Cardinals land Heyward, in blockbuster move

After the death of future star Oscar Taveras, the Cardinals were in search of a new need for their 2015 team. A starting right-fielder, which last season combined the Cardinals at that position hit .237.  They found one on Monday when they traded starting pitcher Shelby Miller and pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins to the Atlanta Braves for right-fielder Jason Heyward and relief pitcher Jordan Walden. Heyward is the best right-fielder not named Giancarlo Stanton.

The Braves brought him up when he was 20-years-old, back in 2010. That season he ended up an All-Star in his first MLB season, and hit 18 home runs with 72 rbi's. After 2010, he pretty much has battled injuries. In 2012, he re-found his power though and hit 28 home runs with 82 rbi's. Last season, he seemed to show some flashes of being healthy again playing in 149 games (his most since 2012, when he play 158). His power may not have been there much last season, but he did show signs of speed stealing twenty bases, and hitting again .271. He hit only 11 home runs, which was a career low. He ended up getting 155 hits, his second most in his career.

Heyward right now is 25-years-old and will be a free agent after the 2015 season. Is Heyward starting to re-find his power slowly? I think time will tell, the Braves weren't going to be able to re-sign him. He's won two Gold Glove awards 2012, and 2014. He still is capable of power, and is still young. With Heyward in place the Cardinals should have one of the best defensive outfields again in the MLB.

His career stats in five seasons are: 681 games played, .262 batting average, 367 runs, 644 hits, 84 home runs, 292 rbi's, and 63 stolen bases.

What does Walden add? He looks like he will replace current free agent Pat Neshek. Walden has two more years of team control, and is 27-years-old. He's a former closer for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, back in 2011, when he saved 32 games. He was an All-Star that season. He's been known to be a shutdown guy in late innings. Last season, he had an era of 2.88, with 3 saves and 20 holds.

His career stats in five seasons are: 231 games, 12 wins, 13 losses, 211.2 innings pitched, 38 saves, 254 strikeouts, 3.10 era, and a whip of 1.23.

To me it looks like a good move for both teams. The Braves needed pitching, and the Cardinals needed a starting right-fielder. Will there be a winner in this trade? To me time will tell, if Heyward isn't kept then the Braves are clear winners. I think the Cardinals wouldn't trade for Heyward if they didn't think that they could re-sign him beyond 2015.  And in Walden the Cardinals have someone who can close, if closer Trevor Rosenthal needs a day off.

Orioles and Hardy agree to contract extension

The Baltimore Orioles and shortstop J.J. Hardy agreed to a three-year contract extension, which includes an option for the 2018 season. The contract is worth $40 million. Hardy, 32, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2001 MLB draft, he was picked 56th overall. He would play five season for the Brewers, from 2005-2009.

In the offseason heading into the 2010 season, the Brewers traded Hardy to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez. He would only spend one season playing for the Twins, before being traded to the Orioles for minor league pitchers Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson. It's safe to say that Hardy ended up finding a home in Baltimore after being traded by the Twins.

2011 was his fist full season with the Orioles, and he ended up hitting .269, with 30 home runs and 80 rbi's. He's won two gold gloves with the Orioles, in 2012 and last season 2013. He's also been an All-Star two times in his career 2007, and 2013.

This season, Hardy's power has dropped. It's the first time in three seasons, he didn't hit 20 or home runs. Instead, he hit .268, with 9 home runs, and 52 rbi's. His defense has still been there though, he led all American League shortstops in defensive value (20.4) and defensive runs saved (10).

He's a great player for the Orioles to make sure they have kept, he's proven to be one of their leaders on defense and at times with his offense.

Overall Hardy has played ten seasons in the MLB. His career stats are: 1,259 games played, .261 batting average, 1,234 hits, 606 runs scored, 167 home runs, and 579 rbi's.

If he had it free agency this
December, Hardy could have been one of the most target free agents.

Cardinals land John Lackey from Boston

On Thursday the Cardinals were busy on trade deadline day. They picked up starting pitcher John Lackey from the Boston Red Sox, along with prospect LHP Corey Littrell for right fielder Allen Craig and starting pitcher Joe Kelly. I'll get to Lackey and the others soon. As for Littrell he seems like a good pitcher for depth, he's young and right now in 19 games and 18 starts he's 5-5 with an era of 3.60, he's pitched 100 innings in his seconds minor league season. He has 91 strikeouts and 38 walks. In his future he could be best as a middle reliever or a back end of the rotation type of guy. That's if he reaches the MLB, his stats seem like he has a chance.

