Holy Crap Prince Fielder Got a Nine-Year Deal from the Detroit Tigers

First and foremost, we are not happy to be back in Minnesota after a long vacation in Florida. It's disgusting here. But we missed you.

Second, we'd like to ponder why on earth the Detroit Tigers would give a fatass like Prince Fielder a nine-year deal worth $214 million. Just kidding... kind of.

The Tigers agreed to sign the free agent first baseman on Tuesday out of nowhere, adding some more pop to the middle of their lineup with the already hard-hitting Miguel Cabrera in there. This, just days after announcing designated hitter Victor Martinez would miss a bunch of the 2012 season with an ACL tear he endured during offseason conditioning.

Fielder, who batted .282 with 230 home runs and 656 RBI over seven seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, now owns just the fourth $200+ million deal in baseball history with his $23.78 million a season beaten only by Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, and Albert Pujols, among active players.

While several teams, such as the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals, had thrown their hats into the Fielder bidding ring this winter, Detroit was no where to be found. General Manager Dave Dombrowski and owner Mike Ilitch even denied having any interest in signing him whatsoever. Liars. But having Prince in the lineup makes them even more of a favorite to repeat the AL Central title this season and possibly win their first World Series since 1984. They made a run at it last season after winning their division by 15 games, but ended up losing to the Rangers in the ALDS.

This move also keeps the Fielder name in the Tigers organization, which is pretty neat. His father, Cecil, nailed 51 longballs with Detroit back in 1990 after playing 15 years of Japanese ball. Senior played with the Tigers into the 1996 season while his young son hit bombs during batting practice. More importantly, Fielder finally leaving the National League to become the DH he was always meant to be.

[Detroit Free Press]

Scary Fernando Rodney Bullies Tampa Bay Rays into Giving Him a One-Year Deal

It's no secret that Fernando Rodney scares the crap out of us. In fact, we're pretty sure that he frightened the Tampa Bay Rays into giving him a one-year contract worth $2 million on Wednesday. The deal even has a club option for 2013. Hot Stove in Tampa Bay!

Let's be serious here for a minute. The right-hander's 4.50 ERA with the Los Angeles Angels last season doesn't exactly scream, "show me the money."

Rodney, who turns 35 in March, has seen his value sink drastically over the past two seasons. After signing a two-year, $11 million deal with the Halos back in 2009 as a free agent, he went on to provide the team with just 17 saves in 28 chances and compile a 7-8 record. He is a career 22-38 with a nice bloated 4.29 ERA over parts of nine seasons with the Angels and Detroit Tigers and has notched 87 saves in the past decade. What an athlete.

At least he can look forward to competing with Kyle Farnsworth in Tampa for the closer's job, which should be no competition at all. Because if Farny gets a job before you do, you have absolutely no business in the big leagues, pal.

[ESPN]

Oakland Athletics Fans Get to Marvel at Coco Crisp's Afro for Another Two Seasons

Contrary to the popular belief that Coco Crisp was not planning on roaming the outfield for the Oakland Athletics next season, the club has brought him back for another two years after he decided he's rather play on the West coast 81 games a year rather than on a peninsula with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Of course, this business is top secret right now since the team has yet to divulge this information to the public. However, a source familiar with the club, who is speaking on condition of anonymity, says the deal is worth roughly $14 million and there is also a club option for 2014. The official announcement should come some time on Thursday after he passes his physical.

Chicago White Sox Trade Carlos Quentin to San Diego Padres

Sometimes when players are traded, they get all upset about where they end up and who they'll miss. In Carlos Quentin's case, he's pretty excited.

The Chicago White Sox traded the All-Star outfielder to his hometown San Diego Padres this weekend, and when he got the call he was conveniently already in town.

This is also good news for the Padres, who sucked it up in the National League West last season. They finished worst in their division at 71-91, 23 games behind his former team, the NL West-winning Arizona Diamondbacks. Padres general manager Josh Byrnes, who traded Quentin from Arizona to Chicago four years ago, is happy to have him back:

"Trading him is pretty high on my list of regrets. That group in Arizona had a lot of talent. Carlos always stood out for his intensity and his style of play. Having a chance to get him back became very appealing here this offseason."

Quentin, who batted .254 with 24 home runs and 77 RBI last season while playing right field for the White Sox, is expected to start out in left for San Diego in 2012. He's also expected to do wonders for the Padres' collective offense, since he's nailed 20 homers in each of the last four seasons, including 36 in 2008.

The White Sox acquired two minor league pitchers in the deal: right-hander Simon Castro and left-hander Pedro Hernandez.

[Associated Press]

The New York Mets are Not Impressed with R. A. Dickey's Adventurous Offseason Plans

Most of the time, when people have enough moxie to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, they are commended for their bravery and ambition. However, when these people are major league ballplayers expected to stay healthy at least until Spring Training, it is considered a no-no.

