Willy Taveras has signed a 2 year deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Taveras played last season in Colorado, where he had an off-year, with a low hitting and on-base percentage. He was good in 2005, when he was runner-up for Rookie of the Year with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Red’s owner said that he fills just the needs that the Reds have at the moment: strong center field defense and a fast, base-stealing threat at the top of the order. It will be interesting to see if he climbs out of the hole this next season in Cincinnati, but one good thing on his side: he wont have anyone competing against him as a good player on the team.

After blowing their wad of money on players like CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and now even Mark Teixeira, the Yankeees may be forced to part ways with their ace pitcher Andy Pettitte. Though they have offered him $10 million for a one year contract, Pettitte’s agent has told him to decline this offer, as he was being paid nearly $16 million per year for the past two years. If they don’t come to an agreement, Pettitte may be a free agent very soon.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have chosen not to pursue Manny Ramirez this offseason. They had hoped that they could take this dangerous player off the market and put him in their own pen, but it didn’t work out. The Angels are really looking to beef up their team this year, but they haven’t yet been able to put much more on their team so far. Well, we’ll just have to watch them and see. But alas, no Ramirez in the Angels lockerroom next year. They will be looking, but the market is smaller and there isn’t quite as much money to go around (don’t tell this to the Yankees though).

After not qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since the mid 90s, the New York Yankees are going through quite the knee jerk reaction. Rather than focusing on the team they had, they are more content to throw money around to all sorts of different superstars. It’s not necesarily a bad idea, however. They’ve already signed Sabathia and AJ Burnett, and now they’ve aimed their money cannons at Manny Ramirez and Andy Pettitte. So far, Pettitte is considering a one year contract and Manny has yet to respond. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate slap in the face to the Red Sox if he does sign on?

There are lots of rumors running around about Rafael Furcal and his plans during his free agency. There are reports that he was negotiating with the Oakland A’s and was offered a 4 year $40 million deal. He apparently declined it and said that he would wait until after the Winter Meetings to sign a deal. But just a few minutes ago, there was a report that Furcal has signed a big multi-year deal with the Atlanta Braves. It was looking like that would happen soon, but it’s still a lot of news about just one player. Anyway, it sounded like he wanted to go to Atlanta and they wanted to have him. Sounds like they’ve got him!

It seems that regardless of how fervently the San Diego Padres wanted to trade away Jake Peavy, they may be leaving the Winter Meetings with him still on their roster. The Peavy-Cubs deal, which was the critical focus for the Padres staff during the Winter Meetings, ultimately fell through and now they are back to square one again. There only options now are to redouble their efforts with other teams or to put Peavy back in the rotation for the 2009 season. Get the full scoop at mlb.com.

The Yankees are doing it again!  They’re using their big wallets to take another great pitcher out of the running for the rest of the league. Man!  CC Sabbathia is reportedly a little while away from signing a 6-year $140 Million offer with the New York Yankees.  Are you kidding me?  Really? You know, those Yankees have so much money, every year, that they seem to be able to get anyone they want at anytime they want. Sabbathia was a good pickup for the Brewers this last season, but apparently they have no chance to keep him any longer. How sad for them. The Yankees are looking for other starters this winter and there are some other good ones out there. But they already have the big prize for this offseason.

The real baseball season begins right around this time and the key players aren’t the sluggers or ace pitchers. The superstars of baseball in the winter are the sports agents. The men who make or break the contracts with the teams. Scott Boras, for example, will have an extremely busy winter season as he tries to find the right deals for all stars like Manny Ramirez and mark Teixeira. See the possible trades and winter breakdown by clicking here.

Pitcher Mike Hampton has reportedly signed a deal with the Houston Astros to play there for the next year. His base salary will probably be about $2million plus incentives. Hampton is a well respected pitcher in the leagues these days and is expected to be really good in his new post. This deal was just reported, so the details may change. No comments were elicited from the various sources that were spoken to so far, but this is all in the beginning stages. But Houston fans can be happy with a good signing.