2006-07 MLB Offseason Thread

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Garcia for Floyd. What a strange trade. It cuts salary, but this feels like a lateral move at best. And here I thought they'd be getting South Side Darling Aaron Rowand back.

[Precious Roy 0]

Phillies get Freddy Garcia

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove06/n...tory?id=2688380

 

Whoa! Nice trade for the Phillies. Don't entirely understand it from the White Sox pov. Gio Gonzalez is a good prospect but he's a couple years away and they had traded him to the Phillies just a year ago, and Floyd has struggled to live up to his hype so far. I thought they could fetch more of an impact player for Garcia.

 

One other thing from that article...

 

The Mets are interested in an A's starter, but it's not Rich Harden. Outfielder Lastings Milledge is the bait.

 

Supposedly it's Joe Blanton

[the pinjockey 0]

Kind of surprised all Chicago got back was Gio and Floyd. Reading the Sox boards they look about ready to kill themselves. Everyone thought they could get premium pitching prospects since the FA pitching market went so nuts, they thought they had leverage. But all the insane pitching market does is make the teams want to hoard any young, cheap pitching possibilities.

 

Floyd is junk and while I like Gio (great K rate, kind of HR and BB prone, but young for AA), can't complain about this deal. At worst they will get a year of Garcia and at least one draft pick next year if they don't sign him. And having:

 

Hamels

Myers

Garcia

Lieber (as good as gone now)

Eaton

Moyer

 

means they will have at least 5 legitimate starters going into the season, unlike how last year worked out. Plus they still have Rowand as a trade chip for bullpen help. Of course now if they trade Carlos Carrasco in the next 18 months someone is going to have to pay.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Reading the Sox boards they look about ready to kill themselves.

GOOD.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I don't get it. I think it's a good trade from the Sox's side.

[vivalaultra 0]

Well, at least it clears up a rotation spot for Brandon McCarthy...but Gavin Floyd and a prospect? Oy vey...I heard Houston was willing to give up Jason Hirsh and Ensberg for Garcia...or Vasquez. Thank the Lord that didn't happen.

 

And according to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are looking at Josh Bard and the Mets are inquiring about Wandy Rodriguez. If there's a Santa Clause, he'll send Wandy to the Mets. Oh please, let Wandy go to the Mets.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

I don't get it. I think it's a good trade from the Sox's side.

But this hasn't addressed their left/center field needs. I've been under the impression that Kenny would use his pitching stockpile to replace Podsednik or Anderson/Mackowiak, and make room for Brandon McCarthy in the rotation. Instead, he kept Podsednik in left, and effectively kept McCarthy in the bullpen. Now I know Kenny Williams is a genius, heaven knows nobody could "just get lucky" by taking a catcher nobody wanted, but this is a head-scratcher.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I doubt Floyd's taking the spot vacated by Garcia. Way I see it is Floyd goes to where McCarthy was and McCarthy goes into the rotation.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

There's the Kenny Williams I know! And to think, he was almost slipping into the category of good GMs. Only he could take a stockpile of the most overvalued, highly sought after commodity in this market and get almost nothing in return for it.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Repeat this after me....

 

J.D. Drew.... 70 million.

[naiwf 0]

Are the Cubbies trying to wrest the # 2 payroll spot from the Sox this coming season?

 

Dontrelle would get about $17-20 million in this market. Johan would get close to 25. I hope the Mets win the WS in the next few years because there will be a strike after the 2011 season.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

The biggest trade of the off-season:

 

"Orioles acquired infielder-outfielder Freddie Bynum from the Cubs for a player to be named."

[Bruiser Chong 0]

As for the Cubs, hey great, they're spending money. They can't be accused of being cheap. Problem is, they're the biggest spenders on the most overpriced FA market I can remember.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Repeat this after me....

 

J.D. Drew.... 70 million.

