And So it Begins

[Guest OSIcon]

The Phillies pulled off an interesting move, claiming Chris Gomez in the minor league phase of the rule V draft. Gomez was just signed by Baltimore to a minor league contract a few weeks ago.

 

Bonehead move on the O's part. They could have just waited until after the Rule V Draft to announce his signing like other teams did. Gomez isn't that bad of a pick up as a utility infielder.

 

Just another way in which the Orioles Winter Meetings wer eabout as disappointing as they could be.

[strummer 0]

Angels sign Paul Byrd

[Vern Gagne 0]

National League pitcher. He came at a cheap price so not a huge deal.

 

Why is there such interet in Clement. He's has erratic control, underachieved much of his career, and has never pitched in the AL.

[Bored 0]

Mainly because of his strong strikeout numbers. He's worth a long term contract more than the likes of Wright, Pavano, and Ortiz were.

 

Not pitching in one league is pretty much irrelevent now.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

Giants placed AJ PolishCatcher on unconditional waivers. Basically he can be had for nothing regardless of the situation. This might put the Red Sox in the driver's seat with Varitek since they can tell him if he doesn't come down on his demands they'll go for AJ. According to rumor the Red Sox are the only ones really interested in Tek because of his asking price.

 

Oh, and teams are interested in Clement because he has a high K/BB ratio.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I could see the Dodgers or the White Sox taking a flyer on Pierzynski.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Not pitching in one league is pretty much irrelevent now.

Not always. Look at Vazquez last year. It's still a different league to pitch in, and Clement is too much of an underachiever to be trusted.

[Vern Gagne 0]

I could see the White Sox taking a flyer on Pierzynski.

That would be funny. AJ on the Bad Guys.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

 

Not pitching in one league is pretty much irrelevent now.

Not always. Look at Vazquez last year. It's still a different league to pitch in, and Clement is too much of an underachiever to be trusted.

I've always thought the league changing phenomenon was more hype than fact. Pitchers' ERAs will increase for two reasons. One, free agents who find new teams have usually had career years, and would regress anyway. Two, the league ERA is higher in the American League. A twenty point increase in ERA does not mean the pitcher has decreased in ability. It just means the pitcher has moved to a new run scoring environment.

[Precious Roy 0]

I still maintain that they overworked Vazquez in the first half, which led to his poor second half. They often pitched him on 3 or 4 day rest for the first couple months, he was burnt out by July and then combined w/ the media it led to a snowball effect as far as his confidence went.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I don't recall them ever pitching Vazquez on three days' rest. Four days is normal. It is worth noting, however, that Vazquez's ERA stood below 4 as late as July 16, when he was torched by Detroit. Fatigue/arm troubles are quite likely given his struggles of the season's final two months.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Colorado Rockies signed C Danny Ardoin(Texas) and 2B Eddy Garabito(Baltimore) to MLC's. *Thanks for the heads up Al*

- Ardoin hit .308/.422/.485 with 12 doubles and 10 HR's as well as a 41 BB/66 K rate in 68 games for AAA Oklahoma.

- Garabito hit .298/.359/.420 with 27 doubles and a 40 BB/48 K rate in 124 games for AAA Ottawa.

 

San Francisco Giants signed C Yamid Haad, MR Brandon Villafuerte, MR Brandon Puffer, MR Jeremy Fikac, MR Matt Kinney, MR Armando Almanza, SS Donaldo Mendez, IF Julio Cordero, OF Julio Ramirez, and MR Jeff Fassero to MLC's and invited them to spring training.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I know they anchored down Nomar and Walker, but are the Cubs going to do anything else or are they going to continue this mess with Sosa, which is either going to end up with him staying another year or shipping him off to another team for garbage and taking a huge bite out of his salary?

[Precious Roy 0]

Jeepers Creepers, just be glad you've got a hitter like Sosa in your lineup and move on, trading him will do Chicago no good

[The Czech Republic 0]

We already HAVE a hitter like Sosa: his name is Corey Patterson and he strikes out all the time.

 

And there are more things to do than just lose Sosa and get Beltran. We have no bench: Goodwin, Martinez, Hollandsworth, and I believe Macias are not signed. There's a gaping hole in left field that needs more than just Jason Dubois to be filled for this to be a championship-caliber team.

 

And again, the bullpen leaves a lot to be desired. There's no closer. Borowski couldn't cut it in Single-A last September, I'm skeptical as to what he can do this spring. LaTroy Hawkins can't work outs 25-27. Kyle Farnsworth is. Mike Remlinger isn't getting any younger.

