Two months ago, the Blue Jays traded for Miguel Olivo just to decline his option and offer him arbitration. Along with John Buck, Jason Frasor, Scott Downs, and Kevin Gregg, Olivo was just one of the group of players with which Alex Anthopolous was plotting to acquire compensatory draft picks, as outlined in this piece. Yesterday, the last of that quintet signed as Kevin Gregg agreed to a two-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Just how many draft picks did they bring back, and how valuable are they?

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I am far too excited to watch Craig Kimbrel pitch next season. He’s a right-hander with high-end velocity – a 95 mph average fastball with rising action that can reach 98 – but nothing we don’t see from relievers with some frequency. He will be 23 years old and has only a meager 21 innings of MLB experience. Despite being moderately interesting on the surface, I didn’t think that I could possibly be more excited to watch him over relievers like Carlos Marmol, Aroldis Chapman, Brian Wilson, Neftali Feliz, Mariano Rivera, and more. But no, as we enter 2011, Craig Kimbrel is my most anticipated reliever of the year.

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The representatives of Brandon Webb and the Texas Rangers front office managed to take some time out of their undoubtedly busy Boxing Day schedule to agree to a one-year contract. Terms of the deal have not been released as of Sunday night, but the deal is “incentive-laden,” according to Nick Piecoro. If this deal fits into the market of Rich Harden and Erik Bedard type market, we can be fairly sure that the deal will pay Webb less than $4-5 million guaranteed.

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Bill Hall parlayed his solid 2010 with the Boston Red Sox into one last chance at a starting MLB gig. On Friday, Bill Hall signed a one-year deal with a mutual option, guaranteeing the 30-year-old (31 in about a week) $3.25 million dollars. The Astros have said that Hall will be the regular second baseman in Houston.

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J.P. Howell may have been relatively forgotten around the league after sitting out the 2010 season due to labrum surgery. The Rays, however, haven’t forgotten Howell’s recent contributions to their organization. The lefty threw nearly 90 innings for the AL East champion 2008 team while posting a 2.22 ERA and 3.39 FIP, becoming an elite relief ace for a team making the jump from worst to first. He took a slight step back in 2009, although his 2.84 ERA and 3.71 FIP are still top-flight for any bullpen. The Rays and Howell agreed to a $1.1 million dollar contract on Monday. As Howell only has 4 years and 7 days of service time, he will be under team control for the 2012 season as well.

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The Seattle Mariners of 2010 are known for their offensive incompetence, and rightly so. The team managed a mere 3.2 runs per game and a paltry 80 wRC+, both league worst marks. Truly the lack of offense was the Mariners’ failure, but even the run prevention of the team – its supposed hallmark – was only average, with a 4.3 runs allowed per game ranking 14th in the majors and 6th in the AL. Their team defense ranked 5th in the majors in Defensive Efficiency Rating- good, but not the elite, potentially best-of-all-time defensive unit advertised beforethe season. On Sunday, the Mariners added Brendan Ryan, an elite defender at the shortstop position whose bat, although light, may be an improvement as well. In exchange, the Mariners sent right handed A-ball reliever Maikel Cleto to St. Louis.

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The Braves added to their bullpen at the Winter Meetings on Wednesday, inking lefty George Sherrill to a $1.2 million dollar contract for the 2011 season. Sherrill was last seen working the middle innings for the Dodgers, and he has previously closed for the Seattle Mariners and the Baltimore Orioles.

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In a deal that resembles the Ryan Church move from last season, the Pirates added outfielder Matt Diaz on a two year contract Tuesday night. With Lastings Milledge non-tendered, the Pirates had room on their roster, if not in their starting lineup, for another outfielder. Diaz will see his playing time in the corner outfield, whether it comes as a starter, or, more likely, in a platoon situation.

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The Diamondbacks have already begun to fill the hole left by the departure of third baseman Mark Reynolds. Merely hours after agreeing to deal Reynolds to Baltimore, Arizona added third baseman Melvin Mora on a one year, $2 million contract.

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On Sunday night, the Brewers agreed to trade top prospect Brett Lawrie to the Toronto Blue Jays for SP Shaun Marcum, as first broken by Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

This trade might not be treated as a blockbuster deal, but it certainly qualifies as high profile. It’s very rare for teams to swap #1 prospects and #1 starting pitchers, and that’s exactly what happened here. Although the loss of Lawrie will certainly be a blow to the Brewers farm system, there are two key reasons why the Brewers decided to deal the Canadian back to his homeland in exchange for pitching help in the form of Marcum.

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