Hot Stove season is officially underway. A lot of big league players have filed for free agency, including Kyle Farnsworth, Sal Fasano, Aaron Boone, Bobby Abreu, Chad Moeller, Sidney Ponson, Pudge Rodriguez, Tony Clark, Miguel Cairo and Doug Mientkiewicz.
In the minor league transactions, the Indians signed Andy Cannizaro. The Tigers granted Dane Sardinha, Bronson's brother, free agency.
The GM Meetings started today. Everyone's expecting Brian Cashman to spend some serious dough. He said the Yankees will be looking to acquire two starters - one and two guys who would push Wang to third. CC Sabathia is probably high on his list. Cashman might be a bit more aggressive this time. I have a feeling he regrets letting Santana slip by. The players he didn't want to give up - Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, Alan Horne - didn't exactly excel this year.
Not that I want Cashman to go back to the Yanks' old ways, but I think he's swung too far in the other direction. You can't keep all your prospects. They won't all work out; most won't, in fact. And even if they did, you couldn't play them all. Melky Cabrera would have been worth a lot more if they traded him a couple of years ago, or even last year. Now, he probably has little value.
There's some speculation that Cashman wants to prove he can build a team without spending big bucks on free agents. That he doesn't think he gets respect as a GM because of the Yankees' big budget. Boo, hiss, if that's true. The Yanks have the money, might as well spend it. I don't want to see them trade away all their prospects, like they used to, but if there are legitimate holes that can't be filled from the farm, open up George's wallet.
