Baseball is in the air. With pitchers & catchers reporting this week, I figured what better time than now to bring "Joe Brackets" back to its bread and butter. I'm, of course, talking about a baseball post. So what's the post going to be about, you ask? Well, with all the significant movement that took place this offseason, I thought I'd take a look at some of the best. These are 10 player moves that have happened since the Cardinals sprayed champagne that I think are the most significant (guys re-signing with their own team don't count).
10. The Marco Scutaro trade: I don't really get this one. Boston traded its starting shortstop to Colorado for a prospect. Pending another move during Spring Training, Bobby Valentine is now forced to go with either Mike Aviles or Nick Punto at short in his first Opening Day as Red Sox manager. The Red Sox were allegedly trying to free up some room to make a run at a starting pitcher, but unless that happens, all they've done is weaken both their lineup and their defense at short. The Rockies, meanwhile, added Scutaro for some reason I'm still yet to figure out. They already have this stud named Troy Tulowitzki at short. I guess that means they'll insert Scutaro at second. I'm curious to see how that'll turn out, but the Rockies' lineup definitely got better, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a run at the NL West crown this season.
9. The Angel Pagan-Andres Torres trade: After they lost Jose Reyes, the Mets went and traded Angel Pagan, basically giving up any chance they might've had to be remoteley competitive in 2012. In fairness, the Wilpons need to clean up this Bernie Madoff mess, though, so trading away their best player might've been some sort of cost-saving move. More of those will be necessary before they can again make a splash in free agency. This trade makes a lot of sense for the Giants, though. San Francisco won the World Series two years ago, then missed the playoffs last season. In 2011, they didn't really have a leadoff hitter. Now they do. And they have an above-average center fielder, as well. With Buster Posey returning from his injury and the addition of Pagan to the lineup (not to mention that pitching staff), I think the Giants should contend.
8. The Yankees remake their rotation, trade A.J. Burnett: It's funny how a team that won 97 games and reached Game 5 of the Division Series last season did so with a six-man rotation that pretty much everybody agreed wasn't that good. Well, that rotation got a whole lot better with the additions (within a few hours of each other) of Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda. Suddenly they had too many starters. A.J. would've been left fighting with Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes for the No. 5 spot in that rotation. Like many, I still believe A.J. Burnett is an above-average Major League pitcher. If he wasn't getting No. 2-starter money, his numbers with the Yankees wouldn't have looked as bad. But his performance simply didn't match his contract. Regardless, everyone knew that A.J. was the Yankees' most tradeable starter, so it wasn't a surprise to see him get sent to the Pirates. If he puts up the same numbers in Pittsburgh, Pirates fans will be happy. Keep in mind, they aren't good. They were looking for a quality innings-eater that they can throw out there every five days. A.J. Burnett is just that. I'm glad he'll get a fresh start outside of the New York pressure cooker.
7. Carlos Beltran signs with the Cardinals: It's still hard to imagine the Cardinals without Albert, but I guess we're all going to have to make peace with it. After a tremendous 2011, Lance Berkman re-signed. Once life without Albert became a reality, Berkman was moved from the outfield to first. But the Cardinals still had to find a way to try and replace Albert's bat. Enter Carlos Beltran. Sure he wore out his welcome with the Mets (mostly because he didn't want to be there anymore), but Beltran proved that he's still a worthwhile commodity during the first few months of last season. His defense in center field isn't as good as it once was, which is why the Mets moved him to right, but I'm anticipating St. Louis playing him in center and Allen Craig in right. But his offense is going to be the real key. Beltran's not Albert. He doesn't need to be. But he needs to be the player he was in early 2011 and not the player he was from 2008-10.
6. The Rangers get Yu Darvish: Consider this: the Rangers went to their second straight World Series last season with a starting rotation that was nothing to write home about. Then their best pitcher, C.J. Wilson, up and signed with the division-rival Angels as a free agent. So what do the Rangers do? They win the bidding for Japanese star Yu Darvish, then sign him to a $51 millon contract. According to all the scouts who've seen him, Darvish is the real deal. If that's the case, he was worth every penny. Then there's the possibility he's the next Daisuke Matsuzaka. Texas needs him to be the guy they paid for. Otherwise, their lineup might need to score a whole lot of runs to make up for the pitching staff. Although, I do have to give the Rangers credit for opening up their checkbooks and making an effort to sustain their success. A few years ago, Texas never wouldn't have even entered the running for a guy like Darvish, let alone landed him.
