Winter Meetings Wonderland

The MLB winter meetings concluded today with Craig Monroe and Marcus Thames still in Tiger uniforms. There were reported talks about Ron Villone and Scott Schoenweis for lefty help out of the pen, but the guy the Tigers got was a Rule 5 pick Edward Campusano. Whether he will join other Rule 5 picks Wil Ledezma and Chris Shelton on the 25 man roster remains to be seen. So barring a stud leadoff hitter or lefty arm suddenly becoming available, it looks like the spring training roster is set.

There were also some moves that affected other teams in the AL Central, most noticeably the Freddy Garcia trade. Garcia has owned the Tigers all the the way since his days as a Mariner. Here's his career numbers vs. the Tigers:

G W-L IP ERA BB HR R ER SO
24 15-5 166.1 3.63 52 20 68 67 139

The only other team where he's in the double digits in wins against is the Angels with 14. While the guy replacing Garcia in the rotation, Brandon McCarthy, will be entering his first season as a starter. While he is expected to have a break out year for the Sox next year, he hasn't exactly been lights out vs. the Tigers. So hopefully this will be the first step in the Tigers breaking the hold the Sox have had over them the past few seasons.

Around the rest of the AL Central:
Cleveland replaced the huge hole (literally and figuratively) that trading Bob Wickman left at closer, by signing Joe Borowski. He may not be a big name, but as we all know closers one year removed from Florida are unstoppable.

Kansas City signed Gil Meche to a 5 year $55 million deal. $55 million for Gil Meche? With this signing this year's offseason spending has officially turned retarded. If a guy with a career record of 55-44 and era of 4.65 is worth that much, then Barry Zito must be worth eleventy billion dollars. GM Dayton Moore, was quoted as being thrilled to be signing a pitcher just entering his prime. Hey Dayton, just because he turned 28, doesn't mean you have the next Johan Santana on your hands. These are the deals the Tigers used to do. *cough*Jason Johnson*cough* That contract breaks down to about $550k per loss. Or if your an optimist, $1.1 million per win. Savvy investment Mr. Moore.

Minnesota has done jack shit. When you have the AL MVP and Cy Young winner, and a wealth of young talent, you really don't do much other than wait and see. But with two big holes in the rotation (Radke's retirement, and Liriano's injury) how long can they afford to wait?