Octavio Dotel

With David Robertson heading to the disabled list and an already young and inexperienced bullpen, the New York Yankees must explore the several relief options that still remain on the free agent market in an attempt to upgrade their roster.

At first glance, it would appear as if the Toronto Blue Jays have had a quiet offseason.

There were no big contracts, no major deals, no guys named Greinke or Ramirez. 

In fact, they seemed to lose more players than they acquired: Scott Downs, Brian Tallet, Kevin Gregg, All-Star catcher John Buck and first baseman Lyle Overbay have all signed elsewhere. 

Oh, and they traded Shaun Marcum, their Opening Day starter, for prospect Brett Lawrie.

After the idea of the Blue Jays adding Octavio Dotel had been kicked around by everyone with an interest in baseball or the Jays on twitter off and on for the last month, it finally went down today. The deal is another inexpensive move by GM Alex Anthopoulos following on the heals of signing Edwin Encarnacion, trading for and releasing Miquel Olivo, and sending Shaun Marcum to Milwaukee for a prospect.

There hasn't been much to the Pittsburgh Pirates offseason so far. The signings of pitchers Kevin Correia and Scott Olsen, along with inking first baseman Lyle Overbay and outfielder Matt Diaz, likely make the Pirates a marginally better team than in 2010.

Then again, when you finish the season 57-105, anything you do in December likely makes you a better team.

Talk about a rarity. We saw a very surprising September trade over the weekend. The reason September trades are usually non-existent is because players traded after August 31st aren’t eligible for the postseason.

The Pirates had another busy trade deadline, but unlike years past, this year there were no salary dumps or accumulation of prospects. The Pirates made three trades today and all appear to be good baseball moves.

The Pirates acquired catcher Chris Snyder and minor league shortstop Pedro Ciriaco from the Arizona Diamondbacks, in exchange for Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby and D.J. Carrasco.

They also sent closer Octavio Dotel to the Los Angeles Dodgers for right-hander James McDonald and minor league outfielder Andrew Lambo.

Well the clock has ticked past the magic witching hour when teams have a last chance to cure what ails 'em via non-waiver trade. The Los Angeles Dodgers were very active at the deadline just as GM Ned Coletti promised. Boy oh boy, is the NL West ever in for it now!

If you detect a hint of sarcasm, then you're far more astute than Ned. Then again, I have old socks that are more astute than Ned.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers have acquired Octavio Dotel for James McDonald and Andrew Lambo (Lambo’s presence in the deal comes from Jayson Stark via Twitter.).

The Dodgers Get

Dotel helps become the bridge to Jonathan Broxton and could give him a day off from time-to-time.  He brings strikeout ability, with 48 Ks in 40.0 innings, though he does have a 4.28 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.  He’ll hold value for those who play in leagues that value middle relievers, but that’s about it at this point.

On a clear Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates strung together their first win streak since mid-May.

The Pirates put together well-timed hits and with the help of three Indians' errors, defeated Cleveland 5-3 to win their first series in over a month.

Rookie pitcher Brad Lincoln made his third start today. He entered the game with an ERA just over 7.00. Lincoln went six innings for the Bucs, surrendering three runs on eight hits to the Tribe.