Winter Meetings Over

The Winter Meetings are over now. Not too many huge moves, but a few surprising ones. Ted Lilly to the Cubs makes sense, and nice job passing by Cashman...I don't even care about the money, but 4 years for a #5 starter when the Yanks have plenty of pitching depth in the minors is a bad thing. If you're going to block them with a big time starter, so be it, but if you're going to block them with Ted Lilly, there's a problem.

Gil Meche to the Royals. Apparently they drove up to his house and dumped a huge pile of money on his lawn. 5 years, 55 million (or 60, whatever it actually is) for someone with his numbers is insane, especially when those numbers came from a pitchers park. On the bright side, Yankee fans can rest easy. With every signing made this offseason, Carl Pavano's deal looks better and better. Sure, he's still been a total waste, but now 4 years 40 million is what they give to #5 starters. Imagine what he would have cost in this market.

For that matter, both Matsui and Damon's deals look insanely good now.

The Royals? Really? Speaking of, they have apparently signed Dotel to a 1 year, 5 million dollar contract. I guess that one can't bite them in the ass long term, and Dotel has the potential of course, but he didn't look good to end the year. It's not that it's necessarily a bad deal (especially in this market), but the Royals? Really?

Incidently, this can only help Gagne. Gagne's often injured too, but his upside has to be higher than Dotel's. Supposedly the Red Sox were balking at a one year, 5 million dollar contract for Gagne. I guess that makes sense though, they gave out 2 years and 4 million for a backup infielder, so 5 million for a closer is clearly too high a price.

Speaking of Boston, 5 years and 70 million for JD Drew? I mean, I thought they were so against going beyond 4 years...they're waiving that for Drew? Drew's a good enough player when healthy, but that's a lot.

Lugo was a good signing though. I'm not as high on him as some are, but he's still a good hitter and a clear upgrade for Boston.

Piazza to the A's is a good signing as well, I think.

Schmidt to Dodgers, okay. Surprised he only got 3 years though. I thought for sure he'd get 4 the way the market is going, but I think the Dodgers were smart to only go 3, even if they paid a lot per year.

And Bonds signs with the Giants for a year. Not surprising. What is surprising is their contract for Bengie Molina. I know catchers aren't exactly plentiful, but...wow. They couldn't get him cheaper or for less years? It didn't seem like many teams were out there begging for Bengie Molina to come be their full time catcher.

As for trades, the Braves and Mariners swapped Horacio Ramirez and Rafael Soriano. Not much more to say to that than wow. What were the Mariners smoking? Can I get some?

Garcia to the Phils, good move for them. I'll wait and see from the White Sox perspective. I know they needed to open a spot.

And the big moves from the Yankees are...nothing. Yet. Rumors are flying about Pettitte though. I think Pettitte would be a great signing, and the best possible fit for the Yankees this offseason. Not because of a nostalgia trip, but because he's a solid pitcher, he'd had success in New York before, and most importantly he doesn't want a 4 year or even 3 year contract. 1 year would be fantastic, giving the Yanks depth while leaving a spot for Hughes next year. 2 years would be workable, if Hughes is ready to go in 2008, the Yanks can always trade Pavano for a bag of baseballs or something, assuming a 2008 rotation of Wang, Mussina, Pettitte, Hughes, and Igawa. So yes, I think the Yanks should definitely go for Pettitte.