I guess we could look at this as an off-season trades of Hafner and Sizemore for Bourne and Swisher. Bingo. The amount of dollars we had tied up in unproductive players last year boggled the mind. There's no question that the Swisher and Bourn deals represent some long-term risk with respect to the...

Yeah, this has been their most active offseason in a long time. Bourn and Swisher are the two biggest signees (in monetary terms) they've ever had. You probably have to go back to the offseason we picked up Dennis Martinez and Eddie Murray to compare to this one. Only problem is that we still need m...

Perfect storm. Cleveland has to overpay to get FAs, and Swisher was happy to receive that. Yet, with Swisher's roots both geographically and with Francona, coming to Cleveland wasn't necessarily the negative most players would see it as. I've written about the track record of players moving from bi...

Wow. Terrible. Former big leaguer Freel dead at 36 CINCINNATI -- Former Reds utility player Ryan Freel was found dead in his home of an apparent suicide on Saturday, the Jacksonville, Fla., sheriffs office told the Florida Times-Union. Freel, 36, was discovered dead on Saturday in Jacksonville with ...

I'd platoon LaPorta and McGuiness at DH and keep Federoff as my 4th OF. Gomes beats out Marson as the backup Catcher. Offense in 2013 is going to be a lot better. Bauer, McAlister and a healthy Carrasco will be a much improved back end of the rotation. The pen is outstanding. Bottom line, it comes ...

The more I read about Bauer, the more I think of Brandon Phillips......Big time talent....won't listen to anybody but his own pitching gurus. Let's see if Francona and Callaway do better than Wedge. Best-case scenario here is that the D-Backs frustration with Bauer spurred them into doing something...

Oh, I missed the part about the Reds planning to use Choo in center field. THAT'S going to be interesting for them.

I don't know if Stubbs will amount to much--I'm slightly familiar with him from the days when I watched more Reds baseball, and I could scarcely believe he was as bad last year as he was---but if Bauer lives up to anything close to his billing, this will go down as an excellent trade. Of course, the...

I think Rondon will make the Cubs. He has AAA experience and the Cubs are rebuilding and can afford to keep a Rule 5 arm in the bullpen. I am sure the Indians would accept him back if offered. 50/50 that Orioles will keep McFarland. They are planning to compete so won't keep someone that doesn't pr...

Indians have to go over the fiscal cliff to sign anyone that will make a difference. Time to step up and make a statement that you've not an irrelevent joke the rest of baseball thinks you are.. You have to be a joke to offer Victorino that kind of money. That wouldn't be my choice either, but when...

It's not known if the sale will help improve the state of the struggling Indians by giving the front office more money to pursue big-ticket free agents or trade for high-priced talent this winter. My guess is "no." I'm going to throw a name out there as a potential signee: former Columbus...

Marlins management to the fans who built them a brand-new stadium and got yet another fire sale as a reward: Sorry, suckers!

Not entirely sure why Scott seems to want to play Walton ahead of Jon Leuer. Consensus seems to be that Walton literally can't do anything anymore. Leuer is overmatched physically against most power forwards, but less so than Walton; plus Leuer can at least make an open 20-footer once in a while.

For the Bucks game, the plus/minus figures for the Cavs starters (worst was Gee +11) vs. the Cavs bench (best was Sloan at -14) were about as stark as you'll ever see.

It also seems to me that as reluctant as this management team is to trade anyone of seemingly any value, they let Rogers go relatively easily. A change in thinking, or perhaps there is something else about Rogers that we do not know. I think it's mostly just that unless he develops into a closer or...