The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired third baseman Casey McGehee from the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade for reliever Jose Veras on Monday night. The move came hours after the Brewers agreed to terms with free-agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez. McGehee had a strong rookie season in 2009 and a big year in 2010 but slumped at the plate in 2011 and lost his starting job to Jerry Hairston Jr. late in the season. The 29-year-old McGehee batted .223 with 13 homers and 67 RBIs for the NL Central champions, a year after hitting .285 with 23 home runs and 104 RBIs. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7347045/pittsburgh-pirates-acquire-casey-mcgehee-milwaukee-brewers-jose-veras
According to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, the Red Sox have reached a one-year, $1.35 miilion deal with Kelly Shoppach. The contract will be officially announced on Tuesday afternoon, after Shoppach undergoes the customary pre-signing physical. He batted just .185/.285/.340 in 253 total plate appearances this past season for the Rays, but the 31-year-old is typically productive against left-handed pitchers and should fit snugly behind the switch-hitting Jarrod Saltalamacchia in Boston. http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/346831/baseball-headlines?r=1
My assessment of Yu Darvish was based on what I saw last season (2010). My big concerns were that he seemed to go to his vertical slider (which is really more like a power curve) quite a bit, and my perception was that he was leaving a lot of them hanging over the middle of the plate. NPB hitters seemed to foul those pitches back a lot of the time, and he wouldn’t get away with those types against MLB hitters. Also last year, he showed a lot of 90-92 mph fastballs, and would top out around 95. This season he was a lot better. The most obvious difference was his fastball velocity, which was more consistently around 94 and touched 97 on his best days. His cutter seemed to take a step forward this year, giving him three pitches above 90 mph with movement (2-seamer, 4-seamer, cutter). I think the velocity gains are real, as he added 10 kg of strength to his frame last offseason. I didn’t really see the same mistakes with his slider this year, he actually looked like he was using all his stuff effectively. There would be times when decent hitters would start to catch up and foul off his harder stuff, and he’d come right back with a slow curve or softer slider, and the hitter would be helpless. So he looked better overall this year, and my concerns about his mistake pitches and velocity are mostly gone. He’ll certainly still make the odd mistake, as he’s not a robot, but I’m more optimistic about him than I have been of anyone in the past. http://riveraveblues.com/2011/12/an-informed-opinion-of-yu-darvish-60935
The Philadelphia Phillies have reached agreement on a one-year major league deal with free agent Dontrelle Willis, a baseball source said Tuesday. The deal, pending completion of a physical, would pay Willis about $1 million and include additional money for performance bonuses, the source said. Willis, 29, is 72-69 with a 4.17 ERA in nine seasons with Florida, Detroit, Arizona and Cincinnati. He held lefty hitters to a .127 average (7-for-55) with the Reds last season, and had attracted interest from Seattle, Toronto, Boston and Cincinnati this winter as a left-handed arm out of the bullpen. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7347989/2011-free-agency-cincinnati-reds-dontrelle-willis-philadelphia-phillies-agree-source-says
"Cespedes is a legitimate five-tool prospect," says Peter Bjarkman, a writer who has covered Cuban baseball for more than 15 years and wrote A History of Cuban Baseball. "Boasting tremendous power, great speed, a quick bat, considerable outfield range and a powerful throwing arm, he is unquestionably a legitimate big-league prospect and easily one of the best athletes to come out of Cuba since (Angels first baseman) Kendrys Morales and (Chicago White Sox infielder) Alexei Ramirez." http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/story/2011-12-12/Baseball-buzz-turns-to-imports-Yu-Darvish-Yoenis-Cespedes/51890920/1
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