Kuzul

The weather here in the northeast is unbelievable. I hope everyone is staying safe and not trying to travel in this snowstorm and the aftermath of it.

Speaking of  the northeast, the Philadelphia Phillies haven’t made too many moves this offseason, but the one move they did make had major impact on the landscape of Major League Baseball. When they signed Cliff Lee, they sent a ripple effect throughout baseball that everyone is still talking about.

Now with Lee in the fold, the Phillies have four aces in their five-man rotation. The fifth guy, Joe Blanton, might just be the odd man out.

The Phillies are looking to trade Blanton so they can free up money to potentially make a move if they have to during the season. Now that the Phillies are looking to trade the former Oakland Athletic, let’s take a look at the pros, cons, and which teams could be interested in Blanton.

Pros

In a day and age where finding pitchers to eat up innings is a rarity, Blanton can eat up innings with the best of them. In his six full seasons in the Major Leagues, Blanton has averaged 199 innings a season. That’s pretty good.

And those 199 innings a season aren’t hollow innings. There is some substance in his performance.

In his three years in Philadelphia, Blanton has averaged 7.1 K/9, which is right on par with pitchers like Matt Cain and and Johnny Cueto.

While a lot of people will look at Blanton’s 4.82 ERA and notice it was tied for the highest of his career, he also had some bad luck in 2010. Hitters had a .331 BABIP against Blanton in 201o, which is about 30 points higher than their career average against him. I would expect that number to come back down in 2011, which will make Blanton’s peripherals look a lot better.

The last pro for Blanton is his contract. Two years and $16 million for Blanton is a pretty reasonable contract—$8 million a year is the going rate for a No. 3 or 4 starter these days and Blanton has performed to that amount throughout his career.

Cons

At the end of the day, Joe Blanton is, well, Joe Blanton. He’s not a No. 1 starter, but he’s not a ham n’ egger either. He’s your classic middle of the road starter.

On most nights, Blanton is a guy who is going to pitch five or six innings, give up eight hits, four runs, 3 walks and strike out three while throwing 110 pitches. That’s remarkably average.

And Blanton was remarkably average in 2010. He saw a dip in his K/9 from 7.5 to 6.7 and he had his highest WHIP since 2006 at 1.42.

A team is going to have to ask themselves are they willing to assume $16 million in salary and trade a couple of prospects for No. 3 starter at best. That line of thinking could eliminate a lot of teams as trade possibilities.

Now that we looked at the pros and cons of Blanton, let’s see which teams might be interested in trading for the former University of Kentucky hurler.

Washington Nationals: If the Nationals miss out on Carl Pavano, Blanton could be a fall back option. Sadly, Blanton would be the Nationals’ No. 1 starter in 2011.

Chicago Cubs: The Cubs have had their eye on Matt Garza for some time now, but if they can’t pull off a trade for him, then Blanton could be Plan B.

Colorado Rockies: The Rockies really need another pitcher behind Ubaldo Jimenez and Jorge de la Rosa and Blanton could be that guy. Plus, he has experience pitching in a hitter’s ballpark.

Arizona Diamondbacks: The Diamondbacks need a pitcher, but I think they A) don’t want to trade young players and B) don’t want to assume Blanton’s salary.

New York Yankees: It would be such a slap in the Yankees’ grill if the Phillies traded Blanton to New York to fill the spot that should have been filled by Lee. But what do the Yankees do if Andy Pettitte retires?

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles have done a lot of good things this offseason, like adding Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy, but their starting rotation is still horrendous. Perhaps Blanton can fill the role that Kevin Millwood filled last season or should I say, attempted to fill.

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With the 2011 Hall of Fame class set to be announced on January 5, the Twitter universe has been full of debate as to who belongs and who doesn’t. To be honest, I think who belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame is the most debated topic in sports. People could go on for hours talking who should be in and who should be out and why.

Since I don’t have an official Hall of Fame vote and since this is such a heated topic, I thought I would fill out my ballot. Here is my Hall of Fame class of 2011.

