The Official MLB Offseason Topic

[the max 0]

Weren't they moving Bernie Williams to the DH and then sending Soriano to left and Matsui to center?

[CanadianChris 0]

Either way, you have a gaping hole in the defence, either in center or at first base.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think that's a little ambitious. Besides, then they need a second baseman.

[geniusMoment 0]

Reds just named Miley manager. Yeah, I know that isn't really news but I am desperate. I never thought it could get this bad. Hell, I even miss Schottzie.

[JasonX 0]

Bingo. The Yankees are taking a huge risk if they think Giambi will stay upright the entire length of his contract.

You know, given the fact that a LOT of the Yankee's problems for this upcoming season seems to revolve around the notion of what will happen to Giambi health-wise, it makes me wonder why the fuck the Yankee's don't trade the fucking Judas and recoup something that will help them this upcoming season.

 

After all, Giambi being signed has been a pretty miserable failure for both parties. Giambi has failed miserably at being a high class whore who in exchange for wearing "Yankee Whore" pinstripes gets a free World Series ring and that the Yankee's attempt to tear the heart out of the Oakland line-up by stealing their star player has failed miserably to permenantly sink the team back to the basement of the AL West. And now Giambi's got injuries and will require a massive amount of juggling on the part of the Yankees in regards to their line-up as a result.

 

They should immeadiately start working on shipping him to a new team in exchange for 1. prospects and 2. players to fill into the line-up's gaps so as to avoid a massive game of musical chairs on the part of the team's management....

[Bored 0]

Giambi makes way too much money and has way too many years left on his contract for anyone to be interested so they're stuck with him.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

::grumble::

 

I love baseball.  I will be a fan no matter what because I love the game.

 

But I am sick to death of the economics of baseball.  The Reds have a bad couple of seasons so they have to unload a bunch of decent-to-good ballplayers so they can concentrate on rebuilding from the ground up because there is no way they can afford any good free-agents.not mind...

Write a letter to whomever owns the Reds and demand that they sepnd more money.

 

Problem solved.

 

I'll miss Johnson.

 

And I've given up on them signing Andy.

Eh don't say that yet AS. Chances are the Braves will half ass it for a while then drop out, leaving the Yanks and Astros. Steinbrenner offers something along the lines of 3 years/$40 mill. just so he can say he tried. Pettite and the Hendricks go to McClane who says "Well, we can offer 3/22, but that's not much less what with a hometown discount and all." Bang, AP's a Yank.

 

Never underestimate the frugality of Astros' ownership. Drayton doesn't seem to realize that owning a baseball team is usually a way for rich men to lose money and be in the public spotlight.

The Astros have already offered Pettitte 3 years and $30 million, according to news sources here (KRIV TV, KILT-AM). Supposedly, a good chunk of the money is deferred though. The Astros, of course, are publicly saying that they're only "in contact" with the Hendricks brothers and Pettitte.

 

Take that for what you will.

Oh yeah I've heard all that too, as well as McClane and Hunsicker saying that all they asked was that they get a chance to match or beat any offer. With the Vasquez acquisition I'm going to be a bit more optimistic. Plus I, unlike a lot of other Astros fans on the 'net, remember some of the things Drayton has done when he got the chance (Randy Johnson, Jeff Kent, hell I'll even throw in Doug Drabeck and Greg Swindell back in the day because they were premier FA's the year they were signed). I'm just tired of Drayton saying that he's losing money every year and that the payroll gets limited, meaning that a lot of years someone I like goes.

 

Plus with Bagwell's backloaded contract (to the tune of $17 mill), Hidalgo's $12 million, and Oswalt, Miller, Robertson et. al. all due for raises in the near future, it's going to be tough.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'd also mention they pissed away money for a bad catcher......again.

[Mik 0]

ESPN is reporting that the Marlins and Pudge are so far apart on a deal they may not talk again before the deadline to sign him.

 

I love Pudge for what he did, but he's being a dick. The Marlins offered him a good faith multi-year offer to the best of what they have. His reponse...

 

"Not only will he not take a hometown discount, but he will not accept anything less than a raise from last years $10 million salary. Rodriguez and Boras are looking for no less than a 5 year deal worth no less than $10 million a year."

 

Hello? That's insanity. Scott Boras is definitely in his ear, IMO. He's not gonna get that from but a handful of teams, and I don't think any of them are interested.

