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Manny Ramirez: If you were too busy being distracted by all the Super Bowl hype last week, you might have missed when Albert Pujols made a pitch to bring Manny Ramirez to the Cardinals. While I'm not a Cardinals fan, I am definitely a fan of great players, and I would love to see Manny and Pujols batting back to back. That combination would be second only to Ruth & Gherig as far as players hitting back to back in a lineup. I dare you to think of a scarier combination than Manny & Pujols throughout the history of the game other than Ruth & Gherig. I mean, c'mon, Manny and Big Papi was scary enough, but Manny & Pujols is just a whole other level of scary. I know it was probably a real long shot to happen, but damn would I have LOVED to see it. The Cardinals would have a legit shot to win the NL Central if it did happen. Unfortunately, the Cardinals have already said they have no interest in signing Manny, but hey I can still dream right? Instead it looks like Manny might be headed back to the Dodgers on a 1 year, $25 million contract.Jon Garland: The Diamondbacks signed pitcher Jon Garland, who is coming off a year that saw him have the worst season of his career since his rookie season. Garland posted an ERA+ of just 91, which is below average and was his worst since his rookie season when he posted an ERA+ of just 78 at the age of 20. While he does eat innings, Garland is definitely a risk because he is coming off a season that saw him give up 237 hits in 196.7 innings, while posting his career low as a starter with just 90 strikeouts. Seems like hitters made more contact than ever against Garland, who has never been a strike out pitcher. Maybe he just had a down year by his standards, or maybe he's just on the down side of his career. The change to the NL should help him some though, but for the most part he will probably just be an inning eater for the Diamondbacks. The D'Backs are also close to a deal with reliever Tom Gordon.
Chicago Cubs: After trading Felix Pie to Baltimore for pitcher Garrett Olson, the Cubs went and flipped Garret Olson & Ronny Cedeno to Seattle for pitcher Aaron Heilman. Heilman was just 3-8 with a 5.21 ERA out of the pen last season for the Mets, but he will compete with Sean Marshall for the 5th spot in the rotation. Whoever doesn't win the 5th spot will probably be the Cubs long man out of the pen. The Cubs also sent left handed pitcher Rich Hill to the Orioles, who spent most of last season in the minors after a solid 2007 campaign. So lots of wheeling 'n dealing for the Cubs, but still no Jake Peavy trade. The Cubs also made another minor trade with the A's sending reliever Michael Wuertz to Oakland in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers. Wuertz was 1-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 45 relief appearances last season for the Cubs.
Other MLB News:
- The Mets re-signed pitcher Oliver Perez to a 3 year, $36 million deal. Not a bad contract for Perez, who still managed to get $12 a year in an offseason that has seen some players forced to take a lot less money than they had hoped for. Perez was 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA in 194 innings last season for the Mets. Perez has a ton of talent, but has been inconsistent throughout his career and he struggled last season with a career high 105 walks. If he got those walks down, he would most likely be a much better pitcher.
- The Red Sox finally signed Jason Varitek and it's about god damn time. I don't know what these two sides were waiting for, since they are clearly meant for each other. I don't know any other team that would have taken Varitek as a starter.
- The Texas Rangers re-signed Marlon Byrd, who will split CF duties with Nelson Cruz. This move will also officially make Josh Hamilton the full time RF. Byrd had a slow start to his career, but has been excellent the past two seasons for the Rangers:
2007: .307/10 HR/70 RBI/.355 OBP/.459 SLG/113 OPS+.
2008: .298/10 HR/53 RBI/.380 OBP/.462 SLG/123 OPS+.
- The Giants signed Juan Uribe to a minor league deal and if they don't sign Joe Crede, then Uribe might have a chance to play some 3B for the Giants.
- If things went the way a couple of scouts wanted it to then Steelers Super Bowl winning safety, Troy Polamalu, would be playing CF for the Braves right now. Turns out they scouted him pretty heavily back in high school.
- The Mets re-signed pitcher Oliver Perez to a 3 year, $36 million deal. Not a bad contract for Perez, who still managed to get $12 a year in an offseason that has seen some players forced to take a lot less money than they had hoped for. Perez was 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA in 194 innings last season for the Mets. Perez has a ton of talent, but has been inconsistent throughout his career and he struggled last season with a career high 105 walks. If he got those walks down, he would most likely be a much better pitcher.
- The Red Sox finally signed Jason Varitek and it's about god damn time. I don't know what these two sides were waiting for, since they are clearly meant for each other. I don't know any other team that would have taken Varitek as a starter.
- The Texas Rangers re-signed Marlon Byrd, who will split CF duties with Nelson Cruz. This move will also officially make Josh Hamilton the full time RF. Byrd had a slow start to his career, but has been excellent the past two seasons for the Rangers:
2007: .307/10 HR/70 RBI/.355 OBP/.459 SLG/113 OPS+.
2008: .298/10 HR/53 RBI/.380 OBP/.462 SLG/123 OPS+.
- The Giants signed Juan Uribe to a minor league deal and if they don't sign Joe Crede, then Uribe might have a chance to play some 3B for the Giants.
- If things went the way a couple of scouts wanted it to then Steelers Super Bowl winning safety, Troy Polamalu, would be playing CF for the Braves right now. Turns out they scouted him pretty heavily back in high school.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
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