Bert Blyleven
Year on Ballot: 14th
Percentage Vote: 74.2 percent

The Blyleven debate is perhaps THE most heated HOF debate ever. The whole thing has pretty much taken on a life of its own. And quite frankly, the whole thing is ridiculous.

Blyleven should have been a Hall of Famer 10 years ago. I still can’t believe this guy isn’t in Cooperstown.

How can people vote for a guy like Don Sutton and not Blyleven? Why? Because he didn’t get 13 more wins to get to the magical number of 300? Absurd.

Blyleven will finally get in this year and we can finally end this debate once and for all.

Roberto Alomar
Year on Ballot: 2nd
Percentage Vote: 73.7 percent

The best overall second baseman in my generation (1984 to present), I couldn’t believe that Alomar didn’t get in on the first try last year. I know a lot of people are sour on Alomar because of how he just completely fell off toward the end of his career with the New York Mets, but in his prime, there was none better.

Alomar had the ability to beat a team with his bat, glove, and speed. With 2,724 hits, 474 SB, and a defensive resume that speaks for itself, Alomar gets my vote in 2011.

Tim Raines
Year on Ballot: 4th
Percentage Vote:  30.4 percent

For years, Raines was the National League version of Ricky Henderson. From 1981 to 1995, Raines averaged a .296/.386/.429 slash line with 10 HR, seven triples, 25 doubles, and 51 SB. He would have been a $15 to $20 million player in today’s game.

What I believe hurts Raines in the voting is that toward the end of his career he bounced around an awful lot (played on five teams from 1998 through 2002) and he had a lot of off-field issues. However, here is my logic for voting for Raines.

If Jim Rice is going to get in based on dominating the American League for 10 years, then Raines should get in for dominating the National League for seven. I don’t think three years should make much of a difference.

Edgar Martinez
Year on Ballot: 2nd
Percentage Vote: 36.2 percent

For me, Martinez is the best pure, right-handed hitter that I have ever seen. His swing was as smooth as it gets and his stats are even smoother. All I need to tell you about Martinez is that he had a .933 career OPS. Just amazing.

The negative on Martinez is that he was a DH. Well, my take on that is, if he is the greatest DH to ever play, then how is that a negative?

Whether you like or not, the DH is a position in baseball. And if a guy—in this case Martinez—is the best EVER at it, then he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Those are who got my vote for this year’s Baseball HOF class. Who would you vote for? Did guys like Jack Morris, Larry Walker, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell or Alan Trammell get your vote?

Let me know.

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Don’t fret about the loss of Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres fans, you now have Brad Hawpe to replace him and play first base.

That was my poor attempt at humor and an unfair shot at Padre fans, but they really do have Hawpe to replace Gonzalez at first in 2011.

The Padres signed Hawpe to a one-year contract on Friday. Terms of the deal haven’t been announced yet, as Hawpe still needs to pass his pre-signing physical in order for the deal to go through. Terms will most likely be announced today.

Hawpe is an interesting story because he went from being one of the more consistent right fielders in the National League from 2006-2009 to being released from the Colorado Rockies in 2010. Hawpe, eventually landed with the Tampa Bay Rays and hit just .179 with two HRs in 46 plate appearances.

From 2006-2009, Hawpe averaged a .288/.384/.518 slash line with 25 HRs and 33 doubles. He also was an All-Star in 2009.

Hawpe slumped to a .255 average with seven HRs in the Rockies’ first 88 games and was then subsequently released. I, for one, was really surprised when Hawpe was let go by the Rockies.

Yes, he can’t hit left-handed pitching, but I still thought he had a place on the Rockies roster.

And the spot Hawpe will be asked to fill on the Padres roster is to play first against right-handed pitching. Hawpe has always hit right-handed pitching well. For his career, Hawpe has an .890 OPS against righties.

I think Hawpe has a little left in the tank. I don’t think he is complete toast like Garrett Atkins was when he left the Rockies. My logic for that thinking is that Hawpe wasn’t completely awful for the Rockies in 2010 and he has hit fairly well away from Coors.

