Top moves of the offseason

Now that winter has turned into spring training, its time to look back at the best moves of the offseason.

October
-Braves send Edgar Renteria to the Tigers for Jair Jurrgens and Gorkys Hernandez.

The Braves managed to gain some much needed payroll, and added two useful prospects in the process. Jurrgens should give the Braves a #4 starter this year, and some projections have him as high as a #2 starter long term. Hernandez, along with Jordan Schaeffer, will provide the Braves with someone to eventually fill the void of Andrud Jones.

The Tigers meanwhile, get a decent glove who does a good job with the bat at short, and consequently, get to move Carlos Guillen to first, whose bat is a definite improvement over Sean Casey.

November

-Angels sign Torii Hunter

An interesting move, as the Angels already had Gary Matthews. But Hunter adds much more than Matthews(Gold Glove, better bat) that its a smart move. It does leave the Angels with an excess in the OF(Juan Rivera, Matthews, Reggie Willits, plus Hunter and Vlad, and Chone Figgins when he's not playing third), but I wouldnt be shocked to see Willits or Rivera traded before the start of the season.

-Twins send Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan to the Rays for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie.

Twins send a player whose stuff has ace pontential and get a player who has been compared to Vlad. I think this is a pretty even up deal, as the Twins could see Morneau, Mauer and Young blossom in the middle of the lineup for years, while the Rays add a pitcher who should slot in behind Scott Kazmir and James Shields for now. The Rays rotation in 2009/2010 is shaping up to be one of the best in the majors.

December
-Tigers acquireLHP Dontrelle Willis and 3B Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins in exchange for RHP Burke Badenhop, RHP Eulogio De La Cruz, RHP Dallas Trahern, LHP Andrew Miller, C Mike Rabelo and OF Cameron Maybin.

Not sure how I feel about Willis moving to the AL. Its hard to imagine him pitching any worse, and getting away from Florida(where the coaching staff tinkered with his delivery) should help. He should benefit greatly from an improved defense(Polanco, Granderson, and Renteria are a huge improvement over Uggla, whomever was playing CF that week for the Marlins and Ramirez).

Cabrera forms a formidable 3-4-5 for Detroit, and a trip back to the WS isnt out of the question.

Florida gets the centerfielder they have needed for years in Maybin, while Andrew Miller could eventually be the ace of that Marlins rotation. Rabelo should take over as their everyday catcher.

-Diamondbacks acquire RHP Dan Haren and RHP Connor Robertson from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for LHP Brett Anderson, LHP Dana Eveland, LHP Greg Smith, INF Chris Carter, OF Aaron Cunningham and OF Carlos Gonzalez.

A huge move for the Diamondbacks, as a 1-2 punch of Webb and Haren stacks up with anyone in the National League. The key pieces for Oakland are Gonzalez, Anderson and Carter, and Gonzalez could be in center for the A's this year. Carter is a few years away, though where he will play when that time comes(possibly DH) remains to be seen.

-Rangers acquire Josh Hamilton from the Reds for Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera.

The Rangers get a bonafide centerfielder, and if he can stay healthy and problem-free, could provide a middle of the order bat for years to come.
Volquez has never really pitched well at the MLB level, but has always been on the young side. I'm not sure I like his odds in Cincinatti, though the gopher ball has never been his problem at the minor league level. There are some questions on whether a guy with Herrera's stuff will be able to make it as a big league starter.

January
-A's trade OF Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for LHP Gio Gonzalez, RHP Fautino De Los Santos and OF Ryan Sweeney.

The White Sox make a move to improve in the Central, though it remains to be seen whether it is enough to leapfrog the Indians and Tigers. The A's continue their rebuilding effort by acquiring cheap, young arms, along with a decent OF prospect in Sweeney.

February
-Mets acquire LHP Johan Santana from the Twins for OF Carlos Gomez, RHP Deolis Guerra, RHP Philip Humber and RHP Kevin Mulvey.

This trade could pan out in 3-5 years for the Twins. Guerra is the wild card, a 19 year old whom scouts love and see as a potential ace. Humber should slide into the Twins rotation this year, and projects as a back end guy. Mulvey's ceiling is as a mid-rotation, and he could be up later this year. Gomez will be in the mix for the centerfield job, and his defense is a plus there. He hasnt shown much power at any level, so it remains to be seen how far he'll go. Worst case, he's a Juan Pierre with a better arm.

The Mets get the ace they've been craving, and with one of the 5 best pitchers in all of baseball on their side, they move to the top of the NL East class, though it wont be an easy job to win it. Not much to say about it that hasnt already been said.


And there you have it. I'm hoping to put together a division by division look, starting next week.