The Official MLB Offseason Topic

[treble 0]

2 World Series appearances, actually (1995 & 1997).

[Guest Choken One]

I've expunged 1997 from my Memory.

[Mik 0]

I haven't. Whooooooo.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

They were highly competitive for a number of years, and better overall than all but 2 teams (Braves and Yankees) over that period.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The trade doesn't bother me has much as the Twins got nothing in return. Essentially a setup man, and a utility hitter.

 

Stewart won't be back. Guardado is drawing interest from Seattle, and another team. So it's uncertain if he'll resign.

 

Anyone have a list of Class B free agent pitchers the Twins might sign.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

One side-benefit of the trade is that the Twins have freed up $9 million in salary, which they could use on the free agency market.

[NYU 0]

YANKEES EXPECT A VASQUEZ VICTORY

Close in on Expo righty but figure to get Nicked

 

By SAM BORDEN & BILL MADDEN

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS

 

The essential pieces of the Yankees' offseason plan are simple: Re-sign Andy Pettitte, then bring in another front-line starting pitcher. That's where Javier Vazquez comes in.

The Yanks and Expos last night had serious discussions about a trade that would bring the 27-year-old righty to the Bronx, and sources said the sides agreed on the players involved. A deal could be reached as early as today. Montreal will get first baseman Nick Johnson and outfielder Juan Rivera in exchange for Vazquez.

 

The sticking point is said to be whether the Expos would grant the Yankees a 72-hour window to negotiate a contract extension with the pitcher, sources said. Vazquez can be a free agent after next season, and the Yankees are not interested in trading Johnson for a player they don't have locked up to a long-term contract. Minaya was said to be against granting the window (as the Diamondbacks did for the Red Sox in the Curt Schilling trade), but it does not figure to be a deal-breaker.

 

There was some division among Yankees honchos over Vazquez, as some of the braintrust were pushing for the Yanks to instead sign free agent Bartolo Colon. Although that would not cost the Yankees any major-league players, there were serious concerns about Colon's conditioning, and many executives fear he wouldn't stay in shape if the Yankees gave him a long-term contract.

 

Vazquez, on the other hand, is a young workhorse who struck out 241 and walked 51 in 230-2/3 innings last season. His stats (13-12, 3.24 ERA) are deceptive, as most scouts agree he is one of the league's top young arms. He threw four complete games in 2003 and opponents batted just .229 against him. He has thrown more than 210 innings each of the past four seasons.

 

The origin of these talks stretches back to the GM meetings in Phoenix, when Brian Cashman and Minaya had several preliminary conversations. However, Minaya wasn't sure if he was going to be shopping Vazquez at that point because he did not have an idea of what his payroll was going to be for the coming season.

 

Now Minaya is certain that he will have to move Vazquez, and he would like to do so quickly. One source said that, by trading Vazquez, Minaya is hoping that he will be able to retain star outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, who is a free agent.

 

The Yankees already have several sluggers (and will soon add another in Gary Sheffield), but are facing a serious turnover in their starting rotation. Roger Clemens has retired and David Wells is a free agent coming off a back operation. They do have Mike Mussina, Jose Contreras, Jeff Weaver and Jon Lieber, but George Steinbrenner was determined to land a stud starter this winter. When the Red Sox traded for Schilling, it only heightened the Boss' desire.

 

Kevin Millwood is the other big-name pitcher on the market, but the Yankees had only preliminary contact with his agent. It now appears that the Phillies will offer Millwood arbitration, since they have Eric Milton (whom they obtained yesterday in a trade with the Twins) as insurance. The Yankees inquired about Milton (whom they traded in the Chuck Knoblauch deal) but were turned off because he missed most of last year with a knee injury.

 

That left Vazquez. Since the Yankees are considering moving Bernie Williams to DH next season, trading Johnson has become more palatable than in the past. The Yankees are better served to sign a backup to Jason Giambi - perhaps Rafael Palmeiro - than have a young player like Johnson strapped for at-bats.

 

Originally published on December 4, 2003

Credit: New York Daily News

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

. Yeah. The Yankees also thought trading for Jeff Weaver was a good move too.

[Guest Choken One]

They are concerned about COLON's conditioning but had not problems playing David Wells...

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Vasquez is a Yankee...but Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera go bye-bye.

 

As a Red Sox fan I'm happy this trade went through...its going to be hilarious watching Giambi play first base

 

Edit: Randy Choate was also just included

 

Yankees got robbed on this deal as all of Vasquez's positive numbers came at home in Montreal...just go check his splits

Edited December 4, 2003 by FrigidSoul

[the pinjockey 0]

Are you on crack?