[Bored 0]

A's just traded for a second baseman who's last name starts with the letter "G"!

 

Wait it's Keith Ginter not Marcus Giles.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Colorado Rockies signed C Danny Ardoin(Texas) and C Eddy Garabito(Baltimore) to MLC's.

- Ardoin hit .308/.422/.485 with 12 doubles and 10 HR's as well as a 41 BB/66 K rate in 68 games for AAA Oklahoma.

- Garabito hit .298/.359/.420 with 27 doubles and a 40 BB/48 K rate in 124 games for AAA Ottawa.

 

Garabito's a second baseman. I watched him play in Scranton in August.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Diamondbacks re-enforced their standing as the dumbest organization in baseball, inking Royce Clayton and Craig Counsell to contracts. Royce Clayton hit 279/338/397 this season, in Colorado. The two previous seasons, playing outside of Colorado, he hit 251/295/365, and 228/301/333. Alex Cintron hit 262/301/363 last year, in his worst season. He's very likely to rebound. Clayton on the other hand has set a standard for sucktitude. The difference? Clayton costs a few million, while Cintron costs the league minimum. Remember deals like this when the owners start whining about the costs of baseball players in 2006.

[Precious Roy 0]

Cintron was AWFUL last year. I drafted him on my fantasy team after he put up a good 2nd half in 03. I had to drop him early, but I kept tabs on him hoping he'd get on a roll and he never did.

 

That said, I'd still take him over Royce Clayton.

[Hektik 0]

I want to know where the hell the Dbacks are getting there money from. Seriously, there needs to be some kind of investigation. I thought this team was bankrupt and in debt. Yet in one week they sign Troy Glaus, Russ Ortiz, Craig Counsell, and Royce Clayton. I thought this team was going to get rid of high priced free agents and start building through there farm system. I guess Garagiola is a bigger idiot than I thought.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I would almost expect them to keep Johnson now.

[sfaJack 0]

We have no bench: Goodwin, Martinez, Hollandsworth, and I believe Macias are not signed.

Hollandsworth is the only one of those players worth keeping, assuming he's healthy. As mentioned earlier (I think), he and Dubois could make a nice platoon in left.

 

And again, the bullpen leaves a lot to be desired. There's no closer. Borowski couldn't cut it in Single-A last September, I'm skeptical as to what he can do this spring. LaTroy Hawkins can't work outs 25-27. Kyle Farnsworth is. Mike Remlinger isn't getting any younger.

Hawkins is their best option at closer, by far, I think. I have doubts about Dempster in that role but we'll see. Looking at the list of available free agents, the names Chad Fox and Steve Kline jump out at me immediately, as does the possibility of bringing Kent Mercker back.

 

And I cross my fingers that this is the year the Farns puts it together...

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Didn't Kline already sign with another team earlier this week?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Nope. Kline is still very much available.

[Brett Favre 0]

The Yankees should pick him up.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

Sexon gets $50mill over 4 years. That's insane for a guy coming off a major shoulder injury. Makes the Glaus signing look good.

 

I'm surprised the Angels haven't signed Kline. They have no lefty in their pen and it killed them in the Boston series since Ortiz just pummeled everybody on their staff. I thought he would be one of their first targets.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Hawkins is their best option at closer, by far, I think. I have doubts about Dempster in that role but we'll see. Looking at the list of available free agents, the names Chad Fox and Steve Kline jump out at me immediately, as does the possibility of bringing Kent Mercker back.

 

And I cross my fingers that this is the year the Farns puts it together...

We saw Hawkins at closer. Nuff said.

 

Fuck Mercker, okay? He ran Steve Stone out of town. I know we can't bring Stone back, but that doesn't make me feel any better about re-hiring Mercker. Len Kasper and Bob Brenly...this is gonna suck.

 

 

Okay listen. If Kyle Farnsworth hasn't come together yet, he never will. Trade him away for Chee-tos.

[iliketurtles 0]

The Red Sox signed some pitcher who talks in 3rd person.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

that would be John Halama.

 

Matt Clement could come down between the Red Sox and Angels. I really, really, really hope he goes to Boston. He's the FA pitcher I wanted. Great K/BB ratio.

 

Supposedly he'll make his mind up Thursday or Friday

[iliketurtles 0]

I'd like to see them resign Lowe and V-Tek, and if they could get Clement too, that would be awesome.

 

Who the fuck is John Halama? I"m assuming he's relief and they aren't bringing back Mike Myers.