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Veteran reliever Takashi Saito has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, according to the team’s spokesperson.

Saito will be 41 years old when next season arrives, which leaves fans wondering why any team would want to sign him.

It’s because of the fact that he has been very effective and a reliable pitcher out of the bullpen. For example, last year with the Atlanta Braves, he posted an ERA of 2.83 in 54 innings.

Saito was later released after the season due to the fact the Braves needed to clear some money and already had a strong bullpen. It wasn’t because of performance.

Although he isn’t the go-to guy he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers anymore, he can still get guys out. He is one of the players in the league today that just show they can be effective and show no signs of aging.

The Japanese pitcher will most likely be the setup guy for the Brewers’ closer, John Axford.

With the additions of solid shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and ace Zack Greinke already this season, and now the addition of a good reliever for the bullpen in Saito, it looks as if the Brewers are looking at a playoff run.

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Yes, I know the Brewers just traded ostensibly their top four prospects. Getting Greinke and Shaun Marcum in return was the shocker. I’ve been beating my head against the wall for a while, trying to get people to understand what the meaning of the word prospect is. At least the Brewers finally got it.

Even though the very top tier of the Brewers’ system is now virtually bare, the big club is stocked. With the Brewers’ 2010 first round pick, Dylan Covey, opting to stay close to home as a result of a medical condition, they will receive an additional first round pick in 2011.

GM Doug Melvin has also put the Brewers in a good position for the next few drafts. Losing Prince Fielder and/or Rickie Weeks to free agency will also net the Brewers even more additional draft picks. The same goes for Greinke in 2013.

Until then, this is what the Brewers have to work with down on the farm.

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The Boston Red Sox have been linked with Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder for several seasons now, but with Boston’s recent acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez from San Diego, are they finished with their pursuit of Fielder?

Gonzalez is a first baseman too, and has a better glove than Fielder. With Kevin Youkilis likely to begin the 2011 season at third base, there is no room for Fielder at Fenway Park.

Fielder is a free agent after next season, and its almost certain that the Brewers will not be able to afford the rich contract he’s seeking. He has already turned down a multi year offer believed to be around $100 million, so the Brewers have been fielding offers for years but haven’t found a package of prospects they like.

Prince Fielder is a very good offensive player, and if his weight becomes a real problem he could always be a designated hitter for an American League team, so he is valuable player to many teams.

The New York Yankees do not have a need for a first baseman or third baseman, and most teams won’t pay over $100 for a designated hitter, even the Yankees.

Milwaukee needs to trade Fielder to replenish their farm system. They just gave up some solid young talent with the trade for Zach Greinke from Kansas City, who might not even be of much help in the future. Greinke had a great 2009, which was capped of with a Cy Young award, but he struggled mightily last season, and has struggled most of his career.

His troubles with anxiety problems limited his possible trade suitors to small market teams only, so Milwaukee was a good place for him because they have passionate fans but the city and media is not as demanding as major markets.

Some American League teams that should pursue Fielder are the Los Angeles Angels, the Minnesota Twins, and the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Angels could use a first baseman with power, even though Kendry Morales has shown offensive talent, he is coming off a serious injury.

The Twins have seen 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau go through a rough battle with season ending injuries the past few seasons, and acquiring Fielder would assure them first base production for an entire year.

The Rays just lost Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford to free agency, and acquiring Fielder would help keep their lineup somewhat dangerous in a very competitive American League East division. Tampa also has the prospects to make a deal with Fielder happen.

Prince Fielder is a very good player, and will gain a lot of interest in free agency next winter, but it would suit him better to find his future home before the 2011 season, not after.

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With extravagant talk about newly acquired superstar Zack Greinke on his way to the Brew City, a majority of experts are now dubbing Milwaukee’s pitching staff the foremost pitching staff (on paper) in the league.

It’s about time.

In recent years, the Brewers have been a prime example of how maintaining an embarrassingly under-talented pitching staff can halt the rest of the team’s success—as well as dishearten the entire Milwaukee fanbase, for that matter.

For example: Last year, Milwaukee’s hurlers carried a 4.58 ERA over their backs—atrocious enough to be fifth worst in the entire MLB.

But statistics don’t quite tell the tale of the Brewers’ recent pitching struggles. So for the reader’s sake, we’ll cut right to the chase.

Well, I’ll tell you straight up: The Milwaukee Brewers’ No. 1 ace will remain Yovani Gallardo until proven otherwise.

