So the Winter Meetings get underway today and we should start seeing a lot more trades. What? You mean the Winter Meetings started on Monday? Shouldn't there be more news then? No? Oh well.
So I guess Mark Trumbo has recovered from getting blacklisted in 1947 for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Oh wait. That was Dalton Trumbo. Never mind. Good thing I never called Mark to congratulate him on finally getting credit for Spartacus.
- My complaining aside, there was one reasonably big trade on Tuesday. A three-way deal between the Diamondbacks, the Angels and the White Sox sent Mark Trumbo to Arizona, Adam Eaton to Chicago and Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago.
- In an ESPN Insider article ($), Keith Law thinks the Angels are the big winners in the deal. If you're not an ESPN Insider, just watch the first video at the link in the first bullet and Law summarizes his points there. Jerry Crasnick also agrees with Law.
- Dayn Perry hates the deal for Arizona. Any offensive gains that Trumbo might represent will be offset by Trumbo's poor defense. But the Chase Field PA system will be able to play the Benny Hill music every time a ball gets hit to left field, so there is that.
- Michael Martinez thinks that while Angels fans may lament the loss of fan favorite Trumbo, it was the right move for the team.
- This article may get edited again before you read this, but Nick Piecoro says that trading for Trumbo doesn't make sense for the Diamondbacks. I say it may get edited again because Piecoro clearly wrote the article before the trade and then USA Today just chucked a paragraph into the middle of it announcing the deal. Then Piecoro goes on to talk about Adam Eaton currently being in the D-Backs outfield. But all of his points still hold and then some, because he wasn't figuring on Arizona losing Eaton in the deal.
- Mike Oz says that D-Backs fans may not end up liking Trumbo very much and he has five reasons why.
- Jeff Sullivan thinks the White Sox and Angels were the big winners and Arizona comes out for the worse after this deal. He points out that Trumbo is a very similar player to Mark Reynolds and that GM Kevin Towers "sold low" on Reynolds" and "bought high" on Trumbo.
- Rob Neyer is more optimistic for Arizona and thinks everyone seemed to get what they needed. He does think that Trumbo has the biggest downside in the deal.
- Jayson Stark looks at the upside and the downside of the deal for all three teams and thinks it looks like a possible win-win-win deal.
- Tom Verducci, on the other hand, really likes the deal for Arizona.
- Anthony Castrovince thinks the deal shows that Arizona is willing to be aggressive and gamble in their quest to dethrone the Dodgers.
- There was one other trade yesterday. The Athletics sent talented but often-injured pitcher Brett Anderson to Colorado for Drew Pomeranz and Chris Jensen.
- The fallout from the Robinson Cano deal continues. Derek Jeter wishes Cano the best in Seattle and wasn't surprised that he accepted that contract.
- Tom Verducci thinks the Mariners got Cano because they wanted him more, which is pretty evident from the $70 million difference in their offers. He also calls the deal "Pujols 2.0."
- New Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said something you don't often hear managers say. When asked if Cano will be a leader in the Mariners clubhouse, he said "I hope he leads on the field. . .I don't need guys to lead in the clubhouse. I'll do that. I need guys to lead on the field." Sounds like he flunked "Chemistry (clubhouse) 101."
- There's a rumor that Nelson Cruz turned down a five year, $75 million offer from Seattle. If true, it's hard to know which one of them is the bigger idiot.
- Will Leitch notes that a lot of people (including Verducci) are saying these megadeals make sense because of the explosion of revenue in baseball. But he asks what is going to happen if that doesn't continue? He doesn't like these long-term contracts.
- Rajai Davis has signed a two-year deal with the Tigers.
- Rays executive vice-president Andrew Friedman says that he doesn't think he must trade anyone, and "anyone" presumably means David Price.
- The Mets will accept Curtis Granderson's strikeouts to get his power, as power becomes increasingly hard to find.
- The Hall of Fame Veteran's Committee voted to induct three managers, Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre.
- Emma Span thinks it was an easy decision.
- Joe Posnanski breaks down the Veterans' Committee voting and while he applauds the three they did induct, he thinks they're making a mistake by not electing any players.
- Rob Neyer wonders why Marvin Miller got so little support.
- LaRussa and Torre celebrated by cruising for chicks with John Mayer. Or at least having their picture taken with the singer.
- Roy Halladay signed a one-day contract with Toronto so he could retire as a Blue Jay.
- Doug Glanville says that Halladay was right to go out with the team he came up with and talks about both Halladay's and his own career and how they came to an end. Eloquently, of course.
- Matt Snyder thinks Halladay is a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
- Mark Prior retired, which shocks everyone who thought he was already retired since he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2006. Joe Posnanski laments his career. Not as much as we do, Joe.
- Cliff Corcoran looks at how Mark Prior changed the game. (Hint: it has to do with pitch counts.)
- Mark Mulder hasn't pitched in the majors since 2008, but he's going to attempt a comeback. He has a surprising reason that he thinks it's possible.
- Bruce Bochy thinks that a new rule to protect catchers from home plate collisions will be adopted this winter.
- Kirk Gibson gave an awesome press conference.
- There has been no decision on whether to post Masahiro Tanaka.
- Gabe Kapler talks about what gets lost in translation when players go from one side of the Pacific to the other. He had a terrible time adjusting to playing in Japan and Kapler thinks it will be tough for Tanaka to adjust to life in America.
- Hiroshima Carp pitcher Kenta Maeda reportedly also wants to come to America.
- Teams are checking out free agent Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz.
- Craig Calcaterra is so bored at these timid Winter Meetings that he decided to rank all 30 MLB managers according to their attractiveness. As in how good-looking they are. Only later he wrote on Twitter "It did occur to me, right after I hit 'post' that all 15 of the guys I put in the ugly half of my rankings are here and can easily find me."
- Finally, you will NEVER be able to unsee Jonathan Papelbon in this picture. Don't worry, he's not naked. You'll wish he was though.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.