[Willie Bee]

Lincecum gets busted, Abreu gets his wings

You only thought the baseball season was over with the Yankees' 7-3 win over the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series. Next year starts right now.

Seriously, was anyone shocked to hear about another professional athlete getting in a scrape that involved drugs?

San Francisco's young ace Tim Lincecum was stopped for speeding in Washington last week and the cops found a little pot in his car. Three-point-three ounces little. The accompanying charge was a misdemeanor, Lincecum paid his fine and that was that.

The Giants went 19-13 in Lincecum's 32 starting assignments this season with the 2008 NL Cy Young winner recording a 248 ERA, second-best in the NL. His 261 strikeouts led the Senior Circuit, the second straight season he's been the National League K King.

For some reason he still reminds me of Cameron (Alan Ruck) from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.


Angels re-sign Abreu to two-year deal
Any pain Bobby Abreu might have felt watching his former Yankee teammates celebrate their World Series title was tempered at least somewhat by his new contract to keep him in sunny LA.

The 35-year old outfielder signed a two year, $19 million contract with the Angels on the heels of his seventh consecutive 100 RBI season. After spending the past few seasons with the Yankees, the 14-year veteran signed with Los Angeles in the offseason only to see his new mates fall to New York in the ALCS.

A career .299 hitter, Abreu passed the 2,000 career hit mark this past season when he hit 15 homers, drove in 103 and stole 30 bases for the Angels who were second in scoring in the majors, once again behind New York.

The Red Sox and their Florida pipeline
Boston dealt a couple of pitchers to the Florida Marlins for outfielder Jeremy Hermida, an interesting move that should be the start of an offseason ripe with a few big moves by the Red Sox.

Hermida, 25, was the 11th overall selection in the 2002 draft by the Marlins and this is one of those "maybe he'll reach his full potential with us" moves. Last winter, Boston GM Theo Epstein made a "maybe we'll catch lightning in a bottle" move when he acquired Rocco Baldelli with a one-year, fairly low-cost, low-risk free agent deal.

The fallout from this means Baldelli is gone, a very obvious decision there. And it could mean the club tries to move J.D. Drew, with the eating-of-the-silly-contract part of that move if it's made.

Hermida played right field mostly over the course of five seasons with the Marlins, Drew's primary position. Hermida's best year in Florida came in 2007 when he established 'triple crown career highs' in homers (18), RBI (63) and average (.296).

The two pitchers going from the Red Sox to the Marlins are both lefthanders, minor leaguer Jose Alvarez and Hunter Jones who pitched out of the Boston pen 11 times in 2009 with a 9.24 ERA.

Free agent spotlight: Jason Bay
Staying in Boston, the team that could be the primary player in where several big free agents land eventually. That includes their own Jason Bay.

After exactly 200 games in a Red Sox uniform, and 719 in the Pirates' Gold and Black, Bay is arguably this winter's top free agent among position players. The British Columbia native slugged 36 homers and drove home 119 runs in his first full season playing left for Boston and has been a favorite of Sox Nation since his arrival midway through the 2008 schedule.

Acquiring Hermida gives the Red Sox some leverage in the talks now, and all reports are Bay is very happy being in Boston with manager Terry Francona. Epstein's offseason decisions are complicated by trying to sign Josh Beckett (22-10. 3.86) to a contract extension.

The Mets and Giants are rumored to be ready to beat any offer the Red Sox might make Bay, but my guess is he re-signs to play the Green Monster, getting a four-year, $65 million deal with a nice fifth year parachute.

NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!

[Willie Bee]

Matt Holliday, Jason Bay top free agent list

Scott Boras and Joe Urbon are just two guys trying to do their jobs which just happen to be squeezing millions of dollars out of MLB owners for their clients. The two agents represent the very best of the free agent position players this offseason, outfielders Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, and they are out drumming up their respective clients' values already. Let the fun and games begin.

Agents for free agent outfielders Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, the marquee bats in this winter's free agent class, fired their first shots in recent days as the offseason baseball circus begins in earnest.

Scott Boras started to drop hints that Holliday should be in line for the same deal that Mark Teixeira got from the Yankees last winter (eight years, $180 million). Joe Urbon called Bay "the most complete player" on the free agent market this winter.

