MLB Off-season Thread

[Bored 0]

Since we'll be short on news for a bit, a poll.

 

1. Would you like to see your favorite team acquire Alex Rodriguez?

 

2. What is the largest contract you would offer as G.M. of said team?

1. I can't think of better option to fill those big shoes of Bobby Crosby. Trasitioning from Crosby to A-Rod, it'd be like Montana to Young.

 

2. 7 years, $200 million and all the manly strippers he can have.

[Guest]

1. Hell yes.

 

2. Whatever it takes to win the bidding war.

[CanadianChris 0]

1. Yes, but it'll never happen.

 

2. I'm thinking 8 years, $220 million. And then Ted Rogers would have me beheaded.

[Fökai 0]

1. Yes.

 

2. 7 years @ $200 is what I'd guess. I mean, the Braves were offering him $20 million in 2000, and with Renteria and Hampton's contracts coming off the books next fall, why don't you make this move? Just like the first time around, they should stick around negotiations unless some team bowls Boras over with an offer.

[Boon 0]

No, b/c I'm more interested in resigning the second best 3B on the market and putting that money toward filling some other holes.

 

That being said, I think they'll make a strong push for him.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Don't know if this has been discussed already, but I heard a report earlier this past weekend that said the Marlins are looking to trade Cabrera and/or Willis.

 

Sorry, Marlins fans.

[Big McLargeHuge 0]

They won 2 titles in their first decade of existence. I know Loria's evil and their star players always leave, but I'd kill for that kind of success. To quote another Giants fan: "Christ, if the Giants win the series they can publicly behead the entire 40-man roster on Thanksgiving and I'd still be ecstatic."

[JHawk 0]

1. The Indians already gave a big contract to Travis Hafner and C.C. Sabathia's contract is coming up for renewal. Signing A-Rod is not worth losing C.C.

 

2. Whatever would be left after signing C.C.

[bob_barron 0]

Looks like Mazzone won't be back:

 

Now that Leo Mazzone was let go by the Baltimore, is there any way he would come back to Atlanta?

-- Tom R., Livonia, Ga.

 

When I read the first few questions that contained this subject, I was planning to attempt to find a more pertinent topic. My incorrect assumption was that after he exited to take the Orioles job two years ago, enough had been written to clearly indicate his departure created no tears within the Braves organization.

 

But since so many asked about Mazzone's potential return, I'll make it simple and say it ain't happening. Some of you suggested for sentimental reasons it would be great to bring both Mazzone and Tom Glavine back next year.

 

I'll just say if the Braves were planning on constructing a reunion team next year, there would be a much greater chance of seeing Charlie Leibrandt back in the rotation than of having Mazzone back on Bobby Cox's coaching staff.

 

 

Does anyone know the bad blood with Mazzone and the Braves organisation?

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

My conjecture is that they'd rather not having him come crawling back after he bolted to work for Perlozzo. I don't blame them, really. Sure, he's a better pitching coach than McDowell is, but Mazzone may not have that many years left in him, and then when he leaves for good, then you'll need another new coach, and that's not entirely fair to the pitchers that you're trying to develop if you keep going from one coach's approach to another to another.

[Hawk 34 0]

The Reds strongly implied they will sign Adam Dunn to a long term deal. Which probably upsets the city just as much as the Baker hiring has. Dunn just isn't scrappy like Ryan Freel.

[Guest Smues]

But Dunn clogs up the bases. I would think Dusty wants him gone.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Jay Bruce is coming up and Josh Hamilton can't play center field long term. Someone is going to have to go. They should probably move Dunn to first base at least.

[Hawk 34 0]

Jay Bruce is coming up and Josh Hamilton can't play center field long term. Someone is going to have to go. They should probably move Dunn to first base at least.

 

I believe Dunn played a few times at first and was abysmal but I do agree that as long as they intend to keep Junior around, they'll have to shift Dunn back to first. I believe Hamilton used to catch, maybe they'll consider giving that a shot since they aren't strong at catcher to begin with anyways.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Jay Bruce is coming up and Josh Hamilton can't play center field long term. Someone is going to have to go. They should probably move Dunn to first base at least.

