Your team's off-season

[Mattingly]

Only a month or so until pitchers and catchers report. This no-so-cold winter (if you live on the east coast of the USA, anyway) can be chilly w/o baseball.

Anyway, how are you folks feeling about the various acquisitions your GM has made? Has there been a new direction set by some players being traded away? Some who were acquired? Is the team focusing more on starting pitching, bullpen, bench guys, position players? What are the significant things about this offseason that has made you either smile or crine? Or somewhere in between.

[Mattingly]

For myself, the Yanks have traded away the underperforming (and vastly overpaid) Jaret Wright, sent Gary Sheffield to Motown, reuniting him with his former manager and GM (thereby insuring that he makes no excessive soundbites, heard all the way to the Bronx). In the past, the Yanks were infamous for taking on older vets and giving away the farm. However, this time, we got farm guys for the older, slugging vet, and one whose defense seemed suspect (throwing).

Though 2005 seemed like a good year for Randy Johnson, many Yankee fans felt it was his time to go. A Cooperstown lock, very nasty (downright filthy) stuff when he was on, but he'd suffered through a bad back for awhile. Perhaps due to the fluctuating NYC weather (which, being near several large bodies of water, is obviously colder than the Phoenix desert). Anyway, his time came and went, to me, and I'm glad that he was traded. While it leaves a big hole in the rotation, since it's debatable whether he could be "new and improved" with his surgically-repaired back, at least he was reliable, winning 17 games for us in each of 2005-06. However, his 5.00 ERA last season didn't sit well, considering he only kept us in certain games, rather than being the dominant ace that George Steinbrenner had desired.

While we didn't get the obviously much-coveted Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Yanks have acquired 1Bman Doug Mientkiewicz (trying typing that quickly), :D to shore up infield defense from a position where strength hasn't been ours since John Olerud and Tony Clark were here. We definitely are in need of a competent backup catcher who can take over from Jorge Posada by 2008-09, much like Posada himself took over from Joe Girardi.

Since the starting position players are already set for the next 3-4 years, I'm just glad that the Yanks are finally getting many farm pitchers via trade, since stocking up on them could prove vital for the future.

How's your team doing?

[Beastay]

Now that the Yanks traded away the unit, we have to see who will fill the role in the rotation.

So far we have penciled in: Wang, Mussina, Pettite, Pavano (I'll believe it when I see it), and Igawa.

Smart money says that one of these guys (Pavano) will be a non-factor.

Will they sign Clemens? Trade for an arm at the deadline? Stand pat? Give Phillip Hughes a shot?

What do you think?

[Mattingly]

Now that the Yanks traded away the unit, we have to see who will fill the role in the rotation.

So far we have penciled in: Wang, Mussina, Pettite, Pavano (I'll believe it when I see it), and Igawa.

Smart money says that one of these guys (Pavano) will be a non-factor.

Will they sign Clemens? Trade for an arm at the deadline? Stand pat? Give Phillip Hughes a shot?

What do you think?
Ever been to one of those parties where everybody in the house is fawning over one or two people, and you've got about 2 dozen people trying to get those 1 or 2 people's attention? To me, that's how it looked like with Matsuzaka and Zito. Everyone was trying to get those guys.

I think that going after someone like Jason Schmidt would've been better, but would've again upped the Yankee payroll. This is a difficult off-season, since the Yanks can't afford to raise payroll further by adding astronomically at the going rate for pitchers. The luxury tax adds far more than a pitcher's worth.

Ted Lilly may be worth about $7m, but he's getting $10m/yr from the Cubbies. Add to the luxury tax, he'd cost the Yanks $14m/yr. That's *DOUBLE* what I consider his market value.

Anyway, I think that stocking up on #3 pitchers would've been more economical, especially since people were too concerned about landing the big fish. Nice idea, but those guys can only play on one team at a time, last I've heard. :)

To me, the Yanks' major concern was pitching, as all of our starting position players were already accounted for. Our bench could use some help, but we're not totally weak on this either, especially with Melky Cabrera and the re-signed Miggy Cairo.

Randy's trade is great, but there's always the uncertainty as to how he'd perform in 2007. He could pitch well, but not in pain, and he seemed to struggle while going through this. Is his back good? Is it done?