He has a career .839 OPS away from Coors, which isn’t too far off from his home OPS of .886

Look for him to platoon with a right-handed hitter at first for the Padres in 2011 because Hawpe is an automatic out against left-handed pitching. That right-handed hitting first baseman could be Kyle Blanks or someone like Troy Glaus.

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When searching for lefties for his bullpen, Texas Rangers’ GM Jon Daniels must believe in the phrase “Age is just a number.” He already has one 40-year-old in the pen, who has done pretty well in his stint in a Ranger uniform in Darren Oliver, so why not add another 40-year-old?

The Rangers added 41-year-old Arthur Rhodes to their bullpen on Thursday by signing him to a one-year contract with a vesting option for 2012. According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Rhodes could make around $8 million if his option vests.

Rhodes is really an amazing story.

It looked like he was done with baseball after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in 2007 when he was 38, but amazingly, Rhodes has done his best pitching since the surgery.

Rhodes missed the entire 2007 season, but since then Rhodes has pitched to a 2.32 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 8.6 K/9 in 143.2 innings. And for the first half of the 2010 season for the Cincinnati Reds, Rhodes might have been at his very best.

In the first half of the 2010 season, Rhodes had a 1.54 ERA and held hitters to a .174 batting average. He was really ridiculous in April and May when he had a 0.45 ERA in 20.2 innings. His amazing first half earned him his first All Star Game appearance.

Rhodes slowed down a little in the second half, but in his defense, he was battling a foot injury for a good part of the second half of the season. Despite that injury, Rhodes was still able to average 8.1 K/9. If Rhodes is over his foot injury and is completely healthy, there is nothing to suggest he can’t continue his success in Texas.

The Rangers have two guys now in Oliver and Rhodes that I wouldn’t trust in big spots at all in the postseason, but should help stabilize their bullpen and be effective in the regular season.

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Whether it be starting rotation help or bullpen help, the Colorado Rockies have been searching for any type of pitching help this offseason.

The Rockies have been linked to Grant Balfour, Jon Rauch, Todd Coffey and David Aardsma at various times.

While the Rockies still might acquire one of those relievers, on Thursday, they traded for another reliever.

The Rockies acquired RHP Matt Lindstrom from the Houston Astros for minor league pitchers Jonnathan Aristil and Wes Musick. Lindstrom was traded from the Florida Marlins to the Astros last offseason, so this experience is nothing new for him.

I am going to have to be honest: I don’t see Lindstrom working out all that well in Colorado.

Does a power arm who’s really not a strikeout pitcher and doesn’t throw ground balls ever work out in Colorado? The answer to that question, my friends, is no.

Lindstrom compiled a 4.39 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 7.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 53.1 IP in 2010. His  ground-ball percentage was 48.9 percent and right-handed batters absolutely crushed Lindstrom to the tune of a .336/.385/.424 slash line.

I just can’t see Lindstrom being anything more than a guy who comes into a game in the sixth or seventh inning when the Rockies are either up by five runs or down by five runs. I wouldn’t pay $2 million and trade two prospects (even if they just were fringe prospects) for that type of pitcher.

Normally I hop on the Rockies’ bandwagon any chance I get, but I really haven’t liked a lot of things they have done this offseason.

I didn’t understand the Troy Tulowitzki extension, I am not a fan of Jorge de la Rosa and I thought they should have made more of an effort to sign or trade for another top-tier pitcher.

The Rockies could still do some things this offseason, but right now I don’t see them finishing higher than the San Francisco Giants or Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

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Last week, I covered the Jason Bartlett trade to the San Diego Padres from the Padres’ perspective. Today, I wanted to cover what the trade means for the Tampa Bay Rays and take a look at the four players they received from the Padres in the trade.

The Rays were pretty smart to trade Bartlett when they did. When you have the financial limitations that the Rays have, there is no point keeping a guy on the roster who is going to do very little for the $5 million he was probably going to make in 2011.

On top of that, if I was going to get four players back for a guy who has never played in more than 140 games in a season and is known as a good-glove, no-hit shortstop, I would jump all over that offer in a cocaine addict’s heartbeat.

