Winter Meetings Around The Corner...

WHERE THEY MAY END UP...

It appears as though much will happen at the MLB Winter Meetings in Vegas this week. It just has to be! As nothing has happened for the past couple of months, one would think that eventually the major free agents will sign.

With regard to CC, I think he may surprise everyone and go back to Milwaukee. I think that may be the reason he is waiting to sign. I know it is a long shot, but perhaps Sabathia wants to see if the Brewers pick up anyone special to improve the roster. If so, then CC (assuming an increase in the $100 million offer currently on the table) will head back to the upper midwest to a team he led to the playoffs. He can own that town with ease (in fact he may already own the town) and there is a great young core of everyday players in the line up. Ryan Braun is an all world player, Prince Fielder and Corey Hart are well above average players. Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy and Bill Hall are also solid young players. With Mike Cameron in center (borderline great defensive outfielder) and Jason Kendall (can't hit a lick, but he is a good leader) as the rest of the line up, this team may be good for a while if it has enough pitching. I would certainly look for the Brewers to sign a big deal. If it is not CC, then a second tier pitcher will be in Milwaukee come spring.

The other prominent pitchers are either going to end up in New York, Anaheim, Boston or LA (with either team - more likely the Angels - the Dodgers have a peculiar ownership situation) with the dark horses being the A's and Braves. For some reason, AJ Burnett is considering signing with the Braves. For him, I don't really understand the move because Atlanta needs to rebuild and AJ Burnett is not going to transform a 90 loss team into a playoff team (certainly not in that division)!

Derek Lowe will probably end up in Boston. They tend to sign those over achieving pitchers who manage to pitch very well in the playoffs even though they don't have superior talent. Lowe used to play in Boston, so his prior relationship with the club will add to the intrigue. However, if the Yankees don't get CC, I expect them to make a big push for Lowe - especially if the Braves sign Burnett over the weekend.

Teixeira is an interesting study. I still think he will resign with the Angels because they have cash to spend (no more Garret Anderson at $12+ million) and Teixeira played really well for them last year.

Side point: Garret Anderson has never been worth $12 million a year. Granted he had 4 straight years of 100+ RBIs, 28+ HRs and a .307+ AVG; however, his numbers dropped dramatically after steroid testing came into effect and he has not come close to those power numbers since. Not saying anything definitively, but, it makes you at least a little suspicious.

Hope that suffices for now...

Yaros