AL Central Offseason Moves

Post originally by – Pigpen

A look at the moves made so far this offseason by AL Central clubs…

White Sox

• Acquired/re-signed: Mark Teahen, Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, J.J. Putz, Freddy Garcia, Juan Pierre, Freddy Dolsi, Jacob Marceaux, Wander Perez, Ryan Braun, Miguel Negron, Dylan Axelrod, Freddie Bynum, T.J. Bohn, Greg Aquino, Erick Threets, Mark Kotsay, Alejandro De Aza
• Lost: DeWayne Wise, Scott Podsednik, Josh Fields, Chris Getz, Jon Link, John Ely, Wilson Betemit, Jerry Owens, Octavio Dotel

Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, and Mark Teahen are 3 of the 25 players on your roster?  As a Tigers fan, that is great news.

Replacing Scotty Pods with Pierre makes sense, if that’s what you’re going for, though Podsednik was actually quite good for the Sox last season.

I just don’t understand why the team would rather have Andruw Jones than Jim Thome at DH.

The rotation should be awesome, as their 1-4 (Peavey, Buehrle, Danks, Floyd) is better than anyone outside of the AL East.  Maybe Putz can be a reasonable facsimile of the recently departed Octavio Dotel, but I have my doubts.  Hopefully the White Sox actually gave Putz a physical, unlike the Mets.

AL East Offseason Moves

Post by  – Pigpen

Done with the National League, we kick of our review of the American League with a look at the perennial juggernaut: The East.  Lists were originally published by MLB Trade Rumors.

Orioles

• Acquired/Re-signed: Chad Moeller, Michel Hernandez, Armando Gabino, Craig Tatum, Kevin Millwood, Mike Gonzalez, Garrett Atkins, Chris Lamb, Frank Mata, Alfredo Simon, Mike Hinckley, Ross Wolf, Chris George, Scott Moore, Josh Perrault, Miguel Tejada.
• Lost: Sean Henn, Jeff Fiorentino, Danys Baez, Radhames Liz, Chris Ray, Steven Johnson, Bob McCrory, Chris Waters

The O’s first move this offseason was landing Texas workhorse Kevin Millwood, trading former closer of the future Chris Ray to get him.  A fine addition for the O’s as their pitchers only averaged 5.4 innings per start last season, whereas Millwood went 6.4.

Without a viable backend bullpen option left (goodbye Sherrill, Ray, and Baez), the O’s turned to former Brave Mike Gonzalez.  Why, exactly?  This team is not going to compete next year whether they have Mo Rivera, or me closing games for them.  Maybe they’re not hoping to compete next year; but rather, in 2011, when their young studs (Markakis, Jones, Reimold, Wieters, Tillman) and a few of these guys could form a really solid roster.

As I’ve said before, Garrett Atkins stinks.  Thankfully the O’s plan to play him at 1st in light of…a Miguel Tejada reunion!  Are we excited?  Tejada enjoyed success in Houston, but ONLY in Houston.  On the road, he was terrible.  That said, a one year deal gives Josh Bell another season in the minors before presumptively manning the hot corner for years to come.

National League East Offseason Moves

Post by – Pigpen

Let’s kick off our review of offseason moves (so far) with a look at the NL East.  Transaction lists courtesy of MlbTradeRumors.com.

Braves

• Acquired/Re-signed: Tim Hudson, Juan Abreu, Mitch Jones, Scott Proctor, Melky Cabrera, Arodys Vizcaino, Michael Dunn, Brent Clevlen, Joe Thurston, Jesse Chavez, Takashi Saito, Billy Wagner, Troy Glaus, Eric Hinske
• Lost: Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, Javier Vazquez, Buddy Carlyle, Edgar Osuna, Jorge Campillo

After failing to move apparent-cry baby Derek Lowe, the Braves flipped personal favorite Javy Vazquez to the Yankees for Melky Cabrera and prospects, at least one of whom is a very high-upside type.  Vazquez was an easy top 10 started in the NL last year, and it seems clear that they were forced to move him, in part, because of the signing of Kenshin Kawakami last off-season, as they just did not have the payroll space to support 4 starters making $6+ million per year.  That said, Tommy Hanson is a fine replacement for Vazquez, particularly when you consider his age and salary.  With Hanson and Kawakami set, if Hudson comes back strong like he did in August, and Lowe can find his sinker again, those four and former Tiger farmhand Jair Jurrjens form a solid rotation.

Sony says No to Soderbergh’s “Moneyball”

The movie adaptation of Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball” has been dumped by Sony Pictures, just one day before production was supposed to start.  With Steven Soderbergh slated to direct and Brad Pitt to play the infamous Billy Beane I sure hope this gets picked up by another studio.  You can read more about this story over at Variety.

For those of you who love baseball this book is an essential read as it blew the cover off of the Sabermetrics approach to the game and ushered in a new era of baseball.  Stat heads such as myself loved this black and white look at the game.

Dear Florida……You do not deserve Major League Baseball

The latest figures are the final straw for me on this matter. I have defended the need for Major League Baseball in the state of Florida for quite some time, but the latest figures on average attendance throughout the whole league puts both Florida teams in the bottom 5. That is a disgrace. The Tampa Bay Ray’s with a pitiful 21,823 (26th out of 30) whilst they are leading the chase for a division title and the Florida Marlins at 16,336 (30th out of 30) while they try to fight for a playoff spot (5-1/2 games out of the wild card and division). No amount of excuses can justify the facts:

• The San Fransisco Giants who, with their awful off season maneuvers, still managed to average 35,391 fans to watch their sub standard (besides Tim Lincecum) product.
• The Seattle Mariners who are at this point 36 games out of first place, pulled in an average of 29,442 lovers of baseball.
• The University of Southern Florida Bulls who play at Raymond James Stadium had an average home attendance of 53,170 in 6 games. (This figure is here to illustrate that their are sports fans in Tampa, they just hate baseball) 33,639 turned out to watch them play ELON!!!!!
• If you combine the total average attendance of the 2 Florida teams you wouldn’t even crack the top 8. The same can’t be said for any other pair of teams.
• This list can go on, but I think you get the point.