rayonsports.com

Major league baseball’s “hot stove” league, the off-season period when trades and free agent signings dominate the news, is now in full swing. Baseball’s annual winter meetings, where team general managers get together to do business, is where most of the action takes place. The Boston Red Sox, trying to get back to the postseason, have been big winners – signing one of the top free agents in outfielder Carl Crawford, and trading with the Padres for power hitting first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. The Bosox also lost catcher Victor Martinez in free agency as he signed with the Detroit Tigers. A lot of baseball writers have the New York Yankees on the “losers” list for the winter meetings, as they haven’t made any big moves. However, keeping Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera in the fold makes them off-season winners in my book. Plus the prize free agent – pitcher Cliff Lee – is still out there for the taking and the Yankees are considered prime candidates to sign him. The World Series champion San Francisco Giants declined their option on Series MVP Edgar Renteria and lost SS Juan Uribe to free agency, so they’ll have some holes to fill in their infield, and they signed Miguel Tejada to help out. Washington’s huge contract with Jayson Werth is a bit of a head scratcher, but give the Nationals credit for giving their fans a first class player to cheer for in the team’s lineup. As the off-season goes on, look for a lot of teams to try and add lower end and mid-range free agents to try to duplicate what the Giants did last year, when they added journeyman type players like Uribe, Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross, then rode those players to a world championship.