Winter Meetings: And Now the End is Near

Following is a list of most of what was accomplished or officially announced Wednesday.

*The O's acquired starter Kevin Millwood from the Rangers along with cash considerations for reliever Chris Ray and a player to be named later, likely to be awarded after the Rule 5 draft. 

*The Yankees, Tigers and Diamondbacks confirmed the seven-player deal that sees the Tigers moving to save payroll by sending Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks. The Granderson deal is ideally what the Jays would have done with Vernon Wells this winter except that his contract that was backend loaded is virtually un-tradable. Now they are stuck with an albatross deal unless Vernon opts out after 2011 -- which ain't gonna happen. 

*The Yankees confirmed that they signed Andy Pettitte to a guaranteed $11.75 million contract. It does not preclude them adding Roy Halladay later, but it drops them down the depth chart of suitors.

*Close to a deal are Randy Wolf and the Brewers for three years and $27 million. The surprising dollar value of this deal bumps the worth of others like Joel Pineiro and John Lackey and makes Halladay's $15.75 million contract for 2010 look like a bargain for what you are getting.  

*Catcher Yorvit Torrealba is close to returning to the Rockies on a two-year deal.

*Reliever LaTroy Hawkins has tentatively agreed to a two-year deal with the Brewers. Hawkins seems ageless and can be useful in setup innings in the NL.

*The Palm Beach Post reports that Mat Lindstrom is being shipped by the Marlins to the Aastros to be their new closer.

Remember when deals used to be announced as soon as the names were determined up in the suite. But that all changed. On January 14, 2001 Jays' GM Gord Ash traded a disgruntled David Wells to the White Sox in a big six-player deal. The Jays received lefty Mike Sirotka as the centrepiece in return. Unfortunately for Ash, Sirotka arrived with an injured shoulder likely from a Japanese series of exhibition games. The Jays were not happy, but not much was done about it. Sirotka did not pitch an inning for the Jays. Ever since that deal, medical information has had to be exchanged PRIOR to any deal being official. Which is why you get the leaks one day and the official announcement the next.       

       

Comments

[John Merritt]

I am surprised there are not more deals on the table, or maybe the teams are negotiating behind closed doors with no names being released. Normally you like to seek greater equity in the upper, mid and lower teams; bt it appears the rich are getting greater depth and those in smaller markets are shedding the poundage ($ terms).