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.

Alexander Steen stayin' a Blue

The St. Louis Blues and forward Alexander Steen have agreed to a three-year contract extension. The deal is worth $17.4 million. Steen will make $5.1 million starting next season. In the final year of Steen's new deal he'll make $6.5 million. The deal also includes a no-trade clause. He would have become a free agent after the 2013-014 NHL season. He was a first round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2002 NHL draft, overall he was picked 24th. He ended up not living up to expectations in Toronto and was traded by the Maple Leafs during to 2008-09 season to the St. Louis Blues with defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo for right wing Lee Stempniak. He ended up finding success on the Blues. And had his best season in 2010-2011 when he scored 20 goals, and had 31 assists for 51 points.

Steen right now looks like he'll have a career year this season, and is on pace for now. As of now, Steen has 22 goals, and 14 assists for 36 points.

He's played nine seasons in the NHL. Over those nine seasons his career stats are: 570 games played, 145 goals, 194 assists, 339 points, and is a plus 31. He's developed into a team leader on the Blues. He's one of their alternate captains on the team.

I like this move a lot for the Blues. The Blues like to reward their players with contracts once they show they they are worth the money under Tom Stillman's onwership. Steen is also a fan favorite on the Blues. He's worked hard to deserve his contract extension. I think soon the Blues will need to figure out if they can keep David Backes and TJ Oshie. Hopefully the Blues will be able to keep both Backes and Oshie around long-term. As for me I like how Tom Stillman's ownership group waits for players to show that their worth a long-term deal. Steen could have made more money on the free agent market. So the Blues got him at cheaper price for a player like Steen. It's a win-win for both sides. And Steen likes playing in St. Louis.

Cardinals sign free agent 2B Mark Ellis

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed free agent second baseman Mark Ellis. Ellis, 36, signed a one-year deal that is worth $5.25 million. He could end up making a total of $6 million based on performance bonuses. He drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the ninth round of the 1999 MLB draft. The Royals ended up trading Ellis to the Oakland Athletics in 2001. He reached the majors for the first time in 2002. He played for the Athletics until June 30, 2011, when he was traded to the Colorado Rockies. He left the Rockies after the 2011 season as a free agent and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He spent two seasons playing for the Dodgers.

Ellis is pretty much known for his defense, and is one of the best defensive second baseman in the league. He almost won a gold glove in 2006 playing for the Athletics. But, that was lost to Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek. His fielding percentage that year broke Bret Boone's single-season AL record for second baseman. Ellis can hit left handed pitching. That will be a good thing for the Cardinals to have. He can hit for power at times, but he won't hit 10-13 home runs like he as able to earlier in his career. He is good at getting extra base hits though. If he enters a game late, his battaing average is .281. So, he's pretty much ready when he's needed. He is also a good leader in the clubhouse and well liked by players on the teams he's played for.

He's played eleven seasons in the MLB. Over those eleven seasons his career stats are: 1,362 games played, 1,311 hits, 251 doubles, 25 triples, 675 runs, 538 rbi's, 78 stolen bases, and a batting average of .265.

Last season for the Dodgers he hit .270 with 6 home runs and 48 rbi's. What did the Cardinals sign Ellis for you might ask? That's because they needed a right handed bat off the bench, and some who can hit left handed pitching. And second baseman Kolten Wong bats left handed. At times Ellis and Wong will platoon, and Ellis might play some thirdbase if he needs to fill in for Matt Carpenter. Ellis should a good pick up for the Cardinals 2014 team. I know Dodgers fans are upset about him leaving the Dodgers. So that should be good thing to know about Ellis.

As for me I like the move. And I hope it works out. The move should work out if Ellis can play well for the Cardinals.

On a side note the Cardinals 2014 coaching staff is complete. They've hired former MLB third baseman David Bell as their assistant hitting coach. Bell played for the Cardinals from 1995-1998. Last season, Bell was the third base coach for the Chicago Cubs. Before last season he was a manager in the Cincinnati Reds minors.

Omar Infante lands in Kansas City

Free agent second baseman Omar Infante has signed a four-year contract with the Kansas City Royals. The deal is said to be worth $30 million. He was one of the top free agents on the market for second base. He was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1999 as an amateur free agent. He'd play for the Tigers for eight seasons, before being traded to the Atlanta Braves. He spent three seasons with the Braves. In his last season with the Braves, which was in 2010, he made the NL All-Star team. That was the first time he made an All-Star team in the MLB. The Miami Marlins got him from the Braves in a trade after the 2010 season. He spent a season and a half playing for the Marlins. On July 23, 2012, Infante was traded back to the Detriot Tigers with pitcher Aníbal Sánchez for pitchers Jacob Turner, Brian Flynn, and cather Rob Brantley.

How does Infante improve the Royals? The Royals needed a second baseman, and upgraded in Infante. He has some power, and can hit. He should do well in the Royals line up, who came close to making the playoffs last season. And he brings a little speed, if the Royals want to use him in the running game, which the Royals like to steal bases.

Infante has been in the MLB for twelve seasons, over that time his career stats are: 1,209 games played, 1,165 hits, 504 runs, 207 doubles, 42 triples, 74 home runs, 421 rbi's, 69 stolen bases, and a batting average of .279. His best season came in 2013, when he hit 318.

As of right now, the Royals look like they could make the playoffs in 2014. Will that happen? That remains to be seen. But, they have the right team to be able to make the playoffs if they can stay healthy. I think they need maybe one or two more starting pitchers though. I like the signing of Infante, after the Royals lost out on Carlos Beltran to the New York Yankees.

Carlos Beltran signs in New York again; this time with Yankees

Free agent right fielder Carlos Beltran has signed with the New York Yankees. Beltran gets a three-year contract, that's worth $45 million. The Yankees lost free agent second basemen Robinson Cano to the Seattle Mariners, and filled his loss by signing Beltran. Beltran's bat should be able to help the Yankees line up, after losing Cano to the Mariners. Beltran has played in the MLB for sixteen seasons. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1995 MLB draft. He played for the Royals from 1998 until June,2004 when he was traded to the Houston Astros. He spent the rest of the 04 season with the Astros.

After 2004, Beltran became a free agent and signed with the New York Mets for a seven year deal. That deal was worth $119 million. The Mets ended up traded Beltran in July, 2011 to the San Francisco Giants for starting pitching prospect Zack Wheeler. The Giants were hoping the Beltran would be enough to help push their team into the playoffs, but Beltran wasn't enough to help get the Giants into the playoffs.

He left the Giants after the 2011 season, and signed a two-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Beltran was hoping to get his first World Series ring of his career. He reached the World Series for the first time ever in his career in 2013. But, Beltran and the Cardinals would lose in six games to the Boston Red Sox.

He's established himself as one of the best all time hitters in the postseason, hitting .333 for his postseason career, with 16 home runs, and 40 rbi's.

His career stats are: 2,064 games played, 2,228 hits, 1,346 runs, 446 doubles, 77 tiples, 358 home runs, 1,327 rbi's, 308 stolen bases, and a batting average of .283.

Beltran should be a future Hall Of Famer, whenever his career is over. He pretty much needs a World Series ring somehow before he retires. I would have liked to see it happen in St. Louis even though, that didn't happen. He'll be missed in St. Louis. I'm glad to have seen him play for the Cardinals, even though he didn't get a World Series ring as a Cardinal. I hope Beltran gets a World Series ring before he retires, he's worked hard to deserve one. Beltran is an eight time All-Star over his career, with three gold golve awards, two silver slugger awards, and he won the AL rookie of year in 1999.