Yovani who?

To start off, let’s get reacquainted with Yo.

Leading the Brewers in wins, strikeouts and ERA at the end of both the 2009 and 2010 seasons, Gallardo has obviously made his mark on the mound.

With his 200-strikeout season of 2010, Gallardo was dominant enough to place ninth in the National League in punch-outs. For a 24-year-old, that’s clearly an extraordinary feat in itself.

Gallardo also agreed to a $30.1 million, five-year deal that could be worth $42.5 million over six seasons, so it’s safe to say the Brewers have the intention of utilizing Gallardo’s talents for a few years coming.

Now, to Greinke…

It should be no surprise how Doug Melvin’s aggressiveness this offseason has resulted in Milwaukee’s trade for Zack Greinke.

Stunning numbers and young potential are exactly what Greinke has proved over his immature tenure as a professional major league pitcher—and he has the hardware to dignify it.

Since entering the league in 2004 with Kansas City, Greinke has accumulated a 60-67 record to go with a 3.82 ERA.

However, in his record-breaking Cy Young Award-winning season of 2009, Greinke acquired a 16-8 record with a major league-best 2.16 ERA—officially putting him in the conversation as one of the premier pitchers in the entire league.

Be that as it may, Greinke fell into the inevitable hangover that follows a bulk of the Cy Young Award winners. Nearly doubling his ERA from 2009, Greinke retained a 4.17 ERA with a less than impressive 10-14 record in 2010. Let’s hope that hangover isn’t carried over into 2011.

Nevertheless, as Opening Day draws nearer, the expectations for Greinke to succeed (and succeed at a high level) from the get-go may prove to be a bit too high for comfort.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Brewers fans should be as excited for a run at the NL Central crown as ever before—and with the new Gallardo-Greinke combo taking to the mound, Milwaukee is now a potent contender for the postseason.

Expectations will be high, and execution will be key for Greinke.

Let’s not forget: The guy has yet to step on a mound in a blue and gold jersey.

However, until that highly anticipated time comes, the Brewers’ No. 1 starting pitcher will remain Yovani Gallardo.

We’ll just have to wait and see what transpires this season.

Alec Dopp is on Twitter.  Make sure to visit Brewers Daily for all your Milwaukee Brewers up-to-the-minute info.

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Now that the initial shock and excitement from the Zack Greinke trade to the Milwaukee Brewers is beginning to wear off, it’s time to analyze and look more closely at Greinke’s roll for the Brewers in 2011. 

The most popular question being asked now is who will be the “ace” of the staff and get the Opening Day start against the Cincinnati Reds. Greinke, Yovani Gallardo, and Shaun Marcum all started for their respective teams in 2010, so new manager Ron Roenicke definitely has several options to choose from.

I’ve seen many fans and media members come out and say that Gallardo should be the Brewers’ ace, and they think Greinke is over-rated. With due respect to Gallardo, he’s a great young pitcher and I’m quite thankful the Brewers have him signed for the next several seasons, but he isn’t on the same level as Greinke and the newest Brewer should be the ace of the staff, no questions asked.

Critics certainly have ammunition to try and question Greinke’s status as an ace. His numbers regressed significantly after winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2009. His ERA jumped from 2.16 to 4.17. He had half as many complete games and no shutouts, and all his other pitching statistics declined sharply in 2010. 

While some of the blame has to fall on Greinke’s shoulders, he admitted he stopped throwing his slider as frequently starting in August to save his arm for the 2010 season, let us not forget that he pitched for the Kansas City Royals. The team hardly had an All-Star roster to support him either at the plate or in the field. The Brewers may not field a team of Gold Glove-caliber fielders, but they are adequate in the field and a very good offensive club.

He has also had bouts in the past with social anxiety disorder and depression. Some interpret this as a sign of weakness and an inability to sustain any long-term success or deal in pressure situations. The dosage of his medication was raised and when he spoke to the Milwaukee media he told them he was as happy now as he’s ever been in the game since being drafted in 2002.

Greinke possesses as many weapons to dominate a game as any pitcher in baseball. His fastball can reach the upper-90s, but he’ll consistently keep it around the mid-90s during a game. The two-seem fastball he throws is a great weapon to induce many ground balls. His slider, which some consider to be the best single pitch in the game, has a share 12-6 break that he throws in the upper-80s. His change up and curveball are both quality pitches that should work very well in the National League.

