I woke up this morning to find my truck buried under several inches of snow that fell overnight, along with a warning in my e-mail from the National Weather Service office here in Buffalo to expect another 4-10 inches by tomorrow morning. Ergo, I need a baseball fix. And since you need your weekly summary of player transactions from the past week, it’s a match made in heaven.

As usual, clicking on the first instance of a player’s name will open his stats page on Baseball-Reference.com for your convenience in determining whether you should applaud your team’s moves this week, or organize a mob to descend upon the club offices with pitchforks and torches. Unless you have your browser settings botched beyond repair, the page will open in a new window. Just close it to get back here.

For at least three of the guys mentioned below, I will resist (albeit barely) the temptation to link to the Mitchell Report instead of to their pages on Baseball Reference.

Sunday 12/9 – No transactions were made in the NLC, possibly because all the GMs in the division spent the day at church, praying that none of their players would be named in the Mitchell Report.

Monday 12/10 – Brewers DFA’ed OF Kevin Mench and signed RHP Eric * Gagne to a one-year contract.

Tuesday 12/11 – Brewers outrighted OF Laynce Nix to Class-AAA Nashville, signed C Eric Munson to a one-year contract (thus avoiding arbitration), DFA’ed RHP Matt Wise, and signed RHPs Greg Aquino and Seth McClung and C Mike Rivera to one-year contracts.

Wednesday 12/12 – Busy day:

• The Cardinals signed LHP Ron Flores and C Mark Johnson to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training, re-signed RHP Hugo Castellanos and 3B Rico Washington to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training, tendered one-year contracts to RHP Todd Wellemeyer, C Yadier Molina, and OF Rick * Ankiel, non-tendered IF Aaron Miles, making him a free agent.
• The Pirates signed free agent INF Chris Gomez to a one-year contract, and non-tendered 1B Brad Eldred and RHP Brian Rogers, making them free agents.
• The Brewers tendered one-year contracts to SS J.J. Hardy, RHPs Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas, and LHPs Brian Shouse and Chris Capuano, and non-tendered the aforementioned RHP Matt Wise and OF Kevin Mench, making them free agents.
• The Astros acquired SS Miguel * Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for OF Luke Scott, RHP Matt Albers, LHP Troy Patton, RHP Dennis Sarfate and 3B Mike Costanzo; Claimed RHP Ryan Houston (isn’t that special?) off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays; non-tendered SS Adam Everett, making him a free agent (and he’s gone, the Twins signed him on Thursday).
• The Reds tendered 2008 contracts to 2B Brandon Phillips and RHP Matt Belisle. They also non-tendered SS Jerry Gil and RHP Brad Salmon, making them free agents – and promptly re-signed both to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training.
• The Cubs non-tendered RHP Mark Prior, making him a free agent.

Thursday 12/13 – The Cubs signed LHP Neal Cotts to a one-year contract.

Friday 12/14 – The Astros acquired RHP Jose Valverde from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for INF Chris Burke and RHPs Juan Gutierrez and Chad Qualls. The Brewers lost RHP Greg Aquino, who was claimed off waivers by the Orioles.

Saturday 12/15 – As RHM told us in the post below, the Cardinals traded OF Jim Edmonds to the Padres for 3B David Freese.

And that’s the way it was in the NLC this week.

John K. (HMZ)

The long anticipated Mitchell Report is finally available, and kudos to MLB for not trying to bury it. Commissioner Bud Selig is talking about dealing with the offenders on a case-by-case basis, and maybe he will, but the best thing for the whole situation will be this report.

The Crack Technical Staff and I sorted through the names looking for connections, however small, to NLC teams. Our list is below. Check out the whole shebang on MLB’s site.

Astros
Ken Caminiti
Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Stephen Randolph
Miguel Tejada
Ricky Stone
Gregg Zaun

Brewers
Derrick Turnbow
Ricky Bones
Gary Sheffield
Eric Gagne
Fernando Vina

Cardinals
Mark McGwire
Gary Bennett
Larry Bigbie
Cody McKay
Rick Ankiel
David Bell
Darren Holmes

Cubs
Manny Alexander
Rafael Palmeiro
Matt Franco
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Glenallen Hill
Todd Hundley
Todd Pratt
Rondell White
Gary Matthews Jr.
Ismael Valdez

Pirates
Barry Bonds
Armando Rios
Jason Christiansen
Tim Laker
Josias Manzanillo
Kevin Young

Reds
Benito Santiago
Ryan Franklin
Kent Merker
Hal Morris
Denny Neagle
Mike Stanton
Ron Villone
Rondell White
Jose Guillen
Scott Schoeneweis

The girls have been chatting about the Reds we find aesthetically appealing, and I’ve enjoyed it so much, I think it merits expanding to the whole division. Nominate your favorite NLC hottie in the comments on this post (including links to your favorite photos if you’ve got them). We can all have a good long look, discuss the issue intelligently, and vote on the the National League Central’s Hottest Player.