 

Soriano... $136 million

Carlos Lee... $106 million

Gary Matthews... $55 million

Juan Pierre... $45 million

 

What was the point you were trying to make again? There are legitimate questions concerning JD Drew's ability to stay healthy and the possibility that he declines over the five year contract period, but he certainly wasn't overpaid relative to other signings. He was still the best FA outfielder on the market. The Sox had to get a RFer this offseason and got caught in an inflationary market. Dollar for dollar, they probably got the best deal. Doesn't make it a great deal in general, but you certainly can't single it out with the dozen other ridiculous contracts handed out.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't get it. I think it's a good trade from the Sox's side.

But this hasn't addressed their left/center field needs. I've been under the impression that Kenny would use his pitching stockpile to replace Podsednik or Anderson/Mackowiak, and make room for Brandon McCarthy in the rotation. Instead, he kept Podsednik in left, and effectively kept McCarthy in the bullpen. Now I know Kenny Williams is a genius, heaven knows nobody could "just get lucky" by taking a catcher nobody wanted, but this is a head-scratcher.

 

Fun time with numbers:

 

Of the 1,030 positional players that played in a major league baseball game last year, Scott Podsednik and Brian Anderson ranked 1005 and 1015 respectively in VORP.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Well, at least it clears up a rotation spot for Brandon McCarthy...but Gavin Floyd and a prospect? Oy vey...I heard Houston was willing to give up Jason Hirsh and Ensberg for Garcia...or Vasquez. Thank the Lord that didn't happen.

 

And according to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are looking at Josh Bard and the Mets are inquiring about Wandy Rodriguez. If there's a Santa Clause, he'll send Wandy to the Mets. Oh please, let Wandy go to the Mets.

 

I'm sure that this is going to sound racist and I don't mean for it to, but.... is Minaya trying to build a Central/South American All-Star team? Going back a couple of years to Beltran and Delgado up until now (Alou, Burgos, possibly Rodriguez) it's like he's trying to corner the market on Hispanic players.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Well, at least it clears up a rotation spot for Brandon McCarthy...but Gavin Floyd and a prospect? Oy vey...I heard Houston was willing to give up Jason Hirsh and Ensberg for Garcia...or Vasquez. Thank the Lord that didn't happen.

 

And according to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are looking at Josh Bard and the Mets are inquiring about Wandy Rodriguez. If there's a Santa Clause, he'll send Wandy to the Mets. Oh please, let Wandy go to the Mets.

 

I'm sure that this is going to sound racist and I don't mean for it to, but.... is Minaya trying to build a Central/South American All-Star team? Going back a couple of years to Beltran and Delgado up until now (Alou, Burgos, possibly Rodriguez) it's like he's trying to corner the market on Hispanic players.

What? The Senators are moving to Dallas?

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Well, at least it clears up a rotation spot for Brandon McCarthy...but Gavin Floyd and a prospect? Oy vey...I heard Houston was willing to give up Jason Hirsh and Ensberg for Garcia...or Vasquez. Thank the Lord that didn't happen.

 

And according to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are looking at Josh Bard and the Mets are inquiring about Wandy Rodriguez. If there's a Santa Clause, he'll send Wandy to the Mets. Oh please, let Wandy go to the Mets.

 

I'm sure that this is going to sound racist and I don't mean for it to, but.... is Minaya trying to build a Central/South American All-Star team? Going back a couple of years to Beltran and Delgado up until now (Alou, Burgos, possibly Rodriguez) it's like he's trying to corner the market on Hispanic players.

What? The Senators are moving to Dallas?

 

Yeah, well, I hadn't seen anyone else talk about the elephant in the corner so I thought I'd bring it up. Never underestimate my ability to state the obvious.

[Guest NYankees]

I heard that Luis Gonzalez signed with the Dodgers for 1 year 7.5 million.

 

There is a rumor that Jeff Suppan might sign with the Pirates.

[vivalaultra 0]

This new posting thing is weird...