General Manager Doug Melvin has done an amazing job transforming the Brewers’ rotation from a laughing-stock to a group that can compete with almost any team in the league. The still might lack the depth to compete with the Phillies or Giants, but they now have a pitcher that can match up with any pitcher on any day and win. That can go a long way when October rolls around.

Gallardo may be around in Milwaukee longer than Greinke, and Marcum is a very under-rated pitcher that had success in the most competitive division in baseball, but Zack Greinke is the ace in Milwaukee. Fans can debate it, and Roenicke may not make a public decision for a few months, but there’s no question who will be on the mound for the Brewers come March 31, he’s baseball royalty. 

To read more by Jesse Motiff, click here. 

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I’ve seen lots of speculation about how effective Zack Greinke will be in the National League.

Many point to his only having one truly dominant season in the American League. Others bring up his bout with social anxiety disorder. If you sort through the different comments and the sources of those comments, you’ll see that none of them are coming from people inside of Major League Baseball. American League players, managers and front-office people know that Greinke is a special talent who could be as good as any pitcher in the game.

Greinke will be dominant this year for the Brewers, and he’ll be effective for three key reasons.

Greinke made 33 starts in 2010. In 15 of Greinke’s decisions in 2010, the Royals scored three runs or less. In those decisions, Greinke was 3-12. In five of his no-decisions, the Royals scored three runs or less. In those games, the team was 1-4. Combined, the Royals were 4-16 in Greinke’s starts when the team scored three runs or less.

Out of 33 starts, he gave up more than four earned runs seven times. The Royals were 2-7 in his no-decisions.

What we can get from all of these numbers is that Greinke’s record of 10-14 is very deceiving. With only reasonable run support, he would easily have been a 15-game winner.

Greinke’s out pitch in 2009 was his devastating slider. Early in the 2010 season, American League hitters seemed to lay off the pitch, which may point to his reduced strikeout total. The ability to lay off the pitch, however, only came after seeing it the two years Greinke was a full-time starter after 2006. Hitters in the National League will be unfamiliar with the pitch and Greinke, which should be an advantage to the right-hander.

He’ll also be able to work up in the zone with his four-seam fastball, which he can run up to 98 mph. More importantly, he changes speeds effectively with the two- and four-seam sinking and running fastballs. While his command wasn’t as sharp in 2010 as it was in 2009, he’s always been known as a guy who can throw it where he wants to.

Early in his career, Greinke was known to throw his curveball at ridiculously slow speeds. He still changes speeds with it, but he uses it more to freeze hitters in fastball counts. When he needs to, he can make it bite.

After working on it for two years, his changeup has become a dangerous pitch, as well. It was better in 2010 than it has been his whole career.

There are probably pitchers in the major leagues with better individual pitches than Greinke, but it’s rare to find a young pitcher who can command four pitches, with such poise and mound command.

Greinke was criticized last year for his comments that suggested he lacked motivation to pitch for the woeful Royals. This was another example of Greinke’s well-known honesty.

He thrives on competition. He wants to be the best at everything he does. Rather than being a character flaw, this is one of his greatest assets.

Anyone who has seen him dial it up when a runner reaches third base can attest to this. In Milwaukee, he won’t have to take the mound thinking that it’s going to take a shutout to win.

He’ll be able to make good pitches consistently, rather than having to make perfect ones.

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In acquiring the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke, Milwaukee Brewers GM Doug Melvin signaled to his team and fanbase that he has extremely high hopes for the 2011 season. The move not only solidified a greatly improved rotation, but assured Prince Fielder will remain in Milwaukee and not be traded.

Are the Brewers now the class of the NL Central or just one of several contenders for the division crown?

Although the Greinke trade received all the headlines and fanfare, the Shaun Marcum trade is the one that will be looked back at as the key to the offseason. Trading former top prospect Brett Lawrie for Marcum is the deal that signaled to Greinke that the Brewers were serious about winning in the upcoming season. He then took the Brewers off his no-trade list, and the rest is history.

The trio of Greinke, Yovani Gallardo and Marcum is certainly on par with the Cardnials trio of Carpenter, Wainwright and Garcia or the Reds‘ top three of Cueto, Volquez and Arroyo. Only the Pirates finished with a team ERA worse than the Brewers’ 4.65 last year. The Brewers won’t just have a better pitching staff than 2010, but they’ll have a significantly better staff than last year.