Littrell can reach 89-92 on the radar gun, besides his fastball; he throws a curveball, cutter, and a change up. He was ranked the the Red Sox 36th best prospect at the time of the trade.

As for John Lackey, the Cardinals get a starter who has been a big game pitcher in his career, he's not scared to speak his mind. He'll battle on the mound. In 2013, Lackey became the only starter to win to clinching World Series games for two different teams (the Los Angeles Angels in 2002, and Boston Red Sox 2013). The Red Sox signed Lackey as a free agent in December, 2009. The contract was a five-year deal worth $82.5 million. In the contract the Red Sox put a clause in his deal that said if he missed any season due to an injury, they'd have a club option for $500,000 in 2015.

He would later end up having Tommy John surgery and ended up missing the 2012 season. He was able to pitch his way back after having Tommy John surgery. So, he's strikeouts always have been about the same in his career, except for the 2011 season. He also gets lots of credit from people for the Red Sox success in 2013.

Now for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. It's sad to see both leave. We all need to know that in sports it's always a business. So fan favorites who mean a lot to a team do get traded. Just because they get traded doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Craig was one of the best RBI' machines over the last couple of years. For whatever reason his power seems to be on the decline. And the Cardinals have someone named Oscar Taveras who has been waiting to play full-time.

Taveras mastered triple-A, so why send him to back to Memphis, when there's pretty much nothing left for him to learn? If you had been in a GM shoes what would you all have done if you had to find playing time for Taveras in the MLB? The Cardinals weren't going to trade him, even though there were rumors about him being traded. There's always rumors, teams even wanted Matt Adams? Would you have traded Adams, who's the Cardinals best hitter? I wouldn't have.

I hope Craig does well in Boston, I wish him luck. It's time for Oscar Taveras to play full-time, he has it in him to be a good player. Any GM would have been in a hard situation deciding what to do with both Taveras and Craig. In the end both are starting, so that should be good for both players.

Joe Kelly he's young, but still learning and can improve. Why did the Cardinals trade him you might ask? Easy, they wanted to upgrade their rotation. They need pitchers who can eat innings if they want to make the playoffs. Ever since Michael Wacha got injured and landed on DL, pitchers not named Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn haven't been going deep into innings. That has made the bullpen become overworked. You don't need a bullpen overworked, when trying to get a playoff spot.

Kelly can help the Red Sox, it was kind of like spring training again for him though. And that's because he's just getting off the DL, and refinding his pitches. He was getting killed in his last four starts, with an era of 7.32 combined for those starts. So, does it make sense to let Kelly stay starting or find pitching who can help make the playoffs or decide to tank it and miss the playoffs?

In Lackey, they get a proven starter who can eat innings and at this point is better than Kelly. Would I have liked to see Kelly stay? Yes I would have. But the Cardinals goal is to always make the playoffs isn't that the goal every season? After all no one knows what will happen in the playoffs once a team gets in. This team have the offense to scoring runs, and can hit. I think the team needed a wake up call somehow and someway. Teams need wake up calls at times, even if it means shaking up the roster.
Allen Craig had been struggling. And didn't seem to be helping the team much, when given chances to see if he could bounce back. Maybe it's because he needs a new team to refind his power. If that's the case, Craig should do well in Boston.

In the end we can be glad the Cardinals are trying to do their best to make the playoffs. And trying to fix one of their main problems which has been starting pitching, ever since Wacha landed on the DL. Keep in mind the rest of the teams like the Pirates and Brewers didn't do much to try to improve, even though the Brewers got a nice player in Gerardo Parra. Other than that the other teams didn't improve. I think those teams sent a message that the trade market is too high.

And if the Cardinals need to add a little offense they still can make a trade in offense, which I could see happening. That's if teams prices drop on players. A lot of the reason to why prices are so high on players is because there are two wild cards now, so there are lots of teams who think they can make a playoff push. So teams now days tend to want to play it out and see if they can make a playoff push.

Just to name a few August trades from the past who ended up helping the team are: John Axford, Larry Walker, and Woody Williams. At least the Cardinals didn't panic and trade the farm for a rental for a few months. When there's no guarantee that the player would stay. And you don't want to give up a prospect you could regret in the future, Micheal Brantley is a perfect example of that who comes to mind. I'm sure the Brewers wish they never traded him.

