American League

Sporting News, The, Dec 28, 1998 by Mike DiGiovanna, Peter Schmuck, Paul Doyle, Scot Gregor, Steve Herrick, Tom Gage, Luciana Chavez, John Millea, Jon Heyman, Steve Kettmann, Jim Street, Marc Topkin, Kevin Lonnquist, Tom Maloney

Anaheim

STILL AN ANGEL: Many figured Jim Edmonds would be an ex-Angel by now, packaged in a deal for a starting pitcher, but the Gold Glove center fielder, deemed expendable by the arrival of Mo Vaughn and the move of 1B Darin Erstad to the outfield, was still wearing periwinkle blue heading into the holidays. Edmonds, who will make $3.95 million in 1999 and $4.65 million in 2000, has a career .294 average, 116 home runs and 385 RBIs in five seasons.... The club signed free-agent RHP Tim Belcher to a two-year contract for $10.2 million with an option for a third year. The team still doesn't have a dominant starter to anchor the rotation, but it added more depth-Belcher, 37, pitched 213 innings each of the last three seasons--without giving up an outfielder.... The team also acquired Cardinals RHP Mark Petkovsek, who was 7-4 with a 4.77 ERA in 48 appearances, including 10 starts, last season. Petkovsek could be used as a spot starter or to fill the relief void left by Pep Harris, who will miss the 1999 season because of reconstructive elbow surgery.

POSITIONAL ANALYSIS, LEFT FIELD: If the club doesn't trade Edmonds or Garret Anderson, look for Erstad to be the regular left fielder with Anderson moving to designated hitter Why? Anderson is an accomplished left fielder, but Erstad is a shade better because of his speed and fearlessness on the field.--Mike DiGiovanna

Baltimore

NOT CHEAP: In the wake of a $103 million spending spree during which he acquired Albert Belle, Will Clark, Delino DeShields and Mike Timlin, G.M. Frank Wren recently signed several modestly-priced free agents to fill most of the remaining holes on the club's major league depth chart. Righthanded relievers Xavier Hernandez and Ricky Bones may not he an even exchange for departed Alan Mills and Armando Benitez, but the club got C Charles Johnson for Benitez, so the new righthanded side of the setup equation can't be compared even-up with the players who were lost. The club also signed utility OF Rich Amaral as insurance against another tough injury year for veteran Brady Anderson, but had to designate OF Willie Green for assignment to make room on the roster for the new players.

POSITIONAL ANALYSIS, LEFT FIELD: The return of veteran OF B.J. Surhoff forced manager Ray Miller to ask Belle to move to right field. Now, Miller can leave the steady Surhoff where he has flourished the past couple of years. Surhoff isn't the fastest outfielder in baseball, but Miller feels he is best suited to patrolling the bigger corner outfield area. If Surhoff needs a rest, the club can turn to Arnaral for a day, or a week, if necessary. Chances are, Amaral will play very sparingly in left, because Surhoff is one of the most durable players on the team.--Peter Schmuck

Boston

NOTHING: Failing to replace Mo Vaughn through the free-agent market, the Red Sox were searching for a power hitter on the trade market. But when the team made the rounds at the winter meetings, it found few available sluggers. And when teams had hitters to offer, the most requested names in virtually every discussion were reliever Derek Lowe and minor league OF Dernell Stenson, neither of whom is available.... The team signed lefthanded reliever Mark Guthrie to a two-year, $3.2 million contract in an attempt to shore up a staff that lost four lefthanders to free agency. Former Braves reliever Brad Clontz was signed to a minor league contract and lefthander Joel Adamson was added through the Rule 5 draft.

POSITIONAL ANALYSIS, LEFT FIELD: Although Troy O'Leary has exceeded expectations with three decent seasons in a row, the team may need more from the position. O'Leary, 29, has driven in more than 80 runs in each of the past three years and hit a career-high 23 homers last season, but he hit only .270 and slumped down the stretch (.238 after the All-Star break). Defensively, O'Leary has improved and may be best suited for left. But he remains an average outfielder. Reportedly he is on the trade block, but there has been little interest. With minor league prospects Trot Nixon and Stenson looming, O'Leary probably is not long for the starting job.--Paul Doyle

Chicago

NO MOVEMENT FOR BIG HURT: The team failed to make any significant moves during the winter meetings, where the big rumor involved a trade of Frank Thomas to the Red Sox. According to G.M. Run Schueler, it was nothing more than a rumor "With Frank, you're talking about a Hall of Famer," Schueler says. "I'll listen to anybody about a trade because you never know what they might offer But we have never pursued a trade of Frank, nor will we." Schueler says the team plans to build around Thomas with young players.... Schueler has been spending a lot of time trying to find a taker for P Jaime Navarro, but he's having a tough time trading the righthander. Navarro has gone a combined 17-30 in his first two seasons with the team and he has two more years and $10 million remaining on his contract.

POSITIONAL ANALYSIS, LEFT FIELD: For the past two seasons, left field was the one position the team had no worries about. That's because Albert Belle played every game, carried the offense and played better-than-expected defense. With Belle gone, Jeff Abbott becomes the team's regular left fielder As a rookie last season, Abbott played in 89 games and took over in center for the struggling Mike Cameron after the All-Star break. Over the course of a full season, Abbott is expected to hit 25 to 30 homers. Rookie Brian Simmons could spell him as necessary.--Scot Gregor