Marcum’s numbers were actually better than Greinke’s in 2010. Pitching in the ultra-competitive AL East, the 29-year-old righty went 13-8 with a 3.64 ERA and pitched in a career-high 195.1 innings coming off Tommy John surgery.

Having a deeper rotation will also have a positive effect on the bullpen. John Axford had a brilliant rookie campaign for the Brewers by racking up 24 saves and a 2.48 ERA in 50 appearances. With Zach Braddock, Kameron Loe, Manny Parra and LaTroy Hawkins, the bullpen is full of power arms that can overpower an opposing team’s lineup.

Hawkins will have to bounce back successfully from surgery, and the rest of the pen will have to try and duplicate their recent success, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do as a reliever.

Defense will be an issue for the 2011 Brewers, but that has been a question mark for several years now. Losing shortstop Alcides Escobar and replacing him with Yuniesky Betancourt is a significant downgrade, but having Greinke, Gallardo and Marcum all capable of high strikeout numbers, there should be less chances for the infield to blow. Lorenzo Cain seemed to be a very good defensive player, but Carlos Gomez is all-world as a defensive player. It’s Gomez’s bat that is the problem, not his glove.

The offense was above average in 2010 and should continue being a strong point for the team. New manager Ron Roenicke is preaching a more aggressive brand of baseball, which indicates he’ll want his team stealing more bases and improving in situational hitting like hit-and-run and sacrifice plays.

The situational hitting will be key for the team. Power wasn’t and shouldn’t be an issue for this team at all. Casey McGehee, Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder all hit at least 23 home runs last season and barring injury, they should be able to replicate that production in 2011 as well. Fielder had a down year in 2010, seeing his RBI total drop from 141 to 83, but he’s entering his final year before free agency so one can safely assume his numbers will improve dramatically.

The Brewers finished a distant third behind the Reds and Cardinals in 2010. The Reds have made no significant upgrades to their roster, and with respect to Lance Berkman, he’s not nearly the same player now as he was five years ago, so the Cardinals haven’t improved greatly either. Adding Ryan Theriot was a nice move, but it doesn’t compare with adding a player the level of Marcum or Greinke.

Standing pat is usually not a recipe to improve in baseball. Like the Brewers, the Reds still have youth on their side, so they should be a year better, not a year older. The same can’t be said for the Cardinals.

Will the Brewers in their current form win the 2011 NL Central? While that will be debated over the next several months, it appears at the very least the NL Central will now be a three-team race. The Brewers’ long-term window may not be as big as it was prior to the Marcum and Greinke trades, but fans and players alike can take solace in the fact that at least management is doing everything possible to make 2011 the most special in team history.

To read more by Jesse Motiff, click here.

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Even before Zack Greinke was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, he was an interesting player to evaluate from a fantasy perspective. 

Last year he disappointed in the follow up season to his 2009 Cy Young campaign.  He won only 10 games (16 in ’09), had a 4.17 ERA (2.16 in’09), and struck out 7.40 batters per nine innings (9.50 K/9 in ’09). 

He hardly met the expectations of fantasy owners who drafted him in the late second/early third round.  

However, a closer look at some of his peripheral stats on his Fangraphs page shows that he might have been a bit lucky in ’09 and not so much so in ’10.  There is no need for me to go into detail about why his FIP, xFIP, and LOB% suggest that, just trust me. 

It is possible that with all other things being equal, Greinke’s numbers next season might look like they did in 2008, the year before he won the Cy Young: 13 wins, 3.47 ERA, 8.14 K/9 (with peripheral stats consistent with those numbers).

However, all other things are not equal. 

With a move to the National League and a better team, the analysis has to change somewhat.  With respect to the latter, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, Casey McGehee , and Rickie Weeks are a significant upgrade in run support compared to Billy Butler and the eight minor leaguers with which the Royals fill out a lineup card on a daily basis. 

Wins are certainly difficult to predict, but the added run support should make it easier for Greinke to get back to 15+ wins in Milwaukee.  

As far as the move to the NL is concerned….

Continue Reading>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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Move over Cliff Lee, because this move will make more of an impact than Lee going back to Philadelphia. Zack Greinke was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday morning and this shifts the entire outlook of the National League.

The Brewers finished third in the National League Central last year, 14 games back of the Cincinnati Reds. Milwaukee was not light in hitting, but struggled mightily on the mound. They finished 12th in runs scored, but were 26th in ERA.