The New York Mets and general manager Sandy Alderson were troubled by the news of one of their relievers having the audacity to go mountain climbing in the offseason. Although they failed to advise against it in Dickey's contract, apparently they assumed he would just know better. Obviously they were mistaken. Although Alderson sent Dickey a letter in an attempt to dissuade him from the ascent, it seems the right-hander doesn't much give a crap.

Dickey, along with Colorado Rockies pitcher Kevin Slowey, has chosen this intense activity for a charitable cause, benefiting the Bombay Teen Challenge, which fights sex trafficking in India. Here's a snippet from his blog post in the New York Times:

The time for second-guessing is over. The research has been done, the miles have been hiked, the lungs have been taxed and the equipment has been gathered. In five days, I will travel via Detroit to Amsterdam, finally arriving at Kilimanjaro’s airport after a journey of 18 hours 25 minutes, and 8,674 miles. Needless to say, if you have a hard time with planes, you might want to scoot this one down your list of things to do a bit...

John Danks Gets $65 Million, Five-Year Extension from Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox agreed to give John Danks a five-year contract extension worth $65 million on Thursday, keeping the starting pitcher on the South Side until 2016.

The 26-year-old lefty, who more or less sucked last season, went 8-12 with a 4.33 ERA in 2011. Obviously, this prompted general manager Ken Williams to give him an immediate $2 million raise for $8 million next season and then $14.25 million in each of the final four years of the deal. Perhaps he's crossing his fingers that Danks will return to his 2010 form, back when he won 15 games for the club.

Never mind his career 4.03 ERA... his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3:1.

Then again, maybe the organization felt it was time to start panicking after losing their ace, Mark Buehrle to the Miami Marlins via free agency during the winter meetings. After all, Danks would have become a free agent after next season and for goodness sake, they wouldn't want that.

I mean, just look how excited he is.

[ESPN Chicago]


Speaking of the White Sox, this little fan must have been on Santa's naughty list.

Mark DeRosa Still Plays Baseball, Signs with Washington Nationals for One Year

In the midst of rebuilding with several attempts to finally become contenders in the National League East, the Washington Nationals have signed Mark DeRosa out of free agency. This isn't quite as big of news as the Gio Gonzalez trade, but we thought at least Mark deserved some credit for persuading a team to pay him to play for them.

The 36-year-old utility player spent last season with the San Francisco Giants batting .279 in 86 at bats. Not a lot of action there at all after having surgery on two separate occasions in last two years for recurring problems with his left wrist. Considering players use their wrists all the time to do all sorts of things... like hit, catch, throw, and high five, this is never good.

Oakland Athletics Trade Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney to Boston... Wait, What?

Has Billy Beane completely lost his mind, or is he using his "money ball" magic to rebuild the Oakland Athletics and improve on their future?

The team traded closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday for outfielder Josh Reddick (who looks like he's about 12) and two other prospects. This is excellent news for Boston, who was in desperate need of a pitcher to work the ninth inning since the departure of Jonathan Papelbon, who joined to the Philadelphia Phillies for four years, $50 million back in November.

Bailey, the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year, went 0-4 with a 3.24 ERA and 24 saves over 41.2 innings last year. He landed on the disabled list for the second straight season with a strained right forearm and didn't end up making an appearance until May 29, but managed to stay healthy after that.

Sweeney, who will turn 27 this February, hit .265 with 25 RBI and one home run in 108 games for Oakland last season. What an athlete.

In addition to Bailey, the A's have also gotten rid of Trevor Cahill and reliever Craig Breslow, who were traded away to the Arizona Diamondbacks early in December, just eight months after Oakland handed Cahill a five-year, $30.5 million contract. Let's also not forget about lefty Gio Gonzalez, who was sent to the Washington Nationals last Thursday.

Gio Gonzalez Deal Complete, Washington Nationals Looking Better All the Time

The Nationals are not messing around anymore. Finalizing the deal that began as just another rumor back in November, the Oakland Athletics have officially sent Gio Gonzalez to Washington in a six-player trade.

The 26-year-old lefty will join an already promising rotation and pitch between talented young right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg, both of whom recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery and still throw mad heat. Heat like Gonzalez, whose fastball is regularly clocked at 92-95 mph when he's not attempting to perfect his 10-4 curve and changeup.

Gonzalez went 16-12 last season seeing a career high in victories with a 3.12 ERA over 32 starts. He was also selected to his very first All-Star game, so there's that. He'll be a nice addition to a team that has made some major improvements since finishing dead last in the National League East three consecutive seasons from 2008-10. Last year they managed to finish third with an 80-81 record. Maybe they'll win their division some day and make the playoffs!

