"In life, all good things must come to an end"

Hello everyone! I want to thank you for reading MLB-Perspectives and supporting my self-started blog that began as a place to put my thoughts and developed into several great opportunities. Sadly, this will be the last post that is entered here. However it is not the end of my writing days, in fact just the beginning.

Recently I have taken on two new roles in the baseball blogging world. I am a minor league/prospects writer at Seedlings To Stars, part of the FanSided Network. You can find my work at seedlingstostars.com

I am merging my most recent articles on here to a website called Baseball Reflections. On this site I will continue to write/blog about MLB-level content and just about anything else that I decide to write on that has to do with baseball.. sort of what I was doing here! You can find everything on baseballreflections.com, under the "columns" section there is a link to MLB-Perspectives, which is my own feature column!

I also welcome you to follow me on twitter @MLBPerspectives.

Thank you for the support!
-Bill

A Quick Note..

I have taken on a couple other ventures in the baseball blogging world recently that reflect a better exposure opportunity. I am not sure what will happen with MLB-Perspectives from here on forth. It's likely that I will still write here but on a much less regular basis due to my commitments at work, my family and my future ambitions.

I will update everyone once I get an idea of what my schedule will allow. Right now I am in the middle of perusing a career change for the better. In the meantime, this blog has provided me with a place to write about the sport I love. It has also made me some fellow colleague/friends that I would have never met if I had not made my love for baseball and writing more than just a hobby.

Right now I am the minor league, prospects and player development writer for FanSided.com. My work can be seen at seedlingstostars.com which is a division of the FanSided network. I am also in the middle of negotiations for another venture which may involve the merging of this site to bigger and better things. We may move off of blogger and make this a true legit .com site where you'll see greater amounts of content and more support from a marketing side.

I will keep you all updated.


Thanks,
-Bill

Aramis Is The Wrong Direction For Brewers

The Brewers signed Aramis Ramirez to a 3-year deal today to play 3^rd and fill in the gap in offense that the departed Prince Fielder left via free agency. Although Fielder has yet to sign with another team, it’s all but a guarantee that the slugger will land somewhere other than Milwaukee for the next decade. By acquiring Ramirez, the Brewers upgrade their infield defense and add pop to a lineup that desperately needs it. Ramirez will be a nice addition, but it’s not enough to put them over the top. Now with Ryan Braun likely going to be missing the first 50 games of 2012, I hate the move and the direction Milwaukee is going in.

Their farm system is depleted, their best hitter is going to miss 1/3 of the 2012 season, and Ramirez is entering his mid-thirties. Three of their starters are up for free agency in 2012, and I highly doubt all three will be signed or replaced with adequate performance. They do not have the budget room to fill the gaps, and their farm system isn’t ready to step in and save the day. Not to mention K-rod accepted arbitration and is going to make almost as much as Jonathan Papelbon in 2012.

It might be ownership calling the shots right now, so I’ll give the Milwaukee front office the benefit of the doubt, but the right move for now and for the future is to part with everything but Rickie Weeks, Braun and Gallardo and build for the future. They’re essentially going “all-in” and closing their eyes with the odds against them. A plan that hasn’t worked and usually doesn’t work unless you’re the Yankees and can supplement those risks. Greinke, Marcum, Hart, Lucroy all have value to other teams. They’re all relatively affordable and not tied up to crazy contracts. Teams on the verge would pay a lot for their services.

Sometimes it hurts to be realistic and it’s not as fun as taking your chances and spinning the wheel one more time. But smart and sustained success is had by sometimes cutting your losses, realizing where you are and moving on. Unfortunately for the fans in Milwaukee, they’ll be waiting for quite a while before they see their Brew Crew being serious contenders.

Braun Tests Positive, Could Mean Big Changes in Milwaukee

It was just made public that NL MVP Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and will serve a 50-game suspension barring an appeal. This is extremely significant for Milwaukee going forward and all but surely takes them out of the bidding for Prince Fielder as Braun will miss 1/3 of the season in 2012. This news must come as a shock to the front office, and puts them in a very awkward position.

Both Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum are in the middle of working on contract extensions. The Milwaukee infield is abysmal with the exception of Rickie Weeks. The Brewers really relied on the Fielder/Braun combo for a large portion of their offensive production. If I were the GM over in Milwaukee I would use this opportunity to rebuild. Don't sign fielder, shop Greinke and Marcum and get some pieces that will help you for 2013-'14 because 2012 is essentially a loss without Braun in the lineup. I think the biggest mistake would be to continue the game plan and hope that they can pick back up in the second half of 2012. The offense isn't strong enough to hold everything together without Braun in such a strong division.

Arizona nabs Cahill and Breslow, send Jarrod Parker and others to Oakland

Billy Beane decided to essentially toss any hope for A's fans out the window yesterday when he dealt young ace in the making Trevor Cahill and effective RP Craig Breslow to the Diamondbacks for SP prospect Jarrod Parker and two "prospects". This move is significant for the D'backs as their outlook on 2012 takes a sudden jump by adding a ground ball specialist with the best sinker in the game since former D'Backs ace, Brandon Webb.

By adding Cahill the D'backs add a ton of depth in a rotation that was questionable at the end. I think Cahill is the best pitcher on the D'backs right now, and will likely continue to get better if he can command his sinker a bit better going forward. I tweet'd yesterday that I have been wary of Cahill's health. While watching him in 2012 I noticed a slight difference in both his arm angle and the depth of his sinker. Although he regressed on a statistical end, which was expected, he also gave me warning signs on the eye test. If I'm wrong, which is quite possible, Arizona wins this trade in a vacuum. Reason I say that is because Parker will likely perform significantly better in Oakland than he would in Arizona. The ballpark factor cannot be denied here in Parker's side, much less in Cahill's due to his extreme ground ball splits. I would look to see Cahill back off of the slow breaking curve and use his power sinker a bit more, especially when pitching at home vs. teams with pop.