The beauty of this trade for the Rays is that they have a replacement for Bartlett at the Major League level. Reid Brignac will get the first crack at becoming the Rays’ everyday shortstop in 2011. The soon-to-be 25 year old hit .256/.307/.385 with eight HR’s and 13 doubles in 113 games for the Rays in 2010.

If Brignac is going to hold down the fort at short for the Rays, he is going to need to improve in a couple of areas.

First, he is going to have to learn how to hit lefties. The left-handed Brignac hit only .227/.314/.295 without a HR in 51 plate appearances in 2010. If he is going to be an everyday player at the big league level, he is going to need to figure this out.

Second, Brignac swings at way, way too many pitches out of the strike zone. Last year, he swung at 42 percent of the pitches he saw outside the strike zone. If he maintained that pace over the course of an entire, Brignac would have swung at more pitches outside the strike zone than anyone in the American League not named Vladimir Guerrero.

If he can improve in those two areas, then he will be a slightly better version of Bartlett at a 10th of the cost.

In return for Bartlett, the Rays received four players. Here is a brief look at the four of them:

Adam Russell, RHP: Russell is a 27 year old right-hander who pitched 15.2 innings for the Padres in 2010, posting 10.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 4.02 ERA.

He spent most of the year in Triple-A games, posting a 4.88 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.6 BB/9 in 50 games.

Russell will fight for a spot in the pen in spring training.

Cesar Ramos, LHP: Ramos has had a couple of cups of coffee with the Padres over the last two years, pitching mostly in relief.

In 23 big league innings, Ramos has a 6.26 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP, but has struck out 7.4 batters/9.

In six minor league seasons, Ramos has amassed a 4.01 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, and 3.0 BB/9.

Ironically, he was originally drafted by the Rays in the sixth round of the 2002 draft.

Cole Figueroa, 2B/SS: Figueroa was ranked as the Padres’ 30th best prospect heading into 2010 by Baseball America. 

Figueroa’s highest level of competition has been High Single-A. In 2010, he hit .303/.408/.392 with four HR’s and 26 SB’s in 124 games.

Brandon Gomes, RHP: Gomes is a right-handed pitcher who has spent the last two seasons in Double-A. 

In the last two years, the 26-year-old has registered a 2.24 ERA with 12.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 116 appearances.

Overall, Gomes has a 2.99 ERA in four minor league seasons.

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There has been a lot going on in baseball this winter, so I didn’t get a chance to comment on the Josh Willingham to the Oakland A’s trade. But let me just say this—what on earth are the Washington Nationals doing?

I don’t get this trade at all from their end. The Nationals sign a guy in Jayson Werth, who needs superstars and good players around him to be successful and what do the Nationals do? They trade their third-best offensive player for a couple of fringe prospects.

There’s nothing like paying a guy $126 million and surrounding him with guys like Roger Bernadina and Nyjer Morgan. Terrible. Just terrible.

The only logic I have for the Nationals trading Willingham is that they didn’t want to pay him the $5 million he was probably going to make in arbitration. I mean, that makes sense. Spend $126 million on Werth, who is only worth maybe around $80, but not pay Willingham $5 million.

Why not keep Willingham, hope he has a another solid offensive season and then flip him at the trade deadline when a team might be desperate enough to give them more than what they just got? I just don’t get it.

The Nationals really don’t know which way they want to go. That’s why they will once again finish in last place in the National League East in 2011.

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I think if you asked a bunch of Boston Red Sox fans who was the MVP of the team in 2010, some would say Adrian Beltre, some would say David Ortiz, and others would say Bill Hall. If I had to vote for a team MVP for the Red Sox in 2010, I would vote for Hall.

The Red Sox had an injury-plagued 2010 season and Hall’s ability to play seemingly every position on the field helped the Red Sox tremendously. Hall actually played seven different positions including pitcher in 2010. And oh yeah, he also managed to hit 18 home runs and had his highest OPS since 2007 (.740).

Hall didn’t want to be a super-utility player again in 2011 and was looking for a full-time job this winter. He found that full-time job in Houston.

