man with the 2002 Rookie of the Year award? Perhaps, but Hinske is notable for reasons outside of his potential’s steep demise.

One of those reasons is Hinske’s catholicity towards money. Evan Longoria credits Hinske for advising him to make his first million as quickly as possible. Clearly Hinske understands the time value of money. As such, it should be no surprise that Hinske signed relatively early in the offseason. What is a surprise, though, is the length and amount of dollars that Hinske received.

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier today, the Chicago White Sox announced they would not tender a contract to closer Bobby Jenks. The decision marks the end of the hard-throwing righty’s career on the Southside while adding another worthwhile relief pitcher to a free agent market already full with them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Minor league relievers rarely receive attention on these pages. Minor league relievers celebrating their 34th birthday the week of Opening Day with fewer than 50 career big league innings receive even less attention. I hope that I can be excused for making an exception for Winston Abreu, because here goes nothing.
Read the rest of this entry »

About four years ago, Baseball Prospectus offered this exchange during the Winter Meetings:

Scene: Cal Ripken, Steve Finley and Jim Leyritz are sitting on a couch in the Opryland hotel.
Observer: “All that’s missing is Brian Sabean and a pen.”

Read the rest of this entry »

For the second time in Javier Vazquez’s career, he will rejoin the National League after a miserable season with the New York Yankees. Following the 2004 season, the Yankees traded Vazquez to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Barring an injury, Vazquez will play for his third National League East team in 2011, as he has chosen to sign with the Florida Marlins by his own devices.

Read the rest of this entry »

Three weeks ago, I wrote that the Giants needed to avoid overcompensating the free agents from their World Series team. Today, they re-signed Aubrey Huff for two years and $22 million (with a club option for a third year). Although the Contract Crowdsourcing series had Huff valued two years, $16 million, did the Giants do well in what (seems) to be an inflated market?
Read the rest of this entry »

Dontrelle Willis’ history is no secret. To attempt and retell it in a manner that proves anything but insulting and trite is pointless. Willis is undoubtedly the world’s most famous replacement level pitcher. His last acceptable season came in 2006; since then, he has thrown more than 400 innings between the majors and the minors without much success. The persistent state of ineffectiveness did not dissuade the Cincinnati Reds from signing Willis yesterday, although the minor league capacity of the deal is a strict reminder that this is not 2006.

Read the rest of this entry »