The Oakland A's acquired outfielder Seth Smith from Colorado. He's a career .257 hitter away from Coors Field. (AP)You just knew Billy Beane and Dan O'Dowd — two of baseball busiest general managers this winter — were going to hookup eventually. They found their match on Monday — completing their fourth deal together in a little over four years — as the Oakland A's acquired outfielder Seth Smith from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for pitchers Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso.

This deal isn't quite the blockbuster Beane and O'Dowd put together involving Matt Holliday and Carlos Gonzalez three years ago, but if used properly Smith should help Oakland replace some of the production its losing with the departures of Josh Willingham and David DeJesus. And by used properly I mean if only used against right-handers pitchers, because the left-handed hitting Smith still hasn't figured out how to handle southpaw hurlers as his .202 lifetime average and a .588 OPS against them would indicate.

Consistent at-bats against lefties, which he never received under Jim Tracy's management in Colorado, might help Smith in that department, but a platoon situation with Michael Taylor, Collin Cowgill, or another right-handed bat added at a later time would seem like the most sensible plan for manager Bob Melvin.

What do you get when you combine Sarah McLachlan and David Wright? (AP photos)

Three years of disappointing performances on the field, financial difficulties and a shaky ownership situation have not only depressed New York Mets fans, but also made their favorite team the butt of many jokes. Those will only increase in volume and venom now that the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals — their primary competition for last place in the National League East — have shown a willingness to spend money.

Juan Nicasio faced live hitters for the first time since breaking his neck in August. (AP)The scariest injury of the 2011 baseball season is shaping up to become 2012's most inspirational story: Colorado Rockies right-hander Juan Nicasio has taken a major step in his recovery from the broken neck he suffered on Aug. 5.

According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, Nicasio, who has been throwing off a mound for several weeks in the Dominican Republic, graduated to facing live hitters in a controlled environment (behind the protection of an L screen) on Monday, just five months after Washington's Ian Desmond struck him in the side of the head with a line drive. The contact momentarily knocked him unconscious, causing him to fall and fracture his C-1 vertebrae.

His quick comeback is remarkable. Astonishing even. Those are the words that come to mind when I think about how devastating this injury had the potential to be, compared to where Nicasio is now. The moment it happened, the worst fears going through my mind and the minds of most didn't revolve around a resumption of his playing career, but rather would this 24-year-old man have the opportunity to enjoy a normal life again.

Now, a return to big leagues doesn't just seem possible, but very likely.

Andrew Bailey (AP)The Oakland A's efforts to cut current expenses, avoid future expenses, and acquire all the cheap talent they can ahead of their reported move to San Jose continued on Wednesday as they shipped 27-year-old closer Andrew Bailey to the Boston Red Sox.

It's a trade we've been anticipating for several weeks now — even before general manager Billy Beane shipped Trevor Cahill to Arizona and Gio Gonzalez to Washington — but was finally made official on Wednesday with ESPN's Buster Olney first reporting the deal. We later learned that outfielder Ryan Sweeney was also heading to Boston with Red Sox outfielder Josh Reddick, first base prospect Miles Head, and pitching prospect Raul Alcantara coming back to Oakland.

[Related: Baseball's ultimate free-agent tracker]

That will not be celebrated as a great return for Oakland. Both prospects are years away from cracking a major league roster and are far from surefire bets to pan out. But given Bailey's injury history, the loaded closer's market, and Oakland's desire to go cheap at all costs, a lesser return is to be expected.

As far as Boston goes, this deal helps us make better sense of their bullpen heading into 2012. Bailey will obviously handle the closing duties, moving Mark Melancon, their recent acquisition from the Houston Astros, into a more comfortable setup role. It also gives them the flexibility to move Daniel Bard into the starting rotation.

Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba has always played the game of baseball with a lot of fire and a lot passion. Unfortunately, the 11 year big league veteran took that fire and passion too far while playing for Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan League on Friday.

After Torrealba took an ugly cut at a breaking ball and missed for strike three, he immediately began a heated discussion with home plate umpire Dario Rivero, Jr over a disputed strike call earlier in the at-bat. The two men jawed face-to-face for a good fifteen seconds before Torrealba struck the umpire in the face mask with the palm of his hand and pushed him away.

Here's video of the incident from the Venezuelan League broadcast on Friday afternoon. The punch will come 35 seconds in.

princes

Miami Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison was at it again on Thursday afternoon, attempting to trick his followers and baseball writers on Twitter with a series of tweets designed to lead those not paying attention to believe that free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder was headed to the Seattle Mariners.

Mat Latos — APThe National League Central is there for the taking with the St. Louis Cardinals still reeling from the loss of Albert Pujols, and the Milwaukee Brewers likely to lose Prince Fielder and be without Ryan Braun for the first 50 games.

Who will grab it?

Well, we can't completely disregard St. Louis with Adam Wainwright returning, but they won't be running away and hiding. It appears Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are going with a longer term approach to fixing the Chicago Cubs, so it may be a couple years before we hear noise from them (even if they do land Fielder). Who knows when we'll hear from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a meaningful way again. Maybe never. And in the case of Houston Astros, no chance at all before they head to the AL West.

That leaves the Cincinnati Reds with a window of opportunity to jump up and win the division in 2012, and remain firmly in the mix heading into 2013. Based on his aggressive trade on Saturday, it's apparent general manager Walt Jocketty is willing to pay the price in terms of prospects to take advantage of their opportunity.

Michael Cuddyer — APDespite the recent birth of twin girls, which seemed like a good omen for baseball fans in Minnesota, Michael Cuddyer officially ended his 11 year career with the Minnesota Twins on Friday morning.

As Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported, the 32-year-old free agent has agreed to join the Colorado Rockies on a three-year deal worth S31.5 million.

As of Thursday night it was believed Colorado was offering the same three years at $27 million, just above Minnesota's $25 million offer, and had no plans of going higher. However, their desperation for a third run producer and the rare opportunity to sign a coveted free agent is likely what motivated the final push.

If you recall, the last time Colorado made a splash in free agency was way back in 2001, when they signed pitchers Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle to mega deals to anchor their rotation. Both of those contracts quickly exploded in the Rockies face and led them to irrelevancy from 2001-2006. It's with those deals in mind that general manager Dan O'Dowd has approached free agency more cautiously, and also led free agents (especially pitchers) to look at Colorado in a different light during his regime.