Oh, the drama of the Winter Meetings! I’m exhausted trying to keep up with the Marlins and the Angels, but we haven’t forgotten everyone else! Here’s the latest, in order of top activity.

Angels

Things have been pretty quiet in Anaheim. Wait, no? They haven’t? The Angels spent how much in one day? Let’s recap.

• Albert Pujols agreed to terms with the Angels first thing Thursday morning. The contract is for 10 years for reportedly $254 million and a complete no-trade clause.
• Moments later, an agreement was reached with C. J. Wilson — 5 years for $77.5 million.
• Lost in the shuffle is the one-year, $3 million deal with reliever LaTroy Hawkins.

New teammates are, obviously, pumped with the result of the Winter Meetings.

Pirates

Pittsburgh started to make some moves late Wednesday, and filled in a few more pieces as the week went on.

• Minor leaguers Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris were traded to Kansas City to acquire infielder Yamaico Navarro. The 24 year old is flexible, but has played primarily at short stop, and will likely be a backup to Clint barmes.
• No surprise here, but Derrek Lee declined Pittsburgh’s arbitration offer. They expect to talk more once the Pujols/Fielder contracts are finished.
• Outfielder Nate McLouth is coming “home” for the 2012 season. McLouth came up in the Pirates organization in 2005, was traded to Atlanta in 2009, and is thrilled to return to his former team. “It was a no-brainer,” [said] McLouth. “Pittsburgh’s a place that I love.”
• Finally, we get to the starting rotation. Lefty Erik Bedard, who pitched for Seattle and Boston last year, signed a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the Bucs. Despite struggling with injuries throughout his career, he holds a 3.70 ERA through parts eight seasons.
• The Bucs also picked up shortstop Gustavo Nunez Thursday with the eighth pick in the Rule 5 Draft.

» Continue reading “Weekly Wrap Up: Pujols, Wilson, And Some Other Guys”

Just over one week ago, we saw the trade deadline (finally!) come and go. The drama left baseball fans almost exhausted, some having seen their favorite player shipped off to a new place, others watching the deadline pass without the season-saving move they were wishing for. Either way the reshuffled teams were on the field Monday, determined to make the most of it.

If you need a refresher on the “who’s” and “where’s” of the trade whirlwind, take a peek at the Around the Horn coverage.

Wednesday of deadline week featured a controversial Colby Rasmus trade as the Cardinals attempted to sure up their pitching. In two starts, former White Sox hurler Edwin Jackson posted a less-than-stellar 5.79 ERA. Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel, on the other hand, have made the transition quite well. “Scrabble” and Dotel have worked 3.1 and 5 innings, giving up just one run between them. Even Corey Patterson (not a fan favorite in the trade!) has fared better than

Rasmus struggled early, but is seeming to settle in with his new team.

expected since the acquisition. Veteran Rafael Furcal was added Sunday, giving the Redbirds strength up the middle.

And how ‘bout Colby Rasmus and the Blue Jays? Nothing earth shattering. After a rough start, Colby is batting .244 with a .677 OPS. Their other acquisitions haven’t looked so hot, with the exception of P.J. Walters who threw a scoreless inning in his only outing thus far.

The well-documented Carlos Beltran deal sent him to the Giants hoping he’d jumpstart their offense. So far … not so much. He’s working a .244 average since joining the team, and dealing with a wrist injury to boot. Jeff Keppinger’s average is just south of .300, though. Could he be the eventual spark for the struggling (but still in first place!) Giants?

In other underwhelming news, Ubaldo Jimenez headed to Cleveland, but was roughed up in his first outing, only going five innings, giving up five earned runs on seven hits for a 9.00 ERA.

The Diamondbacks placed their bets on starter Jason Marquis who was 8-5 this year with the Nationals. Unfortunately, in his first four innings pitched for the Indians, he surrendered seven earned runs on 10 hits. Yes, that makes his ERA a horrifying 15.75. » Continue reading “Post-Deadline Week: Brilliance And Blunders”

American League East Standings via MLB.com

This week the American League East Division served up a smorgasbord of trading transactions, and fans feasted on servings of intra-division play. The Yankees and Orioles met for an interesting series, after the Orioles visited Toronto earlier in the week to play three games with the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the Red Sox challenged their stockinged rivals, the White Sox.

The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles had quite a bizarre matchup this past weekend. On Friday night, it seemed the O’s had some fight in them. To the delight of the rest of the AL-East, the Orioles bested the Yankees 4-2! But then, on Saturday night, the Yanks took their revenge. With run, after run, after run, into double digits in the first inning. The Yankees obliterated the Orioles, and set a franchise record with their twelve-run first inning. The Yanks gave up three runs, perhaps out of pity, to the O’s, and at the end of the night, the final score was 17-3.

To add injury to insult, O’s reliever Michael Gonzalez was hit on the wrist by a ball off Mark Teixeira’s bat in the eighth inning of the massacre Saturday night. Gonzalez exited the game, but X-rays came back negative. The bloodthirsty Yankees wanted more. Later that night, Curtis Ganderson’s line drive struck Mark Hendrickson’s shoulder. Hendrickson was able to complete the play to end the inning, but Baltimore’s manager Buck Showalter is unsure of when the two injured pitchers will be back in action.

In the midst of their misfortune against the Yankees on Saturday night, the O’s swapped Koji Uhehara, plus bills, for the Rangers’ Tommy Hunter and first baseman Chris Davis. Later Saturday night, the Orioles traded their first baseman Derrek Lee to the Pirates for the O’s Minor Leaguer Aaron Baker.

Orioles fly over to Charm City Yakyuu.

» Continue reading “How The Ball Bounced In The AL East”