Winter meetings summary

Holy smokes! What an amazing week of baseball this has been! Nobody won any games, but the drama felt like it was a chase to the playoffs!

Let's get started, shall we? So many transactions went down from the eighth to the eleventh that I do not have time to list all of them. Besides, who has the time to go through them all. The main ones will be listed here, however:

MONDAY: Cleveland Indians acquired Brandon Moss from the A's in exchange for 2B Joey Wendle
TUESDAY: Chicago Cubs acquire C Miguel Montero (AKA Padre killer) to the Cubs for pitchers Zack Godley and Jefferson Mejia.
-White Sox acquire Pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Michael Ynoa from the A's in exchange for P Chris Bassitt, C Josh Phegley, 3B Rangel Ravelo, and SS Marcus Semien.
-Chicago Cubs: Sign P Jon Lester
WEDNESDAY: White Sox acquire P David Robertson.
-Dodgers acquired 2B Howie Kendrick from Angels in exchange for somebody I do not know.
-Marlins: Acquire P Dan Haren, 2B Dee Gordon, and SS Miguel Rojas from the Dodgers in exchange for C Austin Barnes, Pitchers David Hatcher and Andrew Heaney, and SS Enrique Hernandez.
-San Diego Padres: signed Clint Barmes to a one year deal.
THURSDAY: San Diego Padres: acquire Matt Kemp, C Tim Federowicz, and cash in exchange for C Yasmani Grandal, and pitchers Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin.
-Dodgers: acquire SS Jimmy Rollins from Phillies. It is unclear as to what the Phillies received in return. We'll see soon.
-Tigers: Acquire P Alfredo Simon from the Reds in exchange for P Jonathan Crawford and INF Eugenio Suarez.
-More Tigers: Acquire OF Yoenis Cespedes, and Pitchers Alex Wilson and Gabe Speier from the Red Sox in exchange for P Rick Porcello.
-Marlins: Acquire P Mat Latos from Reds in exchange for P Anthony DeSclafani and C Chad Wallach.

Whew! That was a busy few days! There were many, many more deals that went down, but I have just failed to mention them. I am very excited to see what these new additions will bring to their team. As far as the Padres are concerned, Clint Barmes should be a good pick-up because of his leadership and defensive prowess. He was the one that tagged Trevor Hoffman for the game winning RBI on October 1, 2007. That was probably the last time I shed tears of sorrow. Matt Kemp, on the other hand, leaves me puzzled. I mean, I know why we did it. The fan base is going to get pumped up about this. But he is 30 years old, injury prone, and has yet to show leadership abilities in the clubhouse. Then again, he almost won the MVP in 2011 with 39 home runs and 125 RBI. That would be more home runs by any Padre since Greg Vaughn hit 50 in 1998! Grandal was really improving well in the Padres lineup. I hate to see him go, but I am excited to see Kemp work his magic at the plate. I just hope he decides not to fizzle out, especially when playing for a team he used to destroy.

Now that the winter meetings have come to a close, there are still deals to be done. AJ Preller is going to bring in at least one more bat to fit into the lineup. We'll see how he does it.

In terms of college football, the bowl schedule is out! Click on the link to view it! I am so excited to see the playoff games. Ohio State was able to sneak in there at the last second to get the final spot. Hopefully I actually get to watch the games instead of traveling back up here to school. Ohwell. Post some comments below to state your opinion!

That is the final news that I feel is absolutely important. I look forward to another great week in the wonderful world of sports (and school).