The lesser-considered Side B of this is that Igawa is the southpaw K King in Japan, whereas Unit is the same in MLB. I think that Igawa could've definitely have learned more about MLB pitching from a Cooperstown lock, learned to throw different pitches. He'll have Pettitte instead, but adding a very solid professor to the mix couldn't hurt, now could it? ;)

[VTSoxFan]

Well, of course the big news and noise for the Red Sox was the pricey addition of Matsuzaka. There's the controversy about the excessive posting fee, and the long standoff with Boras, and the eventual gala introduction, which was covered by the media as if the guy had invented pitching himself. We must wait and see if his success in Japan translates to success in the AL; I myself am not expecting him to be the second coming of Pedro. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Overshadowed by this hoopla were the acquisitions of Hideki Okajima (of whom I know nothing), Runelvys Hernandez, Joel Piniero, Brendan Donnelly, J.C. Romero and Julio Lugo. Still in limbo is the J.D. Drew, who has failed 2 physicals after reaching a ridiculously expensive preliminary deal with the Sox. Rumors have flown that the Drew deal was just a sop to Boras to grease the way to the Matsuzaka signing... Hmmmm......

With the addition of Matsuzaka, the rotation is looking strong, with him, Schilling, Wakefield, Papelbon and Beckett. Other pitchers on the roster include the aforementioned Donnelly, Piniero and Romero; Jon Lester, Mike Timlin, Julian Tavarez, Kason Gabbard, Kyle Snyder, Devern Hansack (I'd like to see more of this guy, after a tantalizing glimpse late in the fall), Craig Hansen, Lenny DiNardo, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez. I almost completely forgot about Matt Clement, but who knows whether he'll ever recover his stuff and his nerve?

The bullpen is going to be an interesting mix, especially since with the departure of Foulke for Cleveland and Papelbon for the rotation, we have no established closer. Donnelly might fit the bill, as might Tavarez. In case we need a spot starter, there are a number of pitchers who can suit this need, like Tavarez, who did well as a starter; Snyder, Lester, Gabbard, Piniero and Hansack all have experience in that role.

Jason Varitek will do most of the catching again, and is bound to be better at the plate as he can't do much worse than in '06. Mirabelli will catch Wake again, and also has got to improve over last year -- at least get over the Mendoza line! Youkilis will man first base, though will probably not be leadoff hitter, with a healthy Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo both on the team. Manny and Papi will be the bulwark of power in the middle of the lineup and will put up their usual amazing numbers. Mike Lowell will do his stuff at 3rd, where he impressed so many of us last year, and after whistling Mark Loretta down the wind, we'll give rookie Dustin Pedroia a go at 2B. Alex Cora is a reliable utility infielder, though he can't hit to save his life. I don't know much about Lugo, and will reserve judgement as to his skills until I've seen him play on a regular basis.

The outfield: Manny, Coco, Willy Mo Pena and J.D. Drew. I expect no more or less of Manny in the field than usual; a healthy Coco will play his heart out, and have fun doing it. Wily Mo will continue to run figure-8s under fly balls and give me fits; I'll just say he has room to improve. Should Drew actually be signed, and play more than 100 games, he might be able to replace Trot in right field, though never in the hearts of The Nation. :(

[Erik Bedard]

I'm not going to try and compare to Annie with a Red Sox offseason analysis. The Orioles, on the other hand...

The first signing was Jamie Walker, who is definitely overpaid, but I'm glad they got him. Then they signed three more bullpen guys in quick succession, and I'm very glad they were all signed. Baez, Williamson, and Bradford give our bullpen names that are recognizable (at least, better than the average middle reliever/setup man) in the bullpen. This might be the key to better stats for Bedard, Cabrera, Loewen, and the rest, and especially in Cabrera's case, more confidence. These four signings are about on a level with the Tejada signing as the best in recent memory.

We also traded away promising reliever Chris Britton for Jaret Wright, which made absolutely no sense until we signed the aforementioned relievers. Now, it makes sense, but not great sense. Wright fills the role that Russ Ortiz and Bruce Chen had held last year, and chances are he'll probably win at least one game, making him infinitely better in that category than Ortiz and Chen were last year. That said, after Chen and Ortiz last year, I'm a little wary of this trade.

The Orioles then went through a quiet stretch, signing only backup catcher Paul Bako, 1B/DH Josh Phelps (who was subsequently lost in the Rule V draft), and reserve infielder Freddy Bynum, before signing Jay Payton to fill a need in left field. This was a decent signing, and there is really no problem with it, but Payton immediately became expendable with the next signing.

The next signing was the best single transaction of the offseason, bringing in the big bat to complement Tejada O's fans have longed for for God knows how long. At 3 yr./20M, this was a bargain on this year's market. Great signing, but the only problem is that it makes the just-signed Jay Payton, and the just-re-signed Kevin Millar expendable. Good signing nonetheless.

