Winter meetings are certainly not boring…

The latest trade rumor to come from the winter meetings in Nashville is being reported by Peter Gammons. It involves the Tigers and the Marlins. The proposed deal is for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. The Marlins would get a plethora of prospects in this package. Can you imagine that offense? Start with Granderson and Polanco, then hit Ordonez, Cabrera and Sheffield. Wow. That is serious power. Scary power. And if Willis can return to form, that would be a significant improvement to the rotation. I guess we’ll have to pay more attention to this one as the meetings continue.

Varejao signs contract with Bobcats

Anderson Varejao has inked a deal with the Charlotte Bobcats. The Cavs now have one week to match, or the wild-haired one is free to leave.

Credit Cleveland Sports Authority with the first scoop on this one. It seems the Bobcats have tendered a three year, $17.4 million dollar deal. The contract reportedly has an opt-out clause after 2 seasons. So the big question now, is whether or not the Cavaliers will match. $5.8 million per season is much higher than the Cavaliers have been offering their 6th man, but it also well short of the $8 million per that Anderson’s agent had offered the Cavs, and for half the years.

Do the Cavs have that much room left on the books? If they do, (and I imagine that would mean the mid-level exemption) it would be hard to imagine that they wouldn’t match. The Cavs can desperately use Varejao’s energy and defense. It is hard to imagine them as a Championship caliber team without him. He is a valuable piece, but not if he ties the Cavaliers’ hands for years to come. This deal seems to be the right amount. Let’s get it done and move on with the season.

Seems like the Charlotte Observer has an additional take on this story. Rick Bonnell seems to think this could be a favor for agent Dan Fegan to move the process along. Not that the Bobcats wouldn’t like to have Anderson, but it seems they are figuring the Cavs will indeed match.

Indians continue to pursue Jason Bay

We’ve mentioned this before, but it seems that talks are heating up at the winter meetings between the Indians and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The names involved for the Indians are Cliff Lee and Kelly Shoppach. This report is from MLB.com. Here is one from ESPN.com (scroll down to 3:09).

As I said previously, I would give up Lee and Shoppach for Bay. He is certainly worth that type of investment. If that deal is made I wonder what might happen to the surplus of outfielders we have? Certainly there would be no need for Nixon, Michaels, Gutierrez and Francisco. I would assume that Franklin has the upper hand for the RF job. Perhaps you keep Michaels around for his experience? I would say that Nixon and his salary would be more likely to be released. Ben Francisco would probably start the season at Buffalo. Here’s hoping Shapiro can get this deal done. Maybe he throws Michaels in the deal and gets a prospect in return? Keep an eye on this one.

A Tale of Two Halves

Pat checks in with a report on the Ohio State basketball team.

 

Last week the young Buckeyes basketball team went through a tough pre-conference stretch. After finishing as runners-up in the pre-season NIT the Ohio State men’s basketball team was scheduled to play #1 North Carolina and #16 Butler at the historic Hinkle Field House.

To say that the Buckeyes finished as runners -up is simply nice. After playing a great semi-final game over then ranked #25 Syracuse, the young Bucks laid an egg in the championship game against Texas A&M, on one of the worlds biggest stages, Madison Square Garden, in New York City.