Winter Meetings

The Winter Meetings have begun, but before all of that action there was some other action.

The Pirates sign catcher Russell Martin to a 2 year $17 Million contract. He will be a good fit there, becuase he can change a pitching staff. He is great defensively and can hit for power.

The Yankees lost Martin, but resigned Mariano Rivera. The deal is for $10 Million plus incentives. Rivera had a torn ACL and missed almost all of 2012. He will be back in 2013 and be a major help if Rafael Soriano signs elsewhere.

The Mets extended David Wright to a monsterous contract. The extension is worth 8 years and $138 Million. I think because of this deal the Mets will make it to the World Series at least once within the next 8 years. Wright is a leader and he is being paid to be one with this cntract. The Mets haven't had a real leader since Mike Piazza.

The Chicago Cubs signed 32 year old Japanese reliever Kyuji Fujikawa to a $9.2 Million deal over 2 years. The days of suffering through the 9th inning with Carlos Marmol are over.

The first big news of the Winter Meetings was the signing of Mike Napoli. The Red Sox signed the catcher to a 3 year $39 Million deal. He will provide some power in a deflated team.

Rumors about trades arecandidates : James Shields, Mike Morse, Justin Upton, Jeremy Hellickson, and many other less notable players are stirring up.