As the dust settles during the aftermath of the winter meetings, let's take a few steps back and see if we can't make sense of some of the confusing/somewhat aggravating events that took place in the last 4 days.
First, the elephant...or, rather, the big fish in the room, is that the Marlins seemingly pursued every big name on the free agent list this year quite aggressively this week. The surprise, though, is that they managed to land quite a few of them. Heath Bell, Jose Reyes, and now Mark Buehrle will all be taking their talents to South Beach to play for the retooled Marlins. The Marlins will pay out close to $200 million over the next 3-6 years just to the 3 of these players, showing a marked change from past seasons where they've either been quite frugal or have had their notorious "fire sales" in which they completely break the team up and trade everyone they can't afford away (although, this normally occurs after a postseason run or a World Series championship), one main reason they didn't land Albert Pujols like they so aggressively wanted to. The money and years (10 years at $220 million) were right, but in their fashion, they didn't want to offer a no-trade clause even to a player who is considered to be the very best of this generation, while St. Louis offered that and more for Pujols to resign.
But when it comes right down to it, as hard as the Marlins pressed, there was never a chance of Pujols leaving the Cardinals. Sports analysts have hemmed and hawed when presented with that scenario, spouting cliches such as "Anything's possible" and "He'll go where he thinks is best", but St. Louis is Pujols' town. He has built a life, a career, and a few fine restaurants there. The draw to be included in the discussion of the all-time great Cardinals, along with Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Ozzie Smith, all of whom spent their entire careers only with the Redbirds, was too much. Albert has always expressed his strong desire to spend his playing days solely in St. Louis, even if the money wasn't exactly what he wanted (pressure from the fans and players' union was on Pujols to sign a contract that surpassed Alex Rodriguez's outrageous deal, but in the end, it just doesn't prudent to give $28 million in 2021 to a 42 year old whose best years will most likely be far behind him). In actuality, it seems that the Marlins, who still officially have a deal in place for Pujols but have come to the understanding that they are no longer the favorite for his services, were really used by Pujols and his agent, Dan Lozano, to drive up the price and incentives for the Cardinals, so that both sides would be satisfied. It may not be kind, but that's business.
A small jump away from Miami, we've had some interesting come out of Japan: Hiroyuki Nakajima, 29 year old shortstop for Japan League's Saitama Seibu Lions, was not only posted to MLB but has already had his negotiating rights bought. And what team has won the right to give him a ton of money to hit a ball with a stick? You guessed it: the New York Yankees. They reportedly won the rights with a posting fee of only $2 million, a far cry from the hundreds of millions of dollars they wasted on Kei Igawa and the late Hideki Irabu. So, understandably, the Yankees may be a little gunshy to pull the trigger. If he signs with them (there are rumors that he'd much rather sign with a West Coast team), it would stand to reason that he'd spend the next 2 years as a super utility man/powerful bat off the bench before taking over for Derek Jeter in 2013 (with him and maybe Eduardo Nunez waiting in the wings by then, chances are likely New York will decline their option on Jeet for 2014). If he declines, there's always a chance a team in California or Washington could swoop him up.
The Mets are preparing for life without shortstop Jose Reyes...which, obviously, means shoring up the bullpen. They've signed relievers Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco, both of whom spent last year with the Blue Jays, and received Ramon Ramirez from the Giants, as well as outfielder Andres Torres, in exchange for outfielder Angel Pagan. So, the Mets will begin 2012 with an injury-riddled infield, an incompetent outfield, a rotation in shambles, no sure-thing closer, but a damn good bullpen. They better rebuild fast.
CJ Wilson is feeling a lot of love, being viewed as the last premium starter left on the market with the signing of Buehrle. It seems the Marlins are vying for him (no surprise), as are the Angels. The Rangers, the team he's spent his entire career with to this point, offered him $60 million over the next 4 years, but the Marlins have offered him 6 years at an undisclosed amount, and it's likely the Angels won't be able to match the deal in terms of length. Texas already has plans in place to prepare for live without Wilson: they signed reliever Joe Nathan to be their closer to fireball-thrower Neftali Feliz could move to the rotation, and they've had multiple talks with the Cubs about a possible trade for Matt Garza. Wilson has been highly effective in his 2 years as a starter, going 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA and 206 strikeouts in 223.1 innings last year, but has struggled so much in the postseason (0-3, 5.79 ERA in 5 starts this past October) that many teams who desperately need a solid pitcher in their rotation (I'm looking at you, Yanks) quickly backed off. It should be noted that he is the only pitcher in history to be the losing pitcher on Opening Day, the All-Star Game, in an LDS, LCS AND World Series. Approach with caution.
David Ortiz accepted the Red Sox' arbitration offer, and will return to Boston in the hopes of a multiyear deal with the numbers he's looking for. The Sox offered Big Papi a 2 year, $18 million dollar deal, well below the value of the $12.5 million one-off deal he signed last offseason, but sources say the two sides are still working on a longer deal. Ortiz, a 6-time All-Star, has been an incredibly dominant force at the plate for the Sox since he was traded from the Twins in 2002, and has helped propel Boston to 2 World Series, where they swept the Cardinals and Rockies in 2004 and 2007. He's considered to be the face of the franchise, more respected than fellow veterans Kevin Youkilis, Tim Wakefield and captain Jason Varitek (the last 2 of whom were not offered arbitration and are in that difficult "play somewhere else or retire" stage in their careers). Oddly enough, there didn't seem to be much interest in the 36-year-old designated hitter this offseason, even though his services could certainly be valuable on many teams in both the AL as a DH or the NL as a super bench player. It's for that reason that the Sox feel they have leverage against Ortiz during the negotiations about the length of his contract, but the truth is, Big Papi not only wants to retire as a Red Sox (God only knows why anyone would want that), he deserves to.
Always the busiest week in baseball's offseason, this year's winter meetings certainly did not disappoint. However, many free agents, including the ex-Brewers first baseman that everyone seems to have forgotten about in Prince Fielder, still remain unsigned. We'll keep you posted on all the wheeling and dealing that has yet to ensue.
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