Major League Baseball 2008 Winter Meetings

Every December, all of the top on and off the field players in Major League Baseball participate in a week long ritual called "Winter Meetings". In 2008, the rumors of big trades and free agent signings have been worth following if one is a baseball fan. The reason using the words 'worth following' in describing the Winter Meetings is because they are often a lot of hype without much actually happening. In 2006, the big free agent on the market was pitcher Barry Zito. Zito did not sign with the San Francisco Giants until the end of December 2006. This was after endless speculation about where Zito would end up and no one thought the Giants were going to be his ultimate choice. Last year's meetings were merely the beginning of the road when it comes to off-season transactions. Yes it's true that the Detroit Tigers, acquired pitched Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins (for all the good that move did for the 2008 Tigers). The only name anyone cared about in last year's Winter Meetings was Johan Santana. We all know the Santana deal didn't actually get made until February of 2008 with pitchers and catchers only a few weeks away from reporting to spring training.

But 2008 was very different. One might think that this has something to do with our country's current economic state. However, look at the New York Yankees and think again. Not only did acquire the biggest name free agent of the off-season in pitcher C.C. Sabathia, but as of this writing the Bombers are also rumored to have offered a 5 year contract to another big free agent starter A.J. Burnett. The Sabathia move for the Yankees is one which wreaks of desperation on their part. They do not want to be shut out of the playoffs again in 2009. But one must ask themselves if this is the time to be throwing around an obscene amount of money for a starting pitcher. Granted, the Mets paid Johan Santana what appeared to be a record breaking amount of money to pitch for them back in February of this year. The economy had not yet reached it's current level of crisis though, which probably made the move seem less insensitive.

Speaking of sensitivity to hard economic times and the Mets, lets look at their big acquisition. The Mets acquired closer Francisco Rodriguez for a far less expected sum than it was initially thought that he would accept. This sits well with many fans (especially Mets fans) because it has shows that 'K-Rod' is a real team player and not greedy. However, it could also be that he is just smart and realized that the Mets were his best bet as a free agent closer. If he didn't accept their deal, they would have gotten someone else. The Mets also made a trade involving the Mariners and the Indians. The deal involved a total of 12 players. The bottom line is that the Mets are really trying to make amends for their failures of the past two seasons. These moves are steps in the right direction.

Another deal appears to be happening is Kerry Wood of the Cubs going to the Indians for 2 years. This deal is probably not worthwhile for the Indians in the long run. Wood has had a long history of being injury prone, which is never a good thing for any team. With the Indians losing Sabathia in the middle of the 2008 season and the unlikelihood that Cliff Lee will have another Cy Young year, it would seem that they are not too promising for 2009. However, their are still people out there they could acquire. Their division includes a lot of teams that unpredictable from one season to the next. We'll see what happens.