Overall, this team still isn't the Red Sox or Yankees, and they won't play like it. But they've maken great strides this winter, and it was very productive.

Grade: B+

[tigers527]

It is my opinion that the Tigers did pretty well in the offseason. Aside from the leftie specialist, who they lost when the O's signed the above mentioned Jamie Walker (he might be a tad overpaid, but I think you will find the fellow both good at making leftie sticks look like little leaguers, and he is goofy funny as heck.) the Tigers have adressed their needs well.

Going into this offseason, there was little that HAD to be done. The things I thought the Tigers needed were a DH, a 4th OFer who had good D, bullpen help, and a better utility IF stick. With the signing of Sheffield the DH hole is filled. The Tigers also picked up an aging Jose Mesa to help shore up a bullpen that was already really good, and if Mesa can adjust to the occaisional 7th-8th inning guy, even 6th inning on the well rested bullpen days, I think the signing will help. Hopefully, Omar Infante will become the in system solution for the utility IFer with a stick. That is if Infante can get out of the Jim Leyland fielding dog house.

So with a rotation and line up that took the Tigers to the WS, and little change to either. I think the Tigers should do pretty well again this year, of course barring injury. BTW coming off an injury might just be the Tigers biggest addition this offseason. If Mike Maroth can return to early 06 form, he might even be more important then the Sheffield signing. After all Maroth was one of the best pitchers in baseball for the first few months of 06 before bone chips sidelined him.

[redlegsfan21]

Major Transactions: Acquired LHP Mike Stanton, SS Alex Gonzalez, C Chad Moeller, and OF Jeff Conine.

Well, mainly veterans have been signed and the all-important closer role has yet to be filled. Gonzalez will surely up the defense replacing wild throwing Felipe Lopez and Royce Clayton. Jeff Conine will most likely be spliting time between RF (with Ryan Freel) and 1B (Scott Hatteberg). Stanton just adds another arm to the 8th inning and may get a chance to pitch during the 2nd 8th inning (remember, no 9th inning man). Chad Moeller will probably not stay on the roster.

Projected Line-up
RF Ryan Freel
1B Scott Hatteberg
CF Ken Griffey Jr.
3B Edwin Encarnacion
LF Adam Dunn
2B Brandon Phillips
C David Ross
SS Alex Gonzalez

Starting Line-Up
Aaron Harang
Bronson Arroyo
Eric Milton
Kyle Lohse
Elizardo Ramirez/Phil Dumatrait/Homer Bailey

7th, 8th, 9th Dudes
Bill Bray
Mike Stanton
David Weathers
Todd Coffey

[SamtheBravesFan]

What the Braves have done won't exactly strike fear into anyone's hearts, although Rafael Soriano might.

Acquired:
P Tanyon Sturtze - Someone in the Braves organization had to have seen something with him, otherwise I bet he wouldn't be given the light of day by them.
P Rafael Soriano - I'm glad to see Ramirez go; he was very inconsistent during his tenure with the Braves. I hope that Soriano still has some firepower left after that concussion; he'd make a very nice setup man.
UT Chris Woodward - He can play practically any position. That's it. No good qualities other than that.

Lost:
2B Marcus Giles. - I'm not too sad to see him go; if Glenn Hubbard taught him to be a better second sacker, he can do the same thing with Kelly Johnson. The fact that the Braves couldn't trade him was strange at first, but I guess his value really had declined.
C Todd Pratt - I laugh at the Yankees for even inviting him to spring training. I don't really buy into the "veteran leadership" thing: if you don't produce on the field, why are you even there?
LF/1B Daryle Ward - I guess it's okay that he's gone, we didn't really need him. But that just meant we traded Luis Atilano for nothing.
P John Foster - He was very injured.

Addition by Subtraction:
P Chris Reitsma, Wayne Franklin - Good riddance.
LF/1B Brian Jordan - Too old. Needs to be working on those children's books more. :)

Going into arbitration:
1B Adam LaRoche
P Rafael Soriano
P Oscar Villarreal

Yikes. I hope the Braves have enough room under that budget belt to get all these guys contracts. They're all important. LaRoche had his breakout season last year, Soriano has to be our setup man and Villarreal is an excellent long reliever and sometimes spot starter.

So far, no earth-shattering moves, no reason to say the Braves are that much improved. In fact, I think you can make a case that they're worse. But I think that I can say that getting Soriano is a step in the right direction.

