Bust a Move

Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings have come and gone, and lots of free-agents now have new homes. Some even returned to old ones. And while Cliff Lee, possibly the biggest free-agent of the off-season is still without a team, other major players have been rerouted to new uniforms in new colors. While we won't be able to cover every transaction of the past two months, I will certainly try and take care of the impact moves. Some were great, while others were...shall we say, busts?

First off, let's take a second to congratulate some new members of the coaching persuasion. John Farrell became the skipper of the Toronto Blue Jays, Clint Hurdle took over with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Terry Collins is now heading things up in New York for the Metropolitans. The first two new-hires went off without much begrudging, but Collins became a talking-point, mainly due to his past issues with player management. However, while leading up to his hiring he seemed like ever analysts' favorite for the job. Once he actually got the nod though, things seemed to change and everyone questioned whether he was the right guy, which just goes to show how fickle and scrutinizing the New York press can be.

The off-season started off quick with the Florida Marlins making some moves, which we have discussed already. The deal to send Dan Uggla to the division rival Braves may still be one of the worst moves thus far in my opinion. Then the Los Angeles Dodgers got into the act by resigning Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda, then adding Jon Garland and World Series Champion utility player Juan Uribe. Things started to get really interesting as the first 'big name' free agent came off the board; catcher Victor Martinez. He was courted by several teams including his most recent one, the Boston Red Sox, but in the end, the Detroit Tigers were able to lure him away due to the massive amount of money that had coming off the books this year. So now Martinez will be making at least $12 million for the next four years while catching, playing a little 1B and maybe even DHing from time to time.

Shortly thereafter, all hell broke loose. The Colorado Rockies, a small market team that rarely throws money around, signed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to a seven-year extension, on top of his current deal that keeps him with the team until 2014. The deal is worth $119 million dollars and will keep with the team for the next ten years. These kinds of deals don't usually happen with players who are already under contract, but I suppose the Rockies wanted to lock up the stud player early, before the open market had a chance to take him away. But it comes at a huge cost. Tulo is a stellar player, but one serious injury and his career could be severely hampered, if not over. However, that is a risk when considering any long-term contract. And long-term contracts are becoming plentiful.

Simply ask Jayson Werth, who received from the Washington Nationals a massive 7-year deal of his own worth an estimated $126 million, and was for about a week the third-largest contract ever for an outfielder. Is Jayson Werth even one of the three best outfielders in the game? Most people I know would say no, and while he has proven himself a very adept all-around baseball player, he will turn 32 early next season, and he collected a vast amount of his homeruns in Philadelphia's Citizen Bank Park, which is small to say the least. None of this bodes well for Jayson living up to this contract. He is a tremendous compliment player and if the Nats help build around him and Ryan Zimmerman with young talent coming through their farm teams, then this eventually might not be so bad. But this contract now handcuffs the Nats to help the team build in other crucial areas, such as starting and relief pitching. This looks to be a critical signing for years to come. Seven at least.

Former National Adam Dunn also got a new deal, but from an American League team, the Chicago White Sox. But before Adam could get his first-baseman's glove ready, the Pale Hose re-upped on long-time 1B Paul Konerko. They also resigned catcher A.J. Pierzinski while they were at it. So now it looks like Dunn will be doing the one thing he didn't want to do, and that's DHing. Meanwhile, on the North Side of Chicago, the Cubs signed Carlos Pena to play first for $10 million a year. Seeing as how he hit under .200 last year, I'd say this was yet another unwise signing by the Cubbies, who have been signing bad deal after bad deal for the past couple of years. However, Pena does bring a power bat and some great defensive work with him, so maybe he won't work out as badly as Milton Bradley.

In other news, the Yankees resigned both closer Mariano Rivera and shortstop Derek Jeter. Neither move was really a shock. The Rivera deal went almost unnoticed as the drama swiveled around Jeter's closely-cropped head. During the press conference following his new contract, Jeter was visibly and audibly annoyed by the things that had been said about him in the press. To be fair, I even questioned Jeter's motivations during the whole episode, but that is what professional athletes put themselves through when their demands are high. The Yankees probably came out looking worse when all was said and done, as the Yankee captain was definitely upset by the free-agent process. Maybe they will have to go through this all again in about three or four years. But we'll deal with that when the time comes.

In St. Louis I was a bit surprised to see the Cardinals sign Lance Berkman. Aaron Harang, the man who holds the record for starts on Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds will now be throwing from the mound in San Diego. The Giants signed Miguel Tejada instead of reinvesting in the aforementioned Uribe or luring World Series MVP Edgar Renteria away from potential retirement. And homer-mashing, strikeout king, the Wizard of Wiff, Mark Reynolds traded in his Diamondback boots for some Oriole wings. Other, smaller moves were and still are happening just about every day, but these are most often complimentary players that don't make or break teams. Adrian Gonzalez, on the other hand, is a star.

That star will be rising over Boston next year and for years to come most likely. The San Diego All-Star 1B had been rumored for a move to Beantown for at least three years now. When San Diego came one game away from making the playoffs last year though, it looked like the Padres were going to seriously consider keeping Gonzalez on the books. But apparently the Friars couldn't say no to a deal from Boston that sent zero major league players back, in exchange for the dynamic, two-time Gold Glover. The Padres got some potential talent in the trade, especially highly touted pitcher Casey Kelley, but for the kind of player Adrian is, the Padres should have been able to get more. They instead sold themselves short, and will most likely pay the price in both on-field performance, and in attendance revenue, as Gonzalez was a beloved home-grown hero, and will be sorely missed by the fanbase.

The Red Sox weren't done mixing things up though. Just when everyone calmed down from saying how great it was for Boston to get Gonzalez, G.M. Theo Epstein dropped another bombshell and swooped in front of the Los Angeles Angels and signed outfielder Carl Crawford at 7-years, $142 million. Boston now has the two largest outfielder contracts of all-time. (The other was Manny Ramirez signing for 8-years, $160 million in 2001.) Crawford adds a huge element of speed, average, and athleticism to the already good lineup that was in Boston last year. With the addition of Adrian Gonzalez, who with the help of the short porch in right-field, could hit 40+ homers, and the speed of Carl Crawford at the top of the lineup, the Red Sox stand an excellent chance of making it back to the playoffs. Hell, they will probably be the best team in baseball!

The off-season is funny. Crawford probably never would have been offered such a monstrous deal had Jayson Werth not been given his. You see, in the baseball world there are many, many tiers of players. Crawford was widely regarded as a better outfielder than Werth, so whatever Werth signed to, Crawford could ask for more. That's why the top-ranked free agents usually sign first, to set the market for other players in the league. But this year it got screwed up, thus causing market rates to jump. And unfortunately it will cause prices to rise even higher for next year and the year after. This is due mainly to high-end agents like Scott Boras, and unless baseball comes up with something better than a luxury tax to curb salaries, then next year we might be talking about Albert Pujols getting $25-30 million a year.

To call any of the moves thus far a bust is a little too critical. Troy Tulowitzki's deal irritated a lot of people, but he's a fantastic young player and if consistently healthy, could make his extension look reasonable in later years. Werth's deal looks a little worse considering his age and the team who signed him, but maybe he'll play his heart out and become a beloved icon in Washington the way he started to in Philly. Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez could mark the start of another dynasty-type run for Boston. Or maybe a deal that was too small to mention at the time, could end up determining the future of a franchise. That's the beauty of baseball. Everything matters. Even the little things. And especially the busts.