note-i am a yankee, a’s, and a dodgers fan
Ill just do all moves by a team at once(chronological order)
Rangers-Richard Hidalgo-Pretty good move, they need help anywhere they can get it. He is an all around solid player and will help boost the Rangers playoff chances(even though they still will be slim).
Diamondbacks-Troy Glaus-great hitter if healthy. A good pickup but it makes little sense to me. Everyone knows the D-backs are on the descent, why would they overpay for an injury plagued hitter, and a pitcher who has consistantly gotten worse over the past 3 years in Russ Ortiz. However, if they do trade Johnson and get Green and Penny in return, i might change my mind, they could possibly be playoff contenders.
Angels-Steve Finley-Great move. Although he is old, he is consistant. A good hitter and a great fielder. A good move by the Angels too because they save what i think will be about 8 million dollars by not going after Beltran.
Braves-Danny Kolb-This is very dependant upon Smoltz’s return as a starter. If Smoltz does good and Kolb does to, obviously it is a great deal, if one of the two fails, then id have to rethink it. They also gave up a lot in the prospect, Jose Capellan. He is a great young pitcher, who will be a star one day. They probably could have gotten more for him.
Tim Hudson-One of the best moves this offseason. He is an amazing pitcher, a .700+ career winning percentage, and he is young. If they are able to resign him this year, this will probably be remembered as this years greatest deal.
Red Sox-David Wells and Matt Clement-Wells is old and still out of shape, yet he always brings his game. If he plays like he did last year, which is highly possible, a great move. Matt Clement is a decent pitcher, has had some good stuff over the past few years. But to say the two of them can replace Pedro and Lowe, you must be on something. They will not match the way those two pitched. Id have to say Boston is weaker then they are last year.
Yankees-Carl Pavano-He has only had one good year, this could go either way. Possibly another Javier Vazquez in the making(although i think Vazquez is good, the NY media seems to disagree). Jaret Wright and Pavano will be the staples of the NY starting rotation in a few years if they can produce. Brown is 40 and Moose is 36 and if the Johnson deal goes through, he is 41. A very old rotation that probably has only 1 year left in Brown-2 in Johnson-and 3 in Mussina. If Pavano and Wright hold up, the Yankees still have some things to look foward to. If Johnson becomes a yankee, World Series here they come. If Beltran becomes a Yankee, World Series Champions.
Blue Jays-Corey Koskie-Good move based on the fact that the Blue Jays have no where near the amount of money that the Yanks and Sox can throw around. He is an average hitter, above average fielder, and will always give his all. However this is a moot move because of the Sox and Yankees.
Mariners-Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre-If they had only signed Sexson, this would have been a bad move. But after adding Beltre, it seems as if they are the favorites to win the AL West. Sexson has always been a great hitter, and i would expect 35 home runs and a .270 plus batting average. Beltre however has only had one good hitting season, so a 13 million dollar per year contract seems as if it might be too much. If Beltre does even half as good as last year, id still deem this as a good combo move.
Giants-Mike Matheny-Great defender. An improvement over Pierzynski. nuff said.
Brewers-Carlos Lee-Great hitter. He will add a punch that the Brewers could not throw last year, Power. Although Podsednik was a great runner and lead off batter, id take Lee over him just because Lee gets on more and can produce more.
White Sox-Scott Podsednik-You cant say enough about his speed(70 steals last year) and his lead off capabilities. This was a great swap for these teams because they both filled there needs.
Mets-Pedro Martinez-Some say he is too old and injured for a four year deal. I say no, he is an amazing player, even though he can be arrogant, he always brings his best game and will probably compete for a Cy Young this year. This also bolsters the Mets rotation greatly and moving Piazza back to Catcher can only help. Expect the Amazing’s to compete for the NL East next year with Atlanta.
Cardinals-Mark Mulder-I just saw this a little while ago. I never would have guessed Beane would have traded his #1 and #2 starter in one offseason. This will give the Card’s what they needed last year, a #1 pitcher who can dominate the game. They paid a great price though. Many expect those 3 prospects to be starters in the near future and help the A’s greatly.
Athletics-Losing Mulder and Hudson(Zito will probably go to Baltimore soon). At least they got some good prospects while they could. Billy Beane is an amazing GM, and has a nack for finding young underrated prospects, hopefully these prospects live up to their potential and then some. Or Beane may have gotten himself into a deep pit.
