2006-07 MLB Offseason Thread

[CanadianChris 0]

I doubt they leapfrog anyone. I wouldn't want to sign with them in a weak division, but the way things are shaping up, the other four teams in that division have the groundwork laid to be good/great for years to come.

Everyone says what bad luck teams have being in the AL East, but the Royals are in the worst spot of any team in MLB. In that division, with the players they have, their version of a successful season is one where they don't lose 100 games. And even by that standard, they've still only had one successful season in the last five.

[Guest Smues]

$16 million? At his age? With his knees? I know he's Barry Bonds and all, and he'll make me cry by passing Henry Aaron, but ....oh wait this is the off season of the damned. Nevermind.

[CanadianChris 0]

$16 million? At his age? With his knees? I know he's Barry Bonds and all, and he'll make me cry by passing Henry Aaron, but ....oh wait this is the off season of the damned. Nevermind.

Even at his age, he still OPSed a hair under 1000 last year. I'd give $16 million to Bonds before I'd give any of the new mediocre multimillionaires the money they've all gotten. Plus, he's still a big draw in Frisco, which is worth something.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The Royals' quest for a fourth-place finish continues, as they ink Octavio Dotel to a one-year, $5 million deal. I know it's tough for me to speak not being in the position, but I think it'd be tough to play for such a terrible team, even considering the money.

 

Well, maybe the Red Sox aren't Yankees v. 2.0 .... they just got outbid by the Royals!

 

And like clockwork, MLB is investigating the Red Sox for tampering with JD Drew. Is it really that hard for people to understand that he could easily trump his $33 million contract in this market? Boras is a great agent and he read the marketplace. Sounds like Colletti is crying over nothing here.

[devo 0]

Mets sign Guillermo Mota to a two-year, five million dollar contract.

 

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/new...sp&c_id=nym

 

Even though it's basically for a year and two-thirds, it's still a hell of a deal. Two and half million per for a guy with his stuff in this market is fantastic.

[Guest NYankees]

$16 million? At his age? With his knees? I know he's Barry Bonds and all, and he'll make me cry by passing Henry Aaron, but ....oh wait this is the off season of the damned. Nevermind.

Even at his age, he still OPSed a hair under 1000 last year. I'd give $16 million to Bonds before I'd give any of the new mediocre multimillionaires the money they've all gotten. Plus, he's still a big draw in Frisco, which is worth something.

 

 

You would give 16 million per year to a guy who couldn't get a job anywhere else and had to go to the Winter Meetings on his hands and knees to beg for a job. I am glad you aren't a gm of a baseball team! Barry Bonds can go fuck himself!

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

$16 million? At his age? With his knees? I know he's Barry Bonds and all, and he'll make me cry by passing Henry Aaron, but ....oh wait this is the off season of the damned. Nevermind.

Even at his age, he still OPSed a hair under 1000 last year. I'd give $16 million to Bonds before I'd give any of the new mediocre multimillionaires the money they've all gotten. Plus, he's still a big draw in Frisco, which is worth something.

 

 

You would give 16 million per year to a guy who couldn't get a job anywhere else and had to go to the Winter Meetings on his hands and knees to beg for a job. I am glad you aren't a gm of a baseball team! Barry Bonds can go fuck himself!

 

He may be an asshole, but he's still worth $16 million. Doesn't matter if he has no other offers, if that's what it takes to sign him, sometimes you have to bite the bullet.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

It does raise an interesting point though. If there were no other teams involved, how did the Giants end up paying $16 Million?

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

It does raise an interesting point though. If there were no other teams involved, how did the Giants end up paying $16 Million?

 

My perception is that regardless of whether or not Bonds had any offers today, someone eventually would have signed him. There is such a cloud over his head that no GM wants to break the line and speak to Barry. However, as the winter progresses and the free agent pool dries up, it's highly likely that somebody would have ended up giving Bonds a contract. Now, assuming this, the Giants couldn't really lowball Barry up front. He'd simply walk from negotiations and wait until the best offer came along. In that scenario, Sabean would face a shitstorm, as he'd not only lose out on Bonds and the chase to the HR record but he would have also failed to do anything with the Barry money that could have improved the team. It was a game of chicken, and the Giants lost.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

It does raise an interesting point though. If there were no other teams involved, how did the Giants end up paying $16 Million?

 

Bonds paid Boras to sit in a corner and have someone call him on his cell phone every 2 or 3 minutes while Bonds and his agent were negotiating with the Giants. Then he'd go on and on about how much "other teams want Bonds but if you insist on giving the Giants first shot...".

[Guest Princess Leena]

So, Gil Meche is getting $11 mil a year from the Royals.

 

Now, if the Royals are so poor... why are they spending that much on a pitcher whose ERA is worse than the league average every year, in a very pitcher-friendly park? Oh, and he's had shoulder problems.

[Mik 0]

Mets sign Guillermo Mota to a two-year, five million dollar contract.

 

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/new...sp&c_id=nym

 

Even though it's basically for a year and two-thirds, it's still a hell of a deal. Two and half million per for a guy with his stuff in this market is fantastic.

 

He didn't get that stuff until he started using what he got banned for. Mota was straight up horrible the entire two years he pitched in Florida. He'll never get his Dodger magic back again.

 

It's equally as likely that he just robbed the Mets of $5M.

[Guest Smues]

If Albert Pujols were a free agent this off-season, how much would he get?

[devo 0]

Mets sign Guillermo Mota to a two-year, five million dollar contract.

 

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/new...sp&c_id=nym

 

Even though it's basically for a year and two-thirds, it's still a hell of a deal. Two and half million per for a guy with his stuff in this market is fantastic.

 

He didn't get that stuff until he started using what he got banned for.