All in all this should turn out to be a good trade for both teams. The Cardinals also have a ton of pitching depth who could be ready for the MLB soon. One of those pitchers who isn't far off is Marco Gonzales, just to name one of them.

Jori Lehtera leaves KHL, signs with Blues

Finland native, center Jori Lehtera, has signed a two-year contract with the St. Louis Blues. He'll make $5.5 million over those two years. Lehtera, 26, was drafted by the Blues in the 2008 NHL draft in the 3rd round, and was picked 65th overall. He had a short stent in the Blues minors in 2008-2009, for then the Peoria Rivermen. He played in 7 games for them and recorded an assist. That season they made the playoffs, and he played 7 games in their playoff run, with 1 goal, and 1 assist, and 2 points. Besides that short stent in North America, he's been playing in the KHL, Russia's top league for hockey.

He's was able to make himself one of the top players in the KHL, while playing for Sibir Novosibirsk. One of his teammates there was current Blues player Vladimir Tarasenko, in 2011-2012. Both had great chemistry playing together, so that should be able to help Lehtera who hasn't played an NHL game yet. He's pretty much player who is high skilled, and is a pass first player. Last season, while playing for Sibir Novosibirsk, he played in 44 games, with 12 goals, 32 assists, 44 points, and was a plus 14. In the playoffs for them, he played in 10 games, getting 6 assists, and 6 points. He made back to back All-Star games while playing in the KHL the last two season.

It sounds like he could center a line with Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. If that line ends up to be true come the start of the NHL season, it could end up being a pretty sweet line to watch.

I'm excited to what Lehtera can do in the NHL once he plays. There's been lots of talk about him before.

Blues make big splash on first day of NHL free agency, land Paul Stastny

The St. Louis Blues have been looking for a number one center for awhile, that that on today when they signed free agent center Paul Stastny. He gets a four-year contract, the deal is worth $28 million. Stastny,28, was drafted by he Colorado Avalanche in the 2005 NHL draft in the 2nd round, picked no.44th overall. His first season in the NHL was in 2006-2007. That season he played in all 82 games, scoring 28 goals, with 50 assists, and 78 points, he finished as a plus 4. He also scored 11 goals on the powerplay that season. He ended up finished second in the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) voting. He's played eight seasons in the NHL, so far he's played in 538 games, 160 goals, 298 assists, 458 points, 47 powerplay goals, 1 shorthanded goal, and is a plus 6. In the playoffs, he's played 22 games, with 8 goals, 10 assists, 18 points, and is a minus 4.

Stastny, made his first NHL All-Star team in 2010-2011. Last season he played for team USA in  Sochi, Russia. He joins current teammates David Backes, T.J. Oshie, and Kevin Shattenkirk who were part of team USA. Shattenkirk also knows Stastny from the Avalanche, before the Avalanche traded him to the Blues a couple of years ago.

He's the son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, who played for the Blues before the end of his career, and is the younger brother of former Blue Yan Stastny (played for the Blues from 2007-2010). He'll become the fifth farther-son combo to play for the Blues in franchise history.

This is a great move by the Blues to start their offseason. The Blues needed a number one center and more offense. They get both in Paul Stastny. Kudos to the Blues for stepping up and landing him.

Blues swap defensemen with Maple Leafs

The St. Louis Blues trade defenseman Roman Polak to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, and the 94th pick in the 2014 NHL draft (Ville Husso). Husso, turned out to be the pick. He was ranked number one for European goalies. Polak was drafted by the Blues in the 2004 NHL draft in the 6th round, overall he was picked 180th. Since Polak's rookie season in 2006-2007, he's played 424 games, with 13 goals, 66 assists, and 79 points in eight seasons and is a minus 7. He's played in 25 playoff games, only has 2 assists, and is a minus 11 in the playoffs.

As for Gunnarsson what does he bring to the Blues? He can control the puck better than Polak can. Both are pretty much similar types of players, except Gunnarsson fits Ken Hitchcock's system on the Blues. Gunnarsson was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the 2007 NHL draft in the 7th round, overall he was picked 194th. His rookie season came in 2009-2010, that year he played in 43 games and scored 3 goals, with 12 assists for 15 points. He lead the Leafs in the plus/minus department with a plus 8.
He was paired with Dion Phaneuf for the Leafs top paring. He looked good making up for Phanuef's mistakes. Last season on a bad Maple Leafs team he finished as a plus 12.