The ERA number should change drastically.

This move was made with the plan of revamping the starting rotation. Going into next season, the Brewers had Yovanni Gallardo (3.84 ERA, 200 Ks in 2010), Randy Wolf (4.17 ERA in 215 innings) and recently acquired Shaun Marcum (3.64 ERA, 1.15 WHIP in Toronto).

This makes them an immediate player in the NL Central and the National League as a whole. If you take a look at the divisions and really break down the rosters, there were only a few teams who could have competed.

In the West, it is San Francisco’s division to lose.

The Dodgers are picking up scraps from other teams and are in total dysfunction. Colorado cannot stay healthy and have to hope for another stellar season from Carlos Gonzalez to stay close.

The Diamondbacks and Padres have already mailed it in for 2011.

There is no legitimate contender for Philadelphia in the East.

The Mets are still trying to figure out their offense and have no stand out pitcher except for Johan Santana. Jason Bay needs to stay healthy.

Florida has a solid core of young players, but without Dan Uggla in the middle of the lineup, they are no match for anybody.

I wonder how much Bobby Cox retiring will affect the Braves. The more pressing issue is what they do for a closer.

Billy Wagner is retired and they may need a bullpen by committee at the beginning to figure that part out.

Atlanta’s offense is questionable as well. Sure, they have Brian McCann and Jason Heyward but after that, who?

Chipper Jones is a shell of himself. Matt Diaz is gone. Alex Gonzalez and Troy Glaus are another year older.

The Washington Nationals are not at this stage yet. They have a great deal of young talent, but they are not ready to make the leap yet, especially without Steven Strasburg.

This leaves the Central, which is now wide open.

It looks to be a three team race between the Brewers, Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The young Reds team received their first taste of postseason baseball, only to be swept away by the Phillies. The Cardinals did not have enough gas in the tank to make a September run.

For the Reds, youth is on their side. Their young pitchers, Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez, have another year of experience under their belts and for Volquez, hopefully a healthy season.

Joey Votto is one of the premier players in baseball.

The Cardinals have the best player on the planet in Albert Pujols and one of the best one-two punches in baseball (Carpenter and Wainwright) when healthy.

The Brewers now have front of the line pitchers to be able to matchup with the others in the division.

This is also a more complete team than the one with CC Sabathia in 2008. The rotation is deeper, the lineup is more mature and they have a solid guy at the end of the bullpen with John Axford (24 saves in 27 chances).

They will make a run at the playoffs and, if they get in, could be very dangerous.

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As my previous article about the Oakland A’s described the recent activity of these traditionally small-market and to some extent ’80s-competitive “super” power teams, because I discussed the A’s in that article I will omit them from this one, their moves notwithstanding.

With a weaker west, DeJesus and Matsui, can we just give the A’s the division now?

All of these teams were at some point (along with the Padres and Pirates, who will be discussed to some extent here but haven’t done as much as the above to warrant as much analysis) good in the 1980s when many of us of that generation started following baseball. It is because of this nostalgia that we endorse their resurgence since that is many of our first memories with the sport.

If I had to grade their activity to date I’d rank them in the following order in terms of competitiveness (translation: after these moves were made how likely they helped them move towards the playoffs):

1. Oakland A’s (see other article for in-depth details)
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. San Diego Padres
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Washington Nationals
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

Milwaukee Brewers

This team skyrockets to the top of this list with their bold move that literally had to make the increasingly irrelevant 🙂 New York Yankee$ jealous with their trade for Kansas City ace Zack Grienke.

We all know about the Brewers solid depth of hitting, and it was obvious it was being wasted. GM Doug Melvin made it a point to add two starting pitchers, and he did just that with ace Zack Grienke and solid No. 4 in Shawn Marcum, who should win a dozen or so games (likely more) out of that spot.

While I’d like to see them add one more starter yet, and I question who is going to close games, there is no question the rotation is so much better with:

Ace Grienke

Gallardo

Randy Wolf

Shaun Marcum

Chris Neverson

While I am still not convinced they could get second in the division which would mean a legit chance at fighting for the Wild Card since I think the NL Central is the Reds for the foreseeable future, they’ve at least given themselves a chance, on paper, to do just that. For the first time in a long time. It’s a move that could be seen as CC Sabathia II, basically a second chance at rolling the dice and acquiring an Ace for a second run at the playoffs for the small-market Brewers, who seem to win 80 every year now. That’s a vast improvement from the past.

