MLB Off-season Thread

[naiwf 0]

So Pavano got $27 million+ for 19 starts with the Yankees? That guy is the greatest thief in NY sports history this side of Allan Houston.

[Dandy 0]

Eric Milton has to be in the top 5.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

So Pavano got $27 million+ for 19 starts with the Yankees? That guy is the greatest thief in NY sports history this side of Allan Houston.

 

 

With the buyout it'll be closer to $40 million total.

[Brett Favre 0]

Non-tender list:

 

Ben Broussard

Emil Brown

Brian Bruney

Kiko Calero

Neal Cotts

Joe Crede

Brendan Donnelly

Morgan Ensberg

Johnny Estrada

Mark Hendrickson

Reed Johnson

Jason Lane

Felipe Lopez

Kevin Mench

Miguel Olivo

Scott Podsednik

Mark Prior

Horacio Ramirez

Juan Rincon

Jae Seo

Cory Sullivan

Josh Towers

Claudio Vargas

Matt Wise

[Failed Bridge 0]

out of the non-tenders I'd love to see the Red Sox make a chase for Johnny Estrada, Mark Prior, and Reed Johnson

 

Johnny Estrada because I'm sick and tired of Mirabelli

 

[Guest My Pal, the Tortoise]

Prior's out till June, anyway. There's so sense in waiting for him any longer. You deal with it.

 

I'm kinda surprised Joe Crede Best Third Baseman Ever was non-tendered. Boy, Kenny sure shat himself on that trade that never was, huh. Good grief.

[Brett Favre 0]

Fuck You Dome signed with the Cubs. 4 years and about 50 million.

[Guest My Pal, the Tortoise]

Cool. I'm really impressed with what I've seen of his ?, and his ? seems to be off the charts, and he'll bring a lot of ? that our hitting (and fielding!) have sorely missed ever since we got rid of ? a few years ago.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

out of the non-tenders I'd love to see the Red Sox make a chase for Johnny Estrada, Mark Prior, and Reed Johnson

 

Johnny Estrada because I'm sick and tired of Mirabelli

Estrada's pretty near worthless. Forget his low OBP, he seems to have attitude problems. You can get away with that if you play like Milton Bradley. Not Estrada.

[geniusMoment 0]

Is he better than David Ross?

 

And you know Dusty wants another shot with Prior.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Is he better than David Ross?

 

And you know Dusty wants another shot with Prior.

He's not.

[treble 0]

Reed Johnson is a little surprising, especially if they're planning to trade Rios. Josh Towers, not so much.

[Guest My Pal, the Tortoise]

And you know Dusty wants another shot with Prior.

And I'm sure Mark would like to never be held accountable for anything ever again. A perfect match. You're gonna get the best twelve #5 starts you've ever seen.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Fukudome is probably a good signing by the Cubs. It'll be interesting to see how he adjusts to playing in the majors.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Cool. I'm really impressed with what I've seen of his ?, and his ? seems to be off the charts, and he'll bring a lot of ? that our hitting (and fielding!) have sorely missed ever since we got rid of ? a few years ago.

 

 

He's a left-handed outfielder with great on-base skills and average to slightly above average power. Good defensively in right field and could play center in a pinch. Think of JD Drew or Bobby Abreu as a good comp.

 

He'll be a good fit in the Cubs line-up, especially if they use at the top of the order.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Cool. I'm really impressed with what I've seen of his ?, and his ? seems to be off the charts, and he'll bring a lot of ? that our hitting (and fielding!) have sorely missed ever since we got rid of ? a few years ago.

 

 

He's a left-handed outfielder with great on-base skills and average to slightly above average power. Good defensively in right field and could play center in a pinch. Think of JD Drew or Bobby Abreu as a good comp.

 

He'll be a good fit in the Cubs line-up, especially if they use at the top of the order.

 

Wikipedia is an imperfect source, but:

 

He will play for the Chicago Cubs in 2008. Known for his NFL style "throatslash" motion after homeruns and acquired the nickname "The Grinch" for breaking the hearts of the home team while crushing them on long Japanese roadtrips.

 

What an asshole! I wonder if you would get fined or thrown out of the game for making a throat slash in MLB.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

For futher study on Fukodome, Baseball Prospectus chimes in with his PECOTA projection for this coming season. His batting line is .289/.401/.504 with 15 HR and 9 SB. Projects to have a 29.9 VORP and 4.4 WARP1.

 

Oh, and here are his top historical comps:

 

1. J.D. Drew

2. Gene Hermanski

3. Jim Edmonds

4. Fred Lynn

5. Johnny Grubb

6. Andy Van Slyke

7. Bobby Abreu

 

Sometimes, I even impress myself.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

For futher study on Fukodome, Baseball Prospectus chimes in with his PECOTA projection for this coming season. His batting line is .289/.401/.504 with 15 HR and 9 SB. Projects to have a 29.9 VORP and 4.4 WARP1.

