Padres Close To Dealing Gonzalez to Boston

Big news coming late tonight, as the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox are "close" to an agreement which would sent super-star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to Boston for a package of prospects which is sue to include some top prospects.  Adrian hit .298 with 31 HR and 101 RBI last year for the Padres, in a very spacious park.  A move to Fenway would almost definitely mean an increase in stats, despite the league change.  Gonzalez is a rare breed of a first-baseman who hits for average and power as well as Gold-Glove quality defense.  The move would likely force Boston to move Kevin Youkilis to third-base.

Tigers Sign Victor Martinez

Martinez gets $50M from DET

Just as I predicted earlier, the Detroit Tigers have signed catcher Victor Martinez to a 4-year $50M contract. Quite a bit of money (I only predicted 3-yr/$27M), especially when you consider he will do most of his time DH'ing, but he brings a switch-hitting bat which any team would love to have.  The 2010 All-Star hit .302 with 20HR and 79RBI in 127 games for The Red Sox, and is a career .300 hitter in 9 seasons.  Victor is a Type-A free-agent, so the Red Sox will receive Detroit's 19th pick as compensation for losing of their key hitters. 

Ramblings: Miller, Renteria, Encarnacion

Andrew Miller is the newest
Red Sox

• The Boston Red Sox have acquired left-hander Andrew Miller from the Florida Marlins.  Florida gets lefty reliever Dustin Richardson.  The 6'7" Miller was a first round pick in the 2006 draft, but has not reached the ceiling that scouts once believed he had.  He's thrown 294.1 major-league innings, with a horrific 5.84 ERA and 1.73 WHIP.  Boston will likely turn him into a reliever, which MLB Network's Peter Gammons believes might work.  Richardson has only thrown 16.1 innings in parts of the last two seasons, and has got very lucky posting a 3.31 ERA despite a WHIP over 2.  The Kansas native had a decent minor-league career though, so the Marlins pretty much got a piece with a lower ceiling but higher current state, with the Red Sox doing the oppostie and taking a gamble on Miller.
• World Series MVP Edgar Renteria has now made it clear that he wants to retire with either the Florida Marlins or St. Louis Cardinals, which is very odd considering he just won a world title with the Giants.  This might hurt his free-agency as well, since those teams don't seem to have room for him and now the Giants will likely turn their back on the 34-year old since he doesn't want to be back with San Fran.
• The busy Oakland A's made another move today, claiming third-baseman Edwin Encarnacion off waivers from the Blue Jays.  Edwin hit .244 last year, and cranked out 21 home-runs. A's GM Billy Beane is deep into his search for some bats, already acquiring OF David DeJesus earlier.