It’s a busy time of year with all the Christmas preparations to get on with. That may have not left much time to keep up with the MLB news this week.

If so, you’ve missed out on a lot.

Hamilton joins Halos

The biggest news of the week came out of Los Angeles and this time is wasn’t the free-spending Dodgers grabbing the headlines.

The L.A. Angels sensationally signed former Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton to a five-year, $125m contract (just under £300k per week). The Halos have missed out on the postseason in each of the past three years and adding Hamilton to a lineup already including Albert Pujols and Mike Trout is a pointed warning to everyone else that the team is intent on breaking that sequence in 2013.

Owner Arte Moreno did his best at Saturday’s press conference to convince onlookers that the Hamilton signing wasn’t influenced by the Dodgers’ spending. Precisely no one believed him. Even though they play in different leagues, the Los Angeles rivalry appears to be taking on the same ‘you spend, we spend right back’ dimension that we witnessed over the past ten years between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

Whilst some bookies have now installed the Angels as World Series favourites, their starting rotation could certainly be improved and it’s expected that they will try to swing a trade to add another quality arm into the mix. The Angels have been linked with the Detroit Tigers’ Rick Porcello as he may now be surplus to requirements, as we shall see.

As for the Texas Rangers, losing Hamilton to a division rival is yet another blow in what has been a very disappointing offseason for them so far. The core of a very good team is still in place and they have some exciting young players, most notably Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt, to call on; however they currently look like a team that needs a few additions to continue being a leading contender in the American League.

Rangers fans will be confident that their owners and Front Office are certain to take up the challenge being laid down to them by the Angels. Look for Texas to be active over the next few weeks.

Sanchez a returning Tiger

The Tigers may be open to trading Porcello after re-signing Anibal Sanchez to a five-year, $80m contract this week (£190k per week). Detroit acquired Sanchez in a trade with the Marlins during the 2012 season and he was particularly impressive in three post-season starts as the Tigers made it to the World Series.

The curious part of the Sanchez signing was that it appeared as though he was on his way to the Chicago Cubs before giving the Tigers a chance to better their offer. The Cubs are firmly in a rebuilding phase so it was interesting to see them going after a leading free agent. Whether Sanchez was a specific target or a sign that the Cubs are looking to speed up their return to being competitive remains to be seen.

What is very clear is that the Tigers’ front four – Verlander, Fister, Scherzer and Sanchez – looks as strong as any in the Majors and Detroit will once again be overwhelming favourites to win the AL Central in 2013.

Royal risk

That leads us on to the Kansas City Royals and their controversial decision to trade away top prospect Wil Meyers and a couple of promising young pitchers to acquire James Shields and Wade Davis from the Tampa Bay Rays.

It’s been a long time since the Royals have been relevant in the playoff stakes and few disagreed, especially their long-suffering supporters, when General Manager Dayton Moore stated this week that it was time for the team to start winning.  The trade has been questioned because, while the trade makes them better in 2013, there is doubt that it genuinely helps them to become contenders.

The second Wild Card does give more teams hope and the Royals are crossing their fingers that Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain and the rest of their youngsters all take a big step forward. If they do then it’s possible that they could follow the examples set by the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s as underdogs proving the experts wrong.

The problem the Royals have is that the quality of the teams in the AL East and West makes even the second Wild Card a dim prospect, leaving their hopes reliant on the Tigers drastically underperforming to make the AL Central title a realistic target.

Detroit nearly did just that in 2012 so it’s not completely of the question, but right now the Royals need one or two significant additions to really give themselves a chance and that doesn’t appear to be on the cards.

Three-team trade

The Royals weren’t the only AL Central team involved in a big trade this week. The Cleveland Indians joined with the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks to complete a three-team trade involving nine players. The most significant parts of the deal saw Shin-Soo Choo joining the Reds, Drew Stubbs and highly-touted pitching prospect Trevor Bauer joining the Indians and reliever Tony Sipp and shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius joining the D-Backs. Gregorius is a Netherlands international, born in the country and then being raised in Curacao, and although his bat is a work in progress, his excellent glovework at short should ensure that he’ll be another European representative in the Majors for many seasons to come.

AL East additions

It seemed unlikely when the rumours began, but now it has come to pass: Kevin Youkilis will be shaving off his facial hair and putting on pinstripes. The former Red Sox hero is crossing the rivalry and joining the New York Yankees, in part to cover for the injured Alex Rodriguez at third base. The Yankees also came to terms with Ichiro Suzuki to bring the Japanese star back to the Bronx on a two-year contract.