 

This sucks.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The ship on five year contracts sailed away three years ago. No one's going to offer a catcher five years. What amuses me is that Pudge and Boras did the same thing last year, with similar results.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

From ESPN's ticker thing, The Detroit Tigers reportedly signed 3B/DH Dean Palmer to a minor league deal. Good deal IMO as Dean is capable of 15-20 HR's if called up and is a decent fielder.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Well, can't really complain as a minor league deal is inconsequential in terms of cash. Palmer's only played 87 games the last three years COMBINED, so I wouldn't count on him for much at this point.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

This is literally the exact same thing Pudge did last year. One of the dumber teams (Mets?) will give him like 3 years $40 million or something like that. And we'll laugh in 2 years when they trade him for prospects.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Pettite is close to signing with Houston due to that being his wife's wishes.

 

I think Scott Boras and Jeff Moorad need to be banned from baseball. These two agents are a cancer to the sport

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I think most of us knew that Pudge probably wouldn't be back in Florida next year. Spare me the stories about him really loving the area and all that crap, when he had the postseason he had, I knew he'd be commanding big dollars, even if it was unreasonable. To me, the clincher was him not even entertaining the idea of saying he'd be back in Florida for 2004 when he was intereviewed right after they won the WS.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Either way, you have a gaping hole in the defence, either in center or at first base.

Is it acceptable to refer to fielding as defense nowadays? I mean, I never call it defense.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Well, considering hitting is considered offense I think it would be safe to call fielding as defense since it's the only way to stop the ball.

[MrRant 0]

M's offer Tejada 3-year contract

 

By Bob Finnigan

Seattle Times staff reporter

 

While still trying to figure out if they can sign relievers Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Arthur Rhodes and center fielder Mike Cameron, the Mariners have started trying to man the left side of the infield.

 

To that end, the Mariners are believed to have offered Oakland free-agent shortstop Miguel Tejada a contract thought to be three years at $24 million to $25 million, with an option for a fourth year.

 

They have not gotten that far with Kazuo Matsui, Japanese free-agent shortstop. Various New York papers said the Mets offered a three-year deal similar to the one signed by the Yankees' Hideki Matsui (no relation) for $21 million.

 

"It appears, if that news is right, that Matsui will be a Met," a Mariners source said.

 

Should the Mets' intentions, which reportedly include moving young star Jose Reyes to second base to make room for Matsui, not work out, Seattle could get involved.

 

The Mariners seemingly have developed a preference list in which Tejada is ahead of Matsui, ostensibly because Tejada is a known quantity. The former MVP can provide some of the power the Mariners sorely lacked in 2003.

 

While they know Matsui is faster and a better defender, talents which translate to good play on either side of the Pacific Rim, they expect that whatever deficiencies Tejada displays on defense he will more than make up for in emotion.

 

Then, as one American League scout put it, "The Mariners may want to upgrade at short, but they can't be desperate. They already have a pretty good guy there (Carlos Guillen)."

 

That slant is offset by a second scout, who noted toward the end of the last season, "Guillen gives you a lot of what you want, but he only gives you 300-400 at-bats. A team needs their shortstop in there every day."

 

Guillen has averaged 128 games the past three seasons. This year he missed much of July and August with an inflamed pelvis, then went to third base when he returned to the lineup.

 

Jeff Cirillo is due for a deal or simple deletion from the roster, a move that will give chief executive officer Howard Lincoln $16 million worth of heartburn. Failing all else, Seattle could make a goal of signing San Francisco free agent Rich Aurilia for either short or third base.

 

While Aurilia, who made $5.25 million last season at the end of a multi-year deal, has missed time the past two years — averaging 522 at-bats to Guillen's 432 the past two seasons — he is recognized as one of the game's team-leader types. Aurilia averaged 21 home runs the past five years, including a career-high 37 in 2001.

 

"The Mariners called early on," said Barry Axelrod, Aurilia's agent. "They said they could get back to us, depending on whether XYZ fell into place for them."

 

Axelrod said Seattle may have been one of the four or five teams that asked if his client would be willing to move positions, meaning third base.

 

On the Tejada front, the Detroit Tigers have said they are willing to overpay to bring in the 2002 American League MVP, who hit 34 home runs that season.

 

However, paying heed to their payroll budget, the Mariners are unlikely to get drawn into a bidding situation of any length.

 

They are likely to use second baseman Bret Boone's contract (three years, $24 million, plus a $9 million team option for 2005) as a yardstick for money and years. In addition to being a legitimate MVP candidate in two of his three Seattle seasons, he is the leader of the team, its fulcrum on offense and defense, the rare combo of Silver Slugger and Gold Glove.

