The Major League Baseball Winter Meetings were completed yesterday in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The meetings saw a blockbuster, some surprises, a lot of talk and specific teams do absolutely nothing.

On the final day of the meetings the following deals occurred:

Third baseman Pedro Feliz signed a one year, $4.5 million deal with the Houston Astros.

The Texas Rangers signed starting pitcher Rich Harden to a one year deal reported at an estimated value of $7.5 million.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed shortstop Bobby Crosby to a one year deal worth $1 million that is filled with incentives.

The Boston Red Sox acquired pitcher Boof Bonser from the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later.

The Toronto Blue Jays did not make a deal throughout the Winter Meetings, but discussions pending several players with ace Roy Halladay topping the list of possible players to be traded were discussed highly.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, feeling under the weather during the meetings left early yesterday morning secretively leaving new assistant Dana Brown to overlook the Rule 5 draft for Toronto.

The Jays did add to their roster yesterday through the Rule 5 draft selecting Zech Zinicola with the 10th pick of the draft from the Washington Nationals.

Last season, Zinicola posted a 1.74 ERA in 17 games at Double A Harrisburg in the Nationals system, before struggling with Triple A Syracuse, where he finished with a 7.56 ERA in 26 games.

Assistant to the general manager Dana Brown, a former Nationals employee knows Zinicola well and had this to say about the selection:

“He was a really good guy to take a shot at to see if we can get a back-end piece for the Major League bullpen,”

And when asked about Zinicola’s issues in Triple A he stated:

I think what it was; he had inconsistent command mixed in with a little bad luck,”

“But stuff-wise, he’s up to 96 with a plus slider. I think once he can get the command, get the ball down a little bit, I think he’s going to have a chance to take off.”

Selecting Zinicola with the 10th pick in the Rule 5 Draft cost the Blue Jays $50,000 and the club is required to leave the pitcher on the active roster for the entire 2010 season.

If Toronto decides against keeping Zinicola with the big league club, the Jays have to offer him back to the Nationals for a price of $25,000.

The Jays also added one more player through the Rule 5 draft on Thursday selecting 22 year old right hander Ruben De La Rosa from the Washington Nationals’ during the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft.

De La Rosa spent last season with the Gulf Coast Nationals, striking out 44 hitters over 28 innings and finishing with a 4-1 record with a 0.96 ERA and three saves in 15 games.

When asked about the selection of another Nationals prospect Dan Brown had this to say about De La Rosa:

“De La Rosa is a guy that we had multiple looks at,”

“We also had some pretty good reports from our scouts in Toronto on him also. He’s got a plus curveball. His numbers are really good. He pitched at a lower level, but he’s up to 93mph and he’s a very competitive kid, too.”

Aside from the players obtained in the Rule 5 draft there was word going around the meetings that the Blue Jays signed speedy outfielder and stolen base threat Joey Gathright to a deal.

Yes, the Jays are interested in Gathright, a former high jumper who was popularized on YouTube when he was video taped leaping over two full sized cars, but a deal is not complete as of yet.

The Jays are interested in speedster Joey Gathright

The 28 year old Gathright played for the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles & Boston Red Sox in 2009 and has been quite a journeyman throughout his career with stops in the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals organizations as well.

Assistant general manager Tony LaCava had this to say about the Gathright rumors:

“Gathright is a player that we’re interested in. That’s all I can say,”
“We haven’t been able to secure him yet, but I think a lot of teams are interested in Gathright.”

Finally, a familiar voice will be heard by Blue Jays fans next season as Rogers Sportsnet announced on Thursday that Buck Martinez will assume the play by play duties for Blue Jays broadcasts in 2010.

Martinez, a former Blue Jays catcher and manager will take over the role previously held by Jamie Campbell.

After five years serving as Sportsnet’s play by play man, Campbell will be reassigned to a new role with the station.

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