MLB Bullets Burned Itself On The Hot Stove

I guess I can stop complaining about a lack of news. There's no way I can list all of the moves that took place on Monday and Tuesday, but I'll try to list as many as I can along with some analysis and the regular flotsam and jetsam that inhabits this page.

• The Yankees made their second big splash of the offseason when they signed outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury to a 7 year, $153 million contract. I knew the Twins couldn't sign all the free agents. While the Yankees insist that the deal doesn't preclude them from making another free agent signing, they are likely out on Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Beltran now. They insist they are still pursuing Robinson Cano, but . . .
• As I speculated yesterday (and I never get these things right, so I'm going to crow a bit) the Mariners have emerged as perhaps the favorite to sign Cano. Wallace Matthews quotes a source that says "it doesn't look too good right now" for the Yankees to retain Cano.
• Quick editorial on my part. You'll give Jacoby Ellsbury $153 million but you're holding the line at $160 to $170 million on Cano? Either the Yankees are lying about what they will offer Cano, they know something about Cano we don't know or they've gone bonkers.
• Another quick editorial. It makes sense for the Mariners to sign Cano, which is why I suggested them yesterday. They're having trouble getting any hitter to come to Seattle without massively overpaying, and if you're going to have to do that, you might as well get the best. Also, the Mariners desperately need to energize their fan base as most Seattle observers think the MLS Sounders are now more popular than the Mariners in the Emerald City. Of course, that was before the Sounders choked in the MLS playoffs. Some things never change in Seattle.
• Joel Sherman thinks the Ellsbury signing is designed to force Cano's hand. I'm not sure how, but Sherman seems to think it will backfire on the Yankees anyway.
• The Yankees and Ellsbury pushed off what had been the biggest news of the past two days, the Tigers trade of Doug Fister to Washington for Ian Krol, Steve Lombardozzi and Robbie Ray.
• The move makes the Nationals better and allows them to address other problems.
• Reaction to this trade from the Tigers point of view has been universally negative, such as from this Keith Law analysis. ($). Also in another Law analysis ($) blasting the next Tigers move listed below, he reports that at least two GMs looking for starting pitcher told him that they were never contacted about Fister's availability and were upset they didn't get a chance to beat the Nationals offer. So the idea that the Fister deal sets the market for Jeff Samardzija is probably incorrect.
• The Tigers used the money they saved on Fister to sign closer Joe Nathan to a two year deal for about $20 million.
• John Lowe is excited to see noted "Tigers killer" Nathan in Detroit.
• Mike Baumann thinks Nathan could be the "missing piece of the puzzle" for the Tigers.
• Jon Paul Morosi, in an article written before the Nathan signing, explains that most observers think the Tigers got fleeced in the Fister deal.
• Dombrowski has heard your complaints and doesn't care. He also explained his thinking on the Fister deal.
• Drew Sharp thinks that Dombrowski has earned the benefit of the doubt.
• Matt Snyder thinks the Tigers may not be done making moves this offseason.
• The Marlins got back into the free agent game by signing Jarrod Saltalamacchi to a three-year deal worth $21 million. He will no doubt be traded by August.
• The Red Sox were now short one catcher with a long and hard-to-spell last name, so they went out and inked A.J. Pierzynski to a one-year deal worth $8.25 million.
• Gordon Edes explains why Pierzynski makes sense in Boston. I am not looking forward to the length of Yankees--Red Sox games on Sunday night with both Brian McCann and A.J. Pierzynski in the game. One side will be looking for unwritten rules to enforce and the other will be looking for unwritten rules to break.
• The Orioles got into the swing of things, sending closer Jim Johnson to Oakland for Jemile Weeks.
• Jeff Sullivan tries to rationalize how paying a "proven closer" $11 million makes sense for a "Moneyball" team like the Athletics. Mostly, it comes down to there's "no such thing as a bad one-year contract." Also, the A's don't have many other needs that could be filled with that money, so they might as well get a reliever. He still doesn't like the deal from Oakland's perspective, but he does see some merit in what they've done.
• Oakland wasn't done on Tuesday, however, as they traded Michael Choice and Chris Bostick to Texas for Craig Gentry and Josh Lindblom.