If this process was left in the hands of the two agents entirely, it would likely take until mid-February to be resolved. The first real move however will have to be made by the Red Sox and Cardinals when they state their intentions with re-signing Bay and Holliday respectively.

Boras will eventually drive a harder bargain for his client and get a bigger/longer deal for Holliday. If Vegas was hanging lines on that prop the opening odds would be -450 on Boras and Holliday with the Urbon/Bay coupling drawing +350 on getting a bigger/longer contract of the two.

While rumors are very cheap right now with the general managers just wrapping up their recent "meeting" (*cough*PR Event*cough*) in Chicago, the other teams reportedly interested and willing to spend a good $18 million per season or more on either Holliday or Bay right now include the Angels, Giants and Mets.

Another prop on the deal might be the player most likely to re-sign with their most recent clubs, and on that one I'd make Bay a better bet to return to Boston over Holliday with St. Louis. I just don't trust Boras, have seen how he played others over the years -- Carlos Beltran in 2004-05 comes to mind -- and I see Holliday moving to newer grounds.

New crew for Brew?
One team that did make a little noise before and during the Windy City gathering was the Brewers.

Milwaukee and Minnesota got together on a heads-up trade on Nov 6 that sent shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez. It was a move that made very good sense -- and cents -- between a pair of mid-market level teams.

Hardy is off a horribly-bad season following up on his 2007-08 campaigns that saw him average 25 bombs a season, 77 RBI and 83+ runs scored. He played just 115 games with 11 HR and a .659 OPS.

Of course, it's not like the Brewers got a ton of proven offense in Gomez who has a .292 career on-base mark though at 24 on Opening Day next April, does have a little time on Hardy (27 when season starts) and will come much cheaper.

The trade also gives Milwaukee the opportunity to give their shortstop job to the highlt talented Alcides Escobar while opening up some of the OF jam for Ron Gardenhire in the Twin Cities.

Milwaukee GM Bob Melvin is also ready to make some moves on the mound, with Matt Capps and Doug Davis on their rumored list.

[Willie Bee]

2009 Cy Young's mark big shift in voting

Kansas City's Zach Greinke and Tim Lincecum of the Giants took home the Cy Young hardware this week and with the awards came a major shift in voting for future end of season accolades.

You won't get any argument from me about the selections for this year's AL and NL Cy Young awards. Zach Greinke and Tim Lincecum both had fantastic seasons, and while one can make a case for several other deserving pitchers, it's beyond me how anyone could make a case against either Greinke or Lincecum.

So what's all the hubbub about?

For the 2009 season, the win column didn't matter for CY voters. The 60 writers that cast their ballots chose Greinke, a 16-game winner, and Lincecum, a 15-game winner, as the top hurlers in the AL and NL respectively. The 15 victories that Lincecum put up for San Francisco this year was the lowest total ever by a Cy Young winner in a full season, excluding a few relievers along the way.

Looking at a pitcher's win column has been the worst way to judge a starter's effectiveness since the early 80s. Yet here are the voters and their co-workers practically tripping over themselves to pat each other on the back for only taking 25-30 years to finally understand this.

Anytime you have a close vote, as we certainly did with the NL CY, there is going to be some controversy. Lincecum tallied 100 points to edge out the Cardinals duo of Chris Carpenter (94 points) and Adam Wainwright (90). Lincecum got 11 of the first-place votes while Carpenter picked up nine and Wainwright received 12. So yes, it's odd to see a guy like Wainwright finish third in the race but receive the most first-place nods.

And the fact that two writers -- Keith Law at ESPN and Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus -- left Carpenter completely off their ballots is also a bit strange. Law's reason was that Carpenter tossed fewer innings than the three names on his ballot: Lincecum, Atlanta's Javier Vazquez and Wainwright.

The awards have always been subject to the whims of the voters, no different than a lot of things in life. And trust me, far greater injustices have taken place when it comes to the whims of the baseball writers. I mean, seriously, is leaving Chris Carpenter off your ballot for 2009 NL Cy Young even remotely the same oversight as leaving players like Ted Williams and Bob Gibson off a Hall of Fame ballot?

