The Futility Infielder

Last year, at the encouragement of Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll, Alex Belth and I headed to New Orleans for baseball's Winter Meetings. We were unlikely prospects to crash Major League Baseball's December soiree, but three days of schmoozing and networking with other writers in the hotel lobby ultimately led the two of us to conclude that an enterprising blogger could find a nice little niche amidst baseball's movers and shakers. Bending elbows on Bourbon Street and playing poker with some of our Baseball Prospectus pals added a colorful touch to the proceedings; recall that for a brief, shining moment, I owned BP thanks to a few lucky hands at the table.

When the prospect of coming out to Anaheim for this year's meetings reared its head, I didn't hesitate, even with the knowledge that my Bronx-based partner in crime wouldn't make the trip, and that the Magic Kingdom is the polar opposite of the Big Easy when it comes to a backdrop, sanitized suburbia compared to N'Awlins' Sodom and Gomorrah. At least I wasn't lacking for a traveling companion, as Alex Ciepley chose to come. Alex and I flew out of Newark International on Friday and rendezvoused at LAX with Will, Mariner Musings' Peter White, and All-Baseball's tech guru Ken Arneson (a/k/a the poet laureate of the blogosphere, the Score Bard). We bused it to a hotel in Anaheim that's a five-minute walk to the Marriot, where it's all going down.

It's a strange kind of fun, mingling among the traditional media and front-office executives while chatting with my All-Baseball and BP peers. Guys ogling other guys as they talk to other guys about other guys? It'd be completely weird if it wasn't about baseball, but it adds up to a fascinating immersion, especially if you're willing to listen to the people smarter than you.

The Anaheim Marriott lobby is much smaller than last year's venue. People are more densely packed, practically on top of each other unless they spill into the bar or down the hallway. Making a loop around the room -- what we do when the conversations lull -- ultimately isn't as fruitful; there are fewer surprises lurking around each corner.

But there are plenty of familiar faces to be recognized. Lou Piniella, Reggie Jackson, Jack McKeon (his cigar wafting in through the front door), Brian Cashman (allowed to make the trip this year), Omar Minaya, Felipe Alou, J. P. Ricciardi, Tony Perez, Tony Pena, Ozzie Guillen, Peter Gammons (again wearing sneakers with his khakis), ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, SI's Tom Verducci, the Times' Jack Curry, and of course the respendent Tracy Ringolsby, looking like a rodeo escapee with his cowboy hat, bolo tie, and a belt buckle big enough to function as a serving plate. The smaller venue gives Ringolsby much less room to pace, perhaps limiting his special calf-roping powers.

One of the first I saw on Friday afternoon was that of Tommy Lasorda, muttering to himself as he swaggered about the room. I tried to snap off a discreet shot with my camera's phone but ultimately got only his back and forgot to save the damn thing. I also talked myself out of just going up to shake his hand as he was unoccupied for a brief moment. Note to self: pack more chutzpah.

To the deals and rumors, which are the stuff of the meetings...

• I wrangled a media credential from... well, let's just say that a hobo sold it to me for a tin of beans and leave it at that. Armed with my credential, I attended the press conference where the Angels announced the signing of Steve Finley for two years ($14 million, I believe) with a team option for a third year. Press conferences are just as banal in person as they are on TV; this kind exists for that photo op of the player trying on the new team's jersey and cap. The 39-year-old Finley looks in great shape, five or seven years younger than his listed age. More importantly, this signing puts Anaheim out of the Carlos Beltran running; agent Scott Boras says they were never in. A Cubs exec told us that they weren't going to be players in the Carlos Beltran sweepstakes unless they could move Sammy Sosa, which puts the Yankees and the Astros the clearest contenders for Beltran's services.

• David Wells to Boston is a done deal and a steep one. ESPN's report:

Under the terms of the agreement, Wells would receive a $3 million signing bonus and have a base salary of $2.5 million in 2005 and 2006, The Boston Globe reported. He also would have the opportunity to earn an additional $5 million in performance bonuses in each year of the contract. The deal will not be official until Wells passes a physical, reportedly scheduled for Tuesday.

I really wanted to see the Yanks make a play for him, but they've got their priorities and he's not one of them. As for the ramifications, a lefty fly ball pitcher in Fenway Park has 5.00 ERA written all over it; recall that Wells loved to use the fat part of Yankee Stadium -- Death Valley in left-center -- but that's a shot over the Green Monster in his new digs. Caveat emptor.

• On top of the Troy Glaus signing (4 years, $45 mil), Russ Ortiz to the Diamondback at 4 years, $33 million smacks of insanity. The broke get even more broke, and they deserve no better.

• There was a brief rumor that Carl Pavano and Yanks were close, but our sources around the room said no. He is in the house, as they say, and I would be less than surprised at a decision this weekend.

• Jason Varitek is close to returning to Sox via some kind of vesting/opt-out for the 5th year. Vaya con dios.

• Pedro Martinez and the Cardinals is a hot rumor, with St. Louis offering a guaranteed third year. Boston might have solidified their third year as well.

• There's a Tim Hudson/Dodgers rumor going around. The Jeff Kent signing puts LA in a position where they could deal Hee Seop Choi, say, and pitching prospect Edwin Jackson to the A's and play Kent at first. Otherwise, they've got Alex Cora to deal, and while he's a handy player, he doesn't have the upside to carry a big deal. An A's Braves deal that includes Hudson and Marcus Giles floated by as well.

• The Mariners are leading the Adrian Beltre sweepstakes, with an offer that somebody said was along the lines of six years, $70 million. The Dodgers would likely sign Corey Koskie in that event, though I've heard the Blue Jays are interested as well, a move which could either put Eric Hinske at first base (to replace Carlos Delgado) or on the market.

• Shortstop rumors: Orlando Cabrera to the Angels and Edgar Renteria back to the Cardinals.

• BP's Joe Sheehan is apoplectic about the Yanks' Jaret Wright and Tony Womack deals. Everytime somebody mentions either the latter or a possible Tino Martinez signing, he looks as though they're pounding a nail through his foot. Listening to him debate prospects with Baseball America's Kevin Goldstein was one of the evening's more entertaining diversions. Concerning Mariners 18-year-old pitching prospect Felix Hernandez (BA's #1, I think), Joe's banking on more surgeries than major league wins before 21 if memory serves.

• Rich Lederer of Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat treated me and the A-B delegation to a great Mexican dinner while regaling us with tales about his father's time working for the Dodgers in the Koufax era and the Angels during Nolan Ryan's heyday. A big, bold guy, Rich had no hesitation to join the swarm around Scott Boras as the agent held court about his numerous clients. Tape recorder in hand, Rich brough up Angels first-roudner Jered Weaver (Jeff's younger brother) as yet unsigned, and helped the writers fill a few more column inches. Check his great blog entry on yesterday's proceedings.

• A good deal of the info we bloggers and BPers get flows through my roommate for the weekend, Will Carroll, who's got the best sources of anybody I know. Check his BP blogging of the meetings for some more perspective.

I'll be back with more when I get a chance.