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A quick “What’s going on?” in baseball around the country for your Tuesday…

• The big news was the trade of shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Angels to the Chicago White Sox for starter pitcher Jon Garland. The White Sox end of the deal is a bit puzzling as they just resigned Juan Uribe last week. However, Cabrera is a major upgrade for the Sox. The Angels make this deal for another solid starter, which gives them six major league ready starters. I can’t help but think that this strengthens their bid for Miguel Cabrera. The LA papers speculate this and the Angels didn’t deny it. As I said yesterday, the Angels need Miguel Cabrera the most.

• In more White Sox news, Torii Hunter seems to be the hot rumor for them as well. Hunter makes sense for the short term, but with Thome, Dye, Cabrera, and Konerko all 32+, it makes for one old roster in a year or two. This is a team, whether or not Hunter is added, that is built to win now.

• The Red Sox agreed to a 3 year, $37.5 million dollar deal with Mike Lowell. As much as I was against the Yankees or Phillies signing him, this is a great deal for the Sox. For all the money that is out there, they got Lowell back relatively cheap. Yankees and Phillies fans should thank the Sox brass for saving their teams from making a big mistake.

• The Astros are rumored to be close to signing Kaz Matsui to be their second baseman. Again, Chris Burke gets overlooked, but he is probably best suited for the super utility role anyway. The Astros seem to be trying a different approach to offense with the acquisitions of Michael Bourne and now, possibly, Kaz Matsui. Perhaps more speed (which is a FCP favorite) can help the often stagnant offense produce some runs. But, and it’s a big but, can those two guys get on base enough for the speed to make a difference?

• It was only a shocker that Alex Rodriguez was not a unanimous choice as AL MVP. Two clowns who obviously weren’t paying attention listed Magglio Ordonez first on their ballots. Look, Maggs had a great season, but anyone who actually watched games had to realize that AROD was the choice and nobody else was close.

• Speaking of AROD, his press conference had one really great quote. He stated that he would trade all three MVP awards for one championship. That’s what you want to hear if you are a fan. Unfortunately, it was debated on talk radio if it was sincere or just another programmed answer. Rodriguez will never win. If anyone else said that, it would be first page news and that person would be lauded for having the proper priorities.

That’s really it for today. The news usually slows down around Thanksgiving, but with the winter meetings a week and a half away, news and rumors will start to pick up.

Check out your home town newspaper to keep up on your team. Enjoy the day. Fire back.