Opinion

How do you think that conversation went?

Cubs GM: "I'll give you a career .277 hitter with average power and average fielding ability."

Mariners GM: "Alright. We could use an outfielder to fill a hole in our team. Never hurts to have a decent bat."

Cubs GM: "What could we get in return?"

The Milwaukee Brewers recently signed catcher Matt Treanor to a minor-league deal, in hopes that he will compete for the backup role out of spring training.

Milwaukee already has its full-time catcher in 38-year old Gregg Zaun, who was already told that he will get the majority of the starts behind the dish.

Zaun was signed when Jason Kendall was let go to free agency and quickly signed with the Kansas City Royals.

The Brewers lost their backup catcher from the past few years when Mike Rivera decided to join the free-agent market as well.

Continuing with the theme of last night's position players article (see: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/310728-heres-a-thought-nathaniels-ext...), here is a look at who, among the current pitchers in the Oakland organization, is best served to break camp with the team in 2010.

As I said in the other article, a lot can happen between now and then, but this operates on an "If the Season Started Tomorrow" premise.

Nick Johnson has reportedly signed a 1-year/$5.5 million contract with the New York Yankees.

His signing clearly states that Johnny Damon's time as a Yankee is over.

Damon is 36 and saw his asking price of 2-years/$26 million from this morning drop to 2-years/$20 million as he tried to stay in pinstripes.

The move is not only curious considering he'd have cost only $4.5 million more a year than Johnson and Hideki Matsui only cost the Angels $6.5 million.

The Yankees signing of Nick Johnson basically means the end of Johnny Damon's tenure with the Yankees.

Especially since Damon's agent, Scott Boras, has not backed off his contract demands of at least three years and at least $13 million per season.

Unless Damon does what Alex Rodriguez did back in 2007 where he came personally to the Yankees to re-negotiate his contract and take less money, Damon won't be wearing pinstripes in 2010.

As a longtime fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, color me unimpressed with their Hot Stove League activity thus far.

First of all, I really wasn’t all that thrilled that Ned Colletti had his contact extended as General Manager.

The Seattle Mariners have become the team to beat in the American League West with the additions of Chone Figgins and Cliff Lee. They now have a one-two punch in both their lineup and pitching rotation that makes them stronger than any other team in the division.

Nationals’ team president Stan Kasten was a guest host on a local sports radio talk show a couple of days ago, and was it typical Stan: schilling tickets for the team, liking all the moves the club has recently made, and promising the moon for long suffering Nationals’ fans.

Yada yada yada.

Atlanta Braves' general manager Frank Wren has laid a big egg thus far in his handling of his team's bullpen situation this offseason.

Concerned that Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez would be too expensive for the cost-conscious Braves to retain, Wren wasted no time in signing Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito to fill their roles.

The tally: $10.2 million, 78+ years of age, two saves, and one Tommy John surgery.

(Originally posted on 4SportBoston.com)