Doc, you often say a lot of intelligent things in this thread. This post confounds me. Cespedes has been a decent player for his three years in the US. Why would he suddenly turn into a huge star? As for the players the Tigers got from the Sox, yes, Wilson, a decent middle reliever and nothing more, is likely to be serviceable. The other guy, Speier, is a 19 year old kid with a total of 23 innings at the lowest level of the minor leagues. Yes, he might be serviceable, or even more, but he's at least 4-5 years away from the bigs.
I didn't know much about Miley, but he's much more than a control pitcher. He's an extreme ground ball pitcher who strikes out 7 per 9, up to 8.2 per 9 last year. His ERA is a full point lower out of Arizona, where balls fly out, and the infielders were awful.
I expect the Sox to do more, but they really don't have to. Their rotation is decent not great, but with a power packed lineup and superb defense, they're ready to contend in a weak division where their only real competition, as of now, comes from the Blue Jays. Give them Hamels or Shields, either of whom would put them over the luxury tax threshold, and they become very tough to beat.
I must say that these were the most entertaining, action-packed winter meetings in years. Too bad Brian Cashman slept through them.