The Houston Astros signed Hall to a one-year, $3.25 million contract with a $4 million mutual option for 2012. While Hall can play a plethora of positions, he will be the Astros’ starting second baseman in 2011.

One year and $3.25 million is a good deal for Hall and the Astros.

Hall will join Clint Barmes, who was acquired by the Astros earlier this offseason, as the new Astros double-play combination. What’s interesting is that second base was Hall’s worst position defensively according to UZR. Though, if it’s any consolation, Hall did play the position at an above-average level from 2006 to 2009.

Offensively, Hall did a lot of good things in 2010. His 18 home runs were his highest since 2006 (35), his K percentage dropped by five percent, and his BB percentage was his highest since 2006.

What was interesting about Hall’s season was that the right-handed Hall was terrible against left-handed pitching. Hall only hit .199 in 163 plate appearances. His career BA against lefties is .259, so I expect him to improve on that number in 2011.

If Hall can replicate his 2010 for the Astros, then they will have a nice little signing on their hands.

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Yesterday afternoon, I talked about the potential trade destinations for Kansas City Royals’ ace Zack Greinke. One of the teams that I thought could be a possibility for Greinke were the Milwaukee Brewers.

My logic for putting the Brewers on the list of potential trade destinations was because I felt the Brewers are a win-now team, and putting Greinke in a rotation with Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, and Randy Wolf would give the Brewers a rotation that could compete with anyone in the National League. I guess Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin felt the same way.

Less than 48 hours after asking to be traded from the Royals, Greinke was traded to the Brewers for four players. The Royals will receive OF Lorenzo Cain, SS Alcides Escobar, and pitchers Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi. The Brewers will also receive the ever-so-popular Player To Be Named Later and $2 million in cash from the Royals. The PTBNL has been rumored to be SS Yuniesky Betancourt, but there is no confirmation on that.

With this trade, please welcome the Brewers to the 2011 National League pennant race.

Now the Brewers are on the map again. Now the Brewers, in my opinion, are right there with the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central.

In this offseason, the Brewers went from having a rotation that featured the very average Randy Wolf as their number two starter, to having a guy in Greinke, who won the AL Cy Young just a year ago. Marcum becomes their number three starter, and Wolf moves down to the number four.

In the National League, that is one rock solid rotation.

With the additions of Marcum and Greinke and with their offense, the Brewers are legit contenders in the National League. Many people overlook the fact that the Brewers scored the fourth-most runs in the NL last season. With Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, and Corey Hart, the offense is still there.

I still think the Brewers need one more horse in that bullpen. I am not sold on John Axford at the end of games and I think they could use another guy to help him out late in games.

Now for the Royals side to this deal.

The Royals will be by far and away the worst team in baseball in 2011. I am going to venture to say they will be hard-pressed to win 50 games.

But sometimes in life, you have to reach rock bottom before you can reach the top, and the Royals will reach rock bottom in 2011. I believe the Royals are smart for deploying this strategy.

The Royals aren’t going to win this year and they aren’t going to win next year either. So why not try to get a top-five pick in the draft instead of halfheartedly trying to finish .500 and get the 15th pick in the draft?

The Royals made this trade with 2013 in mind. That is their year. Their farm system is absolutely stacked, and that’s when we will find out if all this building the Royals have done has paid off.

The players the Royals got are a combination of prospects that can help them this year and in the future. Here is a look at the four players the Royals received from the Brewers:

Lorenzo Cain: Cain sounds more like a linebacker from a football movie like “The Program” than a Major League center fielder. But the Royals’ organization is in need of a guy who can player center and Cain will get his shot in Kansas City.

Cain hit .308/.346/.415 with one HR and seven SBs in 158 plate appearances with the big club last season. Cain will be 25 when the season starts next year and throughout his minor league career, he has shown great discipline, as his .366 career minor league OBP indicates.

Alcides Escobar: Escobar was once a super prospect, but had a down rookie year and now everyone is down on him. Funny how that works.

Escobar hit just .235/.288/.326 with four HRs, 10 triples, and 10 SBs in 552 PAs in 2010. He struggled offensively last season, and in turn it affected his defense.

