Bobby Abreu: The Angels finally smartened up and signed Bobby Abreu to a one year, $5 million contract. The Angels needed another bat and Abreu will certainly help their lineup. Apparently, the Angels will play Abreu in LF and bat him second in the order. Not sure that is the best spot for him in either case. I thought the plan would be to play Abreu and Vlad in RF and at DH so you only have one bad defensive OF in the field at a time, but I guess they are willing to go with both of them in the OF. I feel bad for Torrii Hunter, who is going to have to cover even more ground out there in CF for the Angels.Adam Dunn: The Nationals were able to sign Dunn to a 2 year, $20 million contract, but I have a hard time getting excited over this move. Yes, he makes the Nationals lineup better, but they still aren't going to be any good, because their pitching is awful. So awful in fact that I couldn't tell you the name of one starting pitcher on their team. I had to check, but right now their rotation looks like it will be John Lannan, Scott Olsen, Daniel Cabrera, Shawn Hill, and god knows who else. That's one pretty bad rotation and they play in a tough division. Adam Dunn would have been better off just signing somewhere real cheap with a contender as a discount for a one year deal. I wouldn't be surprised if Dunn ends up getting traded next season since he's only signed for two years. It's also still unclear if the Nationals will trade 1B Nick Johnson now that they have Dunn or if Dunn will be playing LF.
Ken Griffey, JR: Word on the street is that Griffey will sign with either the Mariners or Braves and possibly very soon. If I were Griffey, I would stick with the Braves and actually have a chance of winning this season. The Braves have a solid team and aren't too far away from competing in the NL East. They also need an OF, so Griffey would definitely get plenty of at-bats. If he goes to Seattle, he might as well retire after the season, because it will be treated like a farewell tour, since he will be returning to the place where he started his career. Both the Braves and Mariners have interest in Griffey though and whoever doesn't get him will most likely end up with Garrett Anderson instead. Anderson can still hit and would be a valuable addition to either team since they both need some more bats. It's also nice when that bat is most likely to come at a bargin price. Meanwhile, the Braves are also close to bringing back pitcher Tom Glavine.
Other MLB News:
- The Mets signed pitcher Livan Hernandez to a minor league contract. Livan got lit up last year with the Twins and Rockies going 10-11 with a 6.05 ERA. This signing could hurt the chances that the Mets will bring back Pedro Martinez, even though Pedro when healthy is definitely more effective than Livan.
- Ivan Rodriguez is still looking for a team to play for next season and he could sign with the Marlins, Astros, or Mets. He could probably get a decent amount of at-bats with any of those teams.
- Word of the street is that 2B Orlando Hudson is going to sign with a team as early as Wednesday of this week. The Dodgers and Royals have been the two teams most prominently linked to Hudson, but I also think the Cardinals could make a play on him. Ray Durham is also a possibility for the Cardinals at 2B if they don't go after Hudson after releasing 2B Adam Kennedy. The Nationals have also been linked to Hudson.
- Free agent 3B Joe Crede is expected to sign with the Twins instead of the Giants. Crede missed much of last season appearing in just 97 games due to injury, but should be productive if he is healthy.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
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