Kuzul

The 2012 offseason has brought huge changes to the major league landscape.Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, CJ Wilson and Jose Reyes among others signed with other teams while big names such as Gio Gonzalez, Michael Pineda and Andrew Bailey were traded. The Japanese phenom Yu Darvish also found a home in Texas.Ryan Braun will also likely be suspended for 50 games due to a positive PED test and a new rookie class led by the Tampa Bay Rays Matt Moore will burst onto the scene.How did these changes, and more, switch up the power rankings?Let's find out.Note: When I list major offseason moves I will not list re-signings or players that have yet to sign.Begin Slideshow

The MLB offseason is slowly coming to a close with spring training just around the corner—but that doesn't mean there aren't some good free agents left on the market.Right now is the time for teams to make that one last signing in order to push them over the edge; he may not be a big name, but he may come up with a key hit or strikeout at some point in the season. That's why it's so important to keep hunting for the best players up until the first pitch of the 2012 season.Let's take a look at some of the best players still available. Begin Slideshow

As the two marquee players available in this year's MLB free-agent market, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder figured to cash in mightily once they received a favorable contract offer and signed upon the dotted line.Both career-long members of their respective clubs, the two sluggers have built impressive resumes for which they were paid handsomely by their new clubs.Pujols, a modern legend during his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, has produced Hall of Fame caliber numbers through his first 11 seasons as a major leaguer. Even a cursory glance at his career statistics is enough to recognize the staggering nature of his greatness.Fielder, though not quite on the same tier as Pujols, has proved to be incredibly durable and has become one of the game's most-feared power threats. His combination of sheer power, plate discipline and durability is rather formidable. It was once unthinkable that Pujols would ever leave St. Louis, ...

Brad Lidge was signed by the Washington Nationals this week for a million dollars over one season. A bargain compared to what some closers have picked up during this offseason. But did the Nationals make the right move? The role of closer in Major League Baseball has evolved over the last few years into an elite spot on the roster, worthy of much talk, praise and big, fat contracts. But statistically, and historically, it simply doesn't make any sense. Evidence such as this study from 2004 by David W. Smith indicates that teams that have held a lead after eight innings have won their games 95 per cent of the time. This has held true throughout the history of baseball. In fact, the worst record he could find in a century of numbers was the 1978 Seattle Mariners, who still sealed the deal in the ninth 80.4 percent of the time. This off-season has seen a bunch of ...

As reported over the past few days, it is now confirmed that now former Red Sox shortstop, Marco Scutaro will be headed to the Colorado Rockies, according to ESPNBoston. The Rockies look like they've found their solution at second base.Scutaro, who is 36 years old, has been on the Red Sox since 2010. He has proven to be a very consistent part of the bottom of their lineup, hitting .275 in 2010 and .299 in 2011, Scutaro's option was supposedly picked up from Boston, meaning he'd have earned $6 million in 2012.However, it seems that Ben Cherington had other plans. Thus, the Rockies found their man.In return, the Boston Red Sox acquired a former first-round sandwich draft pick in 2007, Clayton Mortensen. Mortensen, in three MLB seasons, has a career earned run average of 5.12 to go with a 4-8 record. He's coming off of a 2-4 record with a ...

Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington made another trade this evening including shortstop Marco Scutaro. The Red Sox are sending Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for Clayton Mortensen in order to clear up cap space, confirmed by Jim Bowden.The deal allows Boston to go after more starting pitching help since Scutaro was owed $6 million this upcoming season. The initial reaction from Bowden is that Cherington will use this money to pursue Roy Oswalt.Adding Oswalt would be an upgrade to a weak starting rotation, but now there is a huge gap at shortstop. The Red Sox traded Jed Lowrie to the Houston Astros to acquire reliever Mark Melancon earlier this offseason.According to Gordon Edes, Boston feels comfortable using Mike Aviles and Nick Punto at short until prospect Jose Iglesias is ready to be called up. However, Bowden has just reported that Iglesias isn't close to being ready and that Aviles ...

Headed into the 2011-12 offseason, the biggest need of the Boston Red Sox was starting pitching. With the way the pitching staff performed down the stretch in September, it was clear change needed to happen.But, to this point, the Red Sox have not done much to address the hole in their roster. Two underwhelming pitchers, Aaron Cook and Vicente Padilla, have been signed to minor league deals but neither should have an impact on the starting rotation in 2012 barring any major injuries.Cook started 17 games in 2011 for the Colorado Rockies with a 6.03 ERA and 3-10 record. Padilla pitched just 8.2 innings in 2011 for the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 4.15 ERA.Neither of the two pitchers is guaranteed a roster spot, and it wouldn't shock anyone if both were left off the major league roster come April. With Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett all expected to be ...

The 2011-2012 offseason is coming to a close. Players like Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, CJ Wilson, Prince Fielder, Yoenis Cespedes and Aramis Ramirez will all cash in but what about the next three years? Who will be a free agent then?Some of these players will get extensions but some will hit the free agent market. Who is in for a big payday in the next three years? Let's find out.I will be using Cot's Contracts for player's contracts.* denotes a player with a team, player or vesting optionBegin Slideshow

After several months of speculation leading to the assumption that starting pitcher Joe Saunders and the Arizona Diamondbacks had parted ways, the two sides have agreed on a one-year contract, much to everyone's surprise.Under the terms of the unlikely deal, Saunders will earn $6 million for his services in 2012, rejoining a Diamondbacks team that had reshuffled their pitching staff in the wake of what initially appeared to be Saunders' departure.Instead, Saunders joins returning cast members Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Josh Collmenter, while welcoming Wade Miley and Trevor Bauer from the minor leagues and Trevor Cahill from the Oakland Athletics.The unlikely reunion of Arizona and Saunders is likely due to both parties' collective inability to secure greater deals with others than they were able to with one another.When the Diamondbacks offered Saunders a two-year, $12 million contract in December, he rejected the offer, wishing to explore the free agent ...

It's been 24 hours since the Yankees made by far one of the biggest splashes of the winter. From the moment the season ended until last night, they were extremely quiet and we all wondered if they would make a single move. My gut was telling me that Yankees GM Brian Cashman was going "as is" for 2012. And then, everything changed, and Cashman was just waiting for the right time. First, he traded catcher Jesus Montero and pitcher Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for right-handed starter Michael Pineda. Pineda is a 22-year-old strikeout pitcher with a bright future ahead of him. Just after that trade shook the baseball world, the Yankees then turned around and brought in former Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year, $10 million deal. Kuroda is an innings eater and very durable, plus he gives the Yankees a ton of depth in the rotation. ...