Winter Meetings, Day 3

In a deal that became official on day 3, the Yankees went out and acquired CF Curtis Granderson from the Tigers in a 3 team deal that also included the Diamondbacks.

So pretty much, the Yankees got an All-Star CF in the middle of his prime. The Tigers got a bundle of cheap talent and payroll flexibility. And as Chip Carey would say, the D-Backs got 'Fisted" in this deal. I would like to know what the fuck their GM was thinking. Not that Edwin Jackson is terrible or anything, but he is 2 years away from free agency and due for a big raise. Max Scherzer is a very good young pitcher locked up for 5 more years. They could have held on to Scherzer and spent the money on the back end of the rotation. Maybe someone with high upside like Rich Harden (more on him in a bit).

But if you're a Yankee fan like me, you have to be happy with this move. Granderson is gonna be a stud in Yankee Stadium. I wouldn't be shocked if he hit 40 bombs this season. He is also locked up through 2013, making an average of a little under 10 mil a year. Very solid move by Cashman. He's really made all the right moves the past 2 offseasons.

And in less surprising news, the Yankees and Andy Pettitte reached an agreement on a 1yr/$11.75 mil deal. Even though everyone knew that he would be coming back, its still nice to see the deal get done this early. Andy should be good for about 15 wins and an ERA around 4.

Breaking News: As reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Red Sox are prepared to trade 2007 World Series MVP, clubhouse leader and all around good guy Mike Lowell to the Texas Rangers for 25 year old catcher Max Ramirez. The Red Sox will also be paying nearly all of Lowell's contract. Good job, Theo. That's a nice way to repay a guy who constantly guts it out through various injuries and gives it his all every game. But I'm happy for Lowell. He gets to abandon the sinking ship that is the Boston Red Sox and go to a nice hitters park in Arlington.

And the funniest thing about all of this is that Boston supposedly wanted to get rid of Lowell so they could enter the bidding for the uber stud himself, the one and only Adrian Beltre. Yeah, that's really gonna strike fear into the hearts of your enemies. Beltre has only had one good season, a highly suspicious 2004 contract year for the Dodgers. The rest of his career has been very mediocre. Hopefully this is J.D. Drew part 2.

And kudos to Texas for being active. It seems they are about to finalize a couple of moves in addition to the potential Lowell trade. The first is trading Kevin Millwood to the craptastic Orioles for Chris Ray and a player to be named later. While Ray isn't anything special, the Rangers would save about 8 mil by doing this trade. And in doing that, they are prepared to use that money to sign Rich Harden to a 1 year deal. Solid moves all around. If the Angels don't improve in a hurry, I could see Texas making a run at the AL West next season.