While the Nationals also received minor league pitcher Robert Gilliam, Oakland landed four players in the deal: catcher Derek Norris, right-handers A.J. Cole and Brad Peacock, and left-hander Tommy Milone.

[Washington Post]

Yorvit Torrealba Shoves Face Mask of Umpire in Venezuela, Suspended 66 Games

Every player knows you can never win an argument over balls and strikes with an umpire. It just doesn't happen. Every player also knows you cannot, under any circumstances, whether intentional or not, touch an umpire. Not only can you not touch an ump, it's certainly not okay to bitch slap one right across the face.

Apparently Yorvit Torrealba didn't get that memo.

Prince Fielder Still a Homeless Free Agent, Where Will He Play in 2012 and Beyond?

It's a little odd that Prince Fielder is still out there on the free agent market. We thought for sure he'd be signed some time during the winter meetings, either before or after the Albert Pujols hoopla. When that didn't happen, we figured he was just being choosy.

A few different teams have been named in the rumor mill, which is full of speculation and lies. We love it.

The Texas Rangers, who clearly have the money to spend after flaunting $51.7 million for rights to negotiates with Yu Darvish and his Nippon Ham Fighters, might be a good fit for the free agent first baseman. First off, The Ballpark in Arlington is a hitter's paradise and Fielder has a huge baseball bat. Second, Mitch Moreland is not Prince Fielder.

Texas Rangers Win Yu Darvish Sweepstakes for a Ridiculous $51.7 Million

Remember the Daisuke Matsuzaka hype back in 2006 when everyone thought he invented some new pitch called the "gyroball" that defied space and time? Remember when the Boston Red Sox boasted the highest negotiation bid at $51 million, ended up signing him, and he wound up just being a normal Japanese guy who wasn't any better than John Lackey?

Yeah, so you can understand our skepticism when it comes to Yu Darvish, the newest pitching sensation to possibly hit Major League Baseball. We're not saying he's no better than John Lackey -- that would make the team who literally paid millions of dollars to simply talk with him pretty stupid -- we're just saying we hope he's worth it.

New York Mets Finalize Two-Year Deal with Frank Francisco

Frank Francisco has agreed to a two-year contract worth roughly $12 million with the New York Mets, who clearly think he's worth more than the $4 million he made last season with the Toronto Blue Jays. Silly Mets.

The right-handed reliever went 1-4 with 17 saves and a 3.55 ERA as the Blue Jays closer last season, his seventh in the big leagues. He had one of his better seasons with the Texas Rangers back in 2009 when he saved 25 games, but his ERA has improved the last two years.

Francisco, a 32-year-old strikeout machine, has appeared in at least 50 games in each of the last five seasons. He has 302 strikeouts since '07, which ranked in the top five among American League relievers. After the All-Star break, he was 7-for-7 in save opportunities for Toronto with a 1.37 ERA, a roll the Mets are hoping continues into next season.

He may be most remembered for an incident in 2004 when an altercation broke out in the stands of Oakland Coliseum during a game between the Rangers and Athletics. Francisco launched a chair, which happened to hit a woman right in the face and break her nose. He was arrested of course. Oddly enough, then-Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers was also involved in the incident. Ah, those were the days.

[MLB]

Jason Kubel Joins Arizona Diamondbacks for Two Years, $15 Million

Jason Kubel has left Target Field for Chase Field, signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday for two years, $15 million. This is a nice little raise for Kubes, who made just $5.25 million last season with the Minnesota Twins.

The hard-hitting outfielder, who will now play alongside center fielder Chris Young and right fielder Justin Upton, has spent all seven of his big league seasons in Minnesota. He batted .273 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI in 99 games last year as an outfielder and designated hitter, but was limited by left foot sprain, just one of many long trips to the disabled list over his career. Regardless of his being rather injury prone, he was still a fan favorite in Minnesota.

Kubel, a career .271 hitter who will turn 30 next month, should fair well in Arizona's hitter-friendly ballpark and add some depth to their outfield rotation. Especially when he's healthy. He's expected to be the Diamondbacks' everyday left fielder, effectively replacing Gerardo Parra, while also doing some work at the infield corners.

While Parra is much better defensively -- actually he's rather outstanding and won a Gold Glove at the position last season -- I guess Kubel's left-handed bat might have a little more pop in the long run. Again, when he's healthy.

[ESPN]

Jimmy Rollins Stays with Philadelphia Phillies for Three Years, $33 Million

Jimmy Rollins isn't going anywhere Philadelphia Phillies fans, so you can pipe down now.

The animated shortstop has agreed to stick around for another three seasons to the tune of $33 million in a deal that includes a vesting option for a fourth year. Of course, the contract completion depends on a physical, which I'm sure Rollins will pass with flying colors.

The three-time All-Star and 2007 National League MVP, who became a free agent for the first time ever this offseason, has spent his entire 12-year career in Philadelphia ever since being selected in the second round of the 1996 amateur draft. Old school.