 

And you know this how?

 

On another note, it's really funny to see Mets fans on other sites taking a strident moral stand against signing Mota because of his steroid abuse, especially considering that the most of the '86 Mets were drunk or high on cocaine half the time.

[The Man in Blak 0]

So, Gil Meche is getting $11 mil a year from the Royals.

 

Now, if the Royals are so poor... why are they spending that much on a pitcher whose ERA is worse than the league average every year, in a very pitcher-friendly park? Oh, and he's had shoulder problems.

 

I tend to believe that they're thinking along the same lines as the 2005 Tigers, who hilariously overpaid to sign Magglio Ordonez to prove to free agents (and their fans) that they were a desirable destination after enduring one of the most embarrassing seasons in history. Detroit was willing to pay a premium to draw a free agent of Magglio's status to their town and the Royals, apparently, were willing to outbid the Blue Jays and the Cubs and pay Gil Meche a premium to be their No. 1 starter.

 

The problem with the Royals' implementation is that Gil Meche is no Magglio; even though Ordonez's perceived price was low due to high injury risk, he still had a track record of excellent performance and, more importantly, name recognition as one of the better players in the game. Gil Meche strikes guys out at a league average rate...and that's about it. Though I'm not sure I would consider him to be fodder for a non-roster-invitee like cheech, he's also a guy with a career ERA over 5.00 outside of Safeco and no apparent peripheral trends that would portend a great improvement upon that below average performance; a long-term deal, especially one with so much money, is a terrible value. (Consider that Gil Meche has a comparable track record to Kip Wells, the guy that the Cardinals inked for 1/4 a couple of weeks ago.) It's not quite the disastrous signing that the Sarge Junior contract could be, but its probably the worst deal for a pitcher since Darren Dreifort scored a five year deal years ago.

 

The Octavio Dotel one year is a better deal, though still remarkably expensive. Dotel is still on the recovery from TJ surgery, but he could potentially be a major upgrade to the Royals bullpen - don't forget, minor league journeyman Joe Nelson was their "closer" last year and, sadly, one of their better relievers.

[Guest NYankees]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12082006...ing.htm?page=2

 

 

The Yankees are rumored to be trading for Damaso Marte of the Pirates.

 

If they do trade Kevin Thomson they could bring Bernie back as the 5th outfielder next year.

[Guest NYankees]

Jose Uribe who played for the San Francisco Giants in the 1980's was killed today in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Jason Marquis is reportedly close to signing with the Cubs. I hate Jim Hendry. I guess the fact that Marquis couldn't even secure a playoff roster spot on a team that included Jeff Weaver says nothing.

 

I was reminded of why I don't go to the MLB Cubs board too often. One chap is citing Marquis' WS ring as a reason to get him.

[2GOLD 0]

Jason Marquis is reportedly close to signing with the Cubs. I hate Jim Hendry. I guess the fact that Marquis couldn't even secure a playoff roster spot on a team that included Jeff Weaver says nothing.

 

I was reminded of why I don't go to the MLB Cubs board too often. One chap is citing Marquis' WS ring as a reason to get him.

 

This is one of those moves I don't understand unless it is a minor league deal. Marquis isn't worth one of those five starting rotation spots at all. Unless he has some magic hiding somewhere that he hasn't shown, I really don't understand.

[vivalaultra 0]

Well, if the Cubs sign Jason Marquis (and for more than the amount that I jokingly put forth the other day), he and Ted Lilly will nearly counteract the homerun power of Alfonze Soriano. Lilly gave up 28 last year in 180 innings and Marquis gave up 35(!) in 194 innings.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Jason Marquis is reportedly close to signing with the Cubs. I hate Jim Hendry. I guess the fact that Marquis couldn't even secure a playoff roster spot on a team that included Jeff Weaver says nothing.

 

I was reminded of why I don't go to the MLB Cubs board too often. One chap is citing Marquis' WS ring as a reason to get him.

 

This is one of those moves I don't understand unless it is a minor league deal. Marquis isn't worth one of those five starting rotation spots at all. Unless he has some magic hiding somewhere that he hasn't shown, I really don't understand.

I'm actually hearing three years, but pray that's just talk based on nothing of substance, since the Cubs are seemingly the only team interested in the guy.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12082006...ing.htm?page=2

 

 

The Yankees are rumored to be trading for Damaso Marte of the Pirates.

 

If they do trade Kevin Thomson they could bring Bernie back as the 5th outfielder next year.

This may be sacrilige, but I think Kevin Thompson is probably a better player at this point.

[Brett Favre 0]

I like Kevin Thompson. But he'll be better served on another team getting more playing time. He's not going to get a chance here. And Bernie had a pretty good showing last year.

[Brett Favre 0]

PETTITTE IS A YANKEE!!

 

Seems like a 1 year deal, with a player option. Not sure how much the money will be.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Good thing the Astros dumped all that money for Carlos Lee!

[sfaJack 0]

This next week around here should be fun since all the Astro fans will be flipping out and suddenly hating Pettitte. Couple that with the possibility of Vince Young beating the Texans and sports talk could be a whole lot of fun.

 

The question now is when does Clemens make his Yankees debut? May? June?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I wonder if somewhere Anglesault is forgiving Andy Pettitte.

[Precious Roy 0]

PETTITTE IS A YANKEE!!

 

Seems like a 1 year deal, with a player option. Not sure how much the money will be.

 

[Brett Favre 0]

It will be for 16 million this year, and it looks like 16 million for the player option. He says if he gets hurt, he won't pick the option up. I'll take that.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Oh goody... now we'll get months of WILL CLEMENS PLAY FOR THE YANKEES??!!, followed by another handful of fake retirements.