Winter Meetings, Day 4

I am very excited right now, although it has nothing to do directly with baseball.

I was IM'ing with a friend that I used to play ultimate frisbee with and he has a blog website that he writes on. So I thought to myself, "This could be a good catalyst for what I want to start doing." Anyways, I asked him what the site was all about and it was perfect. I got logged in and transferred my previous posts over and BAM!, I have a website. Thanks Jake.

Once I was all set up I took a shower and started reading from my sources. There has been a few new developments this afternoon as well as some previous issues I remembered I wanted to touch on.

The Rule 5 draft has started today. The Rule 5, in a nutshell, helps balance the minor league system a little bit. A team can pick any minor league player who is not currently protected by a MLB 40-man roster. There is a price for this player though. The pick costs $50,000, and if the player does not remain on the selecting team's MLB roster all year, they have to be offered back to the original team at half price. This draft is not to be mistaken with the Rule 4 draft otherwise known as "The Draft" or "Amateur Draft".

The Astros made another addition, signing third basemen Pedro Feliz to a one-year deal at $4.5m. He's making and additional $5m from the Phillies after having his contract bought out. The Astros seem to be spending more than they implied they had in payroll. The signing also led me to remember Placido Polanco was signed by the Phillies to replace Feliz at third. Polanco played second base for the Tigers the last few years. I did not know he could play third, but apparently the Phillies did and the signed him to three years at a tune of $18m. I thought he'd get more.

The Rangers and Red Sox are discussing a deal that would send Mike Lowell and nearly 3/4 of his salary($9m) for minor league catcher Max Ramirez. Lowell is coming off injuries and has a big contract. He mentioned earlier this month he would switch from third base to first and could also DH for the Rangers. The Red Sox need catching depth and have the extra money to send out for the trade to happen. I'm a little torn on this idea. Yes, they need the catching depth, but no, they don't need to trade Lowell to get it. He only has one more year on his contract and was pretty productive even though he was injured.

The Red Sox might be looking at Adrien Beltre for a third base option if the trade does indeed go down. Beltre is coming off a down-year offensively but has a great glove. I feel they're better off moving Kevin Youkilis to third and making the blockbuster trade for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres. Although, I wouldn't agree if it means sending no-hit wonder Clay Buccholz to get him. But, the Sox have managed to make some trades that didn't involve him so we shall see.

Speaking of the Red Sox, they signed Marco Scuturo to a two-year $12.5m deal with a mutual option for 2012 a week ago. Great sign for both, Scuturo gets to starting gig after a great year in Toronto and the Sox get a good bat at shortstop who can still go get the ball. Today, they acquired Boof Bonser from the Twins for a player to be named later, most likely an A or AA player.

"The Fanatic"