Today, we'll start with the Jason Schmidt signing and two trades from Friday while working our way back to Thursday's trades.

Jason Schmidt re-signed with San Francisco for 4 years and $31 million. The club has an option for 2006 that would be worth close to $7 million. This signing comes as a bit of a surprise as Schmidt's hometown Seattle Mariners were heavily in the bidding. However at some point, the pitcher just decided that he really enjoyed playing in PacBell with the Giants last year, and he wanted to stay there.

The Giants probably would have lost the RHP if money had been his number one concern. San Francisco's pitching staff is pretty much complete after this move and probably one of the best in the league. The team should now focus on re-signing Barry Bonds, as their pitching staff will need some run support in order to win games.

Friday's Trades

Trade #1: OAK - NYM
Oakland trades LHP Mark Guthrie and RHP Tyler Yates
To the New York Mets For
OF/DH David Justice

This is probably a good trade for both sides. The Mets were able to unload Justice's sizeable contract and questionable defensive skills in exchange for some needed relief help. New York has an abundance of left-handed starters, but before acquiring Guthrie, was a little short of lefties out of the pen. The newly acquired pitcher has negligible lefty/righty splits, so he has averaged about 1.1 IP per appearance but still can be used as a lefty one-out guy. Yates appears to have been a throw-in that should have some future value out of the pen. The aspect of the trade most commentators are focusing on is that without Justice's contract, New York will now have the money to sign free agent Juan Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, Oakland gains a solid DH who can play the outfield if necessary. Their coaching staff should be able to correct the problems that Justice had last year, so he should rebound nicely. Guthrie and Yates were both expendable. This should work out nicely for the Athletics, though I do hope that the loss of Giambi doesn't send them on an ex-Yankee collecting spree.

Trade #2: SD - NYY
San Diego trades OF Kevin Reese
To the New York Yankees For
2B Bernabel Castro

Here we have the definition of a minor trade, with a low-risk, low-reward switch-hitting second baseman dealt for a high-risk, high-reward left-handed outfielder. It will be a few years before either of these players makes an impact on their big league club, if we ever even hear from them again.

Thursday's Trades

Trade #1: PIT - CHW
Pittsburgh trades RHP Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans
To the Chicago White Sox For
RHP Kip Wells, RHP Sean Lowe, and RHP Josh Fogg

It is hard to say which team got the better end of this trade. I like Todd Ritchie a lot; since becoming a Pittsburgh starter, he has consistently put up very good K/BB numbers and even during his relief time with the Twins his skills were visible. His arm has gone through a steady increase in IP the last few years, but I don't really see him as an injury risk. Ritchie is likely to be the middle of the rotation innings eater the White Sox need to keep their young staff healthy. For immediate overwhelming success Chicago could probably still use a free agent ace to allow them to bump Buehrle and the rest of the rotation down a slot, but even without further improvement they have a good staff.

Given the number of catchers ahead of Evans in the Pittsburgh system, the Pirates could certainly afford to deal him. The White Sox can use another catching prospect as Josh Paul does not appear to be going anywhere. For some reason they don't like Mark Johnson, and at this point they have toyed with him to the extent that I think he'll be out of Chicago as soon as he hits free agency. Evans needs to improve his plate discipline and could wind up as a more of a utility guy given the number of positions he tried out last season in the Pirate system.

Of the pitchers going to Pittsburgh, Sean Lowe has not been happy with his playing time with the White Sox for a couple years now. Chicago has used him primarily as a spot starter out of the bullpen. He'll be 31 when the season starts, and his huge jump in IP between 2000 and 2001 might spell trouble for his arm. If healthy, he should have a larger role with the Pirates, as they have far less depth in their pitching.

Kip Wells has lost a bit of the shiny gloss he had as a prospect, but still has a lot of potential. Proper handling could still turn him into a top of the rotation pitcher. His arm is still young, so Pittsburgh will need to be cautious. Hopefully, they learned their lesson with Kris Benson.