• So then Billy Beane took the rest of the day off and . . .what? Oakland made another trade? It looks like they did as they shipped Seth Smith to San Diego for Luke Gregerson. That also messes up my bullpen in my NL-only Fantasy League team.
• In a trade not involving the Athletics but seemingly every other team, the Reds, Rays and Diamondbacks consummated a three-way deal that sent Ryan Hanigan and Heath Bell to Tampa Bay. The Reds get David Holmberg and the Diamondbacks get Justin Choate.
• Jack Moore thinks the Rays did well buying low on Heath Bell.
• That was the end of the deals on Tuesday. . .oh no, you mean there was yet another one? There isn't this much trading on July 31! The Rockies traded Dexter Fowler to the Astros for Jordan Lyles.
• Throw another log onto the fire, Kenneth. The Phillies dealt Erik Kratz and Rob Rasmussen to Toronto for Brad Lincoln.
• The Rockies also signed Justin Morneau to a two-year, $13 million deal.
• It's not finalized, but the Dodgers are nearing an agreement that would keep reliever Brian Wilson in LA. Wilson wanted to go somewhere he could close, but his desire to stay in LA, where he could continue to write songs about surfing, cars and California girls, seems to have won out.
• The Royals are now the favorites to land Carlos Beltran, although no agreement has been reached. For KC, the deal would likely mean that if Beltran goes into the Hall of Fame one day, it would likely be with a Royals cap on. Not that that is why they're pursuing Beltran.
• Brad Johnson thinks that even though the Twins won't be competitive next season, the signings of Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes still make a lot of sense in terms of their rebuilding plan.
• John Fay notes that Brandon Phillips is not scheduled to appear at Redsfest this weekend but over 70 former and current Reds are.
• But this late-breaking news from last night: Ken Rosenthal claims the Reds have changed their minds and are now very unlikely to trade Phillips.
• On Monday, the Pirates acquired Chris Stewart from the Yankees. Steven Goldman compares Stewart to the worst-hitting catchers for the Yankees since the end of World War II.
• David Schoenfield tries to wrap up Tuesday's wild day of transactions.
• Richard Justice says the hot stove isn't waiting for the winter meetings and tries to give the lay of the land as we head into today.
• There's still no agreement on a new posting system between MLB and NPB. MLB's latest proposal would have a cap on the posting fee. That doesn't sound like something the NPB owners would likely accept unless they absolutely had to.
• If they ever do come to a posting agreement, Joel Sherman has sources that tell him that other teams expect the Cubs to be a major player for Masahiro Tanaka. I know that will make some of you happy. If there's ever a posting agreement, that is.
• Chris Jaffe runs some numbers on the benches for the teams and says they can make a bigger difference than you might think. It was the difference between the Rays making the playoffs instead of Baltimore, he claims. He also notes that the Cubs had better offensive production from their bench than they did from their starters. That's the sign of a great bench. Or, as he notes, the sign of really terrible starters.
• Cole Hamels says the Phillies clubhouse was not a happy place last season.
• Jonathan Berhardt pretends he has a Hall of Fame ballot and comes to a decision on the ten players he would vote for. Why doesn't he just buy a vote like Deadspin?
• Tom Verducci makes his pitch for Jack Morris, arguing that no starting pitcher who started in the majors between 1971 and 1983 has made the Hall of Fame. (Actually, the streak extends to today, but he's counting Roger Clemens as someone who should have made it having started in 1984 and Greg Maddux will be elected after throwing his first pitch in the majors in 1986.) I'm not quite sure how that's relevant, but it's interesting research anyway.
• Gabe Kapler thinks there needs to be clear rules on PED use and the Hall of Fame. The problem with that, Gabe, is that the voters will just ignore them and vote for whomever they want anyway.
• As expected, the MLBPA named former Tigers and Diamondbacks first baseman Tony Clark as their new executive director. He's the first executive director to be a former player, although Bob Feller was president of the proto-union in the 1950s.
• Sad news. Pirates farmhand Evan Chambers died in his sleep over the weekend. He was only 24.
• Another tragedy was narrowly averted when a van carrying several Giants minor leaguers was involved in a car accident in Scottsdale, AZ on Tuesday, Five Giants farmhands were treated for minor injuries.
• Finally, if you want the complete story of Ted Williams' disembodied frozen head, the Boston Globe has you covered. (h/t Hardball Talk)

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.