In his career his played five seasons in the NHL so far and has played 304 games, with 15 goals, 71 assists, and 86 points, and is a plus 14. He's played 7 career playoff games, with 1 assist and is a minus 7. 

People liked Polak a lot, they'll tend to like Gunnarsson if they give him a chance. Polak made hits and got lots of blocked shots, well guess what? Last season lets compare both Polak had 130 blocked shots, and 151 hits. As for Gunnarsson, he had 176 blocked shots and 166 hits. It's a win-win for both teams if you look at it. Gunnarsson fits Hitchcock's style better, and controls the puck better. The Blues improved their game. That's one improvement into making this team better than last years team so far. Will Jordan Leopold be traded? I could see the Blues trading him to clear cap space and find someone who could fill Polak's role with maybe less playing time in free agency. Both Polak and Gunnarsson are about the same age.

Twins land free agent 1B/DH Kendrys Morales

The Minnesota Twins have signed first basemen/designated hitter Kendrys Morales to a one-year contract. The deal is worth $7.5 million for the rest of the 2014 season. Morales played for the Seattle Mariners in 2013, after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim traded him to Seattle in December 2012. He's played seven seasons in the MLB, after making his debut on May 23,2006. It would be nine seasons, but he injured himself on a walk-off grand slam in 2010 and missed all of the 2011 season recovering from his injury.

Morales' best season came in 2009, when he played 152, hitting .306, 173 hits, 43 doubles, 86 runs scored, 2 triples, 34 home runs, and 108 rbi's. In 2013, for the Mariners, he had his best season since 2009. He hit .277, with 23 home runs, and 80 rbi's.

His career stats are: 620 games played, 622 hits, 130 doubles, 280 runs scored, 4 triples, 4 stolen bases, 345 rbi's, and a career batting average of .280.

I like the move a lot for the Twins, they seem to be playing a lot better than people excepted them right now coming into the season. They get a power bat in their line up in Morales, who is capable of driving in runs.

Brian Elliott re-signs with Blues

The St. Louis Blues have re-signed goalie Brian Elliot to a three-year contract. The deal is worth $7.5 million in his new contract. Elliott 29,
would have become a free agent on July 1st. He signed with the Blues as a a free agent back in July, 2011. At the time he almost found himself out of the NHL. He was able to re-find his career with the Blues, beating out former Blues goalie Ben Bishop for the back up behind then goalie Jaroslav Halak (now with the New York Islanders). Bishop did better in camp than Elliott, but the Blues chose Elliott because he had more NHL experience.

Elliott went to the NHL All-Star game in 2012. He also won the Jennings Trophy from the 2011-2012 season, that award goes to the goalies who's team has the fewest goals scored against them. So, Halak won that with Elliott.

Before joining the Blues, Elliott played for the Ottawa Senators and the Colorado Avalanche. As a Blues goalie, Elliott is 55-24-7, and is tied for second for most shutouts in franchise history with 16. His career stats over his seven year career in the NHL are: 245 games played, 116 wins, 77 losses, 23 overtime losses, and 28 shutouts. Over that time his saver percentage is .910 and his goals against is 2.48. Elliott has come along way after going 15-27-9 with 1 shutout in the 2010-2011 season between the Senators and Avalanche.

I like the move a lot by the Blues. The Blues now know who their goalies will be for next season, Jake Allen and Brian Elliott. Allen should be the no.1 overtime, but both will share time first.

Cardinals sign shortstop Aledmys Diaz

The St. Louis Cardinals have been wanting to expand their market into Cuba and Asia. Well, on Sunday afternoon they did just that by signing Cuban free agent shortstop Aledmys Diaz.  Diaz, 23, gets a four-year contract. The deal looks like it's worth $15-$20 million, even though there's no official word on the terms of the contract.

Lots of MLB teams scouted Diaz, who was suspended for a year after he lied about his age. In his last season in Cuba, he hit .315 with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 270 at bats. There are teams who think that Diaz is better off playing second base. Diaz, views himself as a shortstop, but he can also play second base and third base. One of the things teams have liked about him most is the power that he is capable of producing when he's in a line-up. There are some mixed reports about his defense. That's one reason why there are teams who think he's better off playing second base in the long run. I guess the Cardinals will find out where he fits better. The Cardinals seem to do well with players who can play multi-positions.

