2005-2006 MLB Offseason thread

[the pinjockey 0]

One thing it appears that Gillick was passed down from Ed Wade is a love of light hitting "ez"-es, as the Phils signed Abraham Nunez to a two year, $3.3 million deal. I don't see how Matt Kata or Danny Sandoval could be any worse for less money.

 

I guess since they have quality backups in the OF (Michaels and Victorino), they are shooting for the worst infield backups in the league (Tomassssssss Perezzzzzzz, Nunez).

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

One thing it appears that Gillick was passed down from Ed Wade is a love of light hitting "ez"-es, as the Phils signed Abraham Nunez to a two year, $3.3 million deal.  I don't see how Matt Kata or Danny Sandoval could be any worse for less money.

 

I guess since they have quality backups in the OF (Michaels and Victorino), they are shooting for the worst infield backups in the league (Tomassssssss Perezzzzzzz, Nunez).

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The stupidity just keeps on coming this offseason, as far as free agent signings go. I can understand passing on Sandoval, whose AAA season may be a fluke. But Matt Kata's a flat out better player, and I don't think he's even reached arbitration yet.

 

All things considered, Gillick's probably signing Nunez as David Bell insurance.

[the pinjockey 0]

Now if only we could get a Bell replacement instead of Bell insurance.

 

Now I just find myself hoping he doesn't sign Gordon until we at least see if the Yankees offer arbitration. No need to rush into it and lose a 1st rounder if they don't have to.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Now if only we could get a Bell replacement instead of Bell insurance.

 

Now I just find myself hoping he doesn't sign Gordon until we at least see if the Yankees offer arbitration.  No need to rush into it and lose a 1st rounder if they don't have to.

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The way this market's going, it would be silly not to offer arbitration to virtually any reliever.

[the pinjockey 0]

Would you offer Urbina arb? Since he made $4 mil last year, he likely wouldn't cost more than $4.5 mil after arb (his terrible first couple weeks with the Phils lit up his ERA enough for the season he won't command a huge raise) and I am sure there is some way to get out of his deal if he is in prison. So if he is acquitted, you have a closer at a steal in this market.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Would you offer Urbina arb?  Since he made $4 mil last year, he likely wouldn't cost more than $4.5 mil after arb (his terrible couple weeks with the Phils lit up his ERA enough for the season he won't command a huge raise) and I am sure there is some way to get out of his deal if he is in prison.  So if he is acquitted, you have a closer at a steal in this market.

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The same thought crossed my mind. I would offer Urbina arbitration. If he accepts, you have another reliever on your hands. If he's found not-guilty, welcome back. If he's guilty, the Phillies could avoid his salary simply due to his failure to show up.

[Precious Roy 0]

I'm ok with Mike Myers, I guess. We needed a situational lefty reliever, guess he's one of the better ones left out there. I would have prefered Eyre, but not for the money he ended up getting.

 

Farnsworth = bad idea. He couldn't handle the media/fan pressure in Chicago, how's he going to do it in NY?

 

The Wagner deal is insane. This off-season is insane.

[Precious Roy 0]

Yankees GM Brian Cashman yesterday dismissed a rumor that he was close to signing Mike Myers and Kyle Farnsworth.

 

hmmmmmmmmm

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Farnsworth = bad idea. He couldn't handle the media/fan pressure in Chicago, how's he going to do it in NY?

 

Farnsworth handled the media pressure in Chicago just fine. What he couldn't handle were the prevailing winds in Wrigley.

[Failed Bridge 0]

I'm hoping Myers stays with Boston, but if he leaves at least they get a draft pick.

 

Red Sox have quite a few young arms coming up from the farm, so I hope they don't invest crazy money on any aging relievers. A Scott Williamson type of deal with Octavio Dotel would be fine, but otherwise stick with what you got or look to strengthen the pen via trades and minor league signings.

[Precious Roy 0]

Farnsworth = bad idea. He couldn't handle the media/fan pressure in Chicago, how's he going to do it in NY?

 

Farnsworth handled the media pressure in Chicago just fine. What he couldn't handle were the prevailing winds in Wrigley.

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His 2003 NLCS numbers are HORRIBLE. I wouldn't blame all that on Wrigley wind, and we need relievers who can get it done in pressure situations. I hope I'm wrong. I'd welcome Farnsworth with open arms if he we did sign him, and I'd hope for the best, but he'd need to prove he can do it in the postseason before I'd fully trust the guy.

 

The Yankees have talked to the Phillies about most of their outfielders, but they weren't able to interest them in Scott Proctor and they're not giving up Chien-Ming Wang.

