Javelina Kick Off Meetings With a Bang

The eMLB winter meetings officially began this morning, and there was no lack of action in Julian. Amid rumors that GM Jamie Hoyle was actively shopping nearly his entire roster, the team today agreed to two deals. First, Hoyle agreed to send starting pitcher Gil Meche, whom he signed to a contract following the 2009 draft, to Gaylord in exchange for pick 10.15 (#159). Then, he agreed to ship slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and starting pitcher Paul Maholm to North Texas in exchange for pick 1.14 and young outfielder Andrew McCutchen.

It's not surprising to see Meche and Maholm go, but many in the league will probably be shocked to see a cornerstone like Gonzalez leave town. While it was not an easy decision to make, it's clear Hoyle made this decision with the future in mind.

"We were in need of two things; contract flexibility and an infusion of talent," explained Hoyle via conference call. "Adrian carried us to our first title, but it was becoming clear to us that it was time to maximize value and add more bodies. We are very excited about Andrew joining the team, and we should get a very solid player at 1.14."

Why did the team part ways with Meche and Maholm? It's pretty simple.

"We weren't going to win with them this year, and we were better off clearing their contracts off the books," said Hoyle. "Hopefully they can help another team win and we can maximize that contract space in improving our own."