Welcoming Michael Cuddyer to the NL and other ramblings

Once again, there were plenty of signings and developments that took place this week and of course, I must mention one in particular first. I can't help it.

While I will use any excuse to talk about Michael Cuddyer (and to ogle him), since he was arguably the week's biggest signing, I have a legit reason to now. Yesterday Cuddyer signed a 3-year/$31 million deal with the Rockies. While I'm sure this move will make my pal Craig Finn (avid Twins fan that he is) sad, I'm glad that he is finally in the NL. Not only that, but he's in the same division as the Giants, which means I may finally get to see him play in person next season! So it's a great move, in my opinion. I just hope that Cuddyer can stay healthy for the duration of his contract, mostly because he's just lovely. At least to me.

To switch from a player the Twins lost to a new player they gained, Josh Willingham of the A's signed with the Twins for a 3-year/$21 million deal.

I'm sure the A's will miss him quite a lot, but the Twins will be even happier to add him to their roster. There had been quite a lot of talk about just where Willingham would end up and I'm glad it was with the Twins. It might not make up for losing their longest-tenured player (Cuddyer), but it will certainly help.

Part of me feels like a "bad" baseball fan that I'm not nearly as interested in where Prince Fielder will be next season as most baseball people are. It's not that I don't like Fielder; I think he's a great player. I'm just not really invested in who his future team will be. According to insiders though, it seems as if the Cubs are the most likely of his suitors at the moment, followed closely by the Mariners. I think the Mariners need him more and they would have a solid DH on their hands as well. Moving on...

The most puzzling signing of the week, for me, has to be Dontrelle Willis signing with the Phillies. Granted, it's only a one-year contract, but the move seems like an odd one. Willis is not the pitcher he once was, and chances are, he probably won't be in the future. The logic seems to be that Willis would make the transition into the Phillies bullpen and perhaps end up as a reliever. I can't imagine he would be used much as a starter though, given how few innings he's pitched in the last few years. However, I'm still of the opinion that he was robbed of the Cy Young when he had that amazing season with the Marlins. That time is long gone though. I digress.

Why would the Braves want to get rid of Jair Jurrjens? That's a question I've been asking all week. He was one of the most impressive pitchers of the 2010 season, at least in the NL. It seems the Braves have been in talks to do a trade with the Orioles for Jurrjens and Martin Prado. Sure, Jurrjens had a rough last part of the season, but the first half was so good that you would think the Braves would want to hold on to him. To me, he's far too young and has far too much potential to trade him now. But that's just my opinion.

The final development I want to mention involves a player who, for whatever reason, I've never liked. My dislike of Jason Varitek is completely inexplicable. I rooted for the Red Sox when they finally won a World Series in 2004. I thought they had a fantastic team. But I wasn't necessarily rooting for Varitek. According to reports, he's still in consideration to continue catching for the Red Sox in 2012. Is it likely that he will? I doubt it. I don't blame him for wanting to continue playing; he's been a staple of the Red Sox for a pretty long time. It's just that, personally, I don't see what the big deal about him is.

My opinion of him makes me sad though, because he is a catcher. I usually like catchers. This is the girl who loves Bengie Molina, Brian McCann, Buster Posey and Joe Mauer. Come to think of it, the only other catcher I really don't like besides Varitek is Mike Napoli. And that's mostly by virtue of the fact that he's with the Rangers, so it's nothing personal. It can't be personal with Varitek either, really. It just is what it is; I'm not proud of it. We all inexplicably dislike some people, and those feelings are especially silly when you dislike someone you've never met and likely know little about. Alas.