 

If the Mariners give out big money for a shortstop or third baseman, they could look for another piece for the left side of the infield from the group of players who will not be tendered contracts, starting Dec. 20, or they could look inside the organization.

 

Sunday is the deadline for teams to offer salary arbitration to their free agents. If the Mariners decide not to offer Cameron arbitration — and they're unlikely to do so — they would have to sign him before Sunday to keep him in Seattle.

 

Would definetly help out the lineup.

[Guest Anglesault]

That said, the Yankees are in serious danger at morgaging their future at this point.

A necessary evil. The present looked so bleak that they had to do SOMETHING (I personally don't know if I would have done that)

 

We've got some time to worry about the future, but something had to be done about the glaring problems they have now.

[CanadianChris 0]

Either way, you have a gaping hole in the defence, either in center or at first base.

Is it acceptable to refer to fielding as defense nowadays? I mean, I never call it defense.

I usually don't, but it fit in that particular sentence better than fielding did.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

This is literally the exact same thing Pudge did last year. One of the dumber teams (Mets?) will give him like 3 years $40 million or something like that. And we'll laugh in 2 years when they trade him for prospects.

 

Won't be the Mets. They have three guys already who can catch, and they'll look for an outfielder first. Frankly, there aren't many big market teams in need of a catcher. Yanks have Posada. Red Sox have Varitek. Dodgers have Loduca. Giants have Pierzynski. Only team I see making a big offer is the Orioles, and that's only if they lose out on Vlad.

 

I think Scott Boras and Jeff Moorad need to be banned from baseball. These two agents are a cancer to the sport

 

The only people those two are cancers too are their clients, who get big promises and little in return.

[A Happy Medium 0]

Rumor has it that The Cubs are taking a look at bringing in Ivan, but he may be too expensive for them. I say that they need another bat in the lineup, and I say who better to pick up than someone who pwned you in the NLCS.

 

I think he'll wind up with the Mets somehow...and we'll laugh when he sits on the bench with injuries.

 

So how about that A-Rod/Nomar/Manny deal? The way it looks, I can see the Rangers winning on it, by having the Sox pick up Manny's contract, and then getting prospects from whoever gets Nomar, which could be Anahiem or LA.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

The Red Sox refuse to pay any part of Manny's contract. Either Mr. Hicks (who is constantly complaining about being strapped for cash) takes the trade and saves himself $80million or he keeps the contract he hates.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

no way would the Rangers make the trade without the Sox paying part of -

 

oh, sorry that's me who wouldn't make the trade. The Rangers are run by chain smoking chimps and will probably end up paying A-Rod's contract somehow.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Noooo, the Red Sox are willing to pay all of A-Rod's contract...they just refuse to pay a portion of Manny's as well

[CanadianChris 0]

Rumor has it that The Cubs are taking a look at bringing in Ivan, but he may be too expensive for them. I say that they need another bat in the lineup, and I say who better to pick up than someone who pwned you in the NLCS.

This pisses me off. If Tribune Co. was serious about winning, there shouldn't be one single free agent on the market who's too expensive for them.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Why the urge to trade A-Rod? He's the best shortstop in baseball. Contrary to popular opinion, he's not ruining the Rangers. If the Rangers trade him, they won't get equal value back, and they'll just end up with another bad contract.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

This pisses me off. If Tribune Co. was serious about winning, there shouldn't be one single free agent on the market who's too expensive for them.

Tribune Co. is in charge of important initiatives like scalping thier own tickets. They don't have time to get involved in personnel matters.

 

And A-Rod vs. Manny is price vs. quality. The Red Sox, who concievably could win something, are willing to pay more money for a better player. The Rangers, who are just fucking awful, are willing to take a lesser player to cut payroll.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Why the urge to trade A-Rod? He's the best shortstop in baseball. Contrary to popular opinion, he's not ruining the Rangers. If the Rangers trade him, they won't get equal value back, and they'll just end up with another bad contract.

Rangers end up saving $80million dollars when all is said and done if they trade A-Rod for Manny

[Guest Anglesault]

If the Sox get A-Rod, the only think that can save the Yankees and baseball fans in general is an over the top grand Red Sox explosion.

 

Of course, Damnit, if anyone can do it, it's the Sox.

 

Right now, the Red Sox are better than the Yankees. They were better than them in October (The result of the ALCS means nothing) and the Yankees actually got worse before just recently getting a little better.

 

If the BoSox can make this deal, and George doesn't do something earth shattering, we really have to rely on the Babe to save us from the one sentence we've all been dreading ("The Boston Red Sox win the World Series.")

 

The fucking Yankees sure as hell won't.