Grade: C-

[wu-tang clan]

the twins signed jeff cirillo and sidney ponson!!!! not much other than that, besides resignings...

[NYMets523]

The Mets didn't need a whole lot to improve. They missed out on Zito so they still need starting pitching. Forunately several pitchers have been signed as projects for Peterson. It's kinda depressing when your team's biggest signing was Moises Alou :(

[GotMelk?]

I'd give Cashman an A+ for trading the un-tradealbe, and not spend excessive amounts of money on overpaid free agents.
All he has to do is get a decent back up catcher.(Hopefully Jeff Clement, Grako, or the Braves catcher(not McCanns)

[mojorisin71]

LOS ANGELES

KEPT:

1B Nomar
2B Ramon Martinez (NOT Pedro's older brother, although the Dodgers do have a knack for signing washed-up guys)
LHP Mark Hendrickson

LOST:

OF JD Drew
RHP Eric Gagné
OF Kenny Lofton
SS Julio Lugo
RHP Greg Maddux
C Toby Hall
C Einar Diaz
OF Jayson Werth

SIGNED:

LF Luis Gonzalez
C Mike Lieberthal
CF Juan Pierre
RHP Jason Schmidt
LHP Randy Wolf

ARBITRATION ELIGIBLE:

LHP Joe Beimel



As of this point, I'd give Colletti a B, since he did keep Nomar and a somewhat over-the-hill utility guy in Ramon Martinez, but he also kept Mark "Timber" Hendrickson (I see him as trade bait). I don't think you can really say any of our departures hurt (especially Drew). Hence the generous grade.

[SamtheBravesFan]

I'd give Cashman an A+ for trading the un-tradealbe, and not spend excessive amounts of money on overpaid free agents.
All he has to do is get a decent back up catcher.(Hopefully Jeff Clement, Grako, or the Braves catcher(not McCanns)

I know you don't mean Todd Pratt. He just signed with you guys. So I assume you mean Jarrod Saltalamacchia? Ha, fat chance.

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

Well, the Blue Jays didn't have as exciting an off-season as they did last year (signing Burnett, BJ Ryan and making a bunch of trades), but they made some moves.

First, they made a splash by signing Frank Thomas to a 2-year $18 million deal, with a vesting option for 2009. This is a risky move. Although he is coming off an amazing year, only one year ago he was almost out of baseball. Hopefully he can re-create his success this year.

Next, they re-signed Gregg Zaun to a 2-year deal for $7.25 million. After a strange turn of events, where it looked like the Jays had signed Rod Barajas, but at the last second he apparently pulled out of the deal. In my opinion, this was great news for the Jays. Zaun plays with heart, and is a true hard worker. Also, he knows the pitching staff already. That's a bonus.

They then signed Royce Clayton for 1-year $1.5 million. This is a move that simply puts the search for a SS on hold for another year. Maybe Russ Adams will step into this role, or they will look for someone next year to fill the spot. This signing is really a non-event. Won't really matter.

Then, the Jays made their smartest move of this off-season. They locked up Vernon Wells for 7 more years at $126 million. A good move to lock up this guy, who brings so much to the team. Not much more to say about this.

Recently, the Jays have signed Jason Frasor to a 1-year $825,000 deal. They have also locked up Lyle Overbay for 4 years/$24 million. Another good move, signing a guy who sets the table for guys like Wells, Thomas and Glaus.

Some of the minor deals the Jays signed were:

John MacDonald 1-year/$750,000
John Thomson 1-year/$500,000
Jason Smith and Matt Stairs (Canadian!) to minor league contracts

This off-season, the Jays lost:

Ted Lilly to the Cubs for 4-years/$40 million
Frank Catalanotto to Texas for 3-years/$13 million
Justin Speier to the Angels for 4-years/$18 million
Bengie Molina to SF for 3-years/$16 million
Other than Molina, who's option the Jays declined, these guys were simply too expensive to bring back. Lilly and Speiers' departures will hurt the most, as Lilly leaves a big hole in the rotation, and Speier leaves the bullpen with very little experience.

The only other issues remaining are signing Scott Downs, Reed Johnson and Alex Rios, who are arbitration eligible.

Overall, this offseason was average. There wasn't much else JP Riccardi could have done. I congradulate him for not going out and paying way too much for Gil Meche or Ted Lilly. That being said, the Jays now have a big hole in the rotation, which will be filled with a combination of young pitchers. The set starters are:

Roy Halladay
AJ Burnett
Gustavo Chacin
The final two spots are up for grabs. The following guys are in the running to earn the spots in ST: Shawn Marcum, Casey Janssen, John Thomson, Josh Towers. I have a feeling that it will be Marcum and Towers to start the season. After that, who knows.

