West **tes: Choo, Astros, Kotsay
 

West **tes: Choo, Astros, Kotsay
The Rangers' seven-year,*$130MM agreement with Shin-Soo Choo brings total spending this offseason to around*$1.543 billion, according to Yahoo Sports'*Jeff Passan. With players such as*Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and Ubaldo Jimenez still available, the 2006 record of approximately*$1.75 billion appears likely to be broken, and spending is certain to eclipse $2 billion if Masahiro Tanaka is posted. There simply isn't anywhere else to put the game's booming revenues **w that spending has been capped in the draft and international free agency, Passan writes. Let's look at more late-night links from the AL and NL West:

• The Choo signing shows why*Jon Daniels is one of the game's best general managers,*Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com opines. While the Rangers only narrowly missed the playoffs in 2013, swapping Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder and bringing Choo into the fold indicate the front ****** understood that a major revamp of the Texas offense was required.
• Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle **tes that the*Astros have acquired a trio of ground ball-heavy pitchers this winter in*Scott Feldman and relievers Matt Albers and Chad Qualls. The focus on grounders is an "organizational preference detectable even in the amateur draft,"*Drellich writes.
• Mark Kotsay will remain in the Padres organization as a special assistant to GM*Josh Byrnes after retiring at the end of the 2013 season,*Bill Center of U-T San Diego reports.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MlbT...?d=yIl2AUoC8zA