Egad! Has it really been 12 days since the last time I updated us on player transactions in the NL Central? I guess time flies when you’re having fun…and NLC general managers have been having fun these past, well, almost two weeks now – so let’s get busy:

Wednesday 1/9/08: The Astros signed RHPs Mike DeJean and Carlos Hines, OF Victor Diaz, C J.R. House and 1B Lance Niekro (Son of Joe and nephew of Hall of Famer Phil) to minor league contracts with the obligatory invitations to spring training, and invited SS Tommy Manzella and LHP Josh Muecke to spring training. Meanwhile, the Brewers avoided arbitration by signing LHP Brian Shouse to a one-year, $2 million contract.

Thursday 1/10: The Brewers invited non-roster C Andy Bouchie to spring training, and the Cardinals signed 1B Josh Phelps (whom you’ll recall the last-place Pirates, earlier this offseason, decided they couldn’t use) to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

Saturday 1/11: The Cubs signed former Reds farmhand RHP Chad Fox to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training; the Astros signed RHP Brandon Backe to a one-year, $800,000 contract (plus incentives), thus avoiding arbitration; and the Pirates signed RHP T.J. Beam (no relation to Jim), C Raul Chavez and IF/OF Jose Macias to minor league contracts with the usual invitations to join them for spring festivities.

Monday 1/14: As previously reported here on Red Hot Mama, the Brewers signed OF Mike Cameron to a one-year contract with a club option for 2009. They also invited non-roster OF Matt LaPorta to spring training. But the Cardinals made the biggest deal of the day, obtaining 3B Troy Glaus from the Blue Jays for disgruntled 3B Scott Rolen.

Tuesday 1/15: Eight days after having just signed him to a one-year contract, the Brewers designated OF Drew Anderson for assignment (but keep reading, you haven’t heard the last of him yet). In Chicago, meanwhile, the Cubs decided to sign a whole army of guys and make my life miserable this week: SS Andres Blanco, RHP Mike Smith, OF Andres Torres, C JD Closser, and SS Luis Figueroa, C Koyie Hill, 1B Micah Hoffpauir, LHP Geoff Jones, OF Josh Kroeger and LHP Les Walrond all were inked to minor league deals with invitations to spring training, and they also invited LHP Edward Campusano, C Welington Castillo, RHP Jose Ceda, OF Tyler Colvin, C Josh Donaldson and 3B Casey McGehee to spring training.

Wednesday 1/16: The Cubs signed RHP Jon Lieber to a one-year, $3.5 million contract, and the Brewers signed RHP Claudio Vargas to a one-year, $3.6 million contract, thus avoiding arbitration with Vargas.

Thursday 1/17: The Brew Crew avoided another potential salary arbitration hassle by signing LHP Chris Capuano to a one-year, $3.75 million contract. The Astros signed OF Nick Gorneault and RHP Runelvys Hernandez to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training, and closer to home, the Reds invited RHP Josh Roenicke and 1B Adam Rosales to spring training.

Friday 1/18: The Cardinals signed OF Rick Ankiel to a one-year, $900,000 contract, thus avoiding arbitration with the former pitcher turned slugging outfielder turned HGH poster boy. The Pirates agreed to terms with OF Xavier Nady and LHP John Grabow (no relation to Doc) on one-year contracts (Nady reportedly will make $3.35 million, Grabow $1.13 million; both were eligible for arbitration). The Astros signed IF Ty Wigginton to a one-year, $4.35 million contract, in this post’s last example of “The better to avoid arbitration with you, my dear.”

Meanwhile, back at GABP, the Reds on Friday claimed the aforementioned OF Drew Anderson (I told you that you hadn’t heard the last of him yet) off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers. This begs the question of who will be the first to confuse this Drew Anderson with the Reds’ other minor-leaguer also named Drew Anderson. Also on Friday, the Cubs signed RHP Shingo Takatsu to a one-year minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

In our first episode of the new year, the Crack Technical Staff and I show a degree of enthusiasm about the sport of baseball unseen in these parts of a while now. It must be the promise of a new year, a new third baseman for the Cardinals, a new South American baseball academy for the Pirates, and a new not-GM for the Reds.

We also talk a bit about American Gladiators, so you won’t want to miss that.

The show covered the teams in alphabetical order by team name this week:

Astros

• Brandon Backe signed to avoid arbitration, can’t avoid losing in the hottest NLC baller contest
• Roger Clemens never shuts up

Brewers

• Mike Cameron signs with Brewers and will start the season off right: with a 25-game drug suspension
• Because of Cameron, Bill Hall will move to 3B and Ryan Braun will move to left field

Cardinals

• Traded Scott Rolen for Troy Glaus, giving the Blue Jays’ every child’s Christmas wish: the same right side of the infield as the Cardinals had last year
• Signed Matt Clement to incentive-laden deal ($1.5 Million)

Cubs

• Plans to rename Wrigley Field not received well, unless they sell them to Wrigley
• Andre Dawson was not voted in to hall of fame
• Goose Gossage, who pitched for the Cubs one year and probably would have taken steroids, was voted in

Pirates

• Academy in Dominican Republic
• Signed Elmer Dessens and several other players to minor league deals

Reds

• Walt Jocketty joins Reds
• Bronson and his love affair with Beantown

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What a surprise to see the Pirates spending money on something. I mean, this specific project is great, and I’m excited to think that the Pirates facility could attract some up-and-coming talent, but just in general it is such a breath of fresh air to see the Pirates spending money on anything at all. This could herald good things for the organization.

