Kuzul

The Yankees surprised the baseball world on Friday by trading highly touted catching prospect Jesus Montero and young pitcher Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for young, hard-throwing, right-handed SP Michael Pineda and minor league righty Jose Campos, according to multiple sources including MLB Trade Rumors.

There were some rumors about the Mariners making a blockbuster trade earlier in the day, but the Yankees seemed to pop out of nowhere to finalize the deal. Then, after all the excitement of the trade, the Yankees made another big transaction by signing free agent and former Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year contract in the $10 to $11 million range.

Regarding the trade for Pineda, I love it from the perspective of both teams, as the main players each team received fit their respective stadiums well. Safeco Field, where the Mariners play their home games, is more of a pitcher’s park (try much more) than Yankee Stadium, and a power hitter like Montero is someone Seattle desperately needs to liven up that terrible offense.

In an extreme bandbox like Yankee Stadium, the Yankees need to have as effective a pitching rotation as possible, and the additions of Pineda and Kuroda to their staff greatly increase the chance of that happening.

Now, the Yankees’ rotation from No. 1 to No. 5 looks like: CC Sabathia, Pineda, Kuroda (Pineda and Kuroda could flip-flop), A.J. Burnett and finally, Ivan Nova. There are also a few exclusions to that rotation, who could find themselves in the bullpen or in Triple-A, like Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon or Phil Hughes.

The moves are bringing in an excess of productive starting pitchers for Joe Girardi to choose from, which gives the Yankees skipper and GM Brian Cashman the flexibility to try to get rid of the incredibly inconsistent and much-maligned Burnett, whose contract and performance are evidence of another Yankee contract that went horribly wrong.

Montero had the chance to be the next great homegrown Yankee, hopefully to be in the company of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera or even Bernie Williams,  but yet again, the Yankees chose to trade away the homegrown talent for a more established player that another organization developed through the minor leagues.

Most of the times the Yankees have done this, the trade has overwhelmingly worked in their favor (think Curtis Granderson trade), but it has also cost the Yankees a lot of money in terms of overpaid players.

However, the reason that the Pineda trade seems to be one of the best ones that Cashman has made in his tenure with the Yankees is that he is being paid next to nothing right now ($414,000, which will change when Pineda hits arbitration in 2013).

With this trade, the Yankees don’t handcuff themselves financially, which they somewhat do with the Kuroda signing. There is no doubt that Hiroki Kuroda is a solid MLB pitcher who has posted near-200 IP and mid-3.00 ERA seasons throughout most of his career.

I don’t personally think that a pitcher with those stats deserves an annual salary of around $10 million, but then again, they are the Yankees.

Even if Kuroda turns out to be a major dud (which I don’t think will happen, but it is certainly possible), the deep pockets of the Steinbrenners will make that mistake somehow disappear.

If I were to grade the moves separately, I would give Cashman and the Yankees an A for the Pineda trade and a B- for the Kuroda signing.

Don’t get me wrong, the players the Yankees added to their team will no doubt help the team more than the players who left would have, but I think the Yankees would have fared better to spend less on the free-agent pitcher signing, and if I was GM, I would have gone after a less expensive option like Edwin Jackson as a middle-of-the-rotation reliever.

That’s just my opinion, and I’m sure it’s one of many about the Yankees’ Friday the 13th transactions.

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On Wednesday, the Boston Red Sox rookie GM Ben Cherington pulled off a trade with the Oakland Athletics for All-Star closer Andrew Bailey, according to ESPN.  As part of the deal, the Red Sox traded OF Josh Reddick along with two other prospects to Oakland in exchange for Bailey and OF Ryan Sweeney.

The trade—the first signature move for recent hire Cherington—was done in order to replace former Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who signed with the Phillies earlier in the offseason (via ESPN).

The acquisition of Bailey is yet another stellar move by a Red Sox front office—though it has changed in personnel recently—is constantly willing to make high-profile moves that can really improve the club.

The loss of Papelbon to the Philadelphia Phillies seemed to be an enormous loss for an already shaky Boston bullpen, but Bailey looks to be an upgrade at the position of closer over Papelbon.

Here’s why:

First, Bailey is a much cheaper option than Papelbon. This upcoming season, Bailey—still on his rookie contract—will make a mere $465,000 while Papelbon, after signing his recent four-year, $50 million contract with the Phillies, will be making $12 million for the 2012 MLB season.

That’s a nearly $11.5 million savings for the Red Sox, in addition to getting the better back-end of the bullpen pitcher.

Second, Bailey is four years younger than Papelbon. I know that may not seem like much, but it represents four less years of arm wear-and-tear that Bailey has suffered so far in his MLB career.

The arms of pitchers—especially hard-throwers like Bailey and Papelbon—are very fragile and the less strain the arm of a pitcher has undergone, the more effective and less injury-prone that pitcher can be.

With Bailey, the Red Sox are getting the younger and more likely healthier closer.

Third, and most importantly, Bailey is simply a better pitcher than Jonathan Papelbon. Throughout his career, Bailey has posted phenomenal numbers—such as a sub-2.00 WHIP (0.95) and a near-2.00 ERA (2.07).