Escobar has never been a big power guy, but I can certainly see him rounding into a guy who hits .280 with 10 triples, 40 steals, and plays a solid short every year. For the Royal fans out there wondering how the acquisition of Escobar affects first round pick Christian Colon? It doesn’t. Colon will be most likely moved to second or third in the future.

Jake Odorizzi: Since I don’t know much about Odorizzi, I am going to let the great Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus handle this one. Here is his scouting report of Odorizzi:

Jeremy Jefress: Jefress is the real wild card in this deal. Jeffress has been suspended twice for marijuana usage and is a couple of years behind his overall development.

He did have a cup of coffee with the Brewers last season and struck out eight in 10 innings of work. He did, however, walk six in those 10 innings. Jeffress, when right, can reach up to the high-90s on his fastball and has just an okay curve.

If Jeffress has his head on straight, he is a guy that really can help the Royals in the future either as a starter or a reliever. I say he becomes a reliever, and Joakim Soria’s replacement in KC.

The Royals have a farm system that is absolutely stacked. Now it’s time for that talent to develop and progress at the Major League level. This trade will only help the Royals get to where they want to be in 2013 and ’14.

As for the Brewers—game on!!!

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I will say, if nothing else, the San Diego Padres have had one interesting offseason.

I really believed that after surprising baseball by winning 90 games, finishing just two games behind the San Francisco Giants and seeing a close to 200,000 attendance increase, the Padres would capitalize on their 2010 by adding to their team for 2011. Instead, well, I have really have no idea what they are doing.

For every one step forward, they have taken two steps back. The latest examples of this? Their two middle-infield acquisitions this week.

After a couple of weeks of going back and forth with the Tampa Bay Rays, the two sides finally completed a trade that sends SS Jason Bartlett and a PTBNL to the Padres for minor leaguers Adam Russell, Brandon Gomes, Cesar Ramos and Cole Figueroa. Then the Padres signed 2B Orlando Hudson to a two-year, $11.5 million contract.

Let’s start with the Bartlett trade.

What on Earth are the Padres doing on this one? I don’t care if the four guys the Padres gave up are the Barry Horowitz’s of the Padres’ minor league system. There is no way I am giving up four bodies for Bartlett. That just can’t happen.

Bartlett’s 2011 season was less than stellar. If you take out Bartlett’s 2009 season, he has averaged a .284/.343/.369 hitting line with three home runs throughout his career. Well, that was pretty much in line with what Bartlett produced in 2010.

Bartlett hit .254/.324/.350 with four home runs in 135 games. Outside of his low average, everything else fell into place.

GM Jed Hoyer had to ask himself if his 2009 season was an aberration or if Bartlett had a really down year because he seemed to be hurt all the time. It’s a fair question, but I think 2009 was just an aberration. Apparently, Hoyer did not.

That’s the only explanation can I think of because not only did the Padres give up four players for Bartlett, but they are going to have to pay him somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million in arbitration in 2011. For all that, the Padres might have been better off just bringing back Miguel Tejada on a one-year deal earlier in the offseason before he signed with the Giants.

I will get into the Rays side of things and the four players they acquired in a separate post.

Now on to the Hudson signing.

I have always liked Hudson as a player, but I don’t see how Hoyer can justify giving him a two-year deal.

In 2008, Hudson hit .305/.367/.450 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and in the offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers only gave him a one-year deal. In 2009, Hudson hit .283/.357/.417 with the Dodgers and still only managed to get a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins.

So now Hudson has his lowest OPS of his career in 2010 with the Twins, only played in 126 games, and gets a two-year deal? Makes zero sense to me.

I can understand the Padres thinking with the acquisitions of Hudson and Bartlett. Their goal is to win with pitching and defense in 2011. Hudson and Bartlett should form one of the best double play combinations in baseball.

However, the goal of the game of baseball is to score more runs than your opponent. I have a hard time seeing how the Padres are going to able to outscore their opponents in 2011. I also have a hard time trying to figure out why the Padres would give up four players for Bartlett and why they would give Hudson a two-year deal.

I guess it’s just another confusing day in the offseason of the San Diego Padres.

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