Winter Meetings Wrap: AL Central

INDIANAPOLIS -- Not sure if you heard, but there was a trade involving an AL Central team at the annual Winter Meetings. The Tigers teamed up with the Yankees and Diamondbacks to form a three-team, seven-player blockbuster trade. It was easily the biggest news of the meetings and the rest of the division was relatively quiet.

The Royals released Mike Jacobs, closing the chapter on the embarrassing trade they made for him last winter (sending the Marlins their present closer, Leo Nunez) and were tied to free-agent catcher Jason Kendall (though nothing has come through just yet). Though manager Manny Acta said the Indians are open to bringing in a first baseman, it's been reported they don't have any money to spend. The White Sox were tied to several players, but nothing ever came of that, aside from extending the contract of someone they already controlled (Mark Teahen). The Twins sent Boof Bonser to the Red Sox for a player to be named and Carl Pavano accepted arbitration.

Big Winner

If you can live in the world where you can look past the fact that Tigers put themselves in an unenviable monetary position with a series of ludicrous contracts (Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis are the worst ones, but there are others), you can grasp the idea that they emerged from trading Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson as well as they could have. We are saying they are winners at the 2009 Winter Meetings, meaning this trade in a vacuum helps their situation. They were able to get back a potential No. 2 starter (Max Scherzer), two solid left-handed setup men (Phil Coke and Daniel Schlereth) and their center fielder of the future (Austin Jackson). If Scherzer, Schlereth and Jackson develop into what many scouts believe they will, the Tigers will have won on this trade.

On the other hand, they wouldn't have had to trade either Granderson or Jackson if they had managed their money better the past few years, so you could also say they are losers in the big picture -- because those two players are known-entities, not "if" guys.

Unfinished Business

The most glaring holes in the division at present would appear to be the Twins' need for a third baseman and the Tigers need to find a leadoff hitter. Both have somewhat viable options in house but would probably prefer to fill the needs from outside the organization if they can.

As far as the other needs for all five teams in the division, obviously everything else is still unfinished because there was only one truly newsworthy move that came to fruition here.

Conclusion

It is what it is here, a wide-open division of mostly smaller-market clubs (excluding the White Sox, of course) who were generally pretty quiet, aside from one huge trade. The White Sox have already made several roster moves, beginning with the trade deadline deal for Jake Peavy and continuing through the acquisition of Teahen. Don't expect any more more major moves for this division, as each team will continue to make minor tweaks -- unless you believe the Twins signing a third baseman the caliber of, say, Mark DeRosa, Adrian Beltre or Kevin Kouzmanoff (which would be via trade) Earth-shattering.

Otherwise, it's going to be a relatively quiet winter for the AL Central.