Who doesn’t love Hot Stove? What’s there not to love? There’s huge money involved: the type of money that you only hear of in the context of acquisitions and mergers between Fortune 500 companies. MLB salaries far exceed the lavish incomes of most of the world’s CEOs, not to mention the salary of the President of the United States. A-Rod makes twice what Peyton Manning makes over a season. Heck, the league minimum wage is almost double what general practitioners earn in Germany.

Then there’s the potential that a deal will be struck that can change the outcome of a team’s fate, either positively or negatively. And there’s the annual reinvention and renewal of hope for every owner, general manager, skipper, all-star player, and right down to you and me: The fan. In essence the offseason is like a cold war, where teams may not be officially contesting each other on the field, but are no less competing against one another, vying to succeed in gaining ground on attaining the elusive title.

What’s cooking on the Hot Stove will deliver championship rings to one franchise (Yankees), while eviscerating another (Pirates), with a host of different fates doled out to every other team based on the soundness of their decisions and the performance of the players picked. What usually seems like a good idea in January may degrade into a debacle in July. Or, if you’re the Yankees, you win the title after spending enough money to make most other owners sick (with envy).

All the major headlines last year belonged to the Yankees. There was the mega-signing of Mark Teixeira for a cool $180 million. There was the purchase of Cy Young pitcher C.C. Sabathia for an ungodly sum of money and equally ungodly expectations (which he fulfilled). Then the franchise unveiled its brand new monolithic-techo-modern-billion-dollar-plus Yankee Stadium. And let’s not forget A-Rod’s castigation in the spring; followed by his orange face in the Peter Gammons “confessional” interview. I guess Mr. Gammons doesn’t know how to throw a curve ball. We all know how that their season turned out. Apparently you can purchase a World Series title.

Hot Stove restores hope for fans of teams like the Pirates, the A’s, the Royals, Reds, Rays, Brewers, and well, you get the picture. If your team has a blaring hole on the left side (like mine) then you hope for a shortstop with a glove and a .300 average. Or if your team’s bullpen coughed up too many leads last year (not like mine) then you pray for some new arms in the pen. The opportunity to improve presents itself every offseason.

The point is that we get to create a new wish list each winter, or at least dust off the old one. We observe our general manager’s moves, criticize his decisions, yearning to have the holes in the lineup or in the infield filled, or the final, perfect piece of the puzzle put in place. It’s the ultimate shopping experience.

Although this year lacks the drama of last year’s Manny-getting-the-Dodgers-to-bid against-themselves vaudeville act, both the players and the owners still need to navigate through the economic turbulence that we might see for years to come. In this era we might see a substantial revaluing of skills and experience in the free-agent market.

That is what is compelling about this year’s Hot Stove. Last year’s bargain deal was Bobby Abreu for a meager $5 million, one-year contract. He had 103 RBIs as an Angel. See, you can find good deals in a bad economy.

The biggest player in transition this year, isn’t in transition. Tim “the Freak” Lincecum will go into arbitration with the Giants sometime after the holidays. Brian Sabean intends to keep his franchise, two-time Cy Young winning, freakish, skinny, genius on the mound, pitcher. All eyes from the players union and the attention of the owners will be focused on the course that arbitration panel takes.

Hot Stove stokes optimism in the most cynical of fans too. I’m sure there were a few Cubs fans who were happy to have Milton Bradley come on board. As I’m sure there were Phillies fans who thought Pedro would help make it back-to-back titles. I must confess, I thought Matt Holliday was going to propel the A’s into the playoffs. And I’m quite cynical.

That’s just it. Hope is eternal, and the opportunity to reinvent your team each year goes in parallel with nature’s cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. So Reds fans, Nats fans, and the rest of us who support our own, dear indigent teams: Here’s to the power of prospects and free agents in the Hot Stove!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 8:11 am and is filed under AL, AL-West, Baseball, NL, Oakland Athletics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.