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Worst Offseason moves


Dan: Detroit Tigers. While the Tigers did manage to pick up Johnny Damon in free agency, they lost several big parts to their team. Placido Polanco is gone, who provided a huge defense support for the Tigers at second base. They also lost Curtis Granderson, who was a good player in the outfield as well as hitting the ball as he showed strides of power as well as good contact levels. He had great speed and he'll definitely be missed. Damon can't reproduce the speed and power that Granderson had. They also lost Edwin Jackson and Jarrod Washburn who pitched well for the Tigers while they were playing for them. Fernando Rodney also left the team, which is going to hurt them in the bullpen because they don't have anyone who can throw 100+ miles per hour.

Joe: Right now the White Sox acquiring lead-off man Juan Pierre. The still speedy Pierre (30 SBs in 2009) was a fourth OF in his last 2 years with the Dodgers but is now essentially the key to completing the Sox team overhaul with complementary parts Mark Teahen, Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, J.J. Putz.
This changes if the Twins sign Mauer.

David: The Braves trading Rafael Soriano to the Rays. He had an ERA under 3, had 27 saves and only gave up 1 run in his last 8 games of the season. Oh, did I mention he was second among relievers in strikeouts?

Michael: I think Carl Pavano signing with the Twins is the worst move of the off season. The Twins have 14 million tied up on him for a pitcher with a career 4.44 ERA and a histoy of injury problems. It seems like a big gamble on an unproven injury prone pitcher.

Rich: The Twins not coming to a contract extension agreement with Joe Mauer was a huge mistake. So now, all season long they'll have to listen to the questions if they are going to trade him, are they going to sign him etc. He is from Minnesota and wants to stay, however, the Twins are known for not wanting to spend a lot of money and Mauer wants to give them a "hometown discount" but none of the offers the Twins have made have even been fair. Mauer knows he can get PAID if he becomes a free agent (mainly by the Yankees) and if the Twins continue to disrespect him, he might just opt to try free agency. This will loom large over the Twins all season long and might result in Mauer being traded by the deadline.

Matt: The Royals offering a 2-year deal to Jason Kendall. What was the point? First, John Buck is the better catcher these days- Kendall's best games are well behind him. Second, if you do want to bring in an aging backstop who can barely knock the ball out of the infield, why go beyond one year? What was the point of that? Was there really competition that forced the organization to extend him? This is why bad teams stay bad.

For the rest, including the standings:

http://www.informativesports.com/MLB/0310/AL_Central.htm