In signing Diaz, the Cardinals get infield depth and maybe a starting shortstop for the future. He'll start out in the minors in 2014 and work his way up the the MLB. As of right now it looks like he'll be at double A Springfield or triple A Memphis. He'll be in Cardinals camp on Monday in Jupiter, FL. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny plans to get him in games right away to see where he is. The signing looks like it could be a win-win for both Diaz and the Cardinals.

Matt Carpenter lands six-year extension with Cardinals

The Cardinals have signed third-baseman Matt Carpenter to a six-year extension. Carpenter's new deal is worth $52 million and includes an option for the 2020 season. The option is for the 2020 season is worth $18.5 million.The deal buys out the first two years of free agency for Carpenter, and gets rid of all three of his arbitration years. Carpenter, 28, has played three seasons in the MLB. He's improved himself as a player since being draft by the Cardinals in the 2009 MLB draft.

Last season, Carpenter had a break out year for himself. He played in 157 games and hit .318 in 2013, with 126 runs scored, 199 hits, 55 doubles, 7 triples, 11 home runs, and 78 rbi's. The 55 doubles broke a record for a left-handed batter in franchise history that was held by Stan Musial. The record had been 53 doubles by Musial in the 1953 season. Carpenter ended up an All-Star for the first time in 2013, and won a Silver Slugger Award (which goes to the best offensive players at each position in both the American League and National League). It marked the first time in Cardinals history that a second baseman won a Silver Slugger Award. He also finished fourth in NL MVP voting.

So far in Carpenter's thee year career his stats are: 278 games played, .937 at bats, 306 batting average, 170 runs, 287 hits, 78 doubles, 12 triples, 17 home runs, 124 rbi's, and 4 stolen bases.

The deal for Carpenter looks like it could end up being a bargain for the Cardinals. A lot of that depends if Carpenter can improve from 2013 or put up almost same numbers that he did. I think he will be able to improve those stats from 2013. Good move by the Cardinals. I wouldn't be shocked if next in line for an extension is either Shelby Miller, Micheal Wacha, or Trevor Rosenthal.

Blues make splash for playoff push, land Ryan Miller and Steve Ott

The St. Louis Blues wanted to improve their team going into the playoffs, two of their weak spots were with starting goal-tending and grit. And on Friday evening, the Blues were able to do both in one trade. They traded goalie Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, along with a first-round pick in 2015 and a third-round pick in 2016 to the Buffalo Sabers for goalie Ryan Miller and forward Steve Ott.

Miller and Ott could both become free agents after the 2013-2014 season. Miller,33, had played his whole career in Buffalo. until being traded today. In the 2009-2010 season, Ryan Miller won the Vezina Trophy. That award goes to the best goaltender in the NHL. That season, Miller played 69 games and went 41-18-4, with 5 shutouts, and a goals against of 2.22. He's played for team USA two times in the Olympics.

In Miller's twelve years in the NHL, his stats are: 540 games played, 284 wins, 186 losses, 56 (tie/overtime loss), 28 shutouts, 2.60 goals against, .916 save percentage, and 9 assists. His career playoff record is 25-22. Right now Miller, for the 2013-2014 season is 15-22-3. He did the best he could playing behind one of the worst defense's in the NHL. So, coming to the Blues should help improve that record. That's knowing that he's still good and the Blues have a great defense playing in front of him.

Could Ryan Miller end up staying a Blue beyond the season and not just be a rental? Time will tell, but he should be able to help the Blues a lot. He's good at playing the puck, which is something Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak aren't that good at doing.

As for Steve Ott, 31, this is his second time being traded in his career. Ott, started his NHL career for the Dallas Stars in the 2002-2003 season. He was traded by the Stars in July, 2012 to the Buffalo Sabers for center Derek Roy (current Blues player this season). Ott can score some, but he's more known for his hard work and toughness. His best season came back in 2009-2010, when he scored 22. In his elven years in the NHL, his stats are: 673 games played, 103 goals, 161 assists, 264 points, 28 power play goals, 1,318 pentalty minutes, and is a minus 35. Right now Ott has 9 goals, 11 assists, and 20 points in 59 games.

