Ramblings: Iwakuma, Putz, Collins

Arizona Interested In Putz

• The Oakland Athletics and Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma are far away in negotiations, and the 30-day window that was granted for the sides to accept a deal does not seem to be long enough to sort out the problems.  Iwakuma has reportedly wanted a deal modeled after Barry Zito's absurd 7-year $126M deal, so there is no way Oakland will get to bring in the imported pitcher at the price.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks are said to be interested in reliever J.J. Putz.  Putz pitched last year for the Chicago White Sox, having a horrific ERA of 5.74.  Still, he was a lockdown closer for Seattle and might be able to bring some of that back with Arizona.
• The Mets have finally chosen a name for their newest manager: Terry Collins.  Collins last managed last for the Angels in 1999, and brings quite a bit of experience to the job.  New York will need it, as their team is in turmoil whether it be Francisco Rodriguez' off-the-field problems or the amazing amount of money owed to players such as Oliver Perez and an injured Carlos Beltran.

Ramblings: Davis, Beltre, Marlins

Davis will lead-off for TOR

• The Toronto Blue Jays acquired speedster Rajai Davis for two minor league relievers: Danny Farquhar and Trystan Magnuson.   Both prospects were ranked in Toronto's top 25 prospects, so they paid quite a bit for a 30-year old outfielder.  Davis hit .281 with 50 SB in 2010, so he will give the Blue Jays a much needed lead-off hitter.
• The Oakland A's have offered third-baseman Adrian Beltre a 5-year deal worth $45M.  Beltre has to love the years, but other teams are definitely going to offer him bigger contracts.  It is a decent attempt by Oakland, who tried to sign Adrian before Boston did last year. 
• The Florida Marlins have said that they are going to spend the money that would have gone to Dan Uggla on a starting pitcher.  They have interested in Javier Vasquez and Carl Pavano.  Pavano wants 3-years $33M, so Vasquez is the more cost conscious choice.

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.

Oakland A's Acquire OF David DeJesus

And the offseason begins.  In the first major trade of this offseason, the Oakland Athletics have acquired outfielder David DeJesus from the Kansas City Royals.  The Royals get SP Vin Mazzaro and SP Justin Marks.  DeJesus hit .316 last year for the Royals, but did not supply much pop (5 HR in 91 games) or speed (3 for 6 in stolen base attempts).  He is entering the last year of the 6-year/$19.3M extension he signed in 2006, so Oakland gets a year of David to see if he'll be a productive enough bat for their outfield.  The Royals got a decent deal, as the 24-year old Vin Mazzaro pitched 122.1 innings last year for Oakland.  His ERA sat at a decent 4.27, but his peripherals were a bit low (5.8 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9).  Still, he is young and should be a decent number three starter for Kansas City.  Justin Marks seems to be a low-ceiling prospect, who was more of a throw in.  The 22-year old pitched his first full year, throwing almost 130 innings with a ERA of 4.87. 

This deal looks fairly even, with a high-contact hitter going to Oakland for a young pitcher who has bit of an upside going to Kansas City.  (Image courtesy of croixdestick.com)