J-Roll, 33, has been one of the fan favorites for many years. When he's not turning double plays and batting .268, he can be found at a variety of charity events for the Jimmy Rollins Family Foundation which raises money to support young adults living with arthritis while also advocating the prevention of child abuse by providing a portion of charitable donations to Prevent Child Abuse.

When he's not being generous and awesome, he's hanging out with teammate Ryan Howard doing all kinds of weird stuff...

Barry Bonds Gets a Slap on the Wrist, Manages to Avoid Jail Time

The Barry Bonds fiasco is finally over... at least for now.

Upon his conviction for giving "misleading testimony" (a.k.a. lying his ass off) before a grand jury investigating steroid use in sports, the Home Run King was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest, two years probation, a $4,000 fine, and 250 hours of community service on Friday. The federal judge cited his many charitable donations as part of the reason actual jail time seemed irrational.

Michael Cuddyer's Dimples Joins Colorado Rockies for 3 Years, $30 Million

A day after the Minnesota Twins signed free agent outfielder Josh Willingham to a three-year deal, Michael Cuddyer has made his decision. He's leaving Minnesota after 15 years in the organization to play for the Colorado Rockies.

The two sides agreed to a three-year, $31.5 million contract Friday, bringing a veteran bat to the lineup and a cannon of an arm to the outfield. Seriously, no one runs on Michael Cuddyer, and if they do, they are sorely mistaken. And out. A first time All-Star in 2011, the right fielder hit .284 with 20 home runs and 70 RBI last season, and had a .988 fielding percentage.

Josh Willingham Passes Physical, Joins Minnesota Twins for 3 Years, $21 Million

The Minnesota Twins have finalized their contract with free agent Josh Willingham, signing him to a three-year, $21 million deal on Thursday.

This plugs a nice gaping hole in the Twins outfield since they made the unbelievably brilliant move of trading Delmon Young to the Detroit Tigers last season. Furthermore, Michael Cuddyer can't make up his mind on whether to stay or go, so the team decided to take action.

Man, he looks serious in that photo. It's nice to see Willingham preparing himself for another sub-.500 season with another craptastic ball club.

The 32-year-old outfielder is expected to add some power to the middle of the lineup after batting .246 with a career-high 29 homers and 98 RBI for the Oakland Athletics last season. Ah, contract years.

Willingham is more or less the exact same player as Cuddyer, who the Twins can pretty much kiss goodbye after this signing... This is a shame for Twins fans and mildly exciting for whichever team's faithful get to cheer on his dimples next season. Adorable.

Also, Josh Willingham is damn sexy, so there's that.

[ESPN]

Aramis Ramirez Finalizes $36 Million Contract with Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers finalized their three-year, $36 million deal with Aramis Ramirez on Wednesday, giving their lineup some much-needed pop for the next few seasons. The contract also includes a mutual option for a fourth year, just in case Ramirez isn't actually in the twilight of his career as we suspect.

The 33-year-old third baseman spent the last eight seasons with the Chicago Cubs, his brand new division rival and mortal enemy. However, don't expect him to take out a full-page ad in the Tribune or Sun-Times, or for any Cubbies faithful to be seen burning his jersey on Youtube... he wasn't exactly a deity.

Ramirez was a big contributor to any wins the Cubs did have though, batting .306 with 26 home runs and 93 RBI in 2011. His power at the plate is a welcome sight for Milwaukee, considering the loss of big bats Prince Fielder to free agency (and possibly to the Cubs) and Ryan Braun to an imminent 50-game suspension for suspected cheating. We'll keep you posted on whether or not he wins his appeal, which by the way, will never happen.

This seems like some kind of white flag by the Brewers, since their interest in Ramirez didn't peak (at least not publicly) until the whole Ryan Braun fiasco went down. The veteran might not exactly be a last resort, but he certainly wasn't in the middle of their radar up until last weekend. Is this a signing born in desperation, or will the Brew Crew be happy with their new hot corner?

[ National Post]

Philadelphia Phillies Boggle Our Minds, Sign Dontrelle Willis to One-Year Deal

Monday's signing of Dontrelle Willis by the Philadelphia Phillies for one year, $1 million is a bit surprising. In fact, we don't see the point in it whatsoever.

The 30-year-old lefty went 1-6 with a nice, round 5.00 ERA last season with the Cincinnati Reds, who saw just about enough of that. I mean, really. Willis is going to round out their pitching staff? It's like they're just making it rain to show off at this point.

Apparently he is expected to pitch out of the bullpen for the Phillies, which should be interesting considering he's enjoyed just three relief appearances in nine career seasons. It's not 2005 anymore guys. So not only is Willis happy to be signing with a contender of all things, he's more than likely thrilled to be pitching at all.

[ESPN]