 

Home:

100 IP, 14 HR, 21 BB, 98 K, .255 BA

 

Away

104.2 IP, 9 HR, 31 BB, 107 Ks, .211 BA

 

I don't care if he was only 4-8 away last year.

 

And I am livid that the Phillies couldn't top that deal. Nick Johnson for Javier Vazquez even up?!?

Edited December 4, 2003 by the pinjockey

[Kaertos 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.

 

Meanwhile, the Yankees come a game from winning the World Series, consider the season a total failure and start throwing money at the wind, grabbing most of the good players and buying another fairly meaningless division title so they can bitch and moan all winter about how their 90+ win season is a failure.

 

Screw 'em. I hate the Yankees. They aren't the problem, of course. The problem is a lack of common sense in the governing of the game. The Yankees are, however, a great example of what is wrong in baseball.

 

Unless of course you are a drooling Yankees fan-boy, in which case I am a whiner and complainer and know nothing about baseball.

 

Sorry about the rant, but I had to complain somehwere, and I knew you guys would at least not mind...

[KingPK 0]

Terry Francona will be named Red Sox manager at 2PM today. I really don't know anything about the guy, so I won't say if this is a good decision or not.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Terry Francona will be named Red Sox manager at 2PM today. I really don't know anything about the guy, so I won't say if this is a good decision or not.

He's a player's manager who listens to those around him rather than Grady who went on hunches. Its a good move

[treble 0]

While I'm not too happy with Vazquez going to the Yankees, I really don't think this will hurt the Expos that much. Vazquez has tons of potential and maybe all he needed was a change of scenery, but he's never really been a true ace that the Expos needed him to be, especially in the past few years when they were close to contending for the wild card.

 

Assuming that the Expos' rotation is healthy next year (both Tony Armas and Orlando Hernandez missed all of last year) it will still be pretty strong. If trading Vazquez mean they can either keep Livan Hernandez or Guerrero (or both), then I'm happy they made it. Johnson is an improvement over Cordero at 1st, Rivera can play LF if Vlad stays or either of the corner outfield spots if needed, and Choate adds depth to the bullpen.

 

Oh, and Re: Vazquez' HR totals at home, you have to take into account that some of those starts were in San Juan, which isn't exactly known as a pitchers' park, so that's going to be a little inflated.

[the pinjockey 0]

That's right, forgot about that.

 

Previous post edited for just Olympic Stadium. And it still doesn't read that he is going to trip up once he leaves that building.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

just reported on the radio that Bartolo Colon is in Boston. I don't know if he's here to meet with Theo and Crew or to just eat vats of Clam Chowder...either way the Boston Resteraunts are happy

 

Edit: Nevermind, the person who said that was busting my balls.

 

The lobsters can all give a sigh of relief

[Bored 0]

So who's going to play 1st base when Jason Giambi goes on the DL in May?

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Steinbrenner.

[Fökai 0]

So who's going to play 1st base when Jason Giambi goes on the DL in May?

Rafael Palmeiro.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Vazquez going to NY means that the Expos might have enough money to resign Vlad which would screw the Orioles over 6 ways from sunday.

[Guest Anglesault]

Re: The Yankees

 

The model here is the Cleveland Indians.  Their dynasty came to an end, and they dismantled and picked up prospects.  They've had a couple down years, but they're in a great position in the future, and will likely rule the Central again.

Dynasty?

 

1996-2003. Yankees. Thats a Dynasty.

 

6 world series apperences in 8 years. 4 Championships.

 

AS could care less

I certainly do care about the four world series championships.

[Guest Anglesault]

::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.

[OldSchoolWrestling 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.

I used to think the same as I'm from the Bay Area. Until Billy Beane showed how to win without $$$.

[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.

[sfaJack 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.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Yankees/Expos trade is NOT a problem of economics in baseball. The Yankees gave up a hitter with a .422 OBP, and two other good players. The Expos certainly didn't get screwed in this deal.

 

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

[treble 0]

Exactly, the Expos won this trade if you ask me. Especially if dumping Vazquez gives them enough money to re-sign Guerrero.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

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

 

Hopefully they will go back to the way they were in the late 80s.

[Bored 0]

The Yankees/Expos trade is NOT a problem of economics in baseball. The Yankees gave up a hitter with a .422 OBP, and two other good players. The Expos certainly didn't get screwed in this deal.

 

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

Bingo. The Yankees are taking a huge risk if they think Giambi will stay upright the entire length of his contract. I will say this for the Yankees, trading Johnson for Vazquez at least makes more sense than trading him for old relics in Schilling and Brown.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

So who DH's for the Yankees now? Fernando Seguignol looks like a good choice. He could always mash in the big leagues, and he hit .341 with 28 home runs for AAA Columbus. Plus he could play first, allowing Giambi to DH.