 

If Wandy Rodriguez's Latino-ness can get him a spot on a club that's not Houston, I'll cheer. A couple weeks on Astroline, Tim Purpura was on and they had like...12 people that called in just to bitch at him and call him racist because he fired Preston Wilson and there aren't any Latino players on the Astros, supposedly. However, I can think of several Latino Astros...alot of them aren't very good, but, still...they're there.

[Brett Favre 0]

The Yankees selected Josh Phelps in the Rule V draft from the Os. Pretty good move for first base, since he still has some potential.

 

They're also linked with Dustin Hermanson, trying to trade for Eliezer Alfonzo, and talked to Boras about Zito.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Well, at least it clears up a rotation spot for Brandon McCarthy...but Gavin Floyd and a prospect? Oy vey...I heard Houston was willing to give up Jason Hirsh and Ensberg for Garcia...or Vasquez. Thank the Lord that didn't happen.

 

And according to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are looking at Josh Bard and the Mets are inquiring about Wandy Rodriguez. If there's a Santa Clause, he'll send Wandy to the Mets. Oh please, let Wandy go to the Mets.

 

I'm sure that this is going to sound racist and I don't mean for it to, but.... is Minaya trying to build a Central/South American All-Star team? Going back a couple of years to Beltran and Delgado up until now (Alou, Burgos, possibly Rodriguez) it's like he's trying to corner the market on Hispanic players.

What? The Senators are moving to Dallas?

 

Yeah, well, I hadn't seen anyone else talk about the elephant in the corner so I thought I'd bring it up. Never underestimate my ability to state the obvious.

It's not even that it's obvious, it's the fact that Fridge and I had been making that joke for over a year.

[vivalaultra 0]

The Astros have traded Willy Taveras and Taylor Buchholz to the ChiSox for John Garland according to the Houston Chronicle. I like that deal much more than the Willy T/Burke for Jason Jennings trade. Having John Garland behind Roy Oswalt in the rotation is going to be very, very good. Presuming this deal doesn't price us out of the Pettitte sweepstakes, that's gonna be a killer rotation.

 

Edit: Jason Hirsh is supposedly part of the deal, too. Kenny Williams says no deal is close. Ah well, who the Hell knows anymore?

Edited December 7, 2006 by vivalaultra

[sfaJack 0]

I am overjoyed at the thought of the Astros putting Jason Lane out in centerfield on a regular basis next season!

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Just read on espn.com that the Royals signed Gil Meche for 4 years/$45 million! This is insane, by far the worst deal of the offseason. Meche is the sort of pitcher you give a spring training invite to. He should be fighting for a rotation spot, not be getting Santana, Beckett, etc. money.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Apparently the Garland deal isn't official yet.

 

In minor news, the Cubs have reportedly signed Daryl Ward to a one-year deal. He'll ideally be a bat off the bench. He's one of those players who seemed to have enough pop in his bat that he was always on the fence between a regular and bench guy, so I like the signing. He'll certainly be an upgrade over John Mabry.

[sfaJack 0]

Well...Meche will be 28 on Opening Day, which puts him on the cusp of his prime.

 

...

 

Yeah, that's all I got.

Edited December 7, 2006 by sfaJack

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

If Sox does get Taveras, there's that CF people are ripping on Sox for lacking.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

If Sox does get Taveras, there's that CF people are ripping on Sox for lacking.

 

But he's just another defense-first CF who doesn't really add any OBP to the top of the lineup. He'd be a marginal upgrade over Anderson.

 

For what it's worth, a reporter out of Chicago is saying that the Garland deal is not happening. Kenny Williams made the story up to see who the leak was in his organization. Other outlets say that they are just crossing the t's and dotting i's, so who knows what's going on.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Contrary to belief, we don't need a lineup 1-9 of roided sluggers or anything like that. I'll be fine with a defensive minded CF who can scoot around the bases.