Here’s the press release:

Pittsburgh Pirates Chairman of the Board Bob Nutting announced today that the ballclub will officially break ground on a new Latin American headquarters and baseball training academy in the Dominican Republic on January 22. The Pirates recently purchased a 46 acre property located in the municipality of El Toro in the Dominican Republic that will be the site of the new complex.

The new academy will serve as the headquarters for the Pirates Latin American Baseball Operations, as well as a housing and training complex for the players on the ballclub’s Dominican Summer League roster and other players invited to train at the academy.

Shortly after taking control of the ballclub less than a year ago, Nutting made his first trip to the Dominican Republic to assess its Latin American operations. Following the trip Nutting believed it was critical that the ballclub improve its current operations in the Dominican Republic and has been working toward that goal since.

“Latin America needs to be an even greater priority for our ballclub,” said Nutting. “The Pirates have had a great history of Latino ballplayers making a significant impact at the major league level, including the great Roberto Clemente. Today, no team has more opportunity or, frankly, a greater need to acquire and develop quality players from this region than we do.”

The Dominican Republic continues to be a growing hotbed for finding major league talent, with more than 40 percent of all foreign born players on 2007 Opening Day rosters born in the Dominican Republic, according to Major League Baseball. The new facility will provide the Pirates with a competitive advantage in the region and illustrates the Club’s long-term commitment to building a ballclub that can consistently compete.

“This facility will help our baseball operations staff attract, retain and teach the best players, coaches and scouts in the region,” said Nutting. “I am committed to providing our Baseball Operations staff with the tools necessary to sign and develop the best talent not only in Latin America, but domestically and in other international markets as well. This new facility and our renewed commitment to the international markets are critically important to achieving our goal of building a ballclub that can compete on a regular basis.”

The Pirates are well into the final design stages for the new complex and plan to unveil those designs to the Pittsburgh media on Monday, January 21 and again at the official groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, January 22 in the Dominican Republic.

“Once completed this facility will have a significant and immediate impact on our scouting and player development operations in Latin America,” said Neal Huntington, Pirates General Manager. “This complex will provide us with an advantage in recruiting players, while providing an optimal setting to teach our young players not only baseball skills, but life skills. It is a tangible demonstration of the organization’s commitment to provide us with the tools needed to build and sustain a consistently competitive major league team.”

I had every intention of getting this up on Sunday, but my ISP wasn’t cooperating (hard to post when you can’t connect at anything better than 21.6KBPS). Here are the player transactions in the NL Central that have occurred since the last update, as reported on the official web site of Major League Baseball.

Astros GM Ed Wade must have finally taken his holiday this week, as the Astros reported no transactions since I last updated you on these proceedings.

On Thursday 1/3, the Cardinals signed Matt Clement to an incentive-laden one-year contract with a club option for 2009. I reported on this in another thread. Also on Thursday, the Brewers invited OF Laynce Nix and RHP Steve Bray to spring training. A cursory search turned up no indication that Steve Bray and the Reds’ Bill Bray are relatives.

On Friday, the Cardinals signed IF Aaron Miles to a one-year contract, while the Reds – as previously reported by BubbaFan – claimed OF Jeff Fiorentino off waivers from the Orioles; and signed RHP Jim Brower, INF Jolbert Cabrera, INF Andy Green, INF Andy Phillips and LHP Adam Pettyjohn to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training.

On Saturday 1/5, the Cubs traded IF Angel Pagan to the Mets for a couple of minor leaguers, RHP Ryan Meyers and OF Corey Coles.

On Monday 1/7, the Brewers signed OF Drew Anderson, RHP Tim Dillard, 1B/OF Brad Nelson, LHP Manny Parra and RHP Luis Pena to one-year contracts. Also, the Pirates signed RHPs Adam Bernero and Elmer Dessens (a former Pirate, Red, and Brewer) to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training (Zeldink already told us about Dessens).

Note that there are two other Drew Andersons who have played recently in the minor leagues, one who was with the Reds’ organization the past three years and another who played in the Astros’ farm system last year. The Drew Anderson the Brewers signed on Monday spent all of last year at Class-AA and Class-AAA in the Brewers’ minor league system. Also, the Brad Nelson they signed is not the same Brad Nelson who pitched in the Braves’ farm system last year, and Luis Pena is not the same Luis Pena who pitched in the White Sox farm system a few years ago. The Brewers must be running out of names for their players and have to beg, borrow, and steal them from other teams…which, come to think of it, is pretty much the same approach they’ve used this winter in populating their bullpen.

🙄

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 37 year-old journeyman pitcher Elmer Dessens to a minor-league contract.

It’s a cheap, low-risk move for the Pirates, who will undoubtedly see if the right-hander has any gas left to help their bullpen. At the same time, though, it does make you question the team’s leadership. I know they have to field a team in 2008, but they’re not going to compete. Their energy would be better spent on building a young team ready to compete in 2 to 3 years. Dessens won’t be a part of that.

As an aside, how depressing must it be for Dessens to sign a minor league contract with the Pirates? A sure sign your career is nearing completion.