Hot Stove Roundup - Rumors and Signings

Its been a week, and not much has happened in free agency. The high-profile players are still out there, but some needs are being filled:

Free Agency:
The Toronto Blue Jays signed SS Alex Gonzalez to a one-year deal with a club option for 2011. One has to wonder what exactly the Jays plans are with this signing. Compared to Marco Scutaro, their previous SS, Gonzalez is a downgrade. With Scutaro eligible to be a free agent but waiting on an arbitration offer, the Jays may not be expecting to get him back. This would be a huge blow for the organization, as Scutaro is coming off a year where he had career highs in almost every offensive category. The only real advantage Gonzalez has is age, as he is 2 years younger than Scutaro. With Gonzalez now signed and Scutaro expected to play elswhere, the Red Sox and Dodgers look like his most likely landing spots.

The Chicago White Sox signed Omar Vizquel and Andruw Jones to one-year contracts. At 42-years-old, Vizquel is clearly going to be a untility infielder. I would also think his veteran presence would help manager Ozzie Guillen, who has let the team get away from him at times. Jones is a much different signing. He is expected to DH and help rest Mark Kotsay in left field, but he's a risk. His numbers took a sharp decline in 2007, his last year with the Braves. After signing with the Dodgers in the offseason, not only did his offensive numbers drop even more, but he seemed to have forgotten how to play in the outfield. He was eventually benched and released after just one season in LA. He later signed a Minor League contract with the Texas Rangers, and made the opening day roster as a backup. However, playing in five more games for the Rangers than he had for the Dodger, Jones saw most of his offensive numbers double from where they were the year before. If he can continue his climb back to the top, the White Sox could have the steal of the year. If his numbers drop again, they still have capable players that can take over for him.


Trades:
No major trades this week.

Rumors:
This week, the Red Sox started sending out feelers on... just about everybody. Its already known they want Roy Halladay, and reports say they're going full bore on him. They've also been mentioned as spot #1 for Marco Scutaro, and its been said they're actively shopping 3B Mike Lowell. At 35-years-old, Lowell's production has declined a bit over the last two seasons, and he could be hard to trade with younger, cheaper options on the free agent market. The biggest news is simply the fact that the Sox are concentrating so heavily on pitching. Going into 2009, their staff looked solid. Daisuke Matsuzaka was expected to improve on 2008, John Lester and Josh Beckett would anchor the staff, Clay Buchholz was a solid #4, and Tim Wakefield could still throw the knuckleball. Daisuke was a huge disappoinment after spending most of the season on the disabled list, and Wakefield joined him their for a stretch. With Buchholz up-and-down over the last two seasons, he's now being talked about as part of a Halladay trade. With John Lackey clearly in their sights also, the Red Sox figure to be as big a player in this offseason as the Yankees were in last.

Free Agent of the Week:
Nick Johnson
As a backup 1B with the Yankees from 2001 to 2003, Johnson looked like he could be the next big thing at first. The Yankees must have seen something the rest of the league didn't after that season, as they let him go to free agency. With the Expos signing him in their last season before moving to Washington, he looked like he might be the best thing on a bad team. He was good for them that first year, but 2004 would begin a stretch of injury plagued seasons. He would play a career high 147 games in 2006, and followed that up by missing the entire 2007 season, then played only 38 games in 2008. Playing for the Nationals and Florida Marlins in 2009 saw his numbers go back to around his career average, with the exception of his power numbers. His batting average jumped back to .291, but his doubles and home runs were lower than normal, and his .405 slugging is 42 points lower than his career total. Johnson still seems to be a somewhat coveted free agent in a class of free agent first basemen whose careers are largely on the decline. Any team that wants him, though, would want him as a backup, or would need a competent player behind him if he goes down again. The Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, and NY Mets and Yankees have all been rumored landing spots. I'm ruling out the Mets and Yankees right off the top. Both teams have a history of signing injury-prone players, the Mets as starters and the Yankees as backups/reclamation projects. I don't think they'll be going down that road again. The other four teams have decent farm systems. It would make sense for any of them to sign him to a one- or two-year deal to give their young players more time to develope. My brain tells me he'll end up with the Orioles, but my gut says the Rangers want him more, and will give him what he wants. I'm going with my gut and saying he lands with the Rangers.