For Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry, for Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels, and for free-agent outfielder Marlon Byrd, the last 48 hours have made an interesting, interwoven series of impacts upon the tone and tenor of the MLB offseason.
Lost amid the flurry of Monday's higher-profile deals, free-agent outfielder Mike Cameron agreed to a two-year pact with the Boston Red Sox.
It may have rated as third-string news on a day that saw three of Major League Baseball's top 20 starting pitchers find new homes, but for the Rangers, the Cubs, and their respective fans, Cameron's signing carries major implications. Hendry wanted Cameron badly and now must re-evaluate the opportunities that remain to fill Chicago's void in center field.
Boston outbid the Cubs for two reasons. First, Hendry remains somewhat hamstrung by his inability to find a buyer for disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley and cannot realistically make a large free-agent expenditure without first moving at least some of the two years and $21 million remaining on Bradley's deal. Second, Hendry would only discuss a one-year pact with the 36-year-old Cameron, making Boston's two-year offer impossible for the 2001 All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner to resist.
The cluster of movements leaves Byrd at the top of the Cubs' wish list for center field. It even remains possible that Hendry would offer a multi-year deal to Byrd, who is nearly five years Cameron's junior. However, Daniels and the Rangers remain interested in bringing back Byrd as one of a number of possible corner infield, outfield, and DH options.
Daniels may have gained added incentive to make a move on Byrd when the biggest move of Monday hit the news wire, with AL West rival Seattle acquiring left-handed starter Cliff Lee in a three-way deal that sent Toronto ace Roy Halladay to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mariners, who had already signed free-agent third baseman Chone Figgins to bolster their offense, continue to move toward the front of the division with ambitious winter dealings. To keep up, Daniels might reasonably feel pressed to add a bat sooner than later.
Then again, the other front-line move of the day may have pushed the Rangers (and possibly the Cubs) along a different path. When John Lackey agreed to a five-year contract with the Red Sox, Boston immediately became reinvested in trading excess corner infielder Mike Lowell to the Rangers. That deal has been on hold for nearly a week, after several sources had it near completion during last week's winter meetings.
To do the trade now, Texas would probably need to assume a greater portion of the $12 million Lowell is owed for 2010 than had originally been discussed. Nonetheless, Lowell seems more likely than not to end up in Arlington. If he does, the Rangers might be content to let Byrd price himself out of their range, which would open the door for Chicago.
If, on the other hand, Daniels and Boston GM Theo Epstein cannot get together on new financial terms for the deal (which would send catcher Max Ramirez to the Sox), the door may re-open for talks between the Cubs and Rangers about Bradley. Once the frontrunners to deal for Bradley, the Rangers have all but removed themselves from that discussion. If the Cubs increase the amount they would be willing to eat in Bradley's contract, though, that could turn around in a heartbeat, especially if it made the switch-hitter less expensive than Lowell or Byrd.
The web of possibility continues to weave itself ever more dense, and the complexity of the interdependence between several possible transactions is nearly impossible to fully appreciate or decipher. Only one thing is certain: In moves ostensibly unrelated to their respective teams, Hendry and Daniels watched their offseason work get much harder Monday.
Each will need to get creative in order to salvage their hopes of competing for a deep October run in 2010. Daniels has already made forward progress this month, signing former Cub Rich Harden to a one-year deal and swapping overpaid starter Kevin Millwood to Baltimore for added bullpen depth in the form of right-hander Chris Ray.
Hendry, meanwhile, has moved only through the nebulous margins, trading away spare parts for other spare parts and attempting to increase the depth of his pitching staff and farm system. Bradley remains an obstacle to serious maneuvering, but if the Cubs hope to regain the NL Central crown they earned in 2007 and 2008, Hendry will eventually need to move forward, with or without Bradley. Whether or not he can do so remains an open question.
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