MLBTR: Athletics acquire Jed Lowrie in five-player deal

At this moment, there are still no reports that this trade has somehow injured Jed Lowrie.

The Astros announced that they sent shortstop Jed Lowrie to the Athletics in a five-player trade. The Astros acquire first baseman Chris Carter, starting pitcher Brad Peacock and catching prospect Max Stassi from the A’s in the deal, which sends right-handed reliever Fernando Rodriguez to Oakland along with Lowrie.

Bowman: Braves get Justin Upton

Kevin Towers gave up more talent to acquire Didi Gregorius than he received in return for Justin Upton.

Source: Braves get Justin Upton and Chris Johnson from D-backs for Prado, Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.

Speier: Sox land Hanrahan from Pirates

Ben Cherington trades major-league ready, pre-arbitration talent for a relief pitcher.  Because one of these times, it’s got to work out.

According to a major league source, as first reported by Jim Bowden of ESPN (via twitter), the Red Sox and Pirates have reached an agreement on a deal that would bring All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan to Boston. The deal, however, is not yet final. The source confirmed Bowden’s report that the Sox will send outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands and right-hander Stolmy Pimentel to Pittsburgh, while adding that there are more players involved in the deal than just those three.

Robothal: Blue Jays, Mets have agreement in principle on Dickey trade

Your AL East preseason favorites, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Sources: #Mets, #BlueJays have agreement in principle on Dickey trade. Window open for Jays to extend Dickey, which would complete deal.

MLBTR: Reds acquire Shin-Soo Choo in three-team deal

Gregorius… yeah… Sipp, Anderson, hey I remember Anderson… WHUHUH??

The Diamondbacks announced that they have acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius, left-handed pitcher Tony Sipp, and first baseman Lars Anderson from the Indians in exchange for right-handed pitchers Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw.  The Reds are receiving Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Donald in the swap.

Mitch Williams: Winter Meetings

Mitch. All together?

The move that I thought was the worst took place in Queens. The signing of David Wright doesn’t make much sense. I say this because the Mets have committed $138 million over eight years years to a player that I believe they could have used as trade bait and gotten back some good young talent. I do think Wright is worth the money, but are the Mets in a position to win in the next four years? I don’t see it. Also the mets signed Wright and now we are hearing talks of trading 2012 Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey. Talk about mixed signals. The man won 20 games.

...I will start with the team that I think made out the best: the world champion Giants. They had two guys who were not what many people might have considered very important. They brought back Angel Pagan for four years at $40 million — not a ton of money. They also retained Marco Scutaro. Those two moves alone tell me that the Giants get it when it comes to how important “complementary” guys are to the success of a team in today’s game. You can buy players, but you can’t buy chemistry! If you look at the Giants on paper, they are not going to scare many people . But they have won two World Series in the last three years.

The Zo Zone—Sources: Phillies Acquire Revere

We got the centerfielder right here, the name is Ben Revere, and here’s a guy who says if the Roster’s clear, can do, can do…

The Phillies will not leave the Winter Meetings empty handed.

Multiple sources confirmed to MLB.com this morning the Phillies have acquired outfielder Ben Revere in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. CBS’ Danny Knobler reported Vance Worley is part of the trade.

Revere hit .294 with 13 doubles, six triples, 32 RBIs, 40 stolen bases and 70 runs scored in 511 at-bats last season. He also carried a .333 on-base percentage and a .342 slugging percentage.

“If they get him, based on what’s available, they did all right,” one high-ranking American League executive said this morning. “He’s a solid average player. That’s how I look at him. He’s above average defensively. He can run. My biggest question, considering his size (5-foot-9, 170 pounds), is if he can play 145, 150 games. But he puts the ball in play better than I thought he would.”

Kilgore: Nationals acquire Denard Span for Alex Meyer

Meyer is a real prospect, Span is a good player.  That’s how trades work.

The Nationals ended their long-standing search for a center fielder and leadoff hitter at the high cost of their top pitching prospect, acquiring Denard Span from the Minnesota Twins for right-handed flamethrower Alex Meyer.

The deal sets up the rest of their offseason, with the Nationals now more likely to move on from free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche while moving Michael Morse to first base and Bryce Harper to a corner outfield spot.  Span is signed through the 2014 season, which gives the Nationals more flexibility in center field going forward than they would have had they signed a free agent such as Michael Bourn.

Pirates get Zach Stewart from Red Sox, Vin Mazzaro and Clint Robinson from Royals

Pittsburgh made a pair of minor trades, acquiring right-hander Zach Stewart from the Red Sox for a player to be named later and getting right-hander Vin Mazzaro and first baseman Clint Robinson from the Royals for minor leaguer pitchers Luis Santos and Luis Rico.

Seems like a decent set of lottery tickets, at a relatively low cost. A fair number of Pirates fans have been eyeballing Robinson for a while now.

ESPN: Schoenfield: Five blockbuster trade suggestions

I usually don’t run these things…but seeing things are about as slow as me completing my Wojciech Kilar B-side collection.

You know what we need? More blockbusters! They’re fun, they stir up heated debate and they show that general managers deep down aren’t really any different from fantasy baseball owners. It humanizes them and turns them into something other than cold, calculating machines studying spreadsheets and financial budgets.

Philadelphia Phillies trade LHP Cliff Lee, OF Nate Schierholtz and LHP Antonio Bastardo to the Texas Rangers for 3B Mike Olt, LHP Martin Perez, OF Leonys Martin and RHP Cody Buckel.

Forget Zack Greinke. The Rangers need an ace they know can deliver in the postseason. Plus, isn’t it about time for Lee to be on the move again? He’s actually spent two full seasons with the same team. We can’t have that. The Phillies get the third baseman they need in Olt, the promising Perez and a potential center fielder in Martin. They also dump Lee’s massive contract, which means they could spend the extra money to buy a free-agent outfielder or starting pitcher. (Or both!)

For the Rangers, Schierholtz is a solid platoon outfielder and gives them flexibility to move Nelson Cruz to DH. Bastardo is a nice lefty arm for a bullpen that had only one southpaw (Robbie Ross) most of the season.

And, who knows, even with Lee, the Rangers may have the cash to go after Greinke. How about this for a 2013 rotation:

Cliff Lee
Zack Greinke
Yu Darvish
Matt Harrison
Derek Holland

Passan: Royals willing to part with top prospect to land frontline starting pitcher

The Kansas City Royals are pushing hard to contend in 2013, considering almost every option to upgrade their pitching staff. And that includes trading the best hitting prospect in baseball.
In their search for a top-of-the-rotation starter, the Royals have dangled outfielder Wil Myers, the consensus 2012 minor league player of the year, two sources told Yahoo! Sports.

This would really stir up the hot stove season if the Royals go through with this type of move.