5. The Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade: Yes, I already mentioned the Yankees' upgrading of their starting rotation. But this trade is worth its own mention because of how it helps both teams. When they were shopping Montero to Seattle for Cliff Lee, the Mariners asked the Yankees if there was anybody else they could theoretically get Montero for. The answer was: "Yes. Michael Pineda." So, instead of being the No. 2 starter on a bad Seattle team, Pineda will be the No. 3 starter for the Yankees this season. And instead of being the Yankees' starting DH, Montero will be the Mariners' starting catcher. Seattle's offense was anemic (to say the least) last season. Jesus Montero is a tremendous power hitter who can help those offensive problems. The Yankees weren't sold on Montero's catching ability. Catching every day in Seattle, he'll get a chance to improve defensively, as well. He wouldn't have gotten that opportunity with the Yankees. This is one of your classic win-win trades. The Yankees get a quality starter with dominant stuff. The Mariners get a good, young, power-hitting catcher who they can groom as a star in the middle of their lineup.
4. Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle sign with the Marlins: The Marlins had an eventful offseason. They got a new name, a new stadium, a new logo, new colors, a new manager. And a whole bunch of new players. Evidently somebody informed the Marlins front office that Miami isn't a small market, so they didn't need to act like a small-market team. As a result, the Miami Marlins did more in one offseason than the Florida Marlins ever did. First, they signed Jose Reyes away from the division-rival Mets. The opportunity to get one of the game's premier leadoff hitters in his prime doesn't come along very often. It was enough for the Marlins to convince Hanley Ramirez to move to third. As if Reyes wasn't enough, they got one of the best free agent pitchers on the market in Mark Buehrle, who'll be reunited with his former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen in Miami. With Buehrle and Josh Johnson, the Marlins have a formidable 1-2 punch at the front of their rotation. And putting Reyes at the top of that lineup sets this team up to be good for years in a very competitive NL East. Keep in mind, the Marlins have only tried to be good twice in their history. They won the World Series both times.
3. Jonathan Papelbon signs with the Phillies: We all know about the Phillies' rotation. Their signing of Cliff Lee was easily the biggest move of last offseason. But, after winning 100 games in the regular season, they got knocked out of the playoffs in the Division Series. Of course, Chris Carpenter was a big reason why, but it brought to light a bigger problem. That all-star rotation masked the fact that the Phillies didn't really have a closer last year. Brad Lidge hasn't been the same since the 2008 World Championship season, and Ryan Madson's simply better suited to be a set-up man. So they went and added Papelbon, the former Boston closer, to pitch the ninth inning. At the same time, losing Papelbon severely crippled the Red Sox' bullpen. Boston added Oakland's Andrew Bailey as a replacement, but Bailey's not as good as Papelbon. I'm curious to see how the closer situation in Boston is going to play out this season. I don't think they truly appreciated Papelbon's value.
2. Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson sign with the Angels: Albert leaving the Cardinals was completely unthinkable. Until it happened. The Angels came out of nowhere to land the game's biggest superstar to a monster 10-year deal. And with it, they just might've shifted the balance of power in the AL West back in their direction. Simply put, Albert's the best player in the game. Very few people (if any) would dispute that. One of the reasons the Rangers have become the team to beat in this division is because their lineup has been better, top to bottom. But I didn't see Texas adding a consistent 30 home run-100 RBI guy to the middle of its lineup. Albert made the entire Angels team better. Of course, they now have three first basemen and can only play two at a time, but that's small potatoes. They can always trade either Mark Trumbo or Kendrys Morales. Then to further cut into Texas' division domination, they went and added the Rangers' best pitcher to what was already the division's best rotation. With Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana and C.J. Wilson, as well as that Albert-led lineup, the Angels made a huge statement this offseason. They aren't just going to be contenders in the AL West. They're on the short list of teams that could be considered legitimate World Series contenders.
1. Prince Fielder signs with the Tigers: How badly does Mike Ilitch want to win the World Series? He proved that to his fans by making the only move of this offseason that could possibly trump Albert's going to Anaheim. Just days after finding out Victor Martinez was lost for the season, the Tigers went out and got the biggest name still available on the free agent market: Prince Fielder. And with that, they became the instant favorites to win the 2012 World Series. Tiger fans got their first glimpse of Prince when his dad, Cecil, starred for them in the early '90s. Now they'll get to see a whole lot of Prince over the next several years. The Tigers already had Miguel Cabrera at first. He's going to move to third, and Detroit has two of the best power hitters in the game. And they're both in their prime. That's as scary a 3-4 combination as any lineup in baseball. In 2013 when Martinez comes back, it'll become the scariest 3-4-5 in all of baseball. Everyone knew Prince was leaving Milwaukee. Nobody saw this coming, though. The Tigers were already good. Yet somehow, they found a way to get better. Look out, American League!
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