Valverdes option picked up by Tigers
McLouth a Free Agent
CC opts out
LaRussa retires
Derek Lowe to Indians

I wouldn't mind seeing the Tigers go after a bullpen arm, an upgrade at 3B or 2B and maybe a corner outfielder.. depending on what they do with Delmon.

They also have to do something to address their lack of speed on the basepaths.

Yeah, that hurts, but the problem is the slow guys aren't going anywhere- Miggy, Vmart, Avila, and Peralta. Boesch moves pretty well, so I think his return will help. Will Peralta willingly move to third to let them pursue Reyes? Is he worth it with his injury history? I guess a sure handed, fast 2nd basemen might work and may come cheap, but then you can't expect much offense, as MLB is devoid of quality second basemen right now.

I wish I knew how i felt about Delmon. He has power obviously and can drive in runs.. but he sucks so bad at getting on base and defensively. I know with every ounce of sense I have that he probably is not worth offering arbitration to, but who knows.

Indians pick up Derrick Lowe from the Braves. Braves to pay 10 of his rediculous 15 million dollar salary next season.

Hey, I already reported that! (the first part)

oh sorry, I thought I'd add the horrid contract particulars.

Need you to report on Hellhound on my Ale in the beer thread.

I had a cold all weekend, so I didn't do much drinking. By much I mean I had half a Founders Breakfast Stout after I opened it to put in some chili i made.

How did Lowe do last season? He can't be worse than Carmona was. Though the Indians picked up his option simply because they need more guys to eat innings with the young guys traded and Carrasco's surgery.

They also declined Sizemore's option, making him a free agent.

Rumor is they are interested in resigning sizemore to an incentive laden deal though.

I'm more excited about this Astros offseason than I am about their 2012 season. I'd really like to see the team sale approved and I'm even a little excited about the potential move to the AL. I'd rather the team stay in the NL, but there's just so much stagnation in Houston right now. I just want to get excited about something.

Which I would be fine with as I don't know how much of Shelley Duncan I want to see in left field next year. Though if they sign Sizemore to some kind of deal he'll probably miss 100 games anyway.

Not really sure why everyone keeps reporting, in every update on every free agent, that the Jays are interested. Isn't it pretty much common knowledge by now that the Jays are interested in everyone and take their time to look at everyone available?

The Jays are supposed to be a frontrunner on Yu Darvish, but does anyone else think it would be worthwhile for a team in their situation to take that money (likely $100 million or so for 5-6 years between the contract and posting fee) and offer something to Sabathia? He's older, but he's also a more proven commodity and less of a risk. The advantage of taking Sabathia away from the pitching-thin Yankees would be huge for the Jays.

Also, the Jays have definitely won the pitcher-opts-out-of-a-contract-to-sign-with-the-other-team thing with the Yankees so far.

La Russa is retiring. The average MLB game just got 20 minutes shorter.

I can't see Pujols leaving the Cardinals, but I've got this bad feeling about Fielder joining the Cubs.

Am I the only one who thinks it would be stupid for the Cubs to make a big splash like that right now? It's not like they're anywhere close to contending (although in the NL Central, you never really know) and Epstein and the Cubs both have histories of getting burned by expensive longterm deals. I think they would be better off to do their best to unload some payroll and start building with smaller pieces before spending $150 million + to fill one position.

small market fan post

Haha the Jays aren't small market.

pfft

So does La Russa still manage the NL All Star Team next season?