If Thomas can deliver a season similar to his last, the Jays offense will be even more potent, with a lineup looking like this:

Reed Johnson
Alex Rios
Vernon Wells
Frank Thomas
Troy Glaus
Lyle Overbay
Gregg Zaun
Aaron Hill
Royce Clayton
The middle of the order is very well protected, so everyone should get alot of good pitches to hit. The middle of this order is arguably one of the most powerful in baseball. They will need to pound the ball around to make up for the lack of pitching depth.

Here's to a successful '07 for all. Except for the Yanks and Red Sox :D.

[bigtime39]

I'm not going to try and compare to Annie with a Red Sox offseason analysis. The Orioles, on the other hand...

The first signing was Jamie Walker, who is definitely overpaid, but I'm glad they got him. Then they signed three more bullpen guys in quick succession, and I'm very glad they were all signed. Baez, Williamson, and Bradford give our bullpen names that are recognizable (at least, better than the average middle reliever/setup man) in the bullpen. This might be the key to better stats for Bedard, Cabrera, Loewen, and the rest, and especially in Cabrera's case, more confidence. These four signings are about on a level with the Tejada signing as the best in recent memory.

We also traded away promising reliever Chris Britton for Jaret Wright, which made absolutely no sense until we signed the aforementioned relievers. Now, it makes sense, but not great sense. Wright fills the role that Russ Ortiz and Bruce Chen had held last year, and chances are he'll probably win at least one game, making him infinitely better in that category than Ortiz and Chen were last year. That said, after Chen and Ortiz last year, I'm a little wary of this trade.

The Orioles then went through a quiet stretch, signing only backup catcher Paul Bako, 1B/DH Josh Phelps (who was subsequently lost in the Rule V draft), and reserve infielder Freddy Bynum, before signing Jay Payton to fill a need in left field. This was a decent signing, and there is really no problem with it, but Payton immediately became expendable with the next signing.

The next signing was the best single transaction of the offseason, bringing in the big bat to complement Tejada O's fans have longed for for God knows how long. At 3 yr./20M, this was a bargain on this year's market. Great signing, but the only problem is that it makes the just-signed Jay Payton, and the just-re-signed Kevin Millar expendable. Good signing nonetheless.

Overall, this team still isn't the Red Sox or Yankees, and they won't play like it. But they've maken great strides this winter, and it was very productive.

Grade: B+

EB:
The Birds traded a one-pitch fat guy to the Yankee$ for the chance to reunite Jaret Wright with Leo Mazzone (and $4 million YankeeDollar$!) The five hole in the rotation is kept warm for Hayden Penn. Britton may or may not turn out to be a quality reliever. I think the Orioles are at least slightly worried about having another pitcher eat his way out of the majors. I can live with that.
They didn't trade any of the young starters that are percolating up through the minor leagues. I can definitely live with that.
They got just enough offensive help that--if the starters at the ML level perform up to hoped for levels--they can be in contention, and add at the break. I can live with that one, too.
They dealt Rodrigo Lopez either too early..or too late...and for too little. The only move of the season that bums me out a little.

[hubkittel]

i don't think the cardinals had a particularly successful offseason but we were too busy holding parades, visiting the white house, designing a world championship pennant and all of that. :D

the everday lineup looks like this:

eckstein ss
duncan lf
pujols 1b
rolen 3b
edmonds cf
encarnacion rf
kennedy 2b
molina c
pitcher

the big pick up was signing adam kennedy to a multiyear deal to stop the revolving door at second base. it didn't really set cardinal nation's collective heart a twitter but it plugs a hole. jocketty never really went after the big outfield bat that i think they need but instead resigned edmonds. jocketty's philosophy while putting this team together over the last few years has been to take care of his core group (pujols, rolen, edmonds, carp) and use whatever money's left to plug holes. with the money invested in the core group, it kind of precludes a big money, big name deal.

the bench looks like this:

taguchi of
spiezio ut
bennett the cub killer c
miles if
john rodriguez of

they're still talking to preston wilson about coming back but i don't really see the point in it. it would just add to the glut of average/mediocre of that the cards have. they also have skip schumaker and eli marrero in memphis if jrod falls back into tlr's doghouse. plus they have a couple of prospects in jon jay and colby rasmus who could be the fourth of right now. rasmus is edmond's future replacement so he'll stay down on the farm but i wouldn't be surprised to see jay make the team over jrod.