Josh Fogg, the rawest pitcher of the bunch, had his first call-up last year. Fogg is a reliever and many think that he has a chance to rack up a few saves in the Pirates' bullpen. With the uncertainty throughout the pen, it is quite possible that success could quickly lead Fogg to the closer's role though given his tender age, I would try to hold off awarding him the position full-time until at least next year.

Trade #2: SF - NYY
San Francisco trades 1B/OF John Vander Wal
To the New York Yankees For
RHP Jay Witasick

This is a good trade for the Yankees. With the addition of Karsay to the pen, they can give up Witasick without much loss to their own team. Vander Wal adds yet another quality bat to their line-up, where he will likely make up the left-handed side of a platoon at either LF or DH with Shane Spencer.

Witasick is no stranger to the west coast. Although he lives near Baltimore, much of his career has been with one California team or another, and he spent the first several months of the 2001 season with the San Diego Padres before being traded to New York for IF D'Angelo Jimenez. The right-hander should be a quality addition to the already strong Frisco bullpen.

Trade #3: BAL - PHI
Baltimore trades RHP John Wasdin
To the Philadelphia Phillies For
RHP Chris Brock

A swap of right-handed relievers was the best that the two teams could come up with after extensive negotiations regarding a possible trade of Scott Rolen to the Phillies. Both pitchers have fairly good K/BB rates, but neither is anything overly special. Brock is a few years older and earning significantly more money next season, which probably explains Baltimore's attraction. Philly definitely got the better end of this deal, but it is possible that neither pitcher will make their club's opening day roster.

Trade #4: LA - TOR
Los Angeles trades RHP Luke Prokopec and RHP Chad Ricketts
To the Toronto Bluejays For
RHP Paul Quantrill and IF Cesar Izturis

I wonder how long it will take for Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi to start tiring of the accolades. This trade has up-side for both clubs, but I would again call Toronto the winner. Cesar Izturis has solid potential, but the Bluejays already have the offensively superior Felipe Lopez so keeping Izturis would only confuse their infield. Izturis is a much better fit with the Dodgers, as almost anyone is an improvement over Alex Cora. I would expect the SS to be in the majors sometime during 2002, with the strong possibility that he will be their starter coming out of spring training.

Paul Quantrill is exceptionally talented at what he does, but a good GM can find good right-handed set-up men crawling out of the woodwork. He should be a welcome addition to an LA pitching staff that is wearing a little thin with all of the off-season moves and potential free-agent losses. If the Dodgers don't add a proven closer, Quantrill is a much better choice than Matt Herges because of significantly better command.

After almost a full year in the majors, Luke Prokopec should be set to have a breakout year in 2002 that should be just the beginning of a long and productive starting career. He did spend some time on the DL with blisters last season, but we're not talking Ismael Valdes, so it shouldn't be something that causes him a lot of problems in the future. Look for him to slide in as the Jays' three starter, replacing new closer Kelvim Escobar

Chad Ricketts put up great numbers at AAA Las Vegas last season, and there's no reason that the RHP can't step right into the role left open by Quantrill's departure. He's already 27-years-old, so the Jays won't even have to be that careful about his usage.

Players to be Named Later

Shortstop Jim Deschaine was the PTBNL in the TOR/CHC trade. His identity pretty much seals the deal for the Bluejays. Deschaine was one of the few remaining Cubs 3B/SS prospects that were any good. He has solid potential and makes a good back-up should one of Toronto's other infield prospects fizzle. Considering the other moves the club has made in the intervening days, Deschaine is a good addition to the Jays' organization.

As thought, LHP Billy Traber was one of the two PTBNL in the CLE/NYM trade. The other was 1B Earl Snyder. Snyder's inclusion in the deal evens it up a bit. His plate discipline needs improvement, but his power potential is tremendous. While at the Arizona Fall League for only a few days, we saw him hammer several balls. He is already 25 and there are players ahead of him at the major league level, so he will likely have to perform well when called up as an injury replacement to earn a more permanent position with the Indians. He did play several games at 3B, and if he can handle it defensively, the positional flexibility would certainly increase his opportunities.

We should now be completely caught-up with trade and signing analysis, so I should be able to cover things as they happen for a while. If you think, I've overlooked something in the last few days please drop me an e-mail.