The funny part is imagine if this vote had been taken after Lincecum had been arrested recently for possession of marijuana.

By the way, if you had put a buck on each of Greinke's starts this season you would have been down three bucks and change. Doing the same for Lincecum and you would have lost about six bits.

Offseason chatter
You know it's the slow time of the season when the biggest trade news is Aaron Heilman going from the Cubs to the Diamondbacks for a pair of minor leaguers.

Jason Bay has reportedly declined the first offer the Red Sox made him and will officially head out into the vast unknown shopping his services. It won't surprise me to see Boston and Bay come together on a deal, but this does give the Red Sox time now to shore up an extension for Josh Beckett.

Mark DeRosa, high on a lot of wish lists currently, might be an option for Theo Epstein and Boston in left. The Sox could also sign Reed Johnson for less and not lose a draft pick like they would with DeRosa, a Type B free agent.

The Angels are the next team that has to make some sort of move on their three big free agents. John Lackey is the top arm on the FA market this winter, plus LA both Vladimir Guerrero and Chone Figgins are receiving bids for their services. Anaheim is already sniffing around at Bay but reportedly losing ground on bringing Lackey back and all but waving so long to Guerrero.

Toronto is also back on the phone listening to offers for Roy Halladay, but don't expect anything to happen there until after Lackey signs somewhere. With Lackey the cream of the starting pitcher crop, as soon as he comes off the table it will boost Halladay's trade value.

[Willie Bee]

MLB Winter Meetings set for Indianapolis

If anything happens at the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis, you can bet the spin will somehow involve the Theo Epstein and the Red Sox. Boston is going to be a player in the offseason no question, with decisions to make about Josh Beckett and Jason Bay and rumors about either going after Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez or moving Dustin Pedroia to short. Let the Hot Stove League begin.

Honest, I'm not one of those guys that sits around pining for the 'good old days.' But there are a couple of things from the past that I miss, including the big trades you would see this time of year in baseball.

MLB is about to hold its annual Winter Meetings, just a month after they had their GM Meetings which almost took place before the Yankees won the World Series. After their get-together in Chicago back in November, general managers and their staffs will now take in the sights of Indianapolis.

Not only are these guys idiots when it comes to the timing of these meetings, they have no clue how to pick locales. At this time of year, you choose cold spots for snow skiing, or at least a good NFL game to go see, or warm spots to get away from the cold. Why their early meetings aren't always in Arizona where there's baseball actually being played is beyond me.

The timing makes even less sense than the location. Just a few days ago the final arbitration lists were official and players now have until the first day of these meetings (Dec 7) to accept or reject. With all of the free agents still out there and only a few minor trades/signings having come off, don't expect a lot to get done anytime soon.

A major deal could still happen, and from all reports if it does, Boston will somehow be a part of it.

The Red Sox (95-67, +5.95) have several issues to decide, from extending Josh Beckett's deal to re-signing Jason Bay, and they still remain part of any Roy Halladay trade rumors.

23 offered arbitration
One thing the owners and GMs did get right this year was their arbitration. This is a number that is steadily going down and it's a way for the teams to add more supply to the free agent market to keep some of the mid-level players from getting extra loot.

One way or another, Matt Holliday is going to get his money this winter. Scott Boras will see to that. The Cardinals offered Holliday, and two others, arbitration but I expect the outfielder to reject it. Either that or St. Louis will have him signed by the time the Winter meetings begin.

Adding names like Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, Randy Wolf and others to the unrestricted FA class by not offering arbitration, it should allow for some of the veteran names to be signed for less, either inking for fewer years on multi-year deals or incentive-laden one-year deals to be free agents again next winter.

Official arbitration offers:
Atlanta: Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano
Boston: Jason Bay, Billy Wagner (rejected)
Colorado: Rafael Betancourt, Jason Marquis
Detroit: Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodney
Houston, Jose Valverde
LA Angels: Chone Figgins, John Lackey
Minnesota: Carl Pavano
Oakland: Justin Duchscherer
St. Louis: Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, Joel Pineiro
Seattle: Adrian Beltre
Tampa Bay: Gregg Zaun, Brian Shouse
Texas; Ivan Rodriguez, Marlon Byrd
Toronto: Rod Barajas, Marco Scutaro

Billy the Kid
Don't underestimate the signing of Billy Wagner by the Atlanta Braves. This is going to be an interesting offseason for the reliever market, and this move will start the dominoes to fall into place.

