Other than the Tigers-Marlins blockbuster, the winter meetings were pretty dull.
I'm really not sure what all the fuss was about. If ever there was a week best described as "all sizzle, little steak" it was the recently wrapped up Winter Meetings in which one trade worth noting and a handful of so-so free agent signings were announced.
The big winner? The Detroit Tigers, bar none, who decided that to acquire quality one has to give up quality, even if it's of the unproven, prospect variety. That's why this deal, which saw the Tigers pick up all-stars Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins for six players who have a combined 103 Major League games played, was a rarity in this era where general managers worry that they are giving up a youngster who could grow up to be the next Roberto Clemente or Roger Clemens. That's why it was so refreshing that Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, one of the brightest young minds in the game today, didn't blink when he asked the Marlins what it would take to land Cabrera and Willis. They submitted a list of six names, Dombrowski said okay and the deal went down quicker than a Lindsay Lohan rehab stay.
But what happened to the 28 other GMs who probably weren't in Nashville for the music? They didn't have the stomach to deal "what might be" for "what already is". This is why the Blue Jays' J.P. Ricciardi is still waiting to hear back from the Giants' Brian Sabean on the Alex Rios for Tim Lincecum offer. Having been burned in the past for dealing Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser to the Twins for A.J. Pierzynski, Sabean is listening to the howls and reading the blogs of Giants fans. Despite the fact that the Giants - minus the chemically-enhanced bat of Barry Bonds - might have the weakest offence in the majors, they can't stomach dealing a blue-chip arm like Lincecum for a two-time all-star playing in Canada like Rios.
Personally, I think that the Jays, who didn't exactly set the world on fire at the plate last season, are taking a bigger risk by letting their best hitter go for a pitcher with just 24 career starts and an unorthodox delivery that has future injury written all over it. But with the free agent market being so weak this off-season, and trying to improve his team with a limited budget, Ricciardi would be crazy not to want this deal. Adding another fine young arm to a rotation of Roy Halladay, Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum, with A.J. Burnett's future with the team up in the air due to an opt-out clause in his contract after 2008, would keep the Jays in the three-way battle for the top-heavy AL East, especially if the Red Sox and Yankees are unable to wrestle Johan Santana away from the Twins.
Perhaps most of the trading that was talked about at the meetings won't go down until after the New Year when GMs realize that their teams are still no closer to the playoffs than at the end of September. Let's hope so because the inactivity in Nashville didn't make anyone except Tigers fans think that their team has a legitimate shot next season.
DRUG TAKERS ON EDGE
These must be very nervous times for any players that might have taken steroids or performance-enhancing drugs to get a competitive edge during the new millennium. A draft of the report that George Mitchell will release on Thursday on his investigation into drug use in the sport is already in the hands of Major League Baseball to make sure that it does not contain any confidential information that might violate the collective bargaining agreement between the players union and the owners.
According to the New York Daily News, the report could 'out' 60-80 current or former players as users and we'll finally know just how deeply seeded drug use was in the sport, going back to Mark McGwire's single-season home run chase of 1998 through Barry Bonds' recent indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice over his testimony in the BALCO drug case. What will also be interesting is how the report will portray Commissioner Bud Selig who oversaw this sport while it's players became obviously bloated due to illegal drug use. Not that the game is in trouble, but it is clearly at the crossroads in the court of public opinion. Maybe this is why the dealing and signing of players has been so slow this off-season, with general managers taking a wait and see attitude this off-season.
THIS & THAT
It seems that, despite his current legal problems, the Oakland Athletics are seriously considering signing Bonds for the 2008, to not only DH but also play some left field. And we all thought that Billy Beane was a brilliant baseball mind...
Watch for Delmon Young to start living up to his vast potential with the Twins next season after spinning his wheels with the Devil Rays. It says here that Young could become a 35 HR, 120 RBI guy and become a model citizen under manager Ron Gardenhire, as good a "players manager" as there is in the game today...
Maybe they don't get cable in Milwaukee, but I find it incredulous that the Brewers gave Eric Gagne $10 million to be their closer next season after the rest of us watched him pitch so poorly with the Red Sox last season. Maybe they're hoping that a return to the National League will help him rediscover his past dominance...
Am I the only one who enjoyed watching super agent Scott Boras get his nose rubbed in it this off-season? Fired by Kenny Rogers and having Alex Rodriguez do his own negotiating with the Yankees certainly took the shine off the Teflon agent who thinks he's bigger than the game...