Could Ott remain a Blue after the season? There could be a chance that he does re-sign with the Blues long-term. A lot of that is because he knows Blues GM Doug Armstrong and head coach Ken Hitchcock really well. Ott's best friend is current Blues teammate and former Dallas Stars teammate Brenden Morrow.

I wouldn't want to be one of those teams playing the Blues who has given the Blues trouble in the past couple of playoffs. A lot of that is because of the Blues capability, if they all play up to the level that they can play at, and teams gets two players in both Steve Ott and Maxim Lapierre who are good at getting under players skins. They both are the type of player who you like to have when their on your side, but can't stand when their playing against you. Morrow is that type of player also, but can score more. 

As for me, I like this trade a lot for the Blues. It helps them improve a lot, I thought that if Miller was traded the Sabers would get maybe Dmitrij Jaskin or Ty Rattie. Without the Blues giving one of them up, this trade looks like a big steal for GM Doug Armstrong. For the Sabers part, they needed the draft picks when they're rebuilding their team. And there's already word that both Jaroslav Halak and Chris Stewart might not be Sabers for long.

Orioles make splash, land Ubaldo Jimenez

There still are some top free agents looking for homes, and the Baltimore Orioles landed one of those top free agents who hadn't been signed yet in starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. Jimenez gets a four-year contract, that's worth $50 million. Jimenez, 30, has been in the MLB since September 2006, when he was called up by the Colorado Rockies. He spent all of his seasons with the Rockies until July, 2011 when he was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Alex White, Joe Gardner, Matt McBride, and pitcher Drew Pomeranz.

Jimenez was an All-Star in 2010 while with the Rockies, and pitched their first no hitter in franchise history. In Baltimore, Jimenez joins a starting rotation that includes up and coming star Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, and Miguel Gonzalez. That also includes top pitching prospects in the waiting Kevin Gausman, Zach Britton, Dylan Bundy, and T. J. McFarland.

After being traded to the Indians, Jimenez didn't do that well for them. He looked lost on the Indians and struggled with control. I kind of wonder if he liked it in Colorado too much, and had trouble fully adjusting to being on a new team and in a new city. But in 2013, he seemed re-find his career going 13-9 in 32 starts, 194 strikeouts, while pitching 182.2 innings, with an era of 3.30. His 2013 season was his best on since 2010, when he went 19-8 with an era of 2.88.

Jimenez has played eight seasons in the MLB over those eight seasons, his career record is: 82-75, 212 games, 211 starts, 3.92 era, 1,172 strikeouts, 1275.2 innings pitched, and a whip of 1.35.

It looks like it will be a win-win for the Orioles and Jimenez. They needed a pitcher in their rotation who can help give them innings. Jimenez may not be a CY Young candidate like he was in his early days on the Rockies, but he can still help win games. And pitch in big games if needed. He should be able to help the younger starting pitchers on the Orioles.

Now he'll just need to live up to his contract. Are the Orioles done making moves? I think we'll find out during spring training, if they are done making moves in the offseason. Since there still are two top hitters on the free agent market in Nelson Cruz and Kendry Morales.

Suk-min Yoon lands with Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles have signed free agent pitcher Suk-min Yoon to a three-year contract, that's worth $5.75 million. Yoon, 27, has been playing professional baseball in Korea. He played for the Kia Tigers since April, 2005. He's pitched in both of the two World Baseball Classics in 2009 and in 2013. Yoon, was a three time All-Star in Korea. The three seasons he was an All-Star were in 2008, 2009, and 2011.

He can either be a starting pitcher or work out of the bullpen. He's also won two era titles in 2008 and 2011. In his career from Korea his record is 73-59, with an era of 3.19, 44 saves, 949 strikeouts, and a whip of 1.20 in 1,126.9 innings pitched.

As of right now Yoon is the biggest offseason pick up for the Orioles. It looks like it might could end up being a great pick up for the Orioles. Are they done signing free agents? Maybe not, there's still a few top free agents in starting pitchers who they could use. So I see this as a win-win for Yoon and the Orioles. And who knows, maybe Yoon ends up closing for the Orioles. Since right now it seems like he could be their closer.

Julio Teheran agrees to contract extension

The Atlanta Braves and starting pitcher Julio Teheran have agreed to a contract extension. The deal is a six-year contract worth $32.4 million. In the deal he gets an option for the 2020 season. That option is for $12 million, or a $1 million buyout. Teheran was signed at age 16, as a non-drafted free agent out of Cartagena, Colombia. Now, at age 23, he wasn't going to be arbitration-eligible until after the 2015 season. So, the Braves bought out those years by giving Teheran a new contract.