Among the outfielders reportedly discussed were Jason Michaels,Bobby Abreu, Aaron Rowand and Endy Chavez.

 

It depends what other options are available, but if it came down to having Bubba Crosby in center or putting a deal together involving Michaels or Rowand I'd strongly consider trading Wang. I'd love to have Abreu on the Yankees, but he didn't win that gold glove in center field

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

His 2003 NLCS numbers are HORRIBLE. I wouldn't blame all that on Wrigley wind, and we need relievers who can get it done in pressure situations. I hope I'm wrong. I'd welcome Farnsworth with open arms if he we did sign him, and I'd hope for the best, but he'd need to prove he can do it in the postseason before I'd fully trust the guy.

 

You're looking at the Cubs' NLCS versus the Marlins. Take a good look at those games. Farnsworth allowed six earned runs in that series. Five of those came in the final two games. The first one of course was the Bartman inning (Farnsworth came in after the foul ball). Farnsworth allowed three runs in that inning. The last game saw Farnsworth leave the game for Dave Veres with runners on first and second with two outs. Alex Gonzalez scored both runners with a double.

 

Farnsworth pitched six innings, allowed six hits, no home runs, two walks and seven strikeouts. If you were to run a component ERA on that, you wouldn't expect him to allow six runs. Game six was a bad outing, but otherwise he was unlucky.

 

It depends what other options are available, but if it came down to having Bubba Crosby in center or putting a deal together involving Michaels or Rowand I'd strongly consider trading Wang. I'd love to have Abreu on the Yankees, but he didn't win that gold glove in center field.

 

If the Yankees wanted Endy Chavez, I wouldn't even wait to see what would come in return. Michaels for Eric Duncan would draw my interest though.

[the pinjockey 0]

Michaels for Duncan and Colter Bean has been my dream scenario for a JMike trade. Bean adds another bullpen arm, with Madson, Fultz, Lopez, Geary, Tejeda and that is decent if unspectacular.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Michaels for Duncan and Colter Bean has been my dream scenario for a JMike trade.  Bean adds another bullpen arm, with Madson, Fultz, Lopez, Geary, Tejeda and that is decent if unspectacular.

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Don't forget about Eude Brito. And Cormier's still with the team.

 

I just got in the 2006 Bill James Handbook, a tremendous statistical reference. Ryan Howard's projected 2006 line caused me to do a double take. .322/.397/.628, with 44 HRs! Daniel Cabrera is baseball's new fireballer, throwing 37 pitches over 100 mph. Tim Wakefield threw 2,305 pitches under 80 mph. Scott Podsednik led the AL in stealing third with 17, while Jimmy Rollins led the NL with 13. Wily Mo Pena hit the two longest home runs of the season, at 492 and 490 feet respectively. The longest home run in the AL came off of Alex Rodriguez, who hit a 485 foot shot on August 13. Bobby Abreu took more pitches than any batter in the majors. There is just a tremendous amount of info here.

[Precious Roy 0]

If the Yankees wanted En.....

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STOP RIGHT THERE! WE DON'T!

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Link

 

Even without Ramirez, the Mets are now playoff contenders, and the thought of adding the Red Sox' slugger has everyone at Shea talking about a genuine renaissance. Can it really happen? For Cliff Floyd, Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge, the answer is a strong "maybe."

 

You need to get more than that for Manny so the only way I'd be ok with that is if they spinned Milledge off elsewhere for somebody else. With Barry Zito available that would be my first choice as I'd love to see a future rotation of Beckett, Zito, Papelbon, and Lester (with one other guy of course). Still, you gotta get more than that for a future HoFer.

[Guest]

Dodgers met with Furcal tonight. When Izturis comes back from Tommy John, I would like a pairing of he and Furcal with Kent playing 1st.

[devo 0]

God, I'm terrified of what Minaya's planning to give up in exchange for Ramirez. Heilman basically is the Mets' middle relief at this point and showed great potential for improvement last year. Milledge should not be bandied about for an aging, tempermental Ramirez when Lastings is the greatest Mets positional prospect to come along in years.

 

Honestly, I think Ramirez is only slightly more valuable than Cliff Floyd. Yeah, Manny hit significantly better than Floyd last year, but he played in hitter-friendly Fenway. Plus, Floyd's a much better fielder, and doesn't display the kind of infuriating attitude Ramirez possesses.

 

If the Mets give up anything more than Floyd for Ramirez, I'm not going to be happy at all. Getting Manny shouldn't even be a priority at this point, yet Minaya seems to be doing his damndest to bring him to NY, ignoring the gaping holes at 2B and C in the meantime.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Lastings is the greatest Mets positional prospect to come along in years.

