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A quick round to get your Wednesday going…

• The Mets scored a huge victory in their trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Mets sent Guillermo Mota to the Brew Crew for catcher Johnny Estrada. A couple of thoughts here- one, the Mets upgrade their catching situation from Torrealba to Estrada. Estrada was quite productive in 120 game last season. Yes, Estrada is coming off of an injury, but once he gets healthy he could help. Also, the Mets only have to commit for this year. There’s really little risk. Paired with Ramon Castro, the Mets could have quite a productive catching tandem. The Brewers thinking is, well, um, I have no idea. Really, what are they thinking? They are getting Mota who clearly took a step backward last year under a lot of speculation and now they are rumored to land Jason Kendall. Those are clear downgrades. Nice job out of Omar Minaya here.

• The Cleveland Indians signed Japanese reliever Masahide Kobayashi (no relation) to a two year, 6.25 million dollar deal. Kobayashi is a right hander who will be 34 years old next May. Given the short term success of Japanese relievers and the relatively inexpensive contract, this looks like a good risk for the Indians.

• Kudos to Mike Lowell for accepting less money to stay in Boston. There must be something to Boston as he is the second player (Schilling) that did the same thing.

• The White Sox released Scott Podsednik. Although he is limited as a player, Pods should be able to find a gig somewhere. He was a spark plug, albeit an inefficient one, for the Sox championship run a few years back. He’s still a candidate to be traded, but with his service time, he has a right to declare himself a free agent.

• Congratulations to Jimmy Rollins winning the NL MVP award over Matt Holliday. Although I thought Holliday had the better year, you can’t argue with Rollins. Take out the Coors Field factor and the offense is much closer. I can never discount that a shortstop is more valuable to a team than a left fielder.

That’s it for today. We’ll be back on Friday if there is any news. This time of year is usually the calm before the Winter Meetings storm. I wish everyone a happy, healthy Thanksgiving.