Okay, look, the Johan Santana deal hasn’t been finalized, but I’m not going to be the last person to comment on it. What? I’m too late?
The New York Mets have extracted stolen acquired Santana from the Minnesota Twins for a glass of water some magic beans four prospects.
I jest, of course, to make a point. The prospects headed to Minnesota — outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra — aren’t bad, but they also aren’t Philip Hughes. The question I have for the Twins is why they would blink now and give away the best …read more

The Chicago White Sox have signed right-hander Octavio Dotel to a 2-year, $11 million deal. On the heels of their November signing of Scott Linebrink, the White Sox appear to have adopted the same strategy that worked so well for the Orioles last winter.
Like Linebrink, Dotel was a dominant reliever several years ago. Now he’s mostly just hurt. Here’s what Dotel has done recently:

Octavio Dotel, 2005 – 2007

IP
ERA
H/9
BB/9
SO/9
HR/9

Statistics are courtesy of David Pinto’s Day by Day Database.

56
5.14
9.16
5.46
10.29
1.29

You’ll notice in the caption that this is Dotel’s record for the past 3 years. Last season he worked 30 2/3 innings, which was …read more

   Photo by <cleverCl@i®ê>   some rights reserved
According to ESPN, Sammy Sosa won’t be returning to the Texas Rangers in 2008 because he “wants to play — ideally in a situation where he could get 400 to 500 plate appearances.”
Sosa is 39 years old, can’t play the field, and can’t hit right-handed pitching (.222/.267/.410 in ‘07), and he wants a full-time job. I’m sorry, how does that work again?

The St. Louis Cardinals reportedly are considering inviting Juan Gonzalez to spring training. Yes, that Juan Gonzalez.
Dan at Baseball Think Factory sums it up pretty nicely. Two open questions:

How is Gonzalez only 38 years old?
What is Danny Tartabull doing these days?

The Texas Rangers have signed right-hander Jason Jennings to a 1-year deal worth $4 million. The story to date: Jennings was pretty good as a rookie with Colorado in 2002. Then he had three seasons of extreme blahness, followed by a terrific showing in 2006, after which the Rockies shipped him to Houston, where he pitched poorly and got hurt.
Jennings went 2-9 with a 6.45 ERA for the Astros in 2007. He underwent elbow surgery in August and is expected to be ready by Opening Day.
Jennings owns a career record of 60-65 with a 4.91 ERA; he spent much of …read more

Once again I’m a little late delivering the goods because I wanted to make sure there were actual goods to deliver. In this case, it turns out there are.
The St. Louis Cardinals have traded third baseman Scott Rolen to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Troy Glaus. Fun trade. Rolen is 33 and has battled shoulder problems, while Glaus is 31 and has battled foot problems.
Career lines:
Rolen: 6380 PA, .283/.372/.507, 126 OPS+
Glaus: 5203 PA, .254/.358/.500, 121 OPS+
2007 lines:
Rolen: 441 PA, .265/.331/.398, 89 OPS+
Glaus: 456 PA, .262/.366/.473, 120 OPS+
Yikes, Rolen’s power has disappeared.
Peak lines:
Rolen: 593 PA, .314/.409/.598, 157 OPS+ (2004, …read more

The Atlanta Braves have acquired center fielder Mark Kotsay from the Oakland A’s for right-handers Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond. The good news is that Atlanta is on the hook for just $2 million of Kotsay’s $7.325 salary in ‘08. The bad news is that Kotsay hasn’t been even marginally productive since 2005.
Kotsay is 32 years old and has battled numerous injuries over the years, primarily back problems. Kotsay, of course, says he feels great, but it’s easy to feel great in January, when you’re not playing actual games.
Personally I have a soft spot for Kotsay, who did a nice …read more

I’m slow on this because I wanted to make sure the deal didn’t get Yorvitized. Yep, it’s a verb now. Why? Hey, why not.
Yorvitize – v. To publicly announce a contract signing as done and then go back on the announcement.
Here it is in a sentence:
Man, I’ll bet Phillies fans are bummed that their deal with J.C. Romero didn’t get Yorvitized.
Anyway.
The Brewers have inked Mike Cameron to a 1-year, $7 million deal that was finalized Monday. The 35-year-old center fielder, who spent the past two seasons with the San Diego Padres, will miss the first 25 games of 2008 while …read more

That seems to the be the message in Pittsburgh. Apparently the Pirates have decided that, on the heels of their 15th consecutive season with 86 or more losses (thank goodness for the ‘94 players’ strike!), they’re pretty much where they want to be.
Lessee, the Bucs went out and signed Chris Gomez. That should be enough to keep them right around the 95-loss mark, don’t you think? Honestly, just start wearing mom jeans already.

The lead from this article is classic:
Even after signing Jose Castillo on Christmas Eve, the Marlins may not be done giving themselves third base options.
Only in Miami, where the Marlins’ owner has trained his team’s “fans” to expect nothing and like it, could this even be in doubt. Castillo hit .244/.270/.335 for the Pirates in 2007. Huh, so he might not be the answer at third?
Other players being considered include Jorge Cantu and Dallas McPherson. Cantu hit .252/.331/.357 last season for the Devil Rays and the Reds. McPherson didn’t play in 2007 due to injury, but hit .261/.298/.478 the previous …read more