My first question is, "Did the Nats have a shot of acquiring Upton? How much of a chance did they think they could sign him?"

Almost exactly after B.J. Upton was signed, the Nationals acquired Denard Span from the Twins for top prospect Alex Meyer. Span is the leadoff man that the Nationals have been looking for ever since Nyjer Morgan left. He is what they needed. But, why wait until after Upton was signed. Did they not even talk until Upton was signed? We don't know, but I can tell you what I do.

The Nationals were said to be giving B.J. Upton offers to be their lead-off hitter. We just don't know how serious they were, but they way this played out I think the Nats thought there could be a chance that B.J. could come to D.C. I think they just wanted to be sure that they were not getting Upton. But, I think that they could get him and that he may have expressed some interest of coming to the nation's capital.

But, I think the ultimate winner from this is Denard Span. He gets to come to a young, hungry team. He just adds youth and hunger for the title. Everyone has a bad taste in their mouth from 2012, but this year they'll be better than ever. Span comes from a seriously bad Twins team to a team that has a shot to win it all. Congrats to him.

Depending on any news that happens on this topic in my opinion, I have created a blog post topic called "Upton ripple effect". In baseball, after a big free agent signing, teams start to realize what they need. After Upton's signing, many things will occur that depended on his decision of team. Questions that I will try and answer include:

Did the Nats think they had a legimate shot at acquiring Upton?

What happens to Michael Bourn now? Philly anyone?

Who are the Phillies going to pursue for centerfield? They had their shot.

How will Josh Hamilton fare from his decision?

B.J. Upton has inked his contract in the NL East. He will be going to Atlanta for the next 5 years, on a $75.25 Million contract. Upton has had his problems with hustling and striking out, but his prime might be yet to come and Upton is already hitting 20 Homers a year. A player this offseason with truly upside in age and ability. This was a huge move on the Braves part. He'll really help throught the course of the season.

Jonothan Broxton offically signs with the Reds to a 3 year, $21 Million deal. Broxton will provide options for the Reds in the bullpen next year. Broxton has been very good in the back end of the bullpen for many teams. The Reds will have him for at least the nex three years. In 2012, Broxton had 27 saves for Kansas City and Cincinatti.

The Angels have now offically signed Ryan Madson, the former Cincinatti Red and Phillidelphia Phil. The Closer/Setup Man was offically signed by the Angels, meaning Madson will get to pitch out west. He was signed to a one year contract. In 2011, Madson had 35 saves with the Phillies, who won 102 games that year.