Quick Thoughts

Jed's not dead baby, Jed's not dead!

The Red Sox traded oft-injured middle infielder Jed Lowrie and pitcher Kyle Weiland  to the Houston Astros for reliever Mark Melancon. Melancon was technically a "closer" for the Astros, meaning he filled that role for a period of time and even got 20 saves. In the AL East and on the Red Sox however, I highly doubt Melancon will be Jon Papelbon's eventual replacement. 

So, in the end what this means is the Red Sox traded a startable middle infielder (these things have a lot of value) and a young starting pitcher for a middle reliever. While they certainly had a relative need in the bullpen, they still likely need to find Papelbon's successor and it's hard to call this anything but a big win for the Astros. Also, although it's not as if Kyle Weiland is a top pitching prospect, it'd be a more realistic trade for the Red Sox to swap Weiland for Melancon. Further, as we all know, (most) pitchers have higher success in the bullpen, it's somewhat likely that Weiland out of the bullpen could be better than Melancon as early as this upcoming season. Word is that the Astros plan on using Weiland as a starter, and that's probably the best bet. Lowrie certainly hasn't proved he can stay healthy for an entire season, but the upside here is tremendous. If Lowrie can stay (reasonably) healthy OR if Weiland pitches 150 useful innings it's a win for the Astros, and if both happen it's a downright steal and the exact kind of move the Astros are going to need if they want to succeed in the AL West in the future.

UPDATE: The Red Sox have now also signed ex-Twins, ex-Cardinals IF Nick Punto to a two-year deal. This move makes the Lowrie trade make a little more sense, as Punto is a capable backup middle infielder. So long as he doesn't have to start, this move makes sense, but I still have to believe they spent too much for Mark Melancon. 

Speaking of the Twins, they have agreed to a deal with OF Josh Willingham believed to be worth $21M over three years. Essentially with this move the Twins have traded Michael Cuddyer for Josh Willingham and a couple of additional draft picks that they will receive when Cuddyer signs elsewhere (Rockies most likely). Nice play. While Willingham doesn't fit the normal Twins player profile of speedy, slap and average hitter (.257 average over the last 3 seasons) he will still hit having averaged a 125 OPS+ over the last few years and will certainly improve their lineup which needless to say, needs a lot of help (probably because they generally prefer guys like Nick Punto). 

The Brewers, moving on from the Prince Fielder era have signed third basemen Aramis Ramirez to a 3-year $36M deal and SS Alex Gonzalez to a one-year deal. The Brewers weren't going to make up Prince's production at first base, but they could spread out (some of) that money all over the diamond, and this is a great start. Last year Brewers' third basemen batted .222/.273/.341 with a 65 wRC+. It's safe to say that Aramis Ramirez should add 3-4 additional wins. Also, although Alex Gonzalez may not hit much better than their former SS,Yuniesky Betancourt, he should be worth an additional win or two just with the upgrade in the glove with Alex Gonzalez being about league average and Yuniesky Betancourt being the worst fielder in the National League.  

Next, the Brewers have to think about finding a replacement OF for Braun if he is to miss 50 games. After that, the Brewers should still be in a solid position to make a run at the NL Central again in 2012.