I don’t know if this trip will get us anywhere, but the scenery along the way ought to be nice. 🙂

I am so very pleased that Fukudome has landed in the NLC. I can’t wait to hear George Grande–the guy who won’t say the “Damn” in “Best Damn Sports Show”–try to pronounce his name.

P.S. – I understand the deal was 4 years, $48 million, though the press release never says.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs today announced the club has agreed to terms with outfielder Kosuke Fukudome on a four-year contract through the 2011 season pending the passing of a physical, expected to take place next week in Chicago. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“On behalf of the entire Cubs organization, we’re honored Kosuke Fukudome has chosen to become a member of the Chicago Cubs and very excited to introduce him to our great fans,” said Cubs Vice President/General Manager Jim Hendry. “We are looking forward to welcoming him to Chicago next week and helping make Wrigley Field his home.”

A native of Kagoshima, Japan, Kosuke Fukudome (pronounced “KOH-skay foo-koo-DOUGH-may”) has spent his entire nine-year pro career with the Chunichi Dragons, where he batted .305 with a .397 on-base percentage and a .543 slugging percentage in 1,074 career games. Fukudome was a two-time Central League batting champion, led the league in on-base percentage three times and four times won a Gold Glove for defensive excellence in the outfield.

Fukudome has posted an on-base percentage of .430 or better in each of the last three seasons and hit 23 or more home runs for four seasons in a row from 2003-06, including a career-best 34 home runs in 2003. He has topped 30 home runs twice, eclipsed 100 runs scored three times, reached 30 or more doubles four times and surpassed 70 extra-base hits three times, including a career-high 83 extra-base hits in 2006 (47 doubles, five triples, 31 home runs).

The 30-year-old Fukudome won Central League Most Valuable Player honors in 2006 when he batted .351 with 31 home runs and a career-high 104 RBI. Fukudome won the batting title, 28 points ahead of his closest competitor, while his .438 on-base percentage led the league and was 36 points ahead of his next closest competitor. He also led the league with a career-high 117 runs scored, a career-high 47 doubles and a career-high 1.091 OPS thanks to a .653 slugging percentage and .438 on-base percentage.

Fukudome, who bats lefthanded and throws righthanded, was limited to 81 games in 2007 due to a right elbow injury and underwent surgery to remove bone fragments on Aug. 20. Despite the injury, Fukudome batted .294 with 22 doubles, 13 home runs, a .520 slugging percentage and had a .443 on-base percentage that led the Central League at the time his season ended. Fukudome walked (69) more times than he struck out (66) in 2007.

A first round draft pick by Chunichi in 1999, Fukudome made his professional debut that season and batted .284 with 25 doubles, 16 homers, a .359 on-base percentage and a .451 slugging percentage in his rookie season as the club’s starting shortstop. Fukudome was converted to a third baseman and outfielder in 2001 and became the club’s starting right fielder in 2002, when he notched his first batting title with a .343 mark while leading the league with 42 doubles.

The six-foot, 187-pound Fukudome reached double digits in every extra-base hit category in 2003 as part of a campaign that saw him bat .313 with a league-leading .401 on-base percentage. He boasted a 1.004 OPS thanks in part to his 30 doubles, 11 triples and 34 home runs. Fukudome also led the league in triples and runs scored (107).

After an injury-shortened 2004 (92 games), Fukudome returned with a strong 2005, leading the league with a .430 on-base percentage, finishing second with a .328 batting average and recording 103 RBI. His MVP season of 2006 followed.

Fukudome has excelled as a member of Team Japan in international play, most recently winning the gold medal at the World Baseball Classic in 2006. He was also a member of the Japanese Olympic Baseball teams that won silver medals in 1996 and bronze medals in 2004, when he tied for the Olympic lead with three home runs to go along with a .316 batting average.

Not a lot going on in the NLC to talk about this week, though the Crack Technical Staff and I made it out to Redsfest for a few beers and some making fun of the jerseys in the Reds Community Fund shop. I wonder how much they’ll have to pay someone to take those Milton jerseys off their hands.

We also discussed the rule 5 draft, the Brewers signing Eric Gagne for $10 million, and lesser moves around the division.

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