 

Oh, and here are his top historical comps:

 

1. J.D. Drew

2. Gene Hermanski

3. Jim Edmonds

4. Fred Lynn

5. Johnny Grubb

6. Andy Van Slyke

7. Bobby Abreu

 

Sometimes, I even impress myself.

 

I just figured you had read about the signing on Rotoworld, where they said: "Fukudome could be a J.D. Drew-type hitter for the Cubs."

 

Maybe they looked at the comparable players too.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Didn't read the Rotoworld blurb, but had heard him compared to Drew for a quite some time. There was even a thread at SOSH questioning a possible Drew for Fukodome swap in the Boston lineup.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

According to the Baltimore Sun, Miguel Tejada is now a Houston Astro.

 

Two years after he first suggested that he'd benefit from a change of scenery, Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada finally got his wish as he was traded to the Houston Astros today in president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail's boldest move to date.

 

In return for the four-time All-Star, the Orioles will get outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Real interesting trade there. I surmise that puts Luke Scott in left field, Mike Costanzo to AAA Norfolk for a season and the three pitchers into the Spring Training competition. I'll have to take a look later and get an idea of where they rank in the Orioles system. I imagine Tejada moves to third base in Houston, but that's iffy yet. Houston suddenly has seven infielders (Tejada, Everett, Matsui, Burke, Wigginton, Loretta and Lance Berkman).

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

A big group of players, but nothing particularly interesting in the haul. Luke Scott can hit, but at 29 he's a stopgap solution in left field.

 

Troy Patton is the third ranked prospect in the Astros system. He's a lefty with good stuff, but his stock dropped last year. Costanzo came over in the Phillies trade and ranked 6th. He has limited upside but could be an average everyday player.

 

Albers was a former prospect (4th last year) who struggled big-time at the major league level. Probably has a future as a middle reliever but some tweaking could get him on track as a back of the rotation starter. Safarte is just bullpen depth at best.

 

Not really sure what this does for the Astros either. They don't have a chance to compete, even in the weak NL Central, so why pick up an aging, defensively challenged SS with a big contract in his declining years?

[devo 0]

Well, if nothing else, it gives the Astros a fairly formidable lineup. If Tejada takes Everett's spot at short, that removes his weak bat from the order, leaving catcher and possibly Matsui at 2B as the only real problem areas.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Well, if nothing else, it gives the Astros a fairly formidable lineup. If Tejada takes Everett's spot at short, that removes his weak bat from the order, leaving catcher and possibly Matsui at 2B as the only real problem areas.

And their top prospect happens to be a catcher.

[sfaJack 0]

Houston suddenly has seven infielders (Tejada, Everett, Matsui, Burke, Wigginton, Loretta and Lance Berkman).

Eight. You forgot Geoff Blum. Chris Burke is probably traded before Spring Training though.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Everett can just be non-tendered or traded for scraps.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Everett can just be non-tendered or traded for scraps.

 

They should keep Everett. He's a monster defensively. They'd be better off moving Wigginton somewhere for bullpen help.

 

Signing Matsui was a bad move becuase they already had decent 2B options on their roster (Burke and Loretta). Now they have to trade Burke to accomodate a lesser player.

 

From left to right next year:

Tejada, Everett, Matsui, Berkman

 

Loretta remains as the super sub for all four positions.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

A quick reminder of why the Orioles are doomed to perpeutually suck.

 

The Orioles fielded several inquiries for the disgruntled Tejada [in 2005], including one from the Boston Red Sox, who offered their own disgruntled slugger at the time, Manny Ramirez and pitcher Matt Clement. The Orioles stood pat and Tejada eventually rescinded his trade request after third baseman Melvin Mora brokered a conversation between the shortstop and club vice president Jim Duquette.

 

But the trade speculation didn't cease and eventually grew louder when the Orioles started entertaining offers before the 2006 trade deadline. The Los Angeles Angels were the most aggressive suitor and thought that they had landed the Orioles' best player for infielder Erick Aybar and pitcher Ervin Santana. But Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who admired Tejada's play and energy, informed Duquette and executive vice president Mike Flanagan that he wouldn't approve a deal without the club getting a third player from the Angels.

 

Several teams entered the mix, including the Astros, who discussed sending a package, highlighted by ace pitcher Roy Oswalt to the Orioles for Tejada. However, the trade deadline passed with Tejada still in an Orioles uniform, and the shortstop maintaining that he was happy to not be moved.

 

Talk about not understand the value of your player and trading him when his value is at its lowest.

 

Also, why did the Angels not get in on this? They have the prospects to trump this deal and Tejada at third base and batting cleanup makes too much sense for them.

[Failed Bridge 0]

according to the ESPN.com article on the trade Tejada refuses to play third and want to remain at SS.

[sfaJack 0]

The Astros basically said during the press conference that Adam Everett will not be back next year so Tejada will be at SS.