Hot Stove scorecard

By John Gottlieb

There is only one good thing about the end of the NFL season, and that is the close proximity to pitchers and catchers reporting to Florida and Arizona. There are 30 days until spring training and I can't wait until April.

Best signings/trades:

1) Barry Zito - San Francisco Giants (seven years for $126 million with a team option for 2014) - The numbers may seem drastic, especially for a pitcher, but he will be 29 this season, has a Cy Young award, playoff experience, never gets hurt and is a lefty. The Giants needed to make a splash to replace Jason Schmidt. I don't have a problem with the money when mediocre pitchers are drastically overpaid. Zito got lucky that the market is out of whack.

2) Freddy Garcia - Philadelphia Phillies (acquired for pitchers Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez) - The Phillies have a solid starting five with the addition of Garcia, who has won at least 12 games, made at least 30 starts, and pitched at least 200 innings in each of the last six seasons. He is 116-71 and is only 30 years old. He fits in right behind Brett Myers and gives the Phils a solid rotation. Better yet they gave up very little to get him. They SHOULD compete with the Mets.

3) Frank Thomas - Toronto Blue Jays (two years for $18 million with a vesting option for 2010) - The Blue Jays finished near the bottom of the top 10 in homers and RBI for designated hitters last season and "The Big Hurt" will be a huge upgrade. He proved last season with Oakland that he can still play. He finished with 39 home runs and 114 RBI in 137 games with Oakland. As long as he can stay healthy, which is always a question for Thomas, he is a big-time bat added to an already strong lineup. Thomas is just 13 home runs shy of becoming just the 21st player in baseball history to reach 500 homers.

4) Aramis Ramirez - Chicago Cubs (five years for $73 million with a mutual option for 2012) - Of the $285-plus million the Cubs spent this offseason, the best was spent on Ramirez. He carried the team when Derrek Lee went down for most of the season. While not excellent defensively, Ramirez is one of the premiere offensive third baseman. He's hit at least 30 homers in each of the last three seasons.

5) Daisuke Matsuzaka - Boston Red Sox (six years for 103.1 million including the posting bid) - Everyone was a surprised to hear about how the Red Sox trumped the Yankees with their outrageous posting bid of 51.1 mil, but he is the new anchor of the rotation in what will be Curt Schilling's last season. Everything you read is that he is a can't miss ace, but if struggles out of the gate the Fenway Faithful will turn against him. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to Major League talent but he could easily have the Red Sox back in the postseason, battling the Yankees again.

Honorable mention: Gary Sheffield - Detroit Tigers (acquired for pitchers Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett) - It was a good move by the Yankees to pick up his option so they could control where they sent him, but I'm not sure why they traded him to Detroit, which won the American League and knocked New York out of the postseason. He is 38, but he's still a potent bat with a ton of power to left field. He is the home run hitter that the Tigers lacked last season. He is a pain in the butt, but he has a ton of respect for Jim Leyland and should keep quiet with a two-year contract extension for $28 million.

Worst signings/addition:

1) J.D. Drew - Boston Red Sox (?????) - The deal is being held up due to a balky shoulder but he will be the Red Sox opening day right fielder. Why they want him so bad I'm not sure. This seems like on-base percentage gone wild. Here is a guy who can put up numbers if he can stay healthy, but HE CAN NEVER STAY HEALTHY. He just seems a little too fragile to be playing for Boston.

2) Carlos Lee - Houston Astros (six years for $100 million) - This contract makes the Alfonso Soriano deal (eight years for $136 million) seem smart. Lee stays healthy, but is an atrocious fielder. He's driven in more than 100 runs just twice and has never hit more than 32 homers. The Astros were so desperate to add offense they were willing to let Andy Pettitte walk (and probably Roger Clemens too).

3) Gary Matthews Jr - LA Angels of Anaheim (five years for $50 million) - Talk about coming through in your walk year. This is the seventh team in his eight-year career, and he was with the Orioles and Padres twice. Last season was his first with more than 130 hits, 55 RBI and 500 at-bats. This has flop written all over it.

I could list a number of pitchers here but I'll go with just the worst two.

4) Gil Meche - Kansas City Royals (five years for $55 million) - WHAT? I'm lost on this one. I will be the first to complain when the small market teams pocket luxury tax money and then not spend it to better their ballclubs, but how does this make the Royals a better team? He has never thrown 190 innings in a season, has won 15 games once, and has made 30 starts twice in his career. They should've just kept Mark Redman.

5) Adam Eaton - Philadelphia Phillies (three years at $24.5 million with a team option for 2010) - Every good move for Philly has to be countered with a bad one. Eaton has been injury-plagued his entire career, making 30 starts twice. What is his career-high for wins? Give up? 11! This move isn't that much worse than some of the other pitcher contracts not listed, but he was one of the first to sign, setting the market for all mediocre scrubs. He'll spend most of the season on the disabled list, having Philly fans thanking thanking their stars that Jon Lieber is still on the team, if you can believe that.

Honorable mention: Jaret Wright - Baltimore Orioles (acquired for pitcher Chris Britton) - Are the Orioles so desperate for a subpar pitcher that they were willing to help the Yankees. I guarantee you that Brian Cashman did a victory lap around Yankee Stadium when he unloaded to Wright...to a division rival. es, Wright did have his best season under Leo Mazzone in Atlanta, but haven't we already seen a test sample for Wright versus the American League East.

Free agents still available:

1) Roger Clemens - (interested teams: New York Yankees, Boston, Houston) - Enough said.

2) Jeff Weaver - (St. Louis Cardinals) - It's hard to believe he's on this list.

3) Cliff Floyd - (Chicago Cubs) - He's hurt, but he'll be a solid clubhouse addition, as well as a good bat.

4) Tomo Okha (New York Mets, Pittsbugh, Washington, Texas) - The right-hander is at the top of the available pitching list now that all of the big players (other than Clemens) are gone.

5) David Wells - (San Diego) - It didn't take the burly lefty to realize that he picked the wrong year to retire. It's just a matter of time before he signs with his hometown team.

Honorable mention: Craig Wilson - He's a man without a position but he crushes left-handed hurlers. I'm surprised the market has been so quiet for the first baseman/outfielder/designated hitter.

**photo courtesy of mlb.com


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The Phanatic