Michael Cuddyer to a three-year deal worth $31.5 million. Meet the Twins’ new left fielder, almost the same as the Twins’ old right fielder. Willingham is eerily similar to Michael Cuddyer; both players are defensively-challenged corner outfielders and right-handed hitters who’ll turn 33 shortly before Opening Day. Cuddyer has the more winning smile, but it’s hard to quantify the effect of that on the kind of winning teams ultimately care about. Aside from the smiling, Willingham does everything Cuddyer does, but a little more. He walks a little more often, strikes out a little more often, and hits for a little more power. He doesn't play a little more than Cuddyer—he's averaged only 121 games over the past four seasons thanks to an array of nagging injuries—but like Rafael Furcal (see below), he makes more of the time he does spend on the field. That makes him both the better player and—since rumor had it the Twins were talking to Cuddyer about a $24 million package before deciding to make a change—the better deal, though his medical history might make Twins fans skittish after the team's injury-plagued 2011. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15693
The Indians believe they got a little deeper in the outfield on Friday. Only time will tell if they're any better. Needing to add depth to an outfield ravaged by injuries in 2011, the club acquired Aaron Cunningham from San Diego in a trade and signed free agent Felix Pie . The club also signed versatile free agent infielder Jose Lopez. Following a season in which starting outfielders Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo and Michael Brantley missed significant time with injuries, the Indians wanted to make sure they had more protection in the event it happens again. And while the trade and signings won't send Cleveland fans scurrying toward the box office to buy tickets for next season, general manager Chris Antonetti is confident the moves will make a difference. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/12/16/indians.padres.trade.ap/index.html#ixzz1gmCUbJvG
I don’t see the Mets going after Theriot or Gonzalez at this point. Daniel Murphy is likely to be moved, although I don’t see a big return. The Mets biggest needs right now are another bat in the outfield, catcher and starting pitcher. I can see them going after a Jason Varitek or Jesus Flores behind the plate. As far as an outfielder, the Mets will scrape by with a Rick Ankiel or J.D. Drew signing. Someone to hopefully hold down the fort at a reasonable salary. Joel Pineiro or Bartolo Colon could be potential targets. 2012 won’t be pretty…sorry my man. It will be a rebuild year for the Mets. http://mlbreports.com/2011/12/17/ask-reports-dec-17
•A Japanese posting bid has been accepted. Not Yu Darvish, but rather Norichika Aoki. For $2.5 million, the Brewers now have exclusive negotiating rights with the Japanese outfielder. For a solid hitter with a proven track record in Japan, the Brewers may need all the offensive help they can get with the possible losses of Fielder and Braun from their lineup. We will find out in the next 30-days if player and team can come to an agreement. http://mlbreports.com/free-agents-updates
While Mesoraco had his breakout season in 2010, Travis d'Arnaud had his breakout season in 2011. Playing in more than 100 games for the first time since 2009, d'Arnaud showed improvement across the board as he triple slashed .311-.371-.542 with 21 HRs and 78 RBI in 424 at bats at AA New Hampshire. He strikes out a bit more than Mesoraco and walked in just over 7% of his at bats in 2011. He benefitted from an unsustainable BABIP of .365, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in AAA in 2012.
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