The girls have been chatting about the Reds we find aesthetically appealing, and I’ve enjoyed it so much, I think it merits expanding to the whole division. Nominate your favorite NLC hottie in the comments on this post (including links to your favorite photos if you’ve got them). We can all have a good long look, discuss the issue intelligently, and vote on the the National League Central’s Hottest Player.

I don’t know if this trip will get us anywhere, but the scenery along the way ought to be nice. 🙂

The Houston Astros already ranked worst among farm systems in the league, which may explain why they had to trade five players to the Orioles for one Miguel Tejada. Doesn’t leave them a lot to work with to negotiate starting pitching. Maybe they’re counting on Clemens coming back.

HOUSTON — The Houston Astros announced today that the club has acquired infielder Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for right-handed pitcher Matt Albers, third baseman Michael Costanzo, left-handed pitcher Troy Patton, right-handed pitcher Dennis Sarfate and outfielder Luke Scott. The announcement was made by General Manager Ed Wade.

“We’ve added a run-producing, All-Star shortstop who will be an absolute force in the middle of our lineup,” said Wade. “With the exception of some time missed in 2007, Miguel has been someone who plays hard for every single inning of every single game. Placing him in our lineup solidifies the offense and gives us a very tough batting order.

“We gave up some outstanding players and prospects in this deal, and it hurts. But if you’re going to add a major piece to your club, the price is normally high.”

Not a lot going on in the NLC to talk about this week, though the Crack Technical Staff and I made it out to Redsfest for a few beers and some making fun of the jerseys in the Reds Community Fund shop. I wonder how much they’ll have to pay someone to take those Milton jerseys off their hands.

We also discussed the rule 5 draft, the Brewers signing Eric Gagne for $10 million, and lesser moves around the division.

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My self-appointed task of updating you each week on player transactions in the NLC is made somewhat easier this week by the fact that RHM has already given us the lowdown on the Astros signing Kaz Matsui, and Zeldink has already given us the scoop on the Rule 5 draft.

The Pirates reacted to the news on Monday 12/3 by claiming IF Josh Wilson off waivers from Tampa Bay. They also claimed RHP Ty Taubenheim off waivers from the Blue Jays, and DFA’ed IF Brad Eldred and RHP Brian Rogers to make room on their roster for Wilson and Taubenheim.

On Tuesday, the Cubs traded LHP Will Ohman and IF Omar Infante to the Braves for RHP Jose Ascanio, while the Brewers signed LHP Chris Narveson and RHP Scott Cassidy to minor league contracts that include invitations to spring training.

On 12/5:

• The Cardinals released OF So Taguchi
• The Brewers signed RHP David Riske to a three-year contract. They DFA’ed OF Laynce Nix to make room on the roster for Riske.
• The Reds traded OF Buck Coats to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later or cash (but keep reading), released IF Jorge Cantu, signed free agent RHPs Jon Adkins and Justin Lehr to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training.

Thursday 12/6 was the Rule 5 draft, aside from the transactions resulting from that, the Cubs decided to forego that process and simply went out and bought themselves RHP Tim Lahey from the Tampa Bay Rays for cash.

On Friday 12/7:

• The Reds acquired RHP Justin James from the Blue Jays, completing Wednesday’s deal involving Buck Coats and making this the shortest (two days) PTBNL deal I can remember.
• The Pirates and Brewers worked an intradivision trade, with the Brew Crew getting RHP Salomon Torres while the Pirates obtained RHPs Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. Torres promptly indicated that because of his family’s roots in suburban Pittsburgh, he may elect to retire rather than report to Milwaukee. That might be fine with Pirates fans – the Pirates’ newsgroup on Usenet announced the trade using the following subject line: “YeeHaw Torres traded…….”

Today (Sunday 12/9) we receive word that the Astros have added IF Mark Loretta to their 40-man roster after he accepted the team’s offer of salary arbitration, while Trever Miller declined arbitration. There’s also a report that the Brewers have a deal in place with Eric Gagne, and another report that Japanese free-agent Kosuke Fukudome, apparently regarded as one of the best outfielders in Japanese pro ball, has decided not to move to the Yomiuri Giants and will sign with a major league team instead.

And here I thought Fukudome was a new fully-enclosed stadium being built by a team that hates its fans….

🙄

Lots of relievers picked up by NLC teams in the draft this year. That’s not surprising considering how expensive the market is for one-inning pitchers.

The Astros picked up 22 year-old left-handed reliever Wesley Wright from the Dodgers. Wright split time in 2007 between AA and AAA, so the Astros are obviously hoping he can be a useful bullpen-er in the majors for 2008.

The Brewers didn’t make any picks due to a tight roster, but they did lose one player. Callix Crabbe, a 24 year-old infielder/outfielder, was taken by the Padres. Well, at least the Brewers seemed to have staunched the flow of relievers heading out the door.

The Cardinals managed to get perhaps the best player available in the Rule 5 draft, 25 year-old outfielder Brian Barton. I imagine he’ll get right to work mysteriously pissing off Tony Larussa, or is that something only third basemen do?

The Cubs didn’t pick anyone, but they were involved in another trade, a la last year’s that sent Josh Hamilton to the Reds. This time they received right-handed pitcher Tim Lahey from the Twins via the Devil Rays. Also, the Cubs lost a player in the draft for the sixth consecutive year, as 24 year-old catcher Randy Wells was claimed by the Blue Jays. I don’t know if that’s a record, but I’m betting they can tack on 94 more. They’re so good at losing streaks.

The Pirates took 24 year-old reliever Evan Meeks from the Devil Rays to help bolster their bullpen. The team released Jose Castillo to make room. Castillo had been the Pirates’ 2nd baseman for the last few years. He’s 26, but he’s played considerably older than that.

The Reds are hoping for a repeat of the Rule 5 success they had last year with Josh Hamilton and Jared Burton. And really, what better way to measure how good a team is than it’s success at the Rule 5 draft? That’s why the Reds are the best! This year the Reds took 22 year-old right-hander Sergio Valenzuela from the Braves. They lost 25 year-old right-handed pitcher Carlos Guevara–a player with way better stats but who pays attention to those–to the Marlins.