Winter Break Transaction Analysis

December 23rd-December 28th in Baseball

Taguchi, So- OF
-Signed 1 Year Deal Near $1M with Phillies
*In all honesty i find it hard to believe that Taguchi will contribute to an offensive minded Phillies squad with any more than just his glove. There were some other decent options for a righty off the bench out in the FA pool, even oft injured Phils OF Chris Snelling was looking at some playing time. He'll likely start the year in AAA after the more defensive minded Taguchi assumes his spot. (From Cardinals)

Castillo, Jose- INF
-Signed 1 Year Deal with Marlins
*The freshly jettisoned Castillo will battle it out with other fellow Marlins youngsters to assume the 3B or 2B(if they move Uggla over) hole(s). Castillo has some potential...but hes no Luis Castillo offensively or defensively for that matter. I'd say he's worth a look. (From Pirates)

Prior, Mark- RHSP
-Signed 1 Year Deal + Incentives 11th Padres
*As a HUGE Padres fan, i initially was weary of this move. After some consideration and discovering that he is only guaranteed 1M i realized its actually a pretty bold move by Kevin Towers. If Prior falls backward and flames out horribly, then you write off the 1M as a minor investment in a former star(lets face it hes a better option than Rusch or Estes). If he doesn't flame out, but somehow prospers then the only concern you will have is if he'll be back for 2009. (From Cubs)

Hawkins, LaTroy- RHRP
-Signed 1 Year Deal 3.75M with Yankees
*This was previously reported and just now made official. (From Rockies)

Olivo, Miguel- C
-Signed 1 Year Deal with Royals
*Olivo travels to KC to assume backup duties for unpolished Travis Buck who will no doubt continue to pick up most of the AB's for the Royals. It should be noted that Olivo remains a great defender and throws out plenty of base runners. He also has pretty decent pop. (From Marlins)

Erstad, Darin- OF/1B
-Signed 1 Year Deal 1M with Astros
*Erstad will assume one of Houston's final bench spots and is a decent signing for only 1M. He doesn't excite as much anymore and he's basically a non-factor offensively, but he still brings those gold gloves he earned in both INF & OF positions. He is basically replacing Orlando Palmeiro's left handed bat. If he stays healthy he could be a tad bit better than the sub 700 OPS+ mark he posted in the superior American League. (From White Sox)

Villarreal, Oscar- RHRP
-Signed 2 Year Deal 2.85M with Astros
*Oscar gave up just BARELY under 1 hit per inning. With that many people on base its a hard sell that he'll be a huge contributor to this years Astros squad. At least he still strikes out more foes than he walks. He had a 4.24 ERA in 76.1 Innings in '07. (From Braves)

Ian

Id Like to give a special thanks to Ducksnorts Blog & Geoff Young for the inspiration to start my own Baseball/Padres blog.