San Diego Padres

After they lost a local marketable star in Adrian Gonzalez, everyone, myself included, expected the budget-conscious Padres to fall to fifth place after a surprising 2010 run.

While they have lost pitchers Jon Garland and Kevin Correia, whom they must replace, I have no doubt they will. They rebounded nicely with veteran additions Jason Barlett and Orlando Hudson, giving them a suddenly recognizable infield that could soon add Derrek Lee.

Maybe this team will be alright after all? While third place won’t get them in the playoffs, I think they have a legit chance at that now, which says a lot when you lose A-Gon early in the offseason for nothing (prospects), causing people to draw early conclusions about your 2011 chances.

Baltimore Orioles

The only reason they don’t move up higher is because they play in the American League East, and history shows even with their improvements all across the board, it’s still too much to overcome to make a difference.

Still, no one played better in the American League late than the O’s, who finished 2010 34-23 after new manager Buck Showalter came aboard. Can it carry over next year? Probably not, as I have no idea how the no-name pitching staff did that good, and we’ve seen teams like the Royals and notably Cito Gaston’s Blue Jays scorch at the end for seasons for 85 wins and fourth place year after year only to stay in that limbo.

This team has already taken on a lot of payroll, adding Mark Reynolds from the downtrodden Diamondbacks for two kids that never worked in their system, anyway, and in doing so added $10.5 million in payroll in moves not seen since their ’90s run.

Next, they added $7.25 million more in payroll by taking starting shortstop J.J. Hardy and utility man Brendan Harris off the Twins hands for two kids who may never pan out.

Finally, they re-signed solid relief pitcher Koji Uehara for $2 million less than he would he would have gotten had they simply picked up his option. They also remain in the hunt for Derrek Lee or Adam LaRoche at first, whom Reynolds wants, seeing how they played together in Arizona. The O’s also remain the favorites to land Kevin Gregg, who saved 37 last year for Toronto.

1B LaRoche or Lee

2B Roberts

SS Hardy

3B Reynolds

DH Scott

LF Pie?

RF Markakis

CF Jones

C Wieters

Suddenly that lineup looks solid with upgrades at 3B, SS and 1B from last year. If Showalter can have similar success with the X-factor starting rotation, this team may be a lot closer than you think, even in the suddenly crowded and competitive East where, outside of Boston, the gap continues to close.

Washington Nationals

They made their big splash with Jayson Werth. While its a highly controversial signing, it shows the once-small market Nationals have some money to spend and aren’t afraid to do it.

While they stupidly gave away Josh Willingham (see my A’s article), they claim it’s to save money to perhaps add a Derrek Lee, which, if true, is OK. But production-wise, it’s probably a wash, causing the team to not get better, but to hold ground.

While they didn’t land him, the fact they were in the Grienke talks shows how far this team has come in a willingness to spend. They dominated the winter meetings with their big splash as people continue to monitor them now. What else do they have up their sleeves? You have to think with losing out on Grienke, being in the talks for Cliff Lee before losing out on him, too, will only intensify their efforts to land Carl Pavano, to whom they’ve also been linked.

Like the Brewers, this team needs to add two starters to go with Jordan Zimmerman and Jason Marquis, but if they are able to do that their rotation looks like this:

???

Pavano

Zimmerman

Marquis

Lannan

That looks a lot better than in years past and like the Brewers moving Wolf down to his natural No. 3 and Gallardo to No. 2, they are able to shift guys down to their normal spots, causing them to pitch against more worthy, equal, and thus beatable opponents, allowing their teams to have a better chance than if they were mismatched due to lack of talent.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Don’t laugh, but adding Kevin Correia, Matty Diaz, and Lyle Overbay at SP, LF, and 1B are all upgrades over the crap they ran out their last year.

While these are all short-term, financially friendly contracts (i.e., asily movable contracts at the trading deadline so reminiscent of this franchise) they make the team better on paper (at least until they mess it up on the field, that is). Still, it’s nice to see they are active making Oakland A’s-like calculated moves and not just bargain shopping for scraps in January like usual small market teams in years past.

While the Phillies and Red Sox may steal all the headlines, these surprisingly active, small-market teams have quietly all improved, which is more than I can say for the big-market New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels or New York Yankee$.

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