So much for the Cruz and Lopez-or-Hudson to San Francisco plan; the Giants added Marquis Grissom (is Felipe the GM now?) and Ray Durham yesterday. Their arbitration offer to Jeff Kent seems a mere formality, but JK could move to first or third, and Durham to CF, so temporarily, they have depth where I thought they were most in need of help. Of course, if the plan is to actually play Grissom and Neifi Perez and get rid of Rich Aurilia, the moves may be Sabean's undoing.
Durham and Jim Thome going to the NL has made my AL Roto team better, as I didn't own either, but two rivals lost keepers. It leaves me wondering who the second best fantasy 2B is now, and if there's a bigger gap between the best and the rest at any other position.
The Yankees deciding to let Mike Stanton and Ramiro Mendoza walk was interesting; one is aging but effective (note to Ed Wade: a lot better option than Dan Plesac!) and the other may not be 100% sound, so even the Yankees are getting cost-conscious, and Cashman hasn't exactly committed to the Rocket, merely kept his options alive.
And of course, there's Pudge. The Rangers, in addition to calling Kenny Rogers' bluff and letting "The Gambler" go, have simply turned their backs on a 10-time all-star and future Hall-of-Famer.
This is another extreme example of the new baseball economy. Texas prefers Einar Diaz to Ivan Rodriguez. Does not compute. Sure, I-Rod is an injury risk, but not as much as he was a year ago. Maybe he's a C/DH or maybe he needs a position change. People have mentioned 1B, but I haven't seen a better candidate to adjust well to 3B or 2B since Craig Biggio. Forgive me for hoping Pudge signs with an NL club; it's better for my Toronto Walrus and the Blue Jays. The rules are so different this offseason that almost anything is possible, so I'm making no more predictions.
Steve Trachsel ($8M, 2 years) and Steve Finley ($11.25 M, 2 years) are very lucky men; their teams could have spent that money more wisely. And what's going on in Atlanta? Tom Glavine expressed surprise at the Braves' lukewarm efforts to keep him, and although they offered Maddux arbitration yesterday, they don't seem to be aggressive about retaining him.
The offseason becomes curiouser and curiouser.
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