Baseball

The Oakland Athletics signed Justin Duchscherer to a one-year, $5.5 million deal earlier this week.

This is the sort of move I've been hoping the A's would make for weeks.

It's no secret around Bleacher Report that I think Trevor Cahill and Vince Mazzaro need to start 2010 in Triple-A, and that the A's, prior to signing Duchscherer, only had three true MLB-level starters: Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden, and Gio Gonzalez.

They also have Josh Outman, but Tommy John surgery will keep him out for at least the first two months of 2010.

It is only late December, and already the offseason for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim feels like it's winding down.

Most of the big fish that dominated the post-Word Series headlines have already been caught and what remains is little more than bait for future trade hooks.

Two monsters still lurk the depths, but each appears to be circling one lone lure, searching for another to compare it with.

Matt Holliday and Jason Bay have received sizable offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets respectively, and no team has been reported to match either.

Much has been said about the quiet winter that the Mets have had so far, even though there are still two months before the official start of full squad Spring Training.

Last year by this time, the Mets had already completed a 12-player, three-team trade and had secured Francisco Rodriguez.

While the exact reasons are unknown at this point, the Mets have not been able to make the breakthrough signing.

Even though there is still plenty of time for that to occur, the fact that nothing is really even being discussed publicly is a bit concerning to many fans.

With the Hall of Fame election fast approaching, I’ve been meaning to write an article or two on the election, starting with my article before last. I’ve had plenty ideas of what to cover, but I finally decided to try and project the future of the Hall of Fame. I realize just how tricky this can get, with baseball’s unpredictability. 

In desperate need of some offense, the San Francisco Giants added a bat last night.

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman via Twitter , the Giants have signed Mark DeRosa to a two-year, $12 million contract. DeRosa is expected to play third base for the Giants in 2010.

I’ll get to the Giants' part of this in a second, but for DeRosa and his camp, this has to be considered a loss. I know it’s hard to fathom someone losing when they just made $12 million, but it is.

Ed Rand has rooted against the Yankees all his life.

He recently became ecstatic, or least extremely pleased, when he read an article in an old baseball magazine about how Bob Cerv was sent to Kansas City and how the Yankees' reject almost won the 1958 American League Triple Crown.

What a difference a month makes.

On Aug. 30, Ronnie Belliard was traded from the Nationals to the Dodgers, who were in the middle of a pennant race and were looking to shore up their middle infield. In the five months prior, Belliard was only getting sporadic playing time with the Nationals and when he was playing, he wasn't producing. His .246/5 HR/22 RBI/.296 clip in 187 at-bats with the Nationals made it very clear that Belliard was no longer in the Nationals' long-term plans.

I've done numerous stories on the Yankees' need for a left fielder.

From Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Johnny Damon, Mark DeRosa and Xavier Nady, they've all been mentioned and in some way linked to the Yankees.

There is another name to add to the mix for the Yankees: Jermaine Dye.

Now, there are multiple sources with different stories to the Yankees' interest in Dye.

Jon Heyman from Sports Illustrated has said that he doesn't see the Yankees as a strong suitor to land Dye and sees teams like the Braves, Giants and Rangers more likely to land Dye.

The Nationals acquired Sean Burnett from the Pittsburgh Pirates during midseason 2009 and were rewarded with a 3.20 ERA down the stretch. Burnett also posted a 3.06 ERA with Pittsburgh prior to the trade, so his ERA for the year was 3.12.

Given those numbers, it would seem that the former top prospect has settled in nicely as a middle reliever, but upon closer inspection, that's not the case.

The market is still wide open for Jason Bay, who most analysts agree is one of the top three free agents available this offseason. Surprisingly, he has not been highly sought after and has only received two known offers from the Red Sox and the Mets. Both offers are for four years and between $60 and $65 million.

He rejected the Sox offer early in hopes of receiving a fifth year, but that has not happened yet, and now he is leaving the Mets in limbo by not making a decision on their offer.