Horsehide Chronicles

As so many championship teams have proved throughout the years, signing the top free agents on the market is rarely the key to success on the field. 

The Boston Red Sox had the payroll flexibility to sign Josh Hamilton or Zack Greinke last offseason. They passed. Instead, they spread out the wealth and filled out the roster with several veteran free agents who didn't require more than three-year contracts. 

A year ago, Ervin Santana was a reclamation project who was basically up for grabs. Taking him on meant fixing a pitcher who had allowed 39 homers while pitching to a 5.16 ERA in 2012.

Because funny things have a way of happening in baseball, Santana now finds himself looking for a $100 million contract.

We tend to think of Major League Baseball as a league that has no equal. It's practically the Mt. Olympus of the baseball world: a place where only the elites gather.

...Right?

Well, with star Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka set to make the jump from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB, now's a time when a good many are pondering that one question: 

Just how good is Japan's professional baseball league?

Max Scherzer is on the verge of winning the American League Cy Young Award. Is he also on the verge of being traded?

The starting rotation of the Detroit Tigers is one of the best in baseball. It had the most wins (76), the lowest ERA (3.44) and the least homers allowed in the American League last season while leading the majors in innings pitched and strikeouts.

After keeping it holstered last winter, the word is that the New York Yankees are ready to get their checkbook out again this winter, and that they're not going to be messing around when they do.

That will be the case as far as their pursuit of Japanese right-handed pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is concerned anyway, and yours truly is inclined to say "Rightfully so!" to the idea.

The 2014 MLB free-agent class is the best of the last decade. But where does its strength lie? Is it in the pitching department? The outfield? Catching? 

Does it have depth, star power or both? Will the supply and demand of the market force some teams to move quicker at certain positions than in others? 

The New York Yankees may have problems, but let's not go overboard. New York and the Yankees are still a draw, still an attractive destination for players.

Even if the team happens to be coming off a playoff-less 2013 campaign, it was only the second such over the past 19 season.

Cuba and Major League Baseball have what we'll simply refer to as an "interesting" relationship. 

There is no official pipeline between Cuba and the big leagues, as the best Cuban ballplayers technically aren't allowed to go play ball in the States. MLB gets some of the country's best players anyway, of course. All thanks to...Well, we'll refer to them as "interesting" means.

It's no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers have four outfielders on their roster who are capable of starting for most teams in the majors.