Meanwhile in Boston, the Red Sox acquired free agent pitchers Ryan Dempster and Koji Uehara, both of whom left the Rangers as free agents at the end of the 2012 season.

The developing news story in the East is that the Toronto Blue Jays reportedly are on the verge of completing a trade with the New York Mets to add Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey to their rotation. You have to hand it to Toronto: if they wanted to compete in the AL East in 2013 they needed to dramatically improve their pitching staff. With Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle already on board, adding Dickey would give them a new and impressive front three to their rotation and completely change the look of the staff compared to how it was at the end of the 2012 season.

Other notable deals

The Philadelphia Phillies have added two former Rangers (you’ll notice a theme is emerging here) through a trade for Michael Young and signing free agent reliever Mike Adams. They also filled their hole in centre field by completing a trade with the Minnesota Twins to acquire Ben Revere.  That takes yet another potential suitor for free agent Michael Bourn out of the mix, although anyone thinking that agent Scott Boras might be left without a team to give his client a lucrative contract should remember what happened with Prince Fielder a year ago.

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired free agent starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy on a two-year, $15m contract to add yet another former Oakland A’s player to their collection. The D-Backs also now appear to be retreating from trade talks to part ways with outfielder Justin Upton and while they don’t have the star power of the Dodgers and the Giants, General Manager Kevin Towers is building a solid roster to make Arizona a sleeper pick in the National League.

The MLB Winter Meetings plus Twitter adds up to a cacophony of rumours to leave your head spinning.

On Tuesday evening, no sooner had tweets fluttered onto timelines about a possible trade involving Justin Upton and Cliff Lee than even more tweets reacted to it claiming that the story wasn’t true.

Such back-and-forth rumours are par for the course in these social-media-mad times and it makes for an entertaining few days, not least because the stories are always joined by a number of actual deals being made.

These are the main moves that have taken place as of early Wednesday evening U.K. time

Red Sox revamp

The Boston Red Sox have made two free agent additions to their offence. Former Texas Ranger Mike Napoli will move to Fenway Park on a three-year/$39m contract (£155k per week) that should see him spending most of his time at first base, possibly with occasional starts at catcher when needed.  Napoli’s outstanding 2011 season made his 2012 campaign seem like a let-down and he is not without his flaws as a hitter, but he’ll provide some power to the Red Sox’s lineup and fans with tickets for the Green Monster seats should keep their eyes out for flying baseballs when he’s up to bat.

Boston then took their three-year/$39m contract template and used it to acquire outfielder Shane Victorino. General Manager Ben Cherington has spoken this offseason of the unique dimensions in right field at Fenway and the attractiveness of acquiring a good fielder to man the position.

Victorino would be a decent fit out in right-field, despite not profiling as a corner outfielder when it comes to his ability to hit for power, although there are a few rumblings that current centrefielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s name has been bandied around as a potential trade chip, which could lead to Victorino moving back to his favoured position.  Ellsbury will be a free agent at the end of the 2013 season and will command a significant contract, making it possible that Boston may try to trade him now if they can receive a worthwhile return.

Tampa Bay talk

One of the big talking points coming out of the Winter Meetings so far is the continued speculation that the Tampa Bay Rays may trade from their stock of quality starting pitchers to improve their offence.  The Rays have already added to their lineup this week, firstly in signing light-hitting first baseman James Loney on a one-year/$2m contract and then agreeing a trade with the Miami Marlins for shortstop Yunel Escobar.

Escobar has only been a Marlin for a couple of weeks following his part in Miami’s blockbuster trade with Toronto.  He comes with controversy, from the ever-present whispers about his alleged lackadaisical attitude to his recent shameful homophobic slur incident, but he’s a good fielder at shortstop and his contract is excellent value, making him a very useful pick-up for the cost-conscious Rays.

What Tampa Bay haven’t done as yet is acquire a genuine impact bat and that’s where the trade rumours come in.  We’ve heard similar stories over the past two offseasons and the Rays haven’t found a potential deal to their liking. Maybe it will be different this offseason.

A-Rod, a crock

With the Red Sox and Rays both making moves, the relative inactivity of the New York Yankees so far this offseason is all the more striking. Although they have agreed deals to strengthen their pitching corps, the offence has some notable holes that need to be filled and we found out earlier this week that this includes a glaring vacancy at third base.

Beneath the hysteria of Alex Rodriguez’s postseason woes there was a common sense angle that suggested he was battling an injury. We now know that he was hobbled by a hip complaint for which he has just undergone surgery. A-Rod likely will be out until June and considering he has now had surgery on both hips, serious questions will be raised over how effective he will be on his return.

