Baseball

The latest breaking news coming out of baseball’s winter meetings and the Houston Astros centers on the signing of third baseman Pedro Feliz.

That signing became official this afternoon, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and confirmed by Astros senior director of digital media Alyson Footer; Houston inked a one-year contract with Feliz worth $4.5 million.

On my initial look at the Soriano/Chavez trade I nearly punched a hole in my wall.

Comparing Chavez to Soriano major stats in 2009 is extremely one sided.

Soriano had a outstanding year 2.97(ERA)/102(K)/1.06(WHIP).

Chavez had a decent year for a first year reliever 4.01(ERA)/47(K)/1.35(WHIP). Chavez has also shown a weakness for RH batters.

Why would the braves trade a highly rated veteran for a unknown?  Maybe a second look will help answer that.

Since it remains to be seen whether the Curtis Granderson deal will work out for the Yankees, this writer will withhold criticism on that deal, although there is still a chance it may be a bust.

So in considering the worst mistake Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman has made in the past two years, focus will be on the one he let get away.

Bobby Abreu was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies and at the end of the 2008 season he became a free agent.

There’s more news coming out of the Astros camp at the winter meetings and the latest word surfacing has Houston garnering two new bullpen additions.

First, the Astros landed Matt Lindstrom in a trade with the Florida Marlins, sending a pair of minor league players (pitcher Robert Bono and infielder Luis Bryan) plus Jorge Jimenez (a minor league infielder picked up in Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft) in exchange for the right-handed reliever.

Curtis Granderson is now officially a New York Yankee. 

More importantly, he is now an ex-Tiger.  Granderson came up through the ranks in Detroit and debuted way back in 2004 and has been a fixture in center field since that magical 2006 season.

Now that he’s gone, where does Granderson rank in team history? 

His time in Detroit was relatively short lived, but here are a few facts about Granderson that helps make some sense about where he falls in Tigers history:

One of 31 Tigers to hit at least 100 homers in a Detroit uniform.

Breaking News: The Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers are apparently close to making a trade  that involves sending Red Sox oft-injured third baseman Mike Lowell and $8-$9 million to the Rangers for one of the Rangers trifecta of young catchers, Max Ramirez.

Commissioner Bud Selig has to sign off on the deal, due to the large amount of money being exchanged between the franchises.

The Rule 5 Draft has come and gone, with the Yankees adding Jamie Hoffmann and losing two relievers in the process.

The first pitcher taken was Zach Kroenke by the Diamondbacks, a left-handed reliever who spent the entire 2009 season in Triple-A and pitched well there. He was actually taken by the Marlins in last season's Rule 5 draft as well.

Kroenke has gotten good results in the upper minors over the past few seasons despite his fringy stuff. 

Now that the first decade of the 21st century is coming to an end, it's a good time to look back at the great players of the decade.

Many players have graced the diamond this decade, but only 14 will make the cut for the all-decade team.

*Designated Hitter isn’t actually the position DH. It’s just an extra hitter.

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins