On Monday, Detroit traded L-1B Randall Simon to Pittsburgh for LHP Adrian Burnside and two players to be named later. This deal looks very good for the Tigers, but I'm quite disappointed in Pittsburgh GM Dave Littlefield given the quality of the trades he made last off-season.

The Tigers needed to clear room on their roster at first base and DH. Simon is arbitration eligible this year and would likely have commanded a sizeable contract given his moderate power skills, since he's able to maintain a .300 average even with very weak plate discipline. Detroit likely would have non-tendered him to avoid the possibility of arbitration, so finding any sort of compensation for the 27-year-old was a positive.

LA signed Burnside as a nondrafted free agent in 1995, and he eventually made his way to the Pirates in 2001 for LHP Terry Mulholland. Pittsburgh inexplicably returned him to AA for a third season in 2002, but he compiled promising numbers including a 122:67 K:BB with 120 H and 18 HR allowed in 130.2 IP for a 4.55 ERA. With Detroit the 25-year-old should finally advance to AAA, where even if his suffers difficulties, he can always move to relief work. The dominance is definitely there; Burnside just needs to work on his control.

In all likelihood, the two teams have a strong idea of the identity of the players to be named later, but they want to wait until after the Rule 5 draft for roster reasons. Regardless, the Tigers have picked up a left-handed pitcher with potential for a player they were going to discard.

Meanwhile, the Pirates have thrown money and players at Simon, who should be an improvement over Kevin Young at first base. Unfortunately, Young's horrendous contract runs through the end of the season. Consequently since Pittsburgh will need to offer Simon a good sized deal to avoid an arbitration hearing where he could receive even more, the Pirates will probably be overpaying two first baseman in 2003. The team will likely platoon the pair, as both have sizeable right/left splits.

Pittsburgh has signed UT-R David Doster and 1B-R Chan Perry to minor league deals. After spending 2001 in Japan, Doster returned to the United States and the Phillies who drafted him out of Indiana State University in the 27th round of the 1993 draft. The season abroad didn't really affect his skills, as he still possesses small amount of power and poor plate discipline. I doubt the 32-year-old will see major league action with the Pirates.

Chan Perry received a call-up with the Royals while Mike Sweeney was hurt. The 30-year-old offers moderate power skills but is also limited by insufficient patience at the plate. Now that they've acquired Simon, I doubt Perry will be called on in 2003.

The Cubs traded for yet another catcher on Tuesday, sending a player to be named later to the Brewers for Paul Bako. Milwaukee's list of potential major league catchers was growing quite long, so shipping out Bako works well for them. I'm not certain why Chicago would want to wander down this path unless they think Greg Maddux will come running to sign with them now that one of his former personal catchers is on board, and Maddux wouldn't even fit that well on the Cubs now.

Bako's offense tops off at a .625 OPS, making him a poor pick-up for Chicago who as I said needed to find a strong back-up for Damian Miller, as Miller frequently suffers from injury troubles. The 30-year-old also will likely endear himself to the pitching staff with his defensive skills, making him a dangerous distraction to have on the roster.

The player to be named later is tentatively 3B-R Ryan Gripp, but the teams want to wait until after the Rule 5 draft to make the announcement. Gripp possesses only moderate power potential and hasn't been able to hit for average at AA despite promising plate discipline. I doubt he'll develop well in the Milwaukee organization, but if they employ a quality hitting instructor he could advance quickly. The Brewers may return him to AA next year.

Earlier this year, the Cubs signed Mike Sirotka to a split contract. They owe him a little less than a million if he's on the opening day roster and incentives could raise it to $4M. Additionally, Sirotka can ask for his release if not on ML roster by July 1st. The 31-year-old hasn't pitched in two years due to arm problems. I was more excited about this signing when I thought it was a regular minor league deal, but if healthy Sirotka could provide Chicago with the left-handed starter they want so badly and probably develop significant value as trade bait. He'll likely need to spend some time in AAA given the length of time he's been injured.

Chicago also re-signed LHP Phil Norton to a minor league deal. Norton didn't play last season due to Tommy John surgery, but after moving to relief in 2001 the lefty looked ready to contribute to the major league pen before the surgery. He'll likely need to spend at least the first half of the season at AAA, but he could quickly work himself into a position to join the big league team.

The Brewers have added OF-R Jermaine Allensworth, OF-R Jed Hansen, and 3B-R Wilton Veras to their list of minor league signings. Allensworth spent last season at AA with the Braves. He's shown promising plate discipline and speed skills, though no real signs of power. Despite his placement last season, the 30-year-old has had significant time in AAA and over a thousand major league at-bats. I expect him to break camp in the minors, but Milwaukee could easily call upon him as an injury replacement during the year.

Originally drafted by Kansas City out of Stanford University in the second round of the 1994 draft, Hansen has shown moderate power but insufficient plate discipline. I don't expect the 30-year-old to be anything more than AAA roster filler even with the Brewers.

Wilton Veras developed decent strike zone judgment this past season, but his minimal speed and power skills disappeared. Consequently, unless the 24-year-old shows sudden improvement I don't expect him to spend time in Milwaukee.