Huston Street Signs with the Rockies

The Colorado Rockies have signed right-handed reliever Huston Street to a one-year, $4.5 million contract to avoid arbitration.

Street was acquired by the Rockies in November in the deal that sent Matt Holliday to Oakland. Street is expected to compete with Manny Corpas for the closer's job in spring training. Sure that is the word on the street, wow bad pun, but no way he loses that one. I expect Street to have a great year this year, finally becoming the consistent closer that he was drafted out of UT to be.

I think he is a great lower round closer to take with an incredibly high ceiling. Street is a sinker baller, and those have historically done very well closing. in Colorado. He is one of my favorite late round closers this year.

Andruw Jones a Free Agent

Andruw Jones was finally released on Thursday, ending a 36 million dollar mistake by the Dodgers. No doubt someone will pick him up, one bad year won't end his career. I think a lot of teams would be willing to take the risk. He has a great glove, as evidence of 10 consecutive gold gloves. Not to mention, he was the 6th fastest ever to 300 home runs, tied with Mel Ott and Hank Aaron, pretty good company I would say. I would love my beloved Rangers to take a shot, rumor has it they have a pretty good hitting ballpark down there.

Braves Pitching Moves

Well the Braves solidified that rotation plenty today, signing both Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami. Lowe's deal was 4 years 60 million dollars and Kawakamis deal was not released. This significantly strengthens their rotation.

Despite the signings the braves made, their rotation is still aging, with 3 starters over 33. The other 2 were rookies last year, Jurrjens and Campillo. I expect this rotation to struggle over the year.

Braves contact Kawakami

Japanese all-star pitcher Kenshin Kawakami was in Atlanta on Monday for a physical needed to finalize an agreement with the Braves. This physical is the final barrier to him signing with the Braves. The 33-year-old was 9-5 for the Chunichi Dragons last year, when he missed several weeks because of a back strain.

The Braves badly need some starting pitching after failing to sign Sabathia, Burnett, or any of the major free agent pitchers and after they lost John Smoltz and Mike Hampton. Tim Hudson might miss the entire season with a ligament injury in his arm.

As of now the Braves rotation looks as follows:
1) Javier Vazquez
2) Jair Jurrjens
3) Jorge Campillo
4) JoJo Reyes
5) Charlie Morton

Jurrjens was a great rookie last year and Vazquez is a solid pitcher, but after that those pitchers are not good enough to allow the Braves to compete. As a side note, I love Vazquez. He has always been a better NL pitcher, citing his days back w/ the Expos. Look for him to be a low risk high reward pick late in drafts.

Bye Bye Michael Young?

The Texas Rangers are looking for suitors to take Michael Young after Young requested that he be traded when the Rangers asked him to move to third base. The move would be done to make room for Elvis Andrus, 20 year old super prospect that the Rangers received for Mark Teixeira.

Young is a great fielder but lacks the range of the better shortstops. The move would probably make him a better fielder and keep his bat in the lineup. The move makes sense to me, if Andrus is ready for the bigs. The Rangers have a history of rushing their minor leaguers.

Young is 32 years old and is signed for the next 5 years by the Rangers. Expect Young to be back to normal after being injury plagued for a lot of last year.

2009 Rookies to Keep Your Eye On

Every year there is a rookie or 2 who takes the major leagues by storm. Last year we had Evan Longoria, the year before that Ryan Braun and Dustin Pedroia. Well the question for all fantasy baseballers is who is going to take over in 2009?

The Devil Rays know how a rookie can impact a team as evidence by Longoria's leading them to the AL Pennant. Well we also saw the electric stuff of the #1 overall pick David Price in the post season. The Rays traded away their 5th starter Edwin Jackson to facilitate a move to the rotation for Price. While he does have electric stuff, beware, everyone will be high on him so don't draft him too highly. In keeper leagues, he is going to be an elite pitcher for years to come (12-1 as a starter in the minors last year).

The hottest player in the minor leagues last year was Baltimore Orioles Catcher Matt Wieters. The 22 year old is unknown to the average fan now, but the Orioles know how much of an impact he can have, as they traded away Ramon Hernandez to open up a starting spot for Wieters. Look at this stat line last year in the minors (27 HRs, 91 RBIs, .355 AVG). Nuff said.

The Cleveland Indians have been looking for a power hitting corner outfielder for awhile now, trying out guys like Jason Michaels, Franklin Gutierrez, Shin Soo Choo, etc. Well in the CC Sabathia trade they knew that they got their answer, Matt LaPorta. This guy can mash. Look for immediate power, but expect his average to be low as he adjusts to big league pitching.

The main player that the Marlins received for Miguel Cabrera was center fielder and burner Cameron Maybin. In 8 games for the Marlins last year at the end of the year he hit .500 and had 4 stolen bases. I expect him to be this years Jacoby Ellsbury, decent average, a ton of SBs, and a lil power.

Look for some more later, but I will throw out a few more names just to tease you, Mat Gamel, Scott Elbert, Colby Rasmus.

Pedro to the Marlins?

Pedro Martinez and the Marlins are negotiating a contract and could meet next week to finalize a deal. Pedro, now 37 years old, has won three Cy Young awards and has a career record of 214-99, with a 2.91 ERA and 3,117 strikeouts in 17 seasons with Los Angeles, Montreal, Boston and the Mets.

However, Martinez struggled last season to a 5-6 record with a 5.61 ERA with the Mets, after battling injuries and dealing with the death of his father. He has been 17-15 in the last three seasons.

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