MLB Offseason/Hot Stove Thread

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Two significant moves were made within the past few days by teams that either are contenders or hope to make their way into contention this season. They were...

Carlos Beltran agrees to a 2 year/26 million deal with the Cardinals. While Beltran clearly can't fill in the void that Pujols left, he helped soften the blow by agreeing to a deal with the defending champs. He had a pretty nice season last year splitting time with the Mets and Giants and this allows Lance Berkman to move into the infield, which settles their 1st baseman void for a year or two. Not a permanent fixture, but for 2 years until some of their prospects are more mature its a good deal.

And the one I really like, Washington acquires Gio Gonzalez for 4 prospects. The A's are in clear rebuild mode, with Trevor Cahill being dealt earlier in the month to the Diamondbacks for a few prospects as well. The Nationals are the side of the deal I like here. Gonzalez is a nice lefthanded complement to their two young studs right now, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman. He'll be placed inbetween them two and the Nationals are very quietly a quality CF away from being a playoff threat (Yoenis Cespedes, perhaps). He walks guys a tad too much but gets away with it due to his strikeout and groundball rate. He was an All-Star last year and the Nationals are now forming a sneaky good rotation with Strasburg, Gonzalez, Zimmerman, and John Lannan. Those guys are all young and in control. Once that 2nd WC spot comes available after next season, watch out for these guys.

 

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Just saw some bad news for us Tiger fans...

Victor Martinez played a huge role in helping carry the Detroit Tigers to a division title and into the American League Championship Series during the 2011 season.

His status for the 2012 season is now up in the air.

The Tigers announced Tuesday afternoon that Martinez tore the ACL in his left knee last week during offseason conditioning. An MRI at the Watson Clinic in Lakeland, Fla., revealed the torn ACL.

Martinez will have the knee reevaluated next week, but the Tigers said surgery to repair the torn ACL "is anticipated." If surgery is required, Martinez would likely be lost for the entire 2012 season.

Martinez hit .330 with 40 doubles, 12 home runs and 103 RBIs in 145 games for the Tigers last season.

This, my friends, could be a season changing blow for the reigning AL Champs. V-Mart provided great protection for Cabrera and was one of their reliable run producers. With him out, not only does that leave a hole at the #5 spot, but we lose a year where Martinez put up his best WAR number since 2007.

Now while Martinez's absence will be sorely missed, the Tigers can survive this blow, but will now (more then likely) have to make a move before spring training start. First choice:

Sign Yoenis Cespedes to play right or left field, move Delmon Young to DH. I personally like this move the most, due to the fact that Delmon is horrible in the field anyways, and now they have a real reason they need Cespedes. Could that put some pressure on the kid, who right now is playing against what is thought of as Low-A competition in Cuba? Yes, but from what I've been reading about his scouting report, he has pretty good speed (not great, but enough to be a viable baserunner), and I don't know if you'll find a worse outfielder on defense then Delmon. This allows Delmon to be useful with his bat, though, which he was for the 2+ months he was on the team.

Sign Johnny Damon as DH, platoon Raburn/Kelly/Dirks in OF Damon is still on the market, and while his value in the field is pretty much worthless now (and his 1 year stint in Detroit wasn't great) he still is a pretty clutch bat and has decent wheels. He could platoon with Delmon, or have Delmon play majority at LF then have Damon DH those days; Raburn/Kelly/Dirks play when Delmon plays DH and Damon takes day off. Damon will come cheap, so if they lose out on Cespedes or aren't crazy about him they can go cheaper and use Damon to DH against righties.

Keep it internal As I said, they'd probably be best off making Delmon the full time DH. With that being said, should they not like Cespedes/get outbid for him and don't feel like going to chase someone else in free agency, they could keep Raburn/Kelly/Dirks platooning in the OF spot while Young DH's. The Tigers don't have any real capable hitting prospects that are ready for the majors (their best - Nick Castellanos - is still probably 2 years away) so they may have to use the fill in route this year.

With that being said, this injury to V-Mart will have a huge impact on the Tigers middle of the order, which was by far their rock in the offense. It'll be interesting to see what Dombrowski dials up for a solution.

 

[Davi323]

When I heard it on the radio this afternoon, my heart sunk into my chest. After Verlander and Cabrera, Martinez was probably the next best player on the roster. Losing Martinez for the season hurts like hell. Something has to be done via free agency to try to replace him.