starting pitching:

carpenter
reyes
wainwright
kip wells
ryan franklin/chris narveson/brad thompson/pray for rain

wainwright moves to the rotation (with the expected return to health of izzy), wells was brought in as cheap reclaimation project with suppan/woody williams-like upside (we hope), and the franklin/narveson/thompson/pray for rain fifth starter is holding down a spot until mulder comes back in late july/august. both carpenter and mulder were resigned at reasonable rates, given this market. the interesting thing is that all the projections i've seen so far actually like the cardinals starting pitching and are projecting decent years from the youngsters reyes and wainwright. we'll see. the cards are also still talking to jeff weaver. he wants a four year/40 mil deal and the cards are offering two years.

the bullpen:

izzy
bradon looper
josh kinney
tyler johnson
randy flores
josh hancock
brad thompson
russ springer
ricardo rincon

not a lot of changes from last year. they brough back russ springer (ho hum) and rincon should be healthy after missing all year. that's about it. the key is izzy's health. if he's 100%, the bullpen should be fine. if not, we have a bad bad situation. lefties rincon, flores, johnson, and probably troy cate are fighting for two spots in the pen. rh kinney, johnson, and hancock are probably doing the same.

in a perfect world where everybody is healthy, pujols and carp have big years, edmonds' decline is moderate, rolen is productive, and the pitching doesn't fall apart, the cards look like a 90 win team that should hold off their competition in the nl central and be playing baseball in october again. but if izzy is hurt again, pujols and carp have off years, edmonds falls off a cliff, rolen is unhappy, and the youngsters in the rotation struggle, this is a team that could struggle to win 81 games and slip to third or fourth. God forbid.

[Erik Bedard]

Right now, the O's lineup and rotation projects to me as something like this:

SP1: Erik Bedard
SP2: Kris Benson
SP3: Daniel Cabrera
SP4: Adam Loewen
SP5: Jaret Wright

(Wow, alphabetical order. That's kinda cool.)

2B Brian Roberts
3B Melvin Mora
RF Nick Markakis
SS Miguel Tejada
1B Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
LF Jay Payton
DH Jay Gibbons/Kevin Millar
CF Corey Patterson

Not going to strike fear in a lot of people's hearts, but pretty decent. I expect Baltimore to finish 79-83, in fourth place.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Acquired:
P Mike Gonzalez - Though he is an injury risk and a bit on the wild side, you'd be pressed to find more fireballing left-handers. Also, he can be the option to close this season if Bob Wickman falters. He's the closer of the future.
SS Brent Lillibridge - Considered one of the Pirates' best prospects, Lillibridge is a shortstop, but will probably convert to second base easily if Kelly Johnson isn't there for the long term.
OF/1B Craig Wilson - One of the nicer singings that Schuerholz has made, period. Not only does this take pressure off of Scott Thorman to perform, it also gives the Braves another platoon that works. Why wasn't he signed already? Because he can't hit? ;)

Lost:
1B Adam LaRoche - It's a shame he had to be traded. It really is. The Pirates should benefit from his left-handed power, no doubt about it.
OF Jamie Romak - He hit 16 homers and had an .840 OPS in Class A Rome last year, though he has a bit of a low average there (.247).

Grade: B+

Only thing that would make this off-season perfect is another starter.

[BoofBonser26]

Indians Aquisitions:
Borowski
Foulke
Hernandez
Fultz
Dellucci
Nixon
Barfield

Losses:
Belliard
Boone

I give Shapiro a B. The Barfield aquisition was brilliant. Signing Borowski and Foulke was brilliant. Signing the other two relievers (Fultz, Hernandez) wasn't so much. The Indians have cheap internal guys who can be average.

Signing Dellucci was weird, and signing Nixon even weirder. Just Nixon would make sense. Both does not. They have too many outfield bats. Garko can hit in the major leagues. Keeping him on the bench or in AAA makes no sense.

2007 Lineup
C Martinez
1B Garko/Blake?
2B Barfield
SS Peralta
3B Marte
LF Dellucci/Michaels
CF Sizemore
RF Blake/Nixon?
DH Hafner

I'd like this team a lot better with Garko at 1B, Blake in RF, and Michaels in left with Nixon backing up, and probably getting semi-regular time in right with Blake occasionally spelling Garko, or maybe even Marte. There's no need for Dellucci.

Aquiring Barfield could make up for the bizarre, artificial logjam in the outfield and the supression of Garko. My optimism senses a trade of one of the OFers...