Hot Stove Roundup - Week 1

With the MLB season about a week-and-a-half in the past, its time to start taking a look at the offseason moves as teams try to improve for next season. Without further ado, here is the first installment of the weekly Hot Stove Roundup:

Free Agency:
The open period for free agency is still about a week away, so right now options are being exercised left and right. However, with ticket sales down in a lot of the smaller markets, many players are being traded or let go this year, rather than have their option picked up or go to arbitration.

Team option:
The Tampa Bay Rays exercised their option on LF Carl Crawford. The Rays are a team built on youth and speed, and it would be hard to find an available player to replace someone like Crawford. His RBI numbers aren't the greatest, and he may have struck out a bit much this year, but this past season he had career highs in stolen bases(60), walks(51), and OBP(.364). At 28 years old, he could have a few more years of that kind of production ahead of him.

The Philadelphia Phillies exercised their option on P Cliff Lee. If you watched the playoffs this year, you should know why. In the postseason, he was 4-0 in 5 starts with an ERA of 1.56. With Philly looking like a playoff contender for a while, they'll want to have Lee around for a full season so they know what they've got.

The Arizona Diamondbacks exercised their option on P Brandon Webb. Its usually a good idea to bring back a Cy Young Award winner, but the Diamondbacks need to be cautious here. Webb missed pretty much all of last season after having shoulder surgery. They'll need to see what he can do for a season before deciding to commit to a long term deal.

The Boston Red Sox exercised their option on C Victor Martinez. From 1999 to 2006, Jason Varitek was a stud for the Red Sox. Now, at age 37, his numbers are on the decline. Trading for Martinez and now exercising his option are the start of the Red Sox looking to the future. However,...

Player Option:
...Jason Varitek exercised his option to stay with the Red Sox. There was also a team option on Varitek that was for less money than Martinez's, but clearly the younger Martinez is where the Sox wanted to go with their catcher. Good move for Varitek, since his chances of getting a better deal somwhere else are pretty slim.

Manny Ramirez exercised his option to stay with the LA Dodgers. Can you blame him? After playing some of his best ball ever after being traded to LA, Manny took a 50 game suspension, then stunk it up the rest of the year. Its pretty obvious to everyone that Manny needs a financial incentive to play well, and having a $20 million player option is no incentive at all.

Notable Free Agents:
Catchers:
Josh Bard
Ramon Castro
Benjie Molina
Jose Molina
Miguel Olivo
Yorvit Torrealba

1B:
Hank Blalock
Bobby Crosby
Erik Hinske
Nick Johnson
Adam LaRoche

2B:
Nick Green
Orlando Hudson
Adam Kennedy
Felipe Lopez
Placido Polanco
Juan Uribe

3B:
Adrian Beltre
Joe Crede
Chone Figgins
Troy Glaus
Khalil Greene
Jerry Hairston, Jr.

SS:
Orlando Cabrera
Alex Cora
Adam Everett
Alex Gonzalez
Marco Scutaro
Miguel Tejada

LF:
Jason Bay
Johnny Damon
Matt Holliday
Wily Mo Pena
Fernando Tatis

CF:
Rick Ankiel
Rocco Baldelli
Marlon Byrd
Endy Chavez
Coco Crisp
Andruw Jones
Scott Podsednik

RF:
Vladimir Guerrero
Austin Kearns
Xavier Nady

DH:
Hideki Matsui

SP:
Brandon Backe
Erik Bedard
Chris Capuano
Aroldis Chapman
John Garland
Rich Harden
John Lackey
Noah Lowery
Brett Myers
Vicente Padilla
Brad Penny
Joel Pineiro
Sidney Ponson
Mark Prior
Ben Sheets
Randy Wolf

CP:
Kevin Gregg
Billy Wagner

RP:
Danys Baez
Chad Cordero
Eric Gagne
Dan Giese
Jorge Julio
Guillermo Mota
JJ Putz
Juan Rincon
Duaner Sanchez
Brad Thompson
Luis Vizcaino
Jeff Weaver

Trades:
The Red Sox traded P Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez to the Florida Marlins for RF Jeremy Hermida. The Red Sox need outfielders. With Jason Bay currently a free agent, the Sox have depth in right, but nowhere else. Hermida had one good season, and not much speed, but batting lefty into such stadiums as Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium could have him bounce back after his number trailed off the last couple of years. And if they pick up someone else to play left, they at least have a potentially solid backup here. For the Marlins, this is more or less a salary dump. Florida teams seem to love having the leagues lowest patrolls, and at least they got some decent talent back in Alvarez. He has improved each year, and this year allowed 7.7 hits per 9 innings, but had 6.2 Ks per 9 and 1.3 BB per 9.