The signing is very interesting to begin with from the standpoint of the Atlanta Braves. After offering their two closers from last season, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano, they went out and guaranteed they would wind up with draft picks in return or be able to sign one or the other for far less. John Schuerholz is a wise man.

Atlanta signed Wagner to a one-year deal on Tuesday (Dec 2) for $7 million, plus about the same in a vesting option for 2011.

Wagner detractors will be quick to point to his age, 38, and his most recent injury record. They will also point to him being a bit of a, oh, how shall I put this, butthole and not the best-liked guy in the clubhouse by many accounts.

But the man can still pitch. Pitching the ninth for a team that should have a rotation of Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens and Javier Vazquez? Sky's the limit as far as save ops.

[Willie Bee]

New York Yankees end year paying the piper

The final tally is in on just how much the 2009 World Series Championship cost the Yankees. MLB sent the Steinbrenners a bill for over $25 million in luxury tax to be added to the more than $226 million payroll for 2009. But hey, these are the Yankees who buy one World Series after another, right? It sure hasn't slowed their offseason personnel pursuit in hopes of returning to the thick of October baseball in 2010.

The payroll tax has been in existence for seven years in the majors, and for a seventh straight season the New York Yankees will be contributing.

Major League Baseball assessed a $25.7 million price tag on New York's 2009 payroll, the only club hit with a tax for the past season. It brings the Yankees' total contribution to the system to $174 million since 2003, according to an article by the Associated Press in the last week.

That's $174 million of the total $190 million paid into the fund. The only other clubs to pay in over the years have been Boston ($13.9 million), Detroit ($1.3 million) and LA Angels (less than $1 million).

Of course when you add the recent tax bill to the approximate $420 million the Yankees promised Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett last winter in their free agent haul, it's hard to imagine that the New York front office even flinched when they received this year's charge.

The Yanks have been out of the free agent spotlight this winter, at least so far. But they have made a couple of deals to tweak their roster for 2010, bringing back a couple of players from previous seasons.

New York packaged Melky Cabrera and minor league pitchers Michael Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino to Atlanta on Dec. 22 in exchange for pitchers Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan. Vazquez was with the Yankees in 2004 going 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA, and was on the mound in Game 7 of the ALCS when New York blew a 3-0 lead in the series to the Red Sox.

This past season with the Braves, the righthander was 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA. In his 32 starts for Atlanta, the Braves were 18-14 and down about 1.80 units at the window. Doesn't take a genius to figure the chalk, along with the expectations, will be even higher on Vazquez wearing pinstripes.

New York also signed Nick Johnson to a one-year deal for about $5.7 million, with an option for a second season at about the same pay. Johnson was the third-round pick by the Yankees in 1996 and made his MLB debut with the team in 2001. He was eventually dealt to Montreal after the 2003 season to bring Vazquez to New York.

Johnson is expected to be the primary DH in the Bronx, spelling Teixeira occasionally at first.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman will likely now turn his attention on adding to the overall depth of the club as well as adding another reliever. With Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon out of the picture, along with Cabrera, look for New York to have its eyes on an outfielder.

Around the horn
The Mets are still talking to Jason Bay's agent, but no deal appears imminent. New York did sign former Angels righthander Kelvim Escobar to a one-year deal worth $1.25 million according to an ESPN.com story.

Washington has added to its bullpen in recent days by agreeing to a one-year deal with former Pirates closer Matt Capps and inking Eddie Guardado to a minor league contract. The Nats also picked up starting pitcher Jason Marquis on a two-year contract.

The Angels have signed former Tigers reliever Fernando Rodney to a two-year contract worth $11 million. Rodney was a Type B free agent and could compete with Brian Fuentes for the closer's role in Anaheim.

Former Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins has found a new home in Baltimore with a one-year contract worth $4 million with a reported $8.5 million club option for 2011. Atkins is expected to take over at third base, or could fill the super-utility role that Aubrey Huff held from 2007 until his trade to Detroit back in August.