A bunch more action out of baseball's winter meetings today. The Mets, Mariners, and Indians made a massive deal involving 12 players, the biggest of note was reliever JJ Putz heading to the Mets. What a difference for the Mets for next year in terms of the 8th and 9th innings. Instead of relying on some combination of Heilman, Smith, Schoenweis, and other guys, now you've got Putz and Rodriguez. That's quite an upgrade, and probably worth a few wins for the Mets for 2009. If I have time I'll look at the numbers and see how it actually projects.
In in the AL East, baseball's best division just got better. The Rays management has pulled off another excellent move, picking up outfielder Matt Joyce from the Tigers for starter Edwin Jackson. So the Rays picked up a left fielder with a decent bat and a great glove (giving them probably the best defensive outfield in the league, with Crawford/Upton/Joyce), filling a hole they desperately needed to fill and with a young, low-cost player with a high upside. Joyce is probably a +2 wins player, and they had to give up a fifth starter who is probably worth half a win or so. The Rays had a glut of starters and needed to move someone in order to make room for David Price, so this move solves their rotation questions for next season, too. (Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Price, Sonnanstine - not bad!). The Rays front office continues to show why they are one of the best in the game. This is how you build a winning team for under $50 million.
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