Papelbon’s numbers over his career in those same categories are significantly worse than Bailey’s. Papelbon’s WHIP of 1.02 is .07 points worse than Bailey’s, while his ERA (2.33) is .26 points lower than Bailey’s.

All in all, Jonathan Papelbon was one of the cornerstones of the Red Sox club during his time in Boston, but the Sox actually benefited by losing him to the Phillies and acquiring Andrew Bailey from the A’s as his replacement.

With this trade, GM Ben Cherington showed that he, like his predecessor Theo Epstein, can make blockbuster moves that will end with greatly improving the Red Sox team and give them the pieces necessary to win the AL East.

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The Colorado Rockies are a team in a state of flux right now. In July, the team traded its star starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez to the Cleveland Indians, getting prized prospects in return such as starting pitchers Alex White and Drew Pomeranz. Until these guys and other prospects progress to the major league level, this team just won’t be very good, especially on the pitching front.

The Rockies still have some talent in the lineup, namely in franchise shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and aging veteran Todd Helton. But other than those two players, there just isn’t much else. GM Dan O’Dowd set out this offseason to make the Rockies better in the short-term as a bridge to the players who are a few years away from the big league club.

Here is a look at some of the transactions the team has made:

Traded Ty Wigginton

On Nov. 20, the Rockies traded utility man Ty Wigginton to the Philadelphia Phillies for player to be named later or cash. This wasn’t the biggest of trades by the Rockies, but it was still a significant one at the least.

Wigginton is the kind of player that all teams want—a guy willing to play multiple positions who can drive in runs at a consistent clip. That is why this trade was puzzling, because the Rockies need offense and Wigginton was able to provide that last year with 15 home runs and 47 RBI in only 401 at-bats. The only way this trade makes sense is if the Rockies did it just to clear some cap room and save money.

Traded Chris Iannatta

On Nov. 30, Colorado traded C Chris Iannetta to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for SP Tyler Chatwood. In this trade and the subsequent signing of Ramon Hernandez, the Rockies got their starting catcher for next year and a young pitcher at the age of 21 whose ceiling is sky-high. The Rockies had been shopping Iannetta for a while, and the fact that they were able to get a promising pitching prospect in return for him was shrewd management by O’Dowd.

Chatwood’s rookie season stats don’t look great—six wins and 11 losses with a 4.75 ERA—but they can be explained by the fact that he pitched 142 innings in his first major league season and was burnt out by season’s end.

Signed C Ramon Hernandez

Hernandez was signed as a response to the Iannetta trade and will most likely be the Rockies’ opening day starter behind the plate. Last season with the Cincinnati Reds in a part-time role, the 35-year-old Hernandez hit for a solid .282 average with 12 home runs and 36 RBI while splitting time with Ryan Hanigan. He may be old, but Hernandez is still a solid, reliable backstop who can deal with pitchers well and can drive in runs and get on base.

Traded minor-league RP Daniel Turpen

Coming off of a dreadful season in which he went 0-8 with a plus-6.00 ERA, Slowey was picked up off of the scrap heap by the Rockies for minor-league RP Daniel Turpen in a trade with the Twins. Last season was an aberration for Slowey, as he fell victim to being on a terrible Twins team which finished last in their division. From 2008-2010, Slowey went a combined 35-20, showing that he is a much better pitcher than he was last year. Slowey will fight for a rotation spot with the Rockies and might even end up in the bullpen for long relief help.

Traded RP Huston Street

In the biggest move the Rockies have made so far this offseason, Colorado traded its young standout closer to the rival Padres for a player to be named later. The Rockies had been openly shopping Street for a few seasons now, and it’s relatively surprising that they were only able to get a PTBNL for a young closer with 178 career wins and a career ERA of 3.11 through only seven seasons.

Traded 3B Ian Stewart and minor league RP Casey Weathers

The Rockies’ most recent offseason move included four players who were drafted in the first two rounds of the MLB Draft but who just couldn’t put it together with their former teams. 3B Ian Stewart and minor league RP Casey Weathers were traded to the Cubs for OF Tyler Colvin and IF DJ LeMahieu, the lone second-round pick involved in the trade.

The main players involved in the trade, Stewart and Colvin, are talented guys but were sent down to Triple-A from their big-league clubs for extended periods last season, and it was clear the organizations they were a part of were willing to give up on them.

Stewart, who hit 25 home runs and compiled 70 RBI in his career year of 2009, was drafted to be the Rockies’ longtime third baseman, and he played like it in the beginning of his career. However, 2010 was a down statistical year for Stewart, and last season was simply terrible as he spent most of the year at Triple-A Colorado Springs and didn’t even hit a home run with the Rockies in 48 games with the big league club.

Colvin was drafted by the Cubs to be their longtime right fielder, but like with Stewart, that plan didn’t come to fruition. Colvin still has a lot of potential, as he has only played close to one and a half seasons in the big leagues.

He has a lot of power, but Colvin’s main problem at the plate is simply getting on base, as his career OPS is a mere .274, which is dreadful. All in all, it was a solid trade for both teams, with four players that needed a change of scenery.

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