The last 36 hours have been quite interesting when it comes to movement in the ranks of Major League Baseball’s grand picture, and it looks the National League Western Division is wasting no time to assert its dominance. Three key signing have gone down and few others are looking to poke their head through the fog in the not-too-distant future. Here’s the breakdown.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants were in need of a veteran starting pitcher to fill in the hole left by the free agency of Barry Zito and who better to fill it than his former-Oakland Athletics teammate Tim Hudson. On Monday the Giants signed Hudson to a two-year, $23 million deal which turned out to be a little bit more rewarding than the second place offer by his former ball club, the Athletics. For the last nine seasons Hudson has been the ace of the Atlanta Braves, going 113-72 with a respectable 3.56 ERA and 997 strikeouts. Even though Hudson is coming off of a season-ending right ankle fracture, he is expected to be 100 percent by the time Spring Training rolls around in February.
Hudson may prove to be one of he best signings of the offseason as long as his career numbers against the NL West hold true to form. Excluding the Giants, he is 24-8 with a 3.20 ERA with 233 strikeouts in 48 starts against the other four teams. The Giants are still looking to add one more starter to their rotation which may come in the form of Ricky Nolasco for less than four years and Bronson Arroyo who expressed interest in going to the Bay.
Colorado Rockies
The Rockies wasted no time in filling their need for a veteran closer as they signed soon-to-be 41-year-old reliever LaTroy Hawkins to a one-year $2.25 million deal with an option for the same price for 2015. Hawkins made 72 appearances for the New York Mets in 2013 which proved to be the most action he’d seen since 2004 with the Chicago Cubs when he made 77 appearances. Last season he saved 13 games, struck out 55 batters and maintained a respectable 2.93 ERA, his lowest since 2011 with the Milwaukee Brewers when he finished with a 2.42 ERA.
This will be Hawkins’ second stint in the Rocky Mountains, he last coming in 2007 as a member of the National League championship who was swept by the Boston red Sox in the World Series. It’s still up in the air whether he will be the full-time closer as 25-year-old Rex Brothers closed out 19 games with a 1.74 in the absence of longtime veteran Rafael Betancourt. With Hawkins being a righty and Brothers a lefty, it would give manager Walt Weiss the option of playing the percentages in order to give his team the best chance of winning.
San Diego Padres
On Tuesday night around 10:30 PM EST the Padres came to an agreement with free agent pitcher Josh Johnson on a one-year deal worth $8 million with an additional clause which could earn him an additional $1.25 million if he makes at least 26 starts. Johnson, who made $13.75 million after a miserable 2013 campaign with the Toronto Blue Jays, was not expected to get a long term deal, nor anything that topped $10 million. There is very little pressure being put on Johnson and was merely signed as an additional aid to Andrew Cashner, Ian Kennedy and Eric Stults.
Johnson went 2-8 with a 6.20 ERA in 16 starts with the Blue Jays, a far cry from his days with the Florida/Miami Marlins where he went 56-37 with a 3.15 ERA during his tenure. His move back to the NL could prove to be very thing he needs to get his career back on track and make him a sought after free agent at the end of the 2014 season. Johnson turns 30-years-old at the end of January and clearly has quite a few years left in the tank.
Los Angeles Dodgers
One rumor that has become nothing but that is the possibility of free agent Robinson Cano heading to Chavez Ravine in 2014.
The Dodgers clearly have the money to afford close to his 10-year $300 million asking price, but after signing Cuban second baseman Alexander Guerrero to a four-year $28 million recently. Nonetheless, the Dodgers have done crazier things in the past.
It’s also apparent that the Dodgers are looking to move at least one of the highly-valued outfielders: Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier or Carl Crawford.
So far the one who is receiving the most buzz is Kemp as talks involving a possible swap with the Texas Rangers and Elvis Andrus are shaky at best. A move of either one of the three could afford the Dodgers to free up some payroll in order to appease Yasiel Puig and Clayton Kershaw.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Only rumors seem to be circling around the Diamondbacks camp for now, but expect a deal of sorts to be made within the next week between two potential options. The first comes in the outfield in the form of a trade as the team has expressed interest in former-Giants and now Cubs outfielder Nate Schierholtz. Schierholtz had an explosive 2013 in Chicago, batting .251 with a career-high 21 home runs and 68 RBI in 137 games. The Diamondbacks are looking for an outfielder with a solid glove and a lot of pop to hopefully compliment Gerardo Parra and either Adam Eaton, A.J. Pollack or Cody Ross in the other spot.
On the pitching end it appears the team signed on Australian veteran Ryan Rowland-Smith to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Rowland-Smith hasn’t seen any action in the Majors since his 1-10 2010 campaign with the Seattle Mariners, but he did have an incredible 2013 in AAA with the Red Sox affiliate Pawtucket Red Sox where he went 7-0 with a 1.55 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings in 37 games.