Thoughts on Recapping the Off-season

First, I must say this is one of the more disappointing off-seasons in recent memory. There was absolutely nothing extremely surprising that happened. Normally at least one team makes a big splash that shakes up how everyone approaches the coming year. Hasn't happened. No one really has made dramatic improvements, most teams did nothing much or just enough to stay at the same level they were last year.

As signings start to dwindle down and the trade market slows as well, and the arbitration period coming to a close, it's time to recap a little of how this postseason has went. All these rankings are tentative to chagne based on what happens in the rest of the off-season.

Offseason Winners:
1.) Yankees
2.) Red Sox
3.) Mariners

The Yankees stayed on the same talent level, and got younger. No super risky changes, kept the core of the team intact. Now, if they were only smart enough to trade Joba in a deal for Halladay...The Red Sox made little improvements all over the field, but they might be winners if only because they didn't lose as much as they could've. Lackey definitely boosts the rotation, giving them at least one reliable arm behind Lester and Beckett, but the only hitter in that lineup that scares any team is Victor Martinez....Seattle takes the third spot for locking up Felix, acquiring Cliff Lee for Phillipe Aumonte, and adequately replacing Adrian Beltre with Chone Figgins.

Offseason Losers:
1.) Phillies
2.) Cubs
3.) Dodgers

The Phillies are the big losers for A.) replacing Pedro Feliz with Polanco, B.) replacing Lee with Halladay at the cost of the rest of their farm, and C.) using money they could've used on Cliff Lee to pay Joe Blanton. The Cubs for failing to improve, paying too much for a LOOGY who isn't much of a LOOGY and everything involved with Milton Bradley. The Dodgers are big losers as they did nothing, and their payroll has dropped $40 million in the last 2 years.

Wildcard: Mets

The Mets missed on on Piniero and Molina, which some would say is a good thing, and still have money to spend. If they can grab John Smoltz for the back of the rotation, and could also sign Ben Sheets, and pick up Rod Barajas or Yorvit Torrealba for half the cost of Molina, who's at best slightly better than those two. Basically, the Mets have options, and some money to spend, and if they find a taker for Luis Castillo, who has some value,they could also grab Orlando Hudson. If everything else falls into place for them, they could easily vault to number one on the winners list with additions of at least one of those two catchers, one of those two catchers (or Erik Bedard?) and another arm, preferably for the bullpen to replace Brian Stokes. Highly possible and feasable situation

Best off-season acquisition: Curtis Granderson. Now Yankee fans can finally stop pretending Melky Cabrera is good.

Worst off-season acquisition: Joel Piniero. He was bad in the AL West before, what makes this time any different? Except that the Angels' park isn't as good for pitchers as Safeco.

Most puzzling off-season acquisition: Bengie Molina. This is actually a retention, but he was a type B free agent, and they have both Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey, the best catching prospect remaining after Wieters was called up last summer.

Biggest catastrophe avoided: Atlanta Braves potentially having the most expensive bullpen in history.

Best Free agent still available: John Smoltz. He should land somewhere and give someone some solid innings. Sheets is a little less dependable in that area.

Smartest move: The Yankees making Johnny Damon wait. It's clear everyone thinks his power resurgence is all from Yankee Stadium. He came into the off-season looking for 3 years/$30 million even though he's in his mid-thirties. Scott Boras dropped the ball on this one. Looks like he'll head back to the Yankees next year for Bobby Abreu money last year.

Thoughts on Mark McGwire

Anyone who's ever read anything I've written, or have heard any of my ranting diatribes on Mark McGwire knows I have a pretty clear stance on him. He's the ultimate product of the generation. Someone who tried to use steroids to prolong a career that shouldn't have been sustainable. Did he legitimately have that sort of power? Yeah, probably, he did hit for a rookie record of 49 homers after all. But he needed steroids to sustain it.

Also, it's unfair to pick on him because he was the greatest power hitter of the 90's. We don't know for sure everyone who did and who didn't, so to put all this blame on McGwire is a witch hunt. Yankee fans are offended he broke Maris' record. Purists hate the steroids, but most fans honestly don't seem to care, especially if they tend to like the player. The public only really seems to be angry at those who have made a mockery of this whole mess (Jose Canseco, Rodriguez, Clemens, Palmeiro).

Someone from the steroids era is going to get into teh Hall of Fame, and that'll mean everyone else will have to give in. Make Mark McGwire the first, Palmeiro the next and Sosa later. And honestly, someone who cheated and wasn't caught will get in and "taint" the Hall of Fame, so let them all in.

Thoughts on Matt Holliday

In what seemed like an inevitability after Jason Bay landed with the Mets, Matt Holliday recently signed a 7 year, $120 million deal with the Cardinals.

This is pretty simple, St. Louis is a great baseball town, with a manager players love to play for, and a great pitching coach to boot. It's probably the best baseball city in the world. Matt Holliday played well there, and him hitting next to Pujols is scary. Also, this signing is extra incentive for Pujols to stick around.

Only question marks include: why didn't anyone else really get in on the bidding? Did they sense he never wanted to leave, and just wanted to use free agency as a tool to get a huge deal out of St. Louis? Is $16-$17 million a year over 7 years smart considering they seemed to be bidding against themselves? If Holliday's fielding is as bad as some say, is he really worth that kind of cash?

Honestly, I think not trying to get him at a lower price is smart, if they had let these negotiations continue much longer, some one else surely would have stepped in and caused competition for St. Louis.