weekend discussion thread

in your opinion, which teams have had the best / worst off-seasons so far? having spent about 10 minutes musing on this, my top candidates for the best are:

• nationals --- added two potential all-stars of the future in elijah dukes and lastings milledge.
• dbacks --- will have dan haren and brandon webb atop their rotation through 2010.
• dodgers --- got a bargain on andruw jones
• braves --- cashed in nicely on the last year of edgar renteria's deal

and the worst:

• houston --- bankrupted their future for a so-so shot to win a weak division this season
• white sox --- got a weak return on jon garland; overpaid for scott linebrink

a lot of people would place the cards on the latter list, but in my own opinion their off-season has been neither good nor bad. operating within a narrow range of options, they haven't made any terrible moves nor any that substantially improved their situation. and the tigers' off-season could be placed in either category; they have an unstoppable starting 9 for the next couple of years, but i don't like the contract extension they gave to dontrelle and i think they gave up too much for renteria. they still have problems in the rotation and todd jones at closer; despite the big-name acquisitions they are far from a lock to make the playoffs, much less win it all.

these are only preliminary reflections, of course; plenty of useful players still out there, and the santana trade has yet to go down. what say all of you?