Hot Stove Buzz #3

Mark Prior!  Now that that forgotten anguish and disappointment has risen back into your system again, allow me to tell you the latest with the former #2 top prospect ranked by Baseball America before 2002.  Prior signed with the Yankees for $750,000, a minor league deal.  Prior last pitched in the majors in 2006, for the Cubs.  While Prior is a big name because of his history, there was much more significant news than him out there.  Here we go.

-The biggest news could be the Phillies signing Cliff Lee.  Just a few weeks ago, many reports had the Phillies turning their attention elsewhere.  The Phillies' top four starters now read like this: Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels, all four of whom would make a great #1 starter on the average team.  I was intrigued by how strong this rotation looks so I came up with a stat: the four combined have a career 481-275 record, three Cy Young Awards, and 13 All-Star selections.  Whoa.  If I'm a position player and I'm playing the Phillies, I would get like Pedro Cerrano and go voodoo to 'wake up bats'.  Oh, and also a shoutout to Joe Blanton, the #5 starter, saying good luck following up their acts.

-If the biggest news wasn't Lee, then it has to be Carl Crawford.  Crawford, signing with the Red Sox, will be the centerpiece example of an editorial post I'm in the process of writing.  Despite many baseball experts expecting Crawford to go to the Angels, Crawford decided to head to Fenway Park for seven years and $142 million.  I'm highly disappointed.  Another day, another huge move by the Red Sox.  It's such a buzzkill knowing every great small market team having success due to a great, in-their-prime star (Adrian Gonzalez) will end up trading him to the Yankees or Red Sox.  While Crawford didn't really turn Tampa Bay into a baseball town, he is living proof that no one can.  There is no single more electrifying player in the game than Crawford, and while this was inevitable, it's a shame.

-While we're on the Carl Crawford topic, let's finish it off.  Remember how the Angels were mostly considered the favorite?  After getting caught looking as Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford both signed with Washington and Boston, respectively, the Angels are down to their last strike with Adrian Beltre.  If the Angels miss out on Beltre, this could be a worst case scenario for them.  GM Tony Reagins was expected to sign either Crawford or Werth and possibly Beltre as well, but few thought he would miss both.  There has been no indication that Beltre and Anaheim (I refuse to say Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) are close to a deal.  You snooze, you loose.  The Angels tried to play their game with the players, with this whole procedural 'this is how the Angels do business' method that didn't show their immediate urgency in signing Crawford or Werth.  They tried to do it their way, and it cost them dearly.

-This is very old news, but Adrian Gonzalez finally went to the Red Sox after over two years of such rumors.  What a terrible shame, as now the Padres, pending a potential but unlikely signing of a slugger, will no longer contend.  Besides A-Gon, the 2010 Padres' leader in homers was Wil Venable with 13 and Chase Headley led with 58 RBI.  That ain't gonna cut it, fantastic bullpen or not.  The Red Sox starting position players now read as such: Jerrod Saltamacchia, Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, Marco Scutaro, Kevin Youkilis, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carl Crawford.  There's a new team to beat in the American League.

-The Giants and Cubs talked about sending Aaron Rowand to the Cubs for Kosuke Fukudome.  Both players have what are considered to be bad contracts, as Rowand is due $24 million over the next two years but only hit .230 in 105 games last year.  Fukudome plays great defense but is owed nearly $14 million in 2011 and is not hitting anywhere near a player with his salary needs to be.  This would be a great deal for the Cubs.  Fukudome wore out his welcome as quickly as he broke it in and has been a bust, as I have elaborated on many times before.  Rowand is a great teammate and was voted the toughest player in baseball in a player poll in 2009.  While his hitting leaves something to be desired for his money, he's a career .276 hitter and although he doesn't hit many more homers than Fukudome, he is a better offense player overall.  In 2007 with Philly he hit 27 homers earning him a trip to San Fran for the All-Star Game and he also won a Gold Glove.  Rowand was an original Sox product, a fan favorite on the 2005 championship team.  Yes sir, I say, pull the trigger!

-Kevin Gregg is a free agent again after a good year with Toronto.  Needless to say, the Cubs have no interest whatsoever.  The Orioles could be interested.

-Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes this like, heartwarming article about how touching it is that Kerry Wood took a major pay cut to come back to Chicago.  He brings up a really good point, and that's that this may be the only positive out of the death of Ron Santo.  Santo and Wood were very close and Wood was most likely disturbed by the tragedy like every other Cub fan.  Rosenthal suggests that Wood, after he retires, could take a job with the Cubs in the future just like Santo did.  He might be a Special Assistant to the GM, like Greg Maddux, radio commentator, like Santo, or some other job.  I hadn't thought about that, but it actually seems likely.

-The Pirates signed Lyle Overbay.  On average, there are 178 sesame seeds on a McDonalds Big Mac.  What?  Oh, I thought we were stating irrelevant facts.  My bad.

-Because the Cubs only spent a little over a million on Kerry Wood, they remain free to pursue a starting pitcher.  Brandon Webb remains on the Cubs radar although the level of aggressiveness is not something anyone is sure about now.  Webb said he will decide a team soon and the Yankees, Reds, and Brewers have basically taken themselves out of contention.  Three main teams in the negotiations are the Cubs, Nationals, and Rangers.  If the Cubs got Webb, they would have Dempster, Zambrano and Webb at the top of the rotation which probably gives them one of the best top threes in the National League.  But hey, we should withhold the wishful thinking.