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12/10/2014: A Day Almost More Exciting Than 7/31/2014

Ah, July 31st, 2014. The most recent trade deadline in our past. And what an exciting one it was! Lester was dealt, so was Lackey. Cespedes and Price, Stephen Drew and Jeff Samardzija. It was a day that I, along with many, will not soon forget.

But today, I think the 2014 trade deadline can just take a backseat to a really exciting day in baseball.

Let me do a quick recap for you guys who missed this (and didn't read Twinkie Town's recap...mine's funnier.)

You guys with me so far? Because all of that stuff happened in the early goings. I got a notification at approximately 2am Central Time on Wednesday morning about the Lester deal. Robertson's becoming official was about 8:30 am. Bastardo's news was around noon. But wait, there's more.

  • Astros agree to sign Luke Gregorson (3/18.5), Pat Neshek (2/12.5). Two solid relief guys coming off good years.
  • Braves sign Dian Toscano, a Cuban outfielder.
  • Lots of talk about Mets pitchers, yadda yadda, Twins and Gee and Colon and blah blah. Nothing happened yet.
  • Dee Gordon maybe being traded? I thought the Dodgers said they weren't moving him because he was a solid player and controllable for several more year. Can they call takesies-backsies this soon after saying that?!
  • Dodgers and Phillies talking about trading. Jimmy Rollins says he'd be okay with going to LA...interesting.
  • Rollins traded to Phillies. He's slated to earn $11MM this season. I guess he's a suitable replacement for Hanley.
  • Dodgers trade Dee Gordon and Dan Haren traded to Marlins for Andrew Heaney and a trio of minor leaguers. (Well, Chris Hatcher is involved in the deal, but he has yet to even reach 100 career innings in parts of 4 seasons)
    Dodgers immediately flip Heaney to the Angels for...wait, what? Howie Kendrick?!
  • Dodgers sign Brandon McCarthy to a 4/48 deal?
  • Not-Dodgers Angels trade Jairo Diaz for Josh Rutledge (Colorado). Calm the eff down, LA. It's not even Christmas yet.
  • Hang on, didn't Dan Haren recently say he was going to retire if he ended up anywhere that his team's city wasn't called "Los Angeles"? Oh, yeah...
    Haren is currently weighing the options, Dodgers are on the hook for his entire salary whether he throws a single pitch this season or not.
  • Wade Miley is allegedly being sent to Boston. (Chris Cotillo tweeted that the deal is to be announced Saturday...for some reason? Physical? But, it's for Rubby de la Rosa.
  • Masterson's camp says that he's close to a deal with someone.
  • Twins show MASSIVE interest in Ervin Santana...because reasons.

This, folks, is literally the last 4 pages of transactions that were confirmed on MLBTradeRumors.com in just the last 24 hours. Which absolutely blows my mind. So much went on today, and this is why I love baseball. You never know what one day is going to do, especially during the Winter Meetings or non-waiver trade deadline.

Now, I just want to add my little bit of Twins Spin on the situation, bringing together a little bit of what's happened so far, especially within the division.
KC: Kept Frasor, Hochevar, Davis. Traded Crow and Liam Hendriks. Willingham Retired, Butler signed elsewhere, Shields is still up for grabs, and a couple non-factors signed minor league deals.

So far, nothing significant of note, other than Butler. Kept the bullpen alive, though, so that's good for them.

Detroit: Traded for Shane Greene (traded away Robbie Ray), lost Torii, Carrera, Jim Johnson to other teams, resigned V-Mart, retained Soria and Avila. Non-factor Minor League free agents. Likely to let Joba, Don Kelly, and Scherzer go (though they're fighting a little bit to keep him, MLBTR reported that a team exec stated he was gone.)

Kept ahold of V-Mart, and are likely losing Scherzer. otherwise, doesn't seem like a huge lose of anything just yet.

Cleveland: Traded for Brandon Moss (!!!!), kept Mike Aviles. Non-factor minor league free agents.

Grabbed Moss. Otherwise, they've done nothing, but also lost...what...Chris Gimenez? Oh no....

Chicago: Signed Robertson, LaRoche, Duke. Traded for Samardzija (lost Semien, Bassitt, Phegley). Signed Tony Campana. Pauly K retired.

First off, wow. Second, UPGRADE! Third, LaRoche will platoon at first and DH with Abreu, Duke and Robertson give them a respectable 'pen, and Samardzija gets to eat innings with a low ERA and bad W-L record in a different part of Chicago...except this time, it's not going to be a bad W-L record. Crap.

Minnesota: Signed Torii Hunter, Shane Robinson to MiLB Contract. Colabello claimed off waivers. Pino, Swarzak, Burton are all FA.

So far, they've signed Torii. Meh.

Personally, I hope the Twins DO NOT sign Ervin Santana to a 4/48 contract. There's already some healthy competition for the starting rotation, and him being in Minnesota (or as I fondly refer to it, South Canada) just clogs up the starting rotation for the younger guys like Meyer, May, and Milone to get quality time on a major league level. Sure do have a thing for M's, don't we...Minnesota, Mauer, Morneau, Molitor, Meyer, May, Milone, Maybe we won't suck this year...

Well, that's all from me right now. Probably will throw another post together tomorrow on more thoughts of mine that most of you actually don't care about.

Until then, however, stay warm. It's freakin' cold!

AUTHOR EDIT: Holy crap guys, I posted this and thought to check Twitter one last time. Apparently, a Kempt to the Padres deal is very close to being done. What a day!