Day 1 of the 2009 Winter Baseball Meetings is in the books, and Day #2 is ahead of us. Day #1 highlights included Ivan Rodriguez signing with the Washington Nationals and Brad Penny signing a 1 year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Except for those two, there were not any other big names being moved around. Here are my top 5 predictions for what you should expect today:
1. The catcher carousel is on the move. Yesterday’s signing of Pudge Rodriguez got all the other teams a little antsy to make a move. The remaining teams that have a need of veteran backstop help include the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and New York Mets. Free agents and those likely to be traded include: Bengie Molina, Yorvit Torrealba, Miguel Olivo, Jason Kendall, Rod Barajas and Ryan Doumit. Expect for the movement to start slow and then suddenly escalate as players and teams come to agreement and the pool of available catchers dwindles.
2. 3 way blockbuster trade between Yankees, Diamondbacks and Tigers will occur. All three teams are itching to make a move. As long as the numbers can come out even then expect this trade to happen.
3. A big name will be moved today (and his name is NOT Roy Halladay). The Halladay trade has too many complexities involved. The Blue Jays want a king’s ransom of prospects, and no team is willing to give that up unless they can secure a long term deal with Halladay. I do expect a big name to be moved today. Candidates include pitcher Kevin Millwood, pitcher Derek Lowe and outfielder Alfonso Soriano.
4. A mega contract will be signed today. The likely candidates include Jason Bay and Matt Holliday. Expect one of these guys to sign a deal today that will take of them and their great-great-great-great grandchildren.
5. Milton Bradley will steal the show by landing in Kansas City. He’s been linked with Kansas City and Tampa Bay. My gut tells me that Kansas City will swap Gil Meche’s heafty contract for the troublesome outfielder Bradley.