The Yankees owe Rodriguez a staggering $28m (£17.4m/ £334k per week) in 2013 plus a further $86m in basic salary over the following four years. When the Yankees signed him to a ten-year/$275m contract in December 2007 it was a typically blunt statement of the Bronx Bombers’ ability to bludgeon other teams with their chequebook. Fans of smaller-market teams (such as my Oakland A’s, whose 2012 opening day payroll for their entire 25-man roster amounted to $53m) can be forgiven their lack of sympathy for how badly the contract is working out.

Nationals near deal with Haren

Heading over to the National League, and sticking with the hip theme, the Washington Nationals have agreed in principle a one-year/$13m contract with former Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Dan Haren.  2012 was the first full season in which Haren had not pitched at least 200 innings and there is concern over the state of one of his hips.

Subject to approval from the Nationals’ medical staff, Washington intend to take a calculated gamble on Haren regaining his previous ability not just to pitch plenty of innings, but to pitch plenty of quality innings.  With talks also progressing on first baseman Adam LaRoche agreeing a deal to return to the club, the Nationals are building a formidable roster that looks strong in all departments.

Giants returning

Meanwhile the reigning World Series champions agreed deals to keep hold of two of their recent postseason heroes. Centrefielder Angel Pagan signed a four-year/$40m (£120k per week) contract whilst infielder Marco Scutaro will return on a three-year deal worth $20m (£80k per week).

Things to come

There has been little significant advances, publicly at least, in decisions being made on the two biggest free agents: Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton. They therefore remain the two players generating the most significant interest and rumours.

The smart money is on the colossal spending power of the Los Angeles Dodgers winning Greinke’s signature despite strong interest from the Angels and the Texas Rangers. The rest of the starting pitcher market will kick into gear once Greinke’s destination is decided, with free agents (Anibal Sanchez, Kyle Lohse, Ryan Dempster etc) and trade options being explored.

One of those trade options may be the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner. It’s looking more and more likely that the New York Mets and R.A. Dickey will not be able to agree to terms on a contract extension. Dickey will be a free agent at the end of the 2013 season and unless a deal can be reached to extend his stay in Citi Field, the Mets will surely look to trade him this offseason whilst his value is at its peak.

As for Josh Hamilton, it’s possible that a surprise team (the Brewers, the Mariners etc) jumps in if no other team sets the bar ridiculously high, but there still looks to be a fair chance that he will return to Texas. Of course, if the Rangers pip the Dodgers for Greinke’s signature then their priorities will change.

All and sundry will be heading to Nashville next week for the annual MLB Winter Meetings.

The transaction rumour mill will go into overdrive as a large gaggle of baseball reporters spend several days standing in a hotel lobby with little else to do other than writing and talking about potential trades and free agent signings.

Often the real news to rumours ratio is very low, but if this past week is any indication then there may be a fair bit of business completed.

Centrefield takes centre stage

The Atlanta Braves have made the biggest free agent signing of the off-season so far by coming to terms on a five-year/$75.25m (£181k per week) contract with former Tampa Bay Rays centrefielder B.J. Upton.

Upton is a divisive player as he is often seen as possessing the talent to be a great player whilst his performances so far amount to him being merely a good one. That’s always struck me as being an unfair assessment. It’s true that he doesn’t have the consistency that you would ideally like to see, but that leads many to focus on the things he doesn’t do well rather than all of the good things that he does do.

He offers a solid mix of some power, speed and fielding ability (he does make the odd mistake on balls he should catch, but he’s a better fielder than some give him credit for) and that combination alongside his age – 28 years old – gives the Braves a good chance to get a decent return on their investment throughout the duration of his contract. That’s something of a rarity in a market where teams act as if the only way to sign a leading free agent is by accepting that they will have to overpay the player during the last few years of the contract.

The Braves are one of several teams this off-season with a vacancy in centrefield. No sooner had Atlanta taken one of the primary targets off the board then the Washington Nationals made their move by completing a trade with the Minnesota Twins for Denard Span. He will be flanked by Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth in Washington’s outfield next season, with the Netherlands’ Roger Bernadina hopefully (from the European baseball fan’s perspective) staying on the roster as the main fourth outfielder.

The number one centrefield option on the market now is former Brave Michael Bourn. It was rumoured that the Philadelphia Phillies could be the team to grab him, although in the last couple of days they have been more strongly linked with former San Francisco Giant Angel Pagan. We’ll see how interest in those two players develops during the Winter Meetings.

