Ah, the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Usually a really dead time for baseball news. Around this time of year, most people are focused on other sports. The NFL season is just about over, and people are wondering what the playoff picture will look like. The NBA season is normally getting into a groove, […]

Right now, we’re in that lovely week right in between Christmas and New Year’s. You know, the week where we all unwind for a couple of days following some holiday stress and wonder just where the hell we’ll be going on New Year’s Eve. Well, there’s one other thing that comes with the dawning of […]

Most people agree that the Nationals and A’s matched up relatively well on the Gio Gonzalez trade.  I won’t bother debating that.  My personal feelings are that Gio Gonzalez is a solid #3 starter whose value has skyrocketed because of the lack of depth in the free agent market and the Nats paid a good, […]

The Washington Nationals apparently wanted a companion for young aces Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg in their rotation, and ESPN’s Keith Law is reporting on Twitter that they’ve gotten their man: Gio Gonzalez of the Oakland Athletics. The price for Gonzalez is steep, as the Nationals have given up prospects AJ Cole, Derek Norris, Brad […]

The Rockies appear to be stocking up on potential third basemen entering the 2012 season.  Colorado has reportedly agreed to terms with 37 year old 3B/1B Casey Blake.  Blake was a solid bat for the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers when he was healthy.  His last full season was in 2010 when he hit .248/.320 […]

By now you’ve undoubtedly read that the Texas Rangers have won the bidding for Yu Darvish and now have 30 days to work out a contract for him.  At the very minimum, Darvish will end up costing the Rangers in excess of six years and 100 million dollars.  The Rangers’ former ace C.J. Wilson signed […]

It was announced this morning that free agent outfielder Jason Kubel had signed a two year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks worth $15 million. My immediate thought upon hearing of the Kubel signing was “um….why?” The Diamondbacks have a perfectly capable left fielder in Gerardo Parra. In 2011, Parra had a .774 OPS in his […]

After yesterday’s trade of Mat Latos to the Reds, the general consensus among fans what that the Padres got a hell of a haul of prospects from Cincinnati. The highlights of the deal are Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal, a pair of Cubans who look ready for the majors after brief spells in the minor […]

The 2011/2012 free agent market for starting pitchers wasn’t deep to begin with.  Unless teams were willing to shell out upwards of $15 million a year or more for starting pitching, there just wasn’t much out there.  Teams that weren’t in a position to contend in 2012 that have starting pitching depth suddenly find themselves […]

As the trade winds continue to blow this December, an interesting name has been added to the mix for teams looking for a starting pitcher: Jonathon Niese of the New York Mets. The 25 year old Niese has been one of the Mets’ most effective starter over the past two seasons, ranking second on the […]

It is inevitable, a prospect is going to one day shatter your worldview and leave you in metaphorical (hopefully, not actual) tears because of his poor performance in the majors.  Since major league teams have caught on to the idea of building a winning roster with smaller payroll, prospects have become the new currency among […]

While most news sources recover from the Yu Darvish bidding fallout and subsequent contract negotiations, the Norichika Aoki buzz/hype has remained silent or nonexisstent.  Perhaps the media overlooks Aoki because at first glance he seems like every other Japanese hitter not named Hideki Matsui or Ichiro, which is to say he looks like a future […]

There isn’t one specific path that a General Manager may choose that will lead to successful navigation of the free agent waters.  In fact, it seems the only way to really win when it comes to the free agent/trade market is for a GM to shell out copious amounts of money on the right player.  […]

In an extension reminiscent of signing Evan Longoria after just 24 major league at bats, the Tampa Bay Rays have given top prospect Matt Moore, who made his major league debut with three appearances last September, a five year contract extension, with three option years. The five guaranteed years will be worth $14 million, while […]