Around the League 11/1/12

In my around the league section, I will cover my opinions on news that doesn't necessarily impact the Giants but they are opinions I have about various things going on around baseball at that time.

• Ervin Santana traded to the Royals who pick up the majority of his over paid salary. Let me be honest here, I like the Royals ball club. I am an admirer of the Rays because they built something the way I like to see something built, through the draft and player development. The Rays sucked for years but they took advantage of that by landing some marque players in the draft. Then they developed them well and turned their fortunes around by contending each of the past several years. 

The Royals looked to be going a similar rout by drafting great players at the top of the draft and developing superstars. However, they made the mistake of trading for Jonathan Sanchez last year and when that didn't work they traded for an even worse Sanchez this year. This will hurt their franchise that has a very limited budget. Luckily for them, it will only hurt for one year because it is a contract year for Ervin. I just don't get why these small market clubs take on exorbitant contracts that other teams sign. Hell, the Angels are shopping Vernon Wells, why not take him on too.

•  The rumored Dan Haren for Carlos Marmol trade never actually happened. This would have been a funny deal for me to see happen because the Angels feel Haren is over-payed and that is why they wanted to move him but, at just under ten million a year, I would argue that Marmol will be more over payed. Now Haren is a free agent and I guess the Cubs can target him and try to get something for Marmol somewhere else. Good luck though, Marmol was a beast in 2009 but has looked horrible since.
•  Michael Pineda of the Yankees is set to miss all of next year, according to various reports. This is hilarious to me, as a devout Yankees hater. Last winter the Yankees traded their best hitting prospect since Robinson Cano, Jesus Montero, for Pineda. Pineda had a strong rookie season for the Mariners but it was mostly in the first half and in Safeco Field, so there was reason to question how sustainable it would be. Since then, Montero had a strong rookie year and it will be forever before Pineda makes his Yankee debut. Hell, I wonder if the Yankee fans will even recognize then name by the time they see him.