Japanese hurler Junichi Tazawa is about to announce he has signed with the Boston Red Sox. 

Although it's not the first thing that comes to mind, the Tazawa signing really shows just how large Daisuke Matsuzaka's presence is in Japan.  Tazawa chose the Red Sox over the Texas Rangers who reportedly offered over one million dollars more than Boston. 

Jon Daniels must be feeling pretty bad.  He's been criticized ever since Tom Hicks hired him four years ago, for not acquiring enough pitching.  And when Daniels has spent money it has for the most part a bad investment. 

Kevin Millwood was a bust, although if he can pitch well into July of next year, the Texas may be able to trade him for some prospects.  Vicente Padilla hasn't been that bad, but it still was a bad signing considering what the Rangers thought Padilla would accomplish with them.  Daniels has also traded away young pitchers like Armando Galarraga, John Danks and Chris Young (who was packaged with Adrian Gonzalez).    He also of course traded away Edinson Volquez but that's another story.  The "Edinson Volquez or Josh Hamilton" argument will go on for a long time.

I think Jon Daniels deserves to be criticized because he has made a lot of obvious bad trades and signings but if you look closely, you'll figure out Daniels had a sort of "revelation" in the 2006-2007 offseason.  It seems all of Daniels moves before 2007 season were bad, but suddenly he figured something out and has gone on to make splendid deals like trading away Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne (to the Red Sox).

Now Daniels has "GM momentum" swinging his way, but he still can't catch a break with pitching.  It's not uncommon for players to accept a slightly lower salary to play for the team they prefer.  But in most cases it is a veteran player looking to sign the last contract of their career before retiring.  That is why Tazawa is an outlier. He's only 22 years old, and yet he is already basing his contract options on preference.  I wonder how much extra money Texas would have needed to offer to get Tazawa.  In the end, the teams have to remember he is just a 22 year old pitcher who has only spent one year in professional baseball.  

You have to admit he is unique.  He asked the teams of the NPB (Japan's MLB equivalent) not to draft him so he could play for Nippon Oil of an independent league in Japan (the same league female side-arming knuckleballer Eri Yoshida plays for).   Now Tazawa is like any other amateur player from Mexico, Venezuela, or the Dominican Republic or any other country that is not eligible for the draft.  I am not sure about the independent league Tazawa played in, but the reports are that he is at least ready for Double-A.  I know Theo Epstein would not pay Tazawa so much ($6 mil) if he wasn't as ready for the majors than, lets' say Michael Bowden. 

For a 22 year-old to take a lesser contract to play for his preferred team is gutsy, but then again, this is why he chose to skip the Nippon Baseball draft.  He wanted to experience the MLB without having a NBL team involved in the deal.  And there is no better way to experience Major League Baseball than playing on one of America's most successful baseball franchises and having the opportunity to play with his hero Dice-K and fellow countryman Hideki Okajima.  He'll be able to experience being a part of Red Sox Nation and soak in all of it's glory: 

I still feel sorry Jon Daniels.  Even if Kaz Fukumori had turned into the next Takashi Saito or Kazuhiro Sasaki, Texas just didn't have the extra goods to get Tazawa.  However, there is a silver lining.  Adding Tazawa to the pitching mix makes it more likely Theo Epstein will be willing to deal prospects like Michael Bowden or Nick Hagadone (who is much further down the road) to the Rangers for Gerald Laird or Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  Personally, if I was the Red Sox I wouldn't make a deal for a Rangers catcher because they can just sign Toby Hall and David Ross.  Boston fans may want a big name they already know, but a combination of George Kottaras, Dusty Brown, Toby Hall, and David Ross is a solid, less expensive option.  If Kottatas or Brown can do what they did at AAA this year, then the Red Sox have two starting-worthy catchers.  If they both struggle then the Red Sox can turn to a combo of a platoon of David Ross, who had .793 OPS against righties, and Toby Hall who had a .920 OPS against lefties.  There really is no need to spend a bunch of money on a catcher when the Red Sox need to use most, if not all of their money on Mark Teixeira because they are by far the best and most likely fit for him.  Plus, judging from this, the Red Sox won't have much extra money to spend this off-season.

Jon Daniels can console in the fact that he has put together a farm system that has a bunch of big pitching prospects like Neftali Feliz, Blave Beavan, Kasey Kiker, Michael Main, and Derek Holland. The system also holds some lesser-name prospects like Tommy Hunter, Kennil Gomez, Michael Ballard, Beau Jones, and Doug Mathis who could develop into successful big league starters.