Last season, was Teheran's first full MLB season. He finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting after going 14-8 with an era of 3.30 in 185.2 innings and 170 strikeouts. He had been one of the Braves top prospects in their minors.

The Braves got him for a nice deal, and may have saved money in the long-run. For his career, he's 15-9 with 34 starts in 37 games, with an era of 3.44, 185 strikeouts, and has pitched 211.2 innings. He should keep improving from his rookie season. The Braves are doing well locking up lots of their core players.

St. Louis Cardinals 2014 Season Preview

Offseason Additions: SS Jhonny Peralta, CF Peter Bourjos, 2B Mark Ellis, OF Randal Grichuk, OF Rafael Ortega, OF Joey Butler.

Offseason Subtractions: SP Chris Carpenter (retired), RF Carlos Beltran, SP Jake Westbrook, SS Rafael Furcal, 3B David Freese, RP Fernando Salas. RP Edward Mujica, RP John Axford, C Rob Johnson, 1B Brock Peterson.

Point team prediction: 90-95 win range, 1st place

They have one of the best pitching staffs in the National League with Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha, Shelby Miller as the top four. And for the fifth spot you have Lance Lynn, Carlos Martinez, Tyler Lyons, and Joe Kelly all trying to win the fifth spot. The bullpen is still strong, even if Carlos Martinez were to win the last spot in the rotation. The only question for the bullpen, would be Jason Motte. Only because he's coming off of Tommy John surgery, but he'll be set up man for closer Trevor Rosenthal. Rosenthal did well after taking over as closer last season and seems like that's where he's best as.

Infield defense should be improved with Matt Carpenter at his normal position in third-base and Kolten Wong at his normal position second-base. Peter Bourjos if fully healthy (hasn't been since 2011) could steal 30-40 bases. No one really knows about Bourjos because he hasn't been healthy since then. But in 2011, he led the AL in triples with Austin Jackson. Wong has the potential to steal 15-25. So the Cardinals should be able to steal more bases in the running game. I know manager Mike Matheny has been wanting to use the running game more. Now Matheny has that change to run more.

Fantasy Stud: Yadier Molina

One of the best offensive catchers in baseball, put up new career highs in hits, rbi's and batting average in the 2013 season. There's even some talk of Molina being a future Hall Of Fame player. Could that happen? Maybe if he keeps putting up numbers. I know last season Johnny Bench even praised Molina last season.

Rookie to watch for: Oscar Taveras, if he makes the team out of Spring Training or even starts out at Memphis first. He's said to best hitting prospect that the Cardinals have had since Albert Pujols.

Brewers land free agent Matt Garza

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed free agent starting pitcher Matt Garza to a four-year contract. Garza's contract is worth $50 million. The deal includes a vesting $13 million option for a fifth year. He can earn an additional $1 million in each year in incentives, if they are reached. So the deal could be up being $67 million for Garza. He was one of the top free agent starting pitchers on the market. Teams pretty much didn't sign him earlier in free agency because he's had injury problems in the past couple of seasons.

Garza, 30, was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 2005 MLB draft. He was picked 25th overall in the draft. He spent two seasons with the Twins, 2006 and 2007. The Twins traded Garza to the Tampa Bay Rays after the 2007 season. He stayed with the Rays from 2008-2010. While with the Rays, he helped lead them to the 2008 World Series. He also lead the American League in shutouts in 2008 with two. In 2010 against the Detroit Tigers, he threw a no-hitter. That became the Tampa Bay Rays' first no-hitter thrown in franchise history. After 2010, the Rays traded him to the Chicago Cubs.

He spent two and a half seasons with the Cubs. The Cubs traded him to the Texas Rangers in the middle of the 2013 season for third baseman Mike Olt, starting pitcher Justin Grimm, starting pitcher C. J. Edwards, and pitcher Neil Ramirez.

Garza's career stats in eight seasons are: 194 games played, 191 starts, 67 wins, 67 losses, 3.84 era, 1182.1 innings pitched, and 1,001 strikeouts, with a whip of 1.28. His best season was in 2010, when he went 15-10 with an era of 3.91.

