This installment of baseball reactions is brought to you by one of the worst albums ever (Daphne and Celeste's "We Didn't Say That") and one of the best albums ever (Against Me!'s "Transgender Dysphoria Blues"). I find both of them to be breathtaking works of staggering genius. Tonight I will be watching the season premier of American Idol, and if I decide I hate the internet enough to follow through, I might liveblog it too.
12/12: Nationals sign OF Nate McLouth, 2 years, $10.75M. If the Nats made this deal expecting McLouth to play every day in the outfield, it would be a mistake. The Nats have World Series aspirations, after all. But as a fourth outfielder, I guess it's fine. McLouth's career path from young five-tool prodigy to waiver claim to useful outfielder has been fun to witness.
12/12: Mariners sign 2B Robinson Cano, 10 years, $240M. I'm not going to list all the ways in which this is a terrible signing, because that's been done all over the internet and I have nothing of real value to add. This signing coincided with the hatchet job quoting former Mariners officials saying GM Jack Zduriencik got the job on false pretenses and has no real qualifications. He's gotten credit for building the Brewers into a real franchise for a few years, but thus far he hasn't been able to replicate that success in Seattle and it's probably fair to ask how much of the good work was really his. Maybe Seattle has made back-to-back terrible GM hires. Or maybe there's a Rays-esque layer of talent bubbling just underneath the majors that's almost ready to join Cano. What do I know. Well, I know signing middle infielders into their 40s is pretty dumb. There's only one way this ends, and it's not with Jack Z handing Robby a gold watch on the field in October 2024.
12/12: Giants sign 1B/OF Michael Morse, 1 year, $6.5M. They say there's no such thing as a bad one year deal, so let's just call this one a push. Morse has been riding the value of his brief stretch of adequacy in Washington for 2 terrible years. The Giants won't get anything out of it, but at least it'll be over in ten months.
12/13: Mariners trade RP Carter Capps to Marlins for 1B/OF Logan Morrison. Morrison is a buy-low candidate, but it's getting doubtful that he'll ever fulfill the promise of his first season-and-a-half. Maybe he and Hart form a platoon or something, but there aren't enough at-bats to go around for everyone Jack Z has acquired. The Marlins did well to get an asset in this deal, as Capps is a young, controllable, K-happy reliever with closer upside.
12/13: Tigers sign RP Joba Chamberlain, 1 year, $2.5M. Detroit's bullpen failings were a big story in 2013, but the additions of Joe Nathan and Joba seem like sensible moves. Joba's never reached the promise he once had as an overhyped Yankees prospect, in large part due to poor control, but he still strikes guys out and the move to a big park can't hurt. Good deal for the Tigers.
12/13: Rockies sign 1B Justin Morneau, 2 years, $12.5M. And the Rockies go from one end-of-the-line former great first baseman to another. The cost isn't exorbitant, but Morneau hasn't even been a league-average first baseman since his concussion issues began. I guess it's not impossible he's a useful player for a season or two, but the Coors Field bump is largely a thing of the past. This looks like more of the same old no-plan Rockies to me.
12/14: Mets sign Bartolo Colon, 2 years, $20M. The big man's found a way to stay productive into his 40's. The wheels could come off at any time, so this is riskier than giving more money to, say, Ubaldo Jiminez or Matt Garza. But the Mets needed to fill the Matt Harvey void, and there's a chance this will work. It's difficult to put odds on it, but the new "No walks, no homers" Colon looks like a good fit at Citi Field. It's a great deal for Colon regardless. $20M guaranteed to pitch at 41 and 42? That's insane. On second thought, this is probably not going to work out for the Mets.
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