MLB

The baseball dominoes are beginning to fall, and it won’t be too long before the Washington Nationals know which free agent(s) will bolster their starting rotation.

Now that John Lackey is destined for Boston, and Roy Halladay is about to become a Philadelphia Philly, the rest of that second tier of starters is about to play their own version of musical chairs.

The White Sox have made a few moves this offseason to bring in guys that were at one time good, and at this current time fall somewhere between “ok ” and “retired .”

However, since the Tigers have decided that owning good young players is “soooo last year” and the Twins don’t have the resources to add to their team, the Sox seem to be the favorite in the AL Central for next season.

The Houston Astros signed Jason Michaels to a one-year deal on Monday, inking the outfielder for $800,000 with a club option for 2011.

With Michaels’ signing, the Astros are now at their max in terms of their 40-man roster and will spend the rest of the off-season searching for players the club can ink to minor league contracts.

“It’s nice to return to a place you are familiar,” Michaels told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Houston’s beat writer). “Not just with the guys on the team, but with the surroundings and stuff like that. I’m glad it was able to be worked out.”

The sudden interest in former Pirates closer Matt Capps really has me scratching my head. I guess teams smell blood, and want to seize an opportunity to sign a pitcher recently given his walking papers by a team badly in need of pitching but who realizes his value in arbitration would be over-inflated by his save totals.

It may seem a cheap and easy way for the Cubs to improve the bullpen. But not so fast.

Sure, he saved 27 games last season. But if there is a stat more meaningless than saves, then I haven't seen it yet.

(Originally posted on 4SportBoston.com )

In two moves shocking to both the fans in Boston and Major League Baseball alike, the Red Sox inked starting pitcher John Lackey to a five-year, $82.5 million deal. This evening, the Sox made a second splash of the day with a two-year, $15.5 million deal.

What direction is this team heading in?

Jason Bay? Nope.

Matt Holliday? Pass.

The Boston Red Sox balked at the sticker price on the two marquee left fielders on the market and went a different route by reportedly signing veteran center fielder Mike Cameron.

The signing—which is currently pending a physical—further solidifies the end of the Jason Bay era in Boston and by all accounts should spell the end of any more Matt Holliday to Boston rumors.

The baseball world is abuzz tonight with talk of the apparently imminent blockbuster trade between the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners. Reportedly, the deal is all but done, and it will include Toronto ace Roy Halladay, as well as Phillies star left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee, who will go to Seattle in the deal.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim free agent pitcher John Lackey, above, is reportedly headed to the Boston Red Sox after signing a five-year deal worth $85 million.

That means the Angels will be without both Lackey and Chone Figgins, who was also a free agent and departed for a four-year deal worth $36 million with the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners were also just involved in a three-way trade with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Though it isn’t official yet, the Phillies have reportedly traded for Toronto Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay.

The only con is that the Phillies likely have traded away ace Cliff Lee in the process. There is still a chance he may not be included in the deal, though it is unlikely.

The deal will certainly be followed with mixed emotions from Phillies fans, especially considering what Lee did for them last year.

The Boston Red Sox are considered to be one of the more classy and intelligent organizations in the MLB. If the Red Sox were to trade Mike Lowell, it would be by far the biggest mistake Theo Epstein will have made. Yes that's right, worse than the signing of Edgar "Rentanerror" Renteria. 

Mike Lowell has done more than what the Red Sox had initially asked of him. He was a just an addition to the Josh Beckett deal, a guy that was thrown into the trade, to complete the transaction. What Florida really said was, by the way you can have Mike Lowell.