That's it for now, but I'd like to round out my entry by a little piece of trivia:

Which player had these statistics in 2008 when you combine his minor league, major league, and winter league numbers together?

G        AB      OBP       HR      RBI     SB      TB      SLG      OPS                                 149   556     .431        51      151      28     385    .692     1.123

--1 game in Rookie Ball 

-- 102 games in Triple-A

-- 31 games in the Majors    

--14 games in the Dominican Winter League

The answer?  This guy.

Nationals trade Austin Kearns to the Phillies for LHP Moises Melendez

 

There are a lot of "ifs" in this trade.  This deal only makes sense if the Phillies fail to re-sign Pat Burrell, and if Washington eats up most, if not all, of Kearns' salary for next year (last year of his contract).  Kearns is owed $8 million next year, about six million more than he is worth.  

If the Nationals are willing to pay that six million, then it makes sense for the Phillies, with their need of right-handed outfielders, to acquire Kearns as part of the solution to Burrell leaving.  I am not saying that Kearns is worthy of being the Phillies starting left fielder.  He's only as good as a fourth outfielder, but he is a good guy to provide power off the bench, and be a back-up in case of injury. 

 

Any team interested in acquiring Kearns (actually Detroit and Toronto are the others I can think of) should understand they have all the leverage in the world.  The Nationals need to get rid of Kearns no matter how much salary they have to eat, and no matter how bad a prospect they get.   The Nats have Roger Bernadina, Lastings Milledge, and Elijah Dukes set to start with Willie Harris, Mike Daniel, and Wily Mo Pena behind them.  Kearns doesn't deserve to be in AAA, but he has no place with the Nationals. 

 

Like I said, the Nationals hardly have any leverage even though they have the player with the bigger name.  Therefore they have to take it easy on their asking price.  The important negotiation process will not be what prospect they get, but rather how much they will pay of Kearns' salary.  I think 75% is enough.  Obviously the more money the Nationals eat, the better prospect they get but they can't get carried away.  Moises Melendez is not trash.  True, he's not a high profile prospect (like Kearns once was) and probably projects as a middle reliever or lefty specialist, but hey, that's the type of pitcher the Nats need more of.  Melendez wasn't used as a lefty specialist this year in Class-A Lakewood, but being a left-handed middle reliever without dominating stuff makes it a likely future scenario.  Melendez would go to Potomac (A+), and maybe get a taste of Double-A before the season ends.

No matter how much salary they he will have to eat, Jim Bowden (who apparently thinks he a Jedi) needs to trade Kearns.  End of story.  I hope Jimmy B can put Kearns' "glory" years with the Reds behind him, and move on to younger, more talented, less expensive pastures.  

Rockies trade 1B Joe Koshansky to the Nationals for RHP Saul Rivera

 

It's very sad (Saul is my favorite player), but the truth is, if this deal were made, it would benefit both teams. 

Saul is extremely nice to fans, but he's 31 years old entering next season.  That's just slightly too old for the rebuilding Nationals.  Plus, Rivera is a perfect fit for the Rockies who need bullpen help.  After the Holliday deal, they acquired Street, but he will probably be flipped over to another team.  I also doubt they will pick up Matt Herges' option for next year considering his poor season and his age (39).  If you add Rivera to the Colorado 'pen, it will most likely look like this:

 

Manny Corpas (CL)

Taylor Buccholz (SU)

Jason Grilli (SU)

Saul Rivera

Luis Vizcaino

Ryan Speier

Steven Register

 

If you noticed there were no lefties in the pen.  That's because the only left-handed reliever the Rockies have right now is Glendon Rusch, and he had a 5.30 ERA last year as a reliever, and lefties have a .334 OBP against him in his career.  A .334 OBP is not bad but to make a team as a lefty specialist, you need to be better than that.

 

Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins, and Jeff Baker block Koshansky in Colorado, so the Rockies need to trade him.  He has shown enough talent and put up good enough numbers in the minors to have legitimate trade value.   There will be other teams interested like the Giants and Mariners or maybe even the Yankees.  Ultimately, I think Saul Rivera will win the Rockies over.

Yes, the Nationals have Kory Casto, Nick Johnson, Dmitri Young, and Josh Willingham.   All that doesn't mean much though.  First off, the Nationals need to trade away Willingham; he just doesn't fit with the team.  Plus, there is little chance Johnson or Young can return completely healthy.  And if they are healthy, GM Jim Bowden should trade them for whatever he can get, and that won't be much.  If they manage to start next season healthy, they better be traded quickly because it won't be long before they go back on the DL.

 

            There is almost as little hope as Johnson and Young both staying healthy as there is a chance Kory Casto can finally start producing in the bigs.  In 82 career games, he's had 14 extra base hits and a measly .264 OBP.  It's worth noting that Casto's horrendous MLB stint in 2007 really drowned his career numbers, but even though he improved greatly in 2008, he still wasn't all that impressive.  This last spring I had faith in Casto.  I truly thought it was not too late for him to turn his career around.  But now it's time to move on and try something else.  That means it is time to finally give Koshansky a full-time major league job.

 

Maybe Casto can still make the team next year.  After all, he can play left field and both corner positions.  Who knows, maybe Casto can capture some of his minor league power and bring it to the bigs. 

 

Acquiring Koshansky doesn't mean Washington is lacking future first base options.  Chris Marrero has dealt with injuries and slumps since he was drafted in the first round two years ago but he still has big power potential.  Bill Rhinehart doesn't have the same big upside as Marrero but he put together a good 2008 and should next year in Double-A Harrisburg.

 

Nationals trade 2B Ronnie Belliard to the D-Backs for RHP Josh Ellis

 

Let me first start off by saying that I don't think Anderson Hernandez will ever develop into an adequate starting major league second baseman.  But with the way things are for the Nationals, they need to at least give him a chance.  Despite his AAA .262 OBP he did hit .407 after joining the Nats.  He also seems to have brought his hot bat to the Dominican Winter League as he holds a 1.055 OPS there.

 

As for Belliard, he is one of the oldest players in the team and needs to be traded this off-season. 

I'll give Bowden credit for signing Belliard.  Ronnie was the starting second baseman for St. Louis when they won the World Series in 2006.  Weirdly enough (well, he only had a .297 OBP with St. Louis), Belliard wasn't signed until February 18^{th to} a minor league contract by the Nats.  That was only five days before spring training started.  Belliard has done everything Washington could have imagined and more.  The reality is the only way the Belliard signing can truly help the Nationals is if Bowden trades him for some prospects.  Despite landing on the DL and missing almost 40% of the season, Belliard's trade value absolutely soared this season.  Not only did he have his best offensive season of his career, but also he increased his versatility by playing both corner positions as well as his natural position at second.   The Mets, Brewers, and Dodgers may hold some interest in Belliard as well, but Arizona appears to be the best fit for Belliard and the Nats. 

 

Chris Burke and Augie Ojeda didn't have good enough years to warrant consideration for a full-time gig at 2B.  Jesus Merchan had a nice year at Triple-A and holds a good spot to take over Chris Burke's spot on next year's 25-man roster.  That will allow Burke to gather up some time at Triple-A at bats after his disappointing 2008.

 

Josh Ellis is the prospect that makes the most sense for this specific deal.  The two main needs the Nationals have in their system are middle infielders and relievers.  Since the Arizona system is weak on middle infielders, relief pitchers are the best way to go.  Ellis had a 2.40 ERA this year in Visalia (A+) in his first professional season. 

You can see, he pitches sort of like Brian Shouse or Cla Meredith.  Too bad the Diamondbacks are moving their AAA affiliate to Reno (the Reno Aces) because Ellis could have had a chance to be a sidewinder on the Tucson Sidewinders.  The Diamondbacks are stocked with young relievers, so if pitchers like Abe Woody, A.J. Shappi, Kyler Newby, Jeff Dietz, and Scott Maine were offered for Belliard, it would be a fair and beneficial trade too.

Although it is time for Belliard to leave Washington, he will always be remembered becuase of this and this.

In other baseball news, the iconic Oriole Bird has quit his diet.  He has gone from this:

To this (maybe it's just perspective):

The diet obviously wasn't working because ever since the Bird started the diet in 1998, the team is 98 games below .500.  Ouch.  They need change.  And that change should come in the form of the logo and mascot getting a beer belly like Wild Bill Hagy.  Thumps up to the Orioles front office.  This is their first sign of intelligence since they designed Camden Yards.

TB trades Andy Sonnanstine to NYM; NYM trades SS Reese Havens and CF Ezequiel Carrera to SF; SF trades Randy Winn, RHP Keiichi Yabu, and LHP Geno Espineli to TB

 

Got that?  So this is a three-team deal.  And yes, the Rays trade away one of their starters in the playoffs Andy Sonnanstine.  Still, this trade makes sense for every team involved. 

The Rays predictably will use their starting pitcher depth to acquire a bona-fide starter in right field.  In this case it would be Randy Winn. 

