An MLB Hot Stove Season Like None Before

Each Winter, Major League Baseball is able to captivate audiences with the Free Agent Frenzy that ensues once a World Series winner is crowned at the end of October. When others make the statement that baseball is no longer America’s favorite sport, I have a hard time believing that because when a major free agent is signed, it takes over all the airwaves, whether it’s TV, radio, or social media. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that no sport consistently gets the attention of fans in the off-season like the MLB Hot Stove does. However, when looking at the deals that the three most sought after position players received this winter (Jose Reyes, Albert Pujols, and Prince Fielder), this off-season seems unique when looking at recent years.

Let’s take a look at the contract Jose Reyes got from the Marlins first. Miami made the splash that started the Winter Meetings back in December by inking the talented shortstop to a heavily back-loaded, six year/$106 million deal to take his talents to South Beach with Lebron and company. What shocked me most about this signing was not that the Mets wouldn’t budge to spend money and keep their homegrown shortstop in Flushing, but the Marlins didn’t need a shortstop because they already have Hanley Ramirez signed to a long-term deal. I know that he’s had some issues in the past with his attitude and some analysts feel that he won’t be at shortstop very long, but at the same time, he’s been earmarked as the cornerstone of the organization. At 27 years old, he’s not exactly an old man. Also, I know he had a poor year in 2011 (.243/.333/.379), but this is a guy that has one batting title, a Rookie of the Year Award, three All-Star appearances, and two Silver Slugger awards in his seven-year career. So, the success of this deal will depend on two things: whether Reyes can actually stay healthy consistently, and whether Hanley will be able to accept moving to a different position for someone who hasn’t played a day in Miami yet.

Next up: Albert Pujols and the monster, 10-year/ $254 million contract that he agreed to withe the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Now, I wouldn’t dare question why any of the 30 MLB teams wouldn’t want a player like Pujols, but when the Angels came out of nowhere to agree to terms with both Pujols and C.J. Wilson, I was a little confused as to why they felt they had to go after the former Cardinals icon, mostly because they already had two options for first base. He was hurt all of last year, but Kendrys Morales showed in 2009 (.306/.355/.569) and in 2010 before he got hurt (.290/.346/.487) that he could be a run producing machine. When news broke that he would miss all of 2011 with an injury, the Angels decided to give rookie Mark Trumbo a chance on the big stage, and he didn’t disappoint. His .254 average and .290 on-base% weren’t that impressive, but his 29 home runs, 87 RBI and placing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting shows his potential to become a star. Again, I’m not questioning why the Angels front office would want to win the bidding on Albert Pujols because he’s a once in a millennium talent and will completely change the culture of the organization. However, paying him $30 million at the age of 40 to be a designated hitter will seem pretty silly.

Lastly, we need to touch upon the still fresh news of Prince Fielder finding a new castle until 2020 with the nine-year/$214 million deal he agreed to with the Detroit Tigers. The first thing I thought of when this broke this week was, “Where is Miguel Cabrera going to play?” He has done an adequate job at first base for Detroit since he was traded before the 2008 season, but Prince is a much better fielder than he is (no pun intended). Rumors spread before the deal was agreed upon that Detroit could emerge as a good one-year deal for Fielder now that Victor Martinez is out for most, if not all of the year with an ACL tear. General Manager Dave Dombrowski went a step further and locked him up for the rest of the decade. For this year, putting Cabrera at DH is an easy fix, but once V-Mart comes back, you have three big time hitters for two spots. Cabrera, the reigning AL batting champion and arguably the best hitter in the game today, has said that he is willing to move to third base, but that discussion is for another day.

I think this Hot Stove season has been so unique because the most sought after position player free agents all went to teams that had a more than capable player already manning that particular position. Also, these were the only teams that had the financial means to meet these contract demands. This winter is yet another great reason to show Bud Selig that the revenue sharing plan is not working to help out the small market teams and a salary cap must be discussed.

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