Baseball Winter Meetings

Major League Baseball is conducting their Winter Meetings in Dallas, Texas this week. The meetings usually involve lots of rumors but little action. The rumor to deal ratio is around 500 to 1. The Indians went into the off-season with some obvious needs. They clearly needed to upgrade the offensive production at 1B and RF. Also, several key parts of the pitching staff were free agents who either had to be resigned or replaced. The free agent pitchers were Kevin Millwood, Bob Wickman, Bob Howry and Scott Elarton. So far, the Indians have signed Paul Byrd and have seen Howry sign a deal with the Cubs. They are expected to offer arbitration to Millwood (and possibly Elarton) by today's deadline. That ensures draft pick compensation if the player signs elsewhere. I've seen criticism of the Byrd signing most of which asserted that he isn't as good as Millwood. I believe that is the wrong angle to take. It wasn't a question of Byrd or Millwood. Millwood would be no more likely to return if we had not signed Byrd. The real question is whether Byrd can help this team compete next year. Last year in 201 innings pitched, Byrd walked 28 and struck out 102. With reasonable run support and decent defense behind him Byrd should win 15 games next year and be a very good number 4 starter.
Apparently, the Indians have offered a three year deal to Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman has played most of his career in San Diego and may not be that well known to American League batters (or fans). I'm not sure how much he has left but he should be recognized as one of the most consistently dominating relievers in baseball history. Hoffman has 436 saves and a career ERA of 2.76. It is a major risk giving a three year contract to a 38 year old pitcher but I feel the third year is the price you pay to get a player to leave the great San Diego weather.