Um...David Wright?

 

Honestly, I think Ramirez is only slightly more valuable than Cliff Floyd. Yeah, Manny hit significantly better than Floyd last year, but he played in hitter-friendly Fenway. Plus, Floyd's a much better fielder.

Fenway Park isn't the hitter's haven that most believe it to be. If the people at NESN over the years are correct then it doesn't give up a ton of homers and is more a doubles park than anything.

I believe Manny was near the very top in OF assists last season. I know that means more people are willing to run on him but he still has a very strong arm from the OF.

[mike546 0]

Thats because he plays in LF at Fenway. Anyone with a decent arm could get 10+ assists playing in LF at Fenway. Beyond his assists, he is a absolutely terrible outfielder. I know one of those fancy defensive statisticts would prove it.

 

And I'm pretty sure Floyd had a ton of outfield assists last year.

 

edit: 15 assists.

[devo 0]

Um...David Wright?

You're right. One of the best.

 

Fenway Park isn't the hitter's haven that most believe it to be. If the people at NESN over the years are correct then it doesn't give up a ton of homers and is more a doubles park than anything.

I don't know if that's the case. Ramirez only hit thirty doubles last year while hitting forty-five home runs. Also, only thirteen of those doubles were hit at Fenway.

 

I believe Manny was near the very top in OF assists last season. I know that means more people are willing to run on him but he still has a very strong arm from the OF.

Mike's right. Admittedly, Ramirez had two more assists than Floyd last year, but again, that can be attributed to his playing in Fenway as much as it can his arm. It's also worth mentioning that Floyd commited five less errors over the course of the year and made fourteen more outs.

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Last year's numbers

 

Manny -

Range Factor: 1.91

Zone Rating: .729

 

Floyd -

Range Factor: 2.12

Zone Rating .895

 

That's marginally better but not enough to offset the run production Manny gives you.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Farnsworth = bad idea. He couldn't handle the media/fan pressure in Chicago, how's he going to do it in NY?

 

Farnsworth handled the media pressure in Chicago just fine.

Maybe he handled the media, but he didn't handle Chicago. He was a student of Mark Grace.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

You need to get more than that for Manny so the only way I'd be ok with that is if they spinned Milledge off elsewhere for somebody else. With Barry Zito available that would be my first choice as I'd love to see a future rotation of Beckett, Zito, Papelbon, and Lester (with one other guy of course). Still, you gotta get more than that for a future HoFer.

 

Zito in Fenway? Zito gave up 26 home runs last year and 28 the year before. That's while playing at the Oakland Coliseum. If you take a lefty flyball pitcher like that and stick him in a park with a short left field, you're inviting disaster.

 

I think Floyd and Ramirez are indeed closer than people think. Using runs created, Floyd created 98 runs last year, while Ramirez created 119. Add 19 runs to the Mets' offense, and they pick up about three wins or so. That's good, but that's before you factor in defense. Ramirez is reaching a stage in his career where he may need to be phased out of the outfield and into a DH role in due time.

 

Since I have the park data in front of me. Fenway Park is essentially a neutral home run park. It's neutral in the sense that if you have one foot in a bucket of ice and one on hot coals, on average you're comfortable. Fenway is a tough home run park for a lefties, but a very good home run park for right handed hitters. Fenway also allows more doubles by far than any park in baseball.

 

I honestly think Minaya has done little to improve this team. Wagner will pitch 60-65 innings, assuming he's healthy. Delgado upgrades first base, but the Mets will have a downgrade at catcher. I don't think their next acquisition is posting a .452 slugging mark. They still lack a good second baseman, and they downgraded their defense.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

And Cormier's still with the team.

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Ugh, don't remind us.

[tominator89 0]

Phillies sign Julio Santana

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Tom Gordon's agent said he'd be willing to go to Boston and set-up for Keith Foulke or close should Foulke get injured. I'd be fine with Gordon coming back so long as he doesn't get an absurd contract. I don't like the Yankees getting the Red Sox draft picks, but Boston will get two picks for Mueller at the very least should Graffanino and Damon decide to stay.

[the pinjockey 0]

Santana signing isn't a bad deal. Last year his K rate jumped to 10.4/9 from a previous career high of 7.2/9. If it was due to something he learned in the minors, then you have a solid bullpen arm. If it was a fluke then for 800K you can just dump him. Hell, if you stock up enough middle relievers, at least one should jump out like Fultz last year.

[Failed Bridge 0]

ESPN radio is saying that Konerko has re-signed with the White Sox. No numbers or anything given.

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Jayson Stark says the Konerko deal is 5 years $60mill and includes a limited no-trade clause.