The Minnesota Twins sent CF Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Twins for SS J.J. Hardy. This was basically a trade of defense for defense. Hardy is a fairly average player. His best year at the plate was 2008, when he batted .283 and had an on-base of .343. Decent number, but not great. But with Orlando Cabrera leaving for free agency, Hardy is fairly comperable offensively to Nick Punto, who had the position before Cabrera's arrival. With Gomez, the Twins get speed in center. At 24 years old, Gomez doesn't bring much to an at-bat, with a career .292 OBP in roughly two-and-a-half seasons, but he can still mature into something good. Hes got good speed, which is an upgrade over previous CF Mike Cameron, and steals a base roughly 20% of the time he gets on. Right now this deal is fairly even, but the Twins may have the better end in the long run.

The Tampa Bay Rays sent 2B Akinori Iwamura to the Pittsburgh Pirates for RP Jesse Chavez. This tradew is a win-win, in-so-far-as nobody actually lost. The Rays didn't need Iwamura anymore, and after an injury-filled 2009 that saw him play in only 69 games, they didn't want to pay his $4.5 million option. He has a consistent .349+ OBP, hit 30 doubles in 2008, and proably could have improved on that number if he had been healthy. The Rays, essentially, get a salary dump. In Chavez, they get an OK reliever with room for improvement. For a team like San Diego or Seattl, this trade might make more sense. But for a team in the AL East who is one season removed from losing the World Series, Chavez just doesn't give the results you need to compete.

Rumors:
The offseason has only just begun, and we've already seen the effects of the economy as a lot of surprising names have filed for free agency. Of course John Lackey, Jason Bay, and Matt Holliday are the biggest names out there, and the Blue Jays might still be looking to shop Roy Halladay. A report said the Red Sox offered a huge deal for him during the season, and Toronto turned it down. They may be regretting it now, as Halladay will be a free agent after next season, and they'll be asking someone to give up big talent for a potential one-year guy.

The Detroit Tigers have contacted teams, and are shopping CF Curtis Granderson. He would bring decent speed and RBI numbers to any team that gets him, and one of the teams interested is the LA Angels. They're a team built on their speed on the basepaths, and if they can't get Chone Figgins back, they'll need someone who can replace him. If they don't bring back Vlad(and they shouldn't), they could move Bobby Abreu to DH and put Granderson in right. The NY Yankees could also be interested to fill the whole left by Damon in left if they don't bring him back.

The Yankees are always talked about this time of year. After last years free agent signings, the Yankees have Damon, Matsui, Hairston, and Hinske as their only important expiring contracts. Hairston and Hinske were mostly bench players last season, and can be easily replaced out of the farm system. GM Brian Cashman reportedly hasn't even spoken to the agents for Matsui and Damon yet, and I don't blame him. Matsui may still have a great bat, but his knees limit him to DH, and who knows how much longer he can keep it up. Damon is getting old, as well. He still has some speed, but again, for how long? The Yankees are better off letting them both go and picking up a trade or free agent, or putting Brett Gardner or minor-leaguer Austin Jackson in the outfield.

Free Agent of the Week:
Eric Gagne
Gagne was once a premier closer in baseball. He holds the record for consecutive saves, and had 137 Ks in 82.1 innings in 2003, when he converted all 55 save opportunities. During the three year span from 2001 through 2003, he looked like a lock as a future Hall of Famer. After that stretch, his arm started to break down, and he struggled as a closer and sometimes set-up man for the next five years. He was later linked to PED use during this period in the Mitchell Report, and was out of Major League Baseball after the 2008 season. He returned home to Quebec, and signed a one-year deal with the independent Quebec Capitales. As a starting pitcher for the first time since 2001, Gagne made 17 starts, had a 6-6 record, an ERA of 4.65, and 64 Ks in 102.2 innings. Based on the numbers, a team might be taking a risk on him, but looking at past results, it could be a risk well worth taking.