Recent MLB Moves

Just wanted to put some quick thoughts out there on the recent flury of early off-season baseball moves.

Let's start with the move that sent Cameron Maybin to the Padres for Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica. I love this deal for the Padres. Yeah, they had plenty of OF's already, but Maybin could be exactly what they really need out there. He is a speedy, rangy CF'r that they need in that outfield. He appears to be competent in the outfield (although tough to be sure without a larger sample size). If he can manage to get that K% down a bit, his speed will shine through and you could be looking at a really special player. Webb is a nice looking player as a reliever. Mujica is ok, but is prone to the long ball (not to mention he is arb eligible this year). So, I think the Marlins sold low on Maybin. They didn't get completely fleeced or anything but I like the Pads in this move.

Next one I wanted to hit on was the Uggla to the Braves for Infante and Mike Dunn. Either the Marlins know something we don't about Uggla, or they made another losing move here. Uggla is good, not great, but a nice bat for the Braves for sure. They can move him around there and start the season at 3B with Prado at 2B. When Chipper is ready to come back, they could even move him over to 1B (where they always seem to need help). Infante was ok, but he isn't anything really special. Dunn looks like a solid reliever. But, infielders that can hit 30 HRs don't just grow on trees anymore. Solid move for Braves.

Ok, now on to the John Buck to the Marlins for 3 years and 18 million. Seriously? They may not have gotten killed on the first two deals, but is Buck really worth this? Seems like a big time overpay in my book. Maybe there was that much interest in Buck, but could it really have been that much? I just don't get it. And I keep reading that he is a great handler of pitching staffs. Well, if that is the case, sign Brad Ausmus for a league minimum and go with that. Buck has a better stick, but he will not have an OBP over .300 next year, count on it. That will be ugly.

Final move I wanted to comment on is the one that just happened a couple of hours ago. The Tigers signed Joaquin Benoit to a 3 yr/$16.5mil deal. Ok, are they smoking something? He is a freaking middle reliever! Small sample sizes here people. No way is he good as his numbers showed this year. Yes, I think he IS good though. Just not 3/16.5 good. NO middle reliever (and very few relievers in general) is really worth that kind of money. A gross overpay by the Tigers and one they will grow to regret. He could still be very solid and it would be an overpay.

So, is this how the rest of the off-season will work out? Jeez, it is ugly so far. Interesting for sure, but ugly. We will have to see.