Mets Sign Bay; Giants Sign DeRosa

With the holidays, there was a lack of baseball news throughout the week. When Eric Bruntlett signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals, that was the biggest headline in Philadelphia sports. With the new year approaching, a few more moves were made.

The New York Mets signed free agent Jason Bay to a four year, $66 million contract. The Mets were desperately in need of a left fielder. They got one. However, like so many major league contracts, Bay was given too much money.

Bay is a great player, but has been extremely over rated since his departure from Pittsburgh. The money shows.

In addition, Bay was a better fit for Boston. Bay, not known for his defense, will go from a very small left field in Fenway to a very spacious outfield in Citi Field. In addition to potential defensive struggles, Bay's power numbers will go down. Citi Field has taken a damper on home run numbers; just look at David Wright's decrease in home run totals from 2008 to 2009.

In other baseball news, the San Francisco Giants signed Mark DeRosa to a two year, $12 million deal. DeRosa, an extremely versatile player, will likely spend the majority of his playing time at third base, with Pablo Sandoval moving to first. DeRosa may spend time in the outfield as well.

The Giants need a bat badly. DeRosa probably won't be the answer, although he will help a very weak hitting ball club. The Giants have pitching, but if they can improve their hitting, they could be the favorites in the National League West.

There's not much left of the free agent market. Matt Holliday seems to be the only big name remaining. The Cardinals are rumored to have offered him a $100 million contract.

In minor moves, the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Kelly Johnson and the Oakland Athletics signed Justin Duchscherer.

New Team Debuts

Last night, Ken Griffey Jr, Manny Ramirez, and Jason Bay all made their debuts to their new team. They all went pretty well for the most part.

Ken Griffey Jr. made his White Sox debut in Kansas City. The Royals fans even gave him a standing ovation. It seems as almost everywhere he goes, he gets a nice ovation by visiting fans. It shows what kind of respect this man gets, as one of the best players, and good guys in the game.

Griffey started the night playing center field. He batted 7th in the White Sox already potent lineup. Griffey went 2-3 with a walk in his debut. He also drove in two runs, the difference in the game, as the White Sox won 4-2.

The Manny Ramirez era started in Los Angeles. In his first at bat, Manny also received in ovation from the Dodger fans. Manny went 2-4 in his debut. In the bottom of the 9th, things were set up perfectly for Manny. Down 1, runner on first, no outs. However, instead of being the hero, he grounded into a double play. The Dodgers would lose 2-1 to the Diamondbacks.

Jason Bay had the best ovation of the three. He walked to the plate with Red Sox fans cheering. Bay had a huge smile on his face, and tipped his helmet.

Bay went 1-3 with 2 walks. But that 1 hit was the biggest hit of the night. The game was tied at one in the 12th inning. Bay hit a two out triple off the the top of the Green Monster. Two batters later, Jed Lowrie hit a little bleeder up the middle. A do or die play, the pay was not made, and Bay scored the winning run. Bay scored both of the Red Sox two runs as they beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1.

Some other notable positive debuts in their first game with their new teams would include, CC Sabathia, Rich Harden, Casey Blake, and Ivan Rodriguez.

The Deadline

The baseball soap opera is over. The trade deadline. Some deals were made, while others were not. It's after 4:00 PM EST. Some last minute trades pulled through. More may come. I've waited to the last second to publish this to make sure every move would be included. If anything else comes in, I will be sure to edit. I've already have edited as many times as I refreshed MLBtraderumors.com.

Leading off, Manny Ramirez was not traded to the Marlins in a three way deal. In the deal, the Marlins would receive Manny and cash. The Red Sox would receive Jason Bay and John Grabow. Jermey Hermida would go to the Pirates. Manny approved the trade, but the deal became dead.. twice. The deal was off and on until the very last minute of the deadline.

However, that didn't mean Jason Bay would stay put. At least it looked that way for a while. Jason Bay was almost traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for prospects Reid Brignac and Jeff Neimann.

However, the Rays didn't want to give up those prospects, and the deal did not fall through. It's a shame for the Rays, because it could of been a steal. The Pirates were looking for 4 prospects for Bay, and the Rays would of only gave up 2. They must really see something in those 2 prospects.

Hold your horses. Bay and Manny are involved in a trade that is official, according to Sports Illustrated. The Pirates and Red Sox are involved, but not the Marlins. Instead, its the little engine that could.. the Dodgers.

The Dodgers will get Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox will get Jason Bay. The Pirates will get Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris from the Dodgers. They will also get Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen from the Red Sox. The Red Sox will also pay part of Manny's remaining salary on his contract.

The Red Sox gave up a lot for just Bay. Bay's a good player and all, but they gave up one of the best outfielders in the game and 2 prospects, and only got Bay in return.

Raul Ibanez was almost traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Seattle had second thoughts, and back out. It would have been a 2-for-1 exchange, involving major league players.

No Manny doesn't mean the Marlins would stop looking for more players. All Phillies fans can take a deep breathe now. Not just because it means no Manny for the Fish, but also because we don't have to worry about the Phillies acquiring Arthur Rhodes. The Marlins took care of that by acquiring the lefty in exchange for prospect Gabby Hernandez.

The White Sox acquired future Hall of Famer, Ken Griffey Jr. from the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds will receive Danny Richar and Nick Masset in return.

Griffey being traded was bound to happen. But to the White Sox? The White Sox already have Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye at the corners in the outfield. Nick Swisher plays first base and center field. Jim Thome is the DH. Paul Konerko, who is struggling, plays first base. So, where are the White Sox going to play Griffey? They need to find a place to put the future Hall of Famer without sitting some of their other star players. The chances are Griffey moves back to center field. With Konerko struggling, another idea is move Thome to first base and DH Griffey.

All the teams had different interest in different players, but no other deals worked out.

As for Pat Gillick and the Phillies, looks like they "Stand Pat" again. Look for a Front Office Blog post in the future.