Tigers Acquire Cabrera/Willis

The Detroit Tigers shocked the world today, moving prospects Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, Mike Rabelo, Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz, and Dallas Trahern to the Florida Marlins in return for 24-year old third-baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-handed ace Dontrelle Willis. Detroit moved their number 1,3,7, and 11 prospects to Florida, but acquired two players who have superstar written all over them.

Cabrera hit .320 last year with 34 HR and 119 RBI, and is yet to eclipse 25-years old. He is going to be serious insurance for Magglio Ordonez, and will witness a huge rise in stats with Gary Sheffield batting directly after him. As for Willis, 2007 was a horrible year for the left-hander, going 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA. He is a career 3.78 pitcher, and is only 25 years of age.

Andrew Miller, the 22-year old phenom, was almost as good as Willis was last year. The good news? The right-hander had a 0.53 ERA in 30.2 innings-pitched. He will likely slot right into Florida's rotation next season. Detroit's number one prospect, Cameron Maybin, did terrible as a 20-year old major-leaguer, but has never hit below .304 in the minor leagues, and has a tremendous eye and decent speed.

Angels Trade Cabrera For Garland

Big move for both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Chicago White Sox today, as the teams swapped 33-year old short-stop Orlando Cabrera to Chicago in exchange for 28-year old SP Jon Garland. Being the Angel fan that I am, my first instinct about the move was simply wow. We just traded a 2007 Gold Glove winner who served as a team captain and kept the team together through hard times,hitting higher than .300 in the process. What's worse is that we acquire another starting pitcher, something that we are already extremely strong in. If we would of moved Cabrera for lets say Miguel Tejada, the deal would of been fine, but not for another pitcher.

But looking closer at the deal, it does make quite a bit of sense for the Angels. For one, they receive a pitcher who possesses amazing durability, pitching 200+ innings the last 4 seasons. Garland is also only 28 years old and will serve as a tremendous number 4 starter. Even though he is $3M more than Cabrera and was acquired for a package of Cabrera and even more cash, the Angels are still saving a good $6M from last year's payroll, ridding Bartolo Colon's horrific contract from their dues.

The best part of the deal is that it is a sign that in the very near future, the Angels are going to make another trade for either a short-stop or a third baseman known as Miguel Cabrera. If the Halos were to move lets say Conger/Kendrick/Santana/Saunders to Florida for Miguel Cabrera, they would be able to let him play the position he loves and would move last year's third-baseman Chone Figgins to short-stop, the position he played coming up with the club way back in 2002. New general-manager Tony Reagins is sure winning the hearts of Angel fans, proving that he can actually construct a deal, something Bill Stoneman had trouble with.

Ramblings

* Tadahito Iguchi’s agent told the media that the Angels, Brewers, Padres, Rockies, and Astros have contacted Iguchi about signing with their respective clubs. Tadahito made it clear he wants to play 2B next year, so the Brewers will probably not work. The Angels are also a long shot unless they trade Howie Kendrick in the Miguel Cabrera deal.
* Free-Agent Aaron Rowand explained that the “interest is definitely mutual” with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Signing Rowand would force Juan Pierre to left-field and would also push yet another young outfielder out of the starting spot. Matt Kemp would most likely be the outfielder pushed out, and there might be a Baltimore Oriole deal in the works for ace Erik Bedard if Baltimore fails to re-sign him long term.
* Ex-Cardinals’ SS David Eckstein would like to receive the exact deal that Julio Lugo received last season, a 4-year deal worth $36M total. Looks impossible for the veteran to receive such a deal, but most believed it was impossible for Lugo to do the same.
* The Houston Astros have signed second-baseman Geoff Blum to either a 1 or 2 year deal, Fox 29 reports. Blum will be returning to the club that he spent 2002 and 2003 with. He will most likely be a bench player next year however.
* Amazing turn around in the Yorvit Torrealba to Mets deal, as now there is no deal reached despite reports from the other day. The Mets told the media that there is no more ongoing conversation with Yorvit, so it looks like Paul Lo Duca will probably be back next year.

Ramblings

* Both FSN.com’s Ken Rosenthal and Alex Rodriguez himself believe that Alex’s first priority is still to remain with the Yankees. In an official quote from Rodriguez’s site, Alex states that after talking it over with his family, he will communicate with the Steinbrenners and attempt to remain in pinstripes for the next 7-10 years.
* St. Louis Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told the media that third baseman Scott Rolen is indeed up for trade. This opens up another 3B option for many teams, most notably the Phillies, Dodgers, and Angels. Scott is due $36M throughout the next 3-years, a deal that he would probably receive in the open market anyway.
* The Atlanta Braves did not offer veteran Tom Glavine a contract in today’s winter meetings, but most believe they will and soon. Once a proposal is made, theres no doubt in my mind that Glavine will head to Atlanta for a 1-year, $8-9M contract with a mutual option for ‘09.
* When asked about being traded, Florida Marlins third baseman Miguel Cabrera told reporters that he would like to remain at third, but would be open to the possibility of moving around the diamond in order to improve the club he would play for. Even with this news, I doubt a team would acquire Miguel and move him elsewhere, unless its DH.

Yankees Might Go After Miggy

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald believes that the New York Yankees will attempt to acquire third-baseman Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins, with Melky Cabrera possibly being included in the package. As for Miguel, he's likely going to get $11M or so in arbitration, and will only rise from there. There's no doubt he's soon going to be out of the Marlins' range and they will have to trade him.

Makes complete sense for the Yankees, as he's definitely hall-of-fame caliber and still extremely young. He's also the only third-baseman that is somewhat available, enjoying a stellar .320 34HR 119RBI season with the lowly Marlins.