Report: Michael Bourn signing with Indians

Because it’s really hard to figure that either of those guys, let alone both of them, will still be playing well in three or four years, when their contracts are still quite active.

Just a note about this, and without benefit of whatever I wrote at the time because I can’t find it ... Hafner, as Joe notes, had been devastating in 2005 and ‘6. He signed his new contract, running through 2012, at the All-Star break in 2007. Hafner was not, at that moment, hitting particularly well: just .262/.397/.452, but you could argue that he’d just been unlucky, as the walks and power were still there.

Eight teams finished with 90 losses or more in 2012. Three of them went into (or continued) active-selling mode. The Rockies kind of sat around, looking confused. And four of those eight teams -- the Red Sox, Royals, Cubs and Indians -- made short-term moves to improve their rosters.

The Red Sox you would expect. The Royals you can see, considering they have a young core of hitters in place. And the Cubs realized that while the good patrons of Wrigley Field will put up with a lot of losing, no one will put up with the 100-loss variety for too long.