 

I believe Dunn played a few times at first and was abysmal but I do agree that as long as they intend to keep Junior around, they'll have to shift Dunn back to first. I believe Hamilton used to catch, maybe they'll consider giving that a shot since they aren't strong at catcher to begin with anyways.

Griffey has a player option for 2009, and if Bruce is solid in right field the Reds have no reason to exercise it. I forgot that the Reds also have Joey Votto at first base, so moving Dunn there is out. Josh Hamilton to my knowledge has never played catcher professionally, moving him there would be a bad joke. That leaves Dunn, Hamilton, Griffey, Bruce and Freel for the outfield. Bruce can get more experience at AAA but let's look at this rationally. You have too many outfielders (one with a team option for this year and one next). You have too few pitchers. The Reds should absolutely trade Griffey. He's down to a reasonable contract and his value is high and he's not the right fielder of the future. The Reds don't have a solid team but with Dunn, Bruce, Votto and Homer Bailey, they may have a hell of a core.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The Reds strongly implied they will sign Adam Dunn to a long term deal. Which probably upsets the city just as much as the Baker hiring has. Dunn just isn't crappy like Ryan Freel.

 

Better.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

No one's mentioned that Bill Stoneman is stepping down as GM of the Los Angeles Angels. He joins Jocketty, Schuerholz and Terry Ryan as general managers who won't be returning to their teams next year. Is it just me, or all the good GMs leaving their posts? Are Beane, Epstein, Shapiro and Towers next?

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Stoneman does a good job protecting prospects. The downside is that we can't make any trades. I am glad he is gone.

[geniusMoment 0]

Jay Bruce is coming up and Josh Hamilton can't play center field long term. Someone is going to have to go. They should probably move Dunn to first base at least.

 

I believe Dunn played a few times at first and was abysmal but I do agree that as long as they intend to keep Junior around, they'll have to shift Dunn back to first. I believe Hamilton used to catch, maybe they'll consider giving that a shot since they aren't strong at catcher to begin with anyways.

Griffey has a player option for 2009, and if Bruce is solid in right field the Reds have no reason to exercise it. I forgot that the Reds also have Joey Votto at first base, so moving Dunn there is out. Josh Hamilton to my knowledge has never played catcher professionally, moving him there would be a bad joke. That leaves Dunn, Hamilton, Griffey, Bruce and Freel for the outfield. Bruce can get more experience at AAA but let's look at this rationally. You have too many outfielders (one with a team option for this year and one next). You have too few pitchers. The Reds should absolutely trade Griffey. He's down to a reasonable contract and his value is high and he's not the right fielder of the future. The Reds don't have a solid team but with Dunn, Bruce, Votto and Homer Bailey, they may have a hell of a core.

They also have Johnny Cueto, whose rated as perhaps one of the 3 best pitching prospects in baseball down at AAA, along with Phillips whose 26 and Encarnacion whose 23. This year I play Hamilton, Dunn and Griffey in the outfield, and use Bruce when Griffey or Hamilton get hurt. Next year I let Griffey walk and have Bruce, Hamiliton and Dunn as the outfield, with Votto, Phillips, Encarnacion and whoever at short. It'd be nice to have a catcher hit over .200 as well.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus does an annual list of the 50 most valuable commodities in Major League Baseball (the ideal guy to start a franchise with). It can include any player in the major or minor leagues and one of the caveats is that you get to keep them for the next six years. Therefore, beyond hitting, pitching and defense, age and upside become extremely important.

 

Here is a very preliminary list for 2008 that he posted on the BP website. The number in parentheses is their ranking from last year.

 

1. Albert Pujols (1)

2. David Wright (8)

3. Hanley Ramirez (6)

4. Miguel Cabrera (4)

5. Joe Mauer (2)

6. Johan Santana (3)

7. Grady Sizemore (5)

8. Alex Rodriguez (10)

9. Justin Upton (HM)

10. Jose Reyes (7)

11. Jake Peavy (13)

12. C.C. Sabathia (17)

13. Curtis Granderson (HM)

14. Eric Bedard (–)

15. Chase Utley (22)

16. Brian McCann (9)

17. Ryan Zimmerman (11)

18. Evan Longoria (HM)

19. Joba Chamberlain (–)

20. Jay Bruce (–)

[geniusMoment 0]