Parker is your typical scouts dream. He's got big velocity, a change with depth and a slider that was much better prior to Tommy John surgery which may return but if not he can use it as a show me pitch. I don't necessarily see how this trade really benefits anybody other than Arizona, as Cahill is likely to be better than Parker even if only by a small margin, and is cost efficient and we know what he's going to make until 2017. If Parker develops into an ace, Oakland will almost certainly need to move him and move him quickly because they're about the same age, only difference is that Cahill signed a team-friendly extension last season. The prospects given along with Parker aren't of impact, unless Ryan Cook magically learns how to command his breaking ball.

Arizona fans have a lot to be excited about if Cahill is healthy, but I am one of the few out there who isn't exactly sold on that fact. Time will tell.

Dipoto & Moreno bet Angels future on Pujols/Wilson

It was reported two days ago within the course of two hours that the LA Angels had signed both Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. By doing so, they simultaneously declared themselves favorites to win the AL West and pronounce them the "winners" of the 2011-'12 off-season. The buzz on Twitter the moment of the announced signing was intense and opinions varied immediately. Now that we've had time to sit and reflect on the signing, there seems to be a pretty general consensus from talent evaluators that although the Angels will be hurting in the final few years of this deal as Pujols surely will regress, the first 5-6 years of the deal will provide a much needed boost in offense that LA has lacked for several years now.

Arte Moreno passed on several big names (or was outbid) over the past couple of off-seasons. He passed on Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia in 2010, and last year passed up on Carl Crawford and his recently departed #1 starter in John Lackey. By doing so, he has landed the best hitter of my lifetime and arguably the best hitter of all time in Albert Pujols. At 10 years/$254MM, the Angels are betting that within the next 2-3 years they will be a major threat to win the World Series. By signing Wilson to a 6-year $77MM deal, they provided depth in their rotation that is a fearsome group. Not to mention, there are still rumors that they will look to deal defensive wiz Peter Bourjos in order to bolster their bullpen. This would allow Mike Trout to get a full season of solid defense and base-running for Mike Soscia with the potential that he advances with the bat and provides some pop.

With an excellent rotation, and a solid lineup the Angels look like they've leaped ahead of division rival Texas Rangers. Even if Texas goes out and signs Prince Fielder, I'm not sold on their rotation or their bullpen for that matter. Neftali Feliz, although talented, is an arm strength guy at this point in his career and will have some growing pains that will be tough to swallow when the club is built to win now. Texas is hoping that Feliz and Holland develop, and do so quickly otherwise they will not beat the Angels in a 5 or 7 game series.

Let me be clear here: I am not as excited about LA's lineup as others are. There are still holes and aging players  all through the lineup. Pujols will not be put in many situations to win games single-handedly as there is no real offensive threat behind him. Guys like Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells and Bobby Abreu are on the decline and carry heavy salaries. The window is short, and there will be an enormous amount of pressure on Jerry DiPoto to win and win NOW.

The Party Is In Miami

Looks like Will Smith had it right all along when he wrote the hit song some time ago “Welcome to Miami”. The Miami Marlins have made the biggest splashes of the offseason thus far by inking Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle to long term deals. Reyes’ deal is a backloaded contract to ease the transition of payroll down in Miami and to allow more payroll flexibility this winter. There is no questioning Reyes’ talent, as he is one of the most productive threats in the game while on the field. That has been just it, keeping him on the field, as Reyes has been know to be a bit injury prone over the duration of his career. Most recently encountering hamstring issues that popped back up for a second time during the 2011 season.

All the drama lately has been surrounding not the Reyes signing, but the fact that Miami reportedly never consulted incumbent SS and uber-talented Hanley Ramirez about an inevitable defensive position change. It’s quite obvious that Reyes is both the current and future better defensive player, so a signing of Reyes was an automatic assumption that Ramirez was moving off of the position. There were reports last night that Ramirez was quoted by a friend that he did not want to move off the position, and may have requested a trade. By all counts this is a disaster if true. One thing is for sure: If Hanley requested a trade, the Marlins will have to make it happen. He hasn’t been exactly a model player from an effort standpoint already, never mind an unhappy player who doesn’t want to be there. Also, other GM’s will smell blood in the water and try to give as minimal as possible knowing Miami is in a tough spot since they’re trying to win NOW and will be forced to make the move rather than play out the market.

With the signing of Buehrle, the Marlins get a guy who’s going to give them some type of assurance. Josh Johnson has had health problems for the past two seasons in his shoulder, a bad spot for a pitcher to have issues. At this point, the elbow is something you see a high success rate of return following surgery. The shoulder is a completely different story, and from what I’ve read on shoulder injuries, they’re often a reflection of another injury in the elbow, and the shoulder gets injured trying to overcompensate. If Johnson comes back healthy and pitches 200-innings this year, Miami will be a lot deeper with guys like Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco pitching in the spots they should be, as 3 & 4’s rather than 2’s and 3’s. There’s also the chance that Miami goes and acquires CJ Wilson, which I would like to see. It just costs money, and Miami won’t have to dip into their talent pool to fill the spot. Even without another addition, Miami is in a much better position to succeed with Reyes and Buehrle assuming Hanley can get over himself and prove that his prime years are worth all of the hype.