Catching up on a few leftover moves from this week's winter meetings as I fly home ...
• The Rangers finally tired of waiting for Nomar Mazara, to whom they gave $5 million when they signed him as a 16-year-old in 2011, to convert his promise into production, trading him to the Chicago White Sox for fringe prospect Steele Walker. Mazara has a .261/.320/.435 line across four full years in the majors, making him well below average for a corner outfielder in both OBP and power, with an execrable .231/.272/.361 career line against lefties. He doesn't swing and miss often, but he also swings at too many pitches outside or around the perimeter of the strike zone, pitches he can foul off or put in play but can't hit hard -- and he really doesn't make enough hard contact for a corner outfielder who's a below-average defender. I thought Mazara would be a better hitter than this, but after four years there's been zero improvement in his approach at the plate; perhaps the change of scenery and coaching staffs will help.