Even MLB hates fantasy sports:

 

While the Colorado Rockies were making headlines with their march to the World Series, Major League Baseball was striking out in a St. Louis courtroom. The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has upheld (PDF) a lower court's ruling that player names and stats are not copyrightable in a case that pitted a "renegade" fantasy sports operation against Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association

 

CBC Distribution and Marketing v. MLB dates back to near the beginning of the 2006 baseball season. CBC had licensed stats and player data from MLB for a decade, but MLB and the MLB Players Association decided to attempt to rein in the number of fantasy sports leagues, signing exclusive deals with larger fantasy sites like ESPN and Sportsline. CBC decided to press on with its own online offerings without MLB's blessing and was promptly sued.

 

MLB argued that its player names and stats were copyrightable and that CBC—or any other fantasy league—couldn't operate a fantasy baseball league without the blessing of MLB (and that blessing would come in the form of a multimillion-dollar licensing agreement). CBC countered that the data was in the public domain and as such, it had a First Amendment right to use it.

 

In August 2006, a US District Court sided with CBC, issuing a summary judgment ruling that the First Amendment trumped MLB's right of publicity (which gives celebrities and other public figures some rights over how their likeness is used). "The names and playing records of major league baseball players as used in CBC's fantasy games are not copyrightable," wrote Judge Mary Ann Medler. "Therefore, federal copyright law does not preempt the players' claimed right of publicity."

 

MLB appealed the decision, and in oral arguments a few months ago, attempted to convince the court that a fantasy league using player data without permission was like a renegade company printing and selling posters of players. In its de novo (essentially starting from scratch) review, the Circuit Court rejected MLB's arguments in a 2-1 decision. "First, the information used in CBC's fantasy baseball games is all readily available in the public domain, and it would be strange law that a person would not have a First Amendment right to use information that is available to everyone," wrote the judges in their opinion.

 

There's a lot of money at stake here. Fantasy sports have become a multibillion-dollar business with a wide reach (including into the Orbiting HQ, where this writer sits at the top of the Ars staff fantasy football league), and major sports leagues have lucrative licensing deals with larger fantasy sports sites. Should the decision stand—and it appears that MLB has as good a chance of prevailing at this point as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays do of winning the 2008 AL East pennant—it could lead some fantasy sites to refuse to sign new deals with MLB. Why pay millions of dollars for data when you can get it for free?

 

Major League Baseball did not immediately respond to Ars Technica's request for comment on this story.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Joe Torre turns down the Yankees' one year offer.

[CanadianChris 0]

So Torre turned the Yankees down. Good for him, although it means we'll be getting thrice-daily reports on the Yankees' managerial search now.

[treble 0]

I really hope this isn't just a repeat of the Theo Epstein stuff from a few years ago.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I know the Yankees made Torre a nice offer, but to suggest that he take a pay cut and include an option that only vests if he makes the World Series is a slap in the face to a man who has done so much for the team. Either you want him back or you don't. Don't jerk him around with some half-ass offer filled with performance clauses after he just took your team to its 12th consecutive playoff appearance.

 

A classy move by a classy guy. I'm not a Yankees fan but I've always been impressed by the way Torre has handled himself and his position. He will end up just fine.

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

I really hope this isn't just a repeat of the Theo Epstein stuff from a few years ago.

It is.

[Celtic Guardian 0]

I know the Yankees made Torre a nice offer, but to suggest that he take a pay cut and include an option that only vests if he makes the World Series is a slap in the face to a man who has done so much for the team. Either you want him back or you don't. Don't jerk him around with some half-ass offer filled with performance clauses after he just took your team to its 12th consecutive playoff appearance.

 

The two sides could have parted the right way. Instead, Yankees management decided to play a public relations game to spin Torre as the bad guy for turning down a lowball offer, complete with an unflattering picture of Torre on the team's web site. The charade is so transparent though that most fans should see right through it.

 

[CanadianChris 0]

Anyone ever heard of Trey Hillman? Because he's the new manager of the Royals.

[MFer 0]

I think he's some guy from the minors, but that's all I know.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Actually Hillman is from the Japanese leagues. He's got a decade of experience and is highly regarded in those leagues.