It's true, the Rays have a lot of players who play right field.  Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross, Ben Zobrist, Fernando Perez, and Justin Ruggiano all are capable.  But Hinske and Gross are not exactly the type of guys you want starting every day on a team that is expected to compete for the championship again next year.  Zobrist and Perez are bright, young players but at least at this point are most valuable being on the bench because of Perez's ability to play every OF position, and his blazing speed.  Zobrist also is very versatile and is a valuable guy off the bench.  He might even have a reasonable chance to overtake Iwamura as the Rays starting second baseman.  Ruggiano has done everything you could ask from him in AAA.  Yet he just can't seem to bring the same game to the majors.   He had a .911 OPS in 66 AAA games versus .576 with the Rays.  So, with Winn coming up, in it can put all of the right field questions to rest while adding a veteran presence that can fill the #2 spot in the Rays order.  That way Iwamura can move down in the order where he should be. If Crawford continues to struggle, Iwamura could easily come back to the top instead of a guy like Upton having to be taken out of the heart of the order.

Although Winn will obviously make a huge mark on the Rays, I think Andy Sonnanstine is the biggest impact player involved in this deal.  Simply put, to have a Sonnanstine in the Mets rotation would be fantastic for them.  Even if, at his best, Sonnanstine is only as good as a #3 starter, his ability to eat up innings without eating payroll is a quality invaluable to the Mets at this point.  This way the Mets can afford not resigning Oliver Perez.  In my opinion, Jon Niese is ready to be the Mets' 5^th starter next year.  However, if the Mets do re-sign Perez their rotation would be dynamite.  Whether or not Perez comes back, the Mets would have, for the first time in a while, a young rotation that can last a long time.  To have a rotation where every pitcher in under control until 2012 is a huge advantage over the other NL East clubs. 

Of course since Sonnanstine is that valuable, New York will have to give up a lot.  The big sacrifice that the Mets will have to make is their second pick of the 2008 draft, slugging infielder Reese Havens.   

Havens (left) was drafted 22^nd overall as a shortstop but is expected to wind up as third or second baseman by the time he gets to the majors.  Ezequiel Carrera, a High-A outfielder, didn't put up great numbers this year but if you start thinking about his age (21) and the fact that he completely skipped A-ball, his .344 OBP, 28 steals, and seven dingers are pretty impressive.  The Giants have a fair amount of outfielders like Fred Lewis, Aaron Rowand, and Nate Schierholtz and some nice prospects like Antoan Richardson, Ben Copeland, and Eddy Martinez-Esteve.  And yet, with the decent chance that Rowand and Lewis could get traded in the near future, Copeland's and Richardson's non-overwhelmingness, and Martinez-Esteve's and Schierholtz's sudden lack of power, there is a reason to why the Giants might want to add another outfield prospect.

Now when you think about it, Tampa Bay would be trading Sonnanstine straight up for Winn, and that obviously wouldn't favor them.  But if you add Yabu and Espineli to the deal, it evens out.  Those two will add depth to the bullpen.  And although Espineli (right) probably will find himself spending some time in Durham, he provides a lefty arm and the credentials of 2.66 in Triple-A last year in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  Yabu (below) is pretty old but if he can be effective when he's 40 (3.57 ERA), how much much worse can he be at 41? 

SO, when it's all said and done, here's how it would work out for each team:

 

Rays

Receive                      Give Up

Randy Winn             Andy Sonnanstine

Keiichi Yabu

Geno Espineli

 

Giants

 

Receive                      Give Up

Reese Havens          Randy Winn

Ezequiel Carrera      Keiichi Yabu

                                    Geno Espineli

 

Mets

 

Receive                      Give Up

Andy Sonnanstine  Reese Havens

                                    Ezequiel Carrera

So, what do you think?  Fair all around?

I guess since Monday marks the beginning of baseball's hardware week, I  will give you my picks for each major award (with the runner-up in parentheses):

 

Again, these are my picks for who deserves each award, not my predictions for who will win:

 

Rookie of the Year

AL - Evan Longoria -- (Jose Arredondo)

NL - Geovany Soto -- (Joey Votto)

 

Cy Young

AL - Cliff Lee -- (Roy Halladay)

NL - Johan Santana -- (CC Sabathia)

 

MVP

AL - Kevin Youkilis -- (Mark Teixeira)

NL - Wily Mo Pe, I mean, Albert Pujols -- (Manny Ramirez)

 

Manager of the Year

AL - Joe Maddon -- (Ron Gardenhire)

NL - Cecil Cooper -- (Charlie Manuel)