The Brewers have good team built, and pretty much needed pitching. If Garza is healthy, he should be able to help out their starting rotation. Their rotation already includes: Kyle Lohse, Yovani Gallardo, Wily Peralta, and Marco Estrada. I like the move by the Brewers. They added someone who they needed. Not all teams not named the Cardinals in the NL Central have tried to improve their team. But the Brewers have tried to improve with the likes of Garza, and signing Mark Reynolds.

Ryan Reaves lands four-year extension with Blues

The Blues have signed forward Ryan Reaves to a four-year contract extension. The deal is worth $4.5 million. That's a nice deal for a player like Reaves is. Reaves, 26, was drafted in the 2005 NHL draft by the Blues. He was picked in the fifth round, and was picked 156th overall. He's worked hard to improve himself as a player in the NHL. While he's best known for fighting, he's improved his game on offense. And he can score little. You don't think of fighters who can score in the NHL, but Reaves can. He's proven to be a big part of the Blues team off and on the ice.

He's played 157 games in the NHL, scoring 11 goals, with 8 assists, and 19 points. Reaves is a plus 9 for his career. And he has 346 penalty minutes.

Right now this season in his fourth NHL season, Reaves is having one of his best seasons in his career. He is a plus seven and has 5 points. He just needs two more points for a new career high. At this time he has 2 goals and 3 assists. He's become a fan favorite ever since he got a chance to play in the NHL.

Ryan Reaves kind of reminds me of a younger former Blue,
Jamal Mayers. I think for Reaves, he'll take his contract extension as an early birthday present. He'll be 27 a week from Monday. I'm glad the Blues rewarded Reaves with a new contract. It's another good example that the Blues ownership likes to wait for their players to earn contracts, rather than just giving them out to any player.

Breaking down St. Louis Blues first half of 2013-2014 season

How would you say the Blues first half has been this season? I'm sure lots might see it differently at time, because of injuries happening. But even with the injuries that have happened this season, they've been able to step up and keep pace with the rest of the league. A lot of that is because the Blues have depth down in the AHL who could be ready for the NHL soon. One of those players is Dmitrij Jaskin, who was up earlier in the season and played in four games. During that period of time, he scored his first NHL goal of his career. Players on the Blues noticed that he could be ready soon to take someone's job away.

Heading into tonight's game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Blues are 29-7-5. That's their best record in franchise history for the first half of any season. As a team the Blues have scored 150 goals, and that ranks them second in the NHL for most goals scored. The team leading in goals scored as a team are the Chicago Blackhawks, with 167. The Blues have beat the Blackhawks three times this season and are 3-0 against them. What do I like best about this years team from the first half? There's lots of things I like about this years team from the first half, and if I had to pick one of them it would be that they have a lot of players who can score. It's not just one player scoring all the goals, it's pretty much every player scoring goals.

Just think about how much better this team will be once both forward Alexander Steen and defenseman Roman Polak get back from their injuries and the whole team is fully healthy. This team looks like they are getting healthy at the right time and are starting to come together as a team, after having their top players out of the line up. I don't think the Blues will do much of anything at the trade deadline, there's no reason to ruin the team chemistry. The Blues seem to be fine with goalies Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak. I only see the Blues making a move, if one of those goalies get hurt. That's assuming the Blues don't feel Jake Allen would be fully ready to go into the playoffs.

Which players could step up in the second half of the season? Patrik Berglund (if he stays playing left wing, he seems better playing left wing), and maybe Magnus Paajarvi. While, Paajarvi hasn't scored much yet, he has shown flashes that he can score. I know Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock credits him a lot of the time for the way he plays and has been improving since he came to the Blues. That may not show fully yet in scoring though.

Blues center Maxim Lapierre will be playing in his 500th career game tonight.

Out of the Blues free agent signings during the offseason, I'd say center Derek Roy has proven to be the Blues best free agent signing, second best forward Brenden Morrow, and third best center Maxim Lapierre. I like how Lapierre has improved his game after being suspended earlier in the season. I think a lot of that has been Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock helping him improve his game.

Lastly, the Blues have a great chance to win the West if they can pick up their start from the first half. And come playoff time, the Blues should be a lot of fun to watch. I'm even glad defenseman Ian Cole is playing well, when people thought he couldn't play once Jordan Leopold got hurt. Cole has proved lots of people wrong.

On a side note, the Blues have ten Olympians. That ties them the with Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings for the most players.