Here at MLBTR we're all about up-to-the-second hot stove news, but we also provide plenty of original content as well. Let's look back at the week that was in the exclusive-to-MLBTR department…
- Ben Nicholson-Smith went behind the scenes of an MLB trade with some help from Andy MacPhail and Jed Hoyer.
- Ben also did a ton of work on potential pitching moves. He named some alternatives to free agent starters, and listed the teams that could be interested in Cliff Lee as well as innings eaters. He also gave us nine teams that already have their 2011 rotation set, and nine that are likely to bring in some pitching.
- We continued to look at the stock of several upcoming free agents, including Hideki Matsui of the Angels, John Buck of the Blue Jays, Hiroki Kuroda of the Dodgers, Brian Fuentes of the Twins, and Vicente Padilla of the Dodgers,
- Some players aren't as lucky and get forced into free agency when their team declines to tender them a contract. This week we looked at non-tender candidates Kevin Kouzmanoff of the A's, Bobby Jenks of the White Sox, Cody Ross of the Giants, and Zach Duke of the Pirates,
- This week MLBTR readers voted on the AL East, which player will sign for the most guaranteed money after the season, and whether or not the Red Sox will re-sign Adrian Beltre.
- Ben's chat transcript can be read here.
- I rounded up the latest and greatest from the blogosphere in this week's Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
- Howard Megdal's latest Jack Of All Trades feature looked at Mike Lowell.
- If you're relatively new to the trade rumor scene, make sure you check out our handy guide to all the different ways you can use MLBTR.