Relievers: mixed reviews

Two teams showed two different approaches to adding players to their bullpen this week.

The Los Angeles Angels made the smart move by signing Ryan Madson to a one-year contract that starts with a base salary of $3.5m and could be worth $7m depending on days on the Angels’ roster and games played. Madson missed all of the 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery so there are no guarantees on how he will perform for the Angels in 2013, but the deal represents an excellent low-risk, high reward contract.

Madson’s arm injury was a blow for the Cincinnati Reds as it ruined the smart one-year contract they agreed with the closer over the past off-season.  He didn’t pitch a single inning for the Reds, but at least they had the insurance of taking the blow of an injury for one year and then moving on.  For some reason, they’ve overlooked that benefit this offseason and signed Jonathan Broxton to a three-year/ $21m (£84k per week) contract.

There is a large amount of evidence to show that the performances of all but the very elite relief pitchers can vary dramatically from season-to-season, especially when factoring in the ever-present risk of injuries.  Broxton is a good case in point. He had an impressive 2009 season with the Dodgers, but took a step backwards in 2010 and then missed most of the 2011 season through injury. He pitched 58 innings last year split between the Kansas City Royals and the Reds and he did a decent job, although his strikeout rate (7 K’s per 9 innings) was nothing special for a leading reliever and his average fastball is now three miles per hour slower than in his 2009 heyday (94.7 MPH from 97.8).

Put it all together and expecting him to stay on the mound and consistently perform well over the next three years looks a very risky gamble. The move is expected to lead to Cuban flame-thrower Aroldis Chapman moving into the rotation though, so there may be some residual benefit to the deal.

Angels and Braves make a trade

The Angels and Braves didn’t stop rejgging their rosters with their respective free-agent signings and instead completed a trade that sees starting pitcher Tommy Hanson heading to Anaheim for reliever Jordan Walden.

Hanson’s stock has fallen over the past year due to concerns about the state of his shoulder that draw even more attention to his unusual semi-shot-put delivery. The Braves have a host of options for their rotation so decided to move Hanson on, saving themselves $4m in the process and picking up a reliever with a blazing fastball who also has an unorthodox pitching motion. It’s an interesting trade where both teams are taking a bit of a flyer on a risky talent.

Two Yankee pitchers return whilst a catcher leaves

As expected, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera will be donning pinstripes again in 2013. The veteran pitchers both agreed terms with the New York Yankees on one-year contracts and it’s probable – if not completely certain – that these two Yankee legends will be competing in their final season (Pettitte has already retired once, of course).

However, they will not be staring into home plate and taking signs from Russell Martin. The Canadian catcher was a free agent and decided to accept a two-year/$17m contract offer (£102k per week) by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  It makes a good story to say the Pirates jumped in and outbid the Yankees, yet New York knew Martin’s limitations and only wanted him back on their terms.

His year-on-year decline from an excellent 2007 campaign is there for all to see and his 2012 season at the plate was very similar to the .218/.300/.392 batting line with 23 home runs that the Pirates received combined from their catchers Rod Barajas and Michael McKenry in 2012.

He’s an upgrade on Barajas and you’ve got to hope it works out well for the Buccos – if ever there was a team deserving of some luck, it’s them – but that’s as optimistic as you can be about the signing.

Meanwhile the Yankees will be on the lookout for a new catcher as their internal options amount to back-ups and prospects not yet ready to take on the Big League role.

Staying ‘Wright’ here in New York

The week wasn’t just about players finding new teams; it was also about a couple of players extending their stay at their current home.

After Evan Longoria signed his extension with the Tampa Bay Rays, David Wright made it a good week to be a third baseman by signing a new contract with the New York Mets, ending weeks of speculation that he may follow Jose Reyes in being the next ‘face of the franchise’ to become a face from the past.

The Mets signed Wright to a seven-year/$122m extension that, when adding on his $16m salary for 2013, means they’re committing $138m to him over the next eight seasons (£207k per week).  After a disappointing 2011 season, Wright bounced back with an excellent 2012 and despite the innate risk in signing anyone for such a length of time, he’s the sort of cornerstone player that makes such commitments more understandable, especially in New York.

Even though the Mets’ owners have had their money struggles of late, the Mets are a big-market team that should not need to completely unload themselves of all financial commitments to rebuild. Knowing that Wright will not be leaving may be as good as the news gets for Mets fans this offseason, but he can be a big part of their team competing once again within the next couple of years.