MLB Off-season Thread

[snuffbox 0]

Wow, Milwaukee is going to pay Chris Capuano $3.75 for 2008. I don't know about that. He's going to compete with several guys for the last spot in the rotation...Claudio Vargas, Manny Parra, and, probably, Dave Bush. If that ends up being the case, I don't think Capuano will make it.

 

I hope they dont give three million to Dave Bush.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Wow, Milwaukee is going to pay Chris Capuano $3.75 for 2008. I don't know about that. He's going to compete with several guys for the last spot in the rotation...Claudio Vargas, Manny Parra, and, probably, Dave Bush. If that ends up being the case, I don't think Capuano will make it.

 

I hope they dont give three million to Dave Bush.

Why not? $3 million a season would be really good for a guy winning 12 games a year.

[treble 0]

The Jays signed Rod Barajas for some reason. I don't get this at all, especially after what happened last year.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Barajas' numbers indicate a severe decline in ability. When a player's walk-rate spikes like that, it's usually because his bat speed can't carry him anymore.

[treble 0]

It's more because he was going to sign with them last year and then changed his mind. The fact that he sucks is a big part of it, though.

[devo 0]

Twins resign Morneau (six years, seventy-five million) and Cuddyer (three years, twenty-three million with a club option for fourth).

 

http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_...?nclick_check=1

[Guest Smues]

http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?prod...1503844.2089880

 

Took me a minute to figure out why you linked that. I'd order it if I thought they'd actually send me it as pictured.

 

Edit: Ah what the hell I ordered a San Diego Chargers AFC champs t-shirt on Sunday, so I ordered this too. It's the week of whacky merchandize, quick somebody link me some more oddities to buy before the week is out!

 

I found something to complete my week of wierd purchases:

 

I bought a share of Randy Newsom's major league earnings

 

The fantasy sports craze won’t last forever. At some point people will want something that adds even more importance to meaningless sporting events. And by that I mean people will want something that makes games even more exciting to gamble on.

 

On that note, I introduce you to Indians farmhand Randy Newsom. The 25 year-old pitcher is offering 4% of all his future major league earnings for $50,000. If you don’t have that kind of money, you can buy a share of that 4% for $20.

 

Think about how this takes sports gambling to the next level. If you’ve got a piece of Newsom it won’t matter if he comes in with his team down 12 runs. Every single pitch he throws will be like the spinning of a roulette wheel. Fantasy sports can’t provide that kind of excitement.

 

The sort of thing Newsom is doing is already fairly common in other industries. Right now the most popular form of “selling yourself” is offering a percentage your future earnings to whoever pays your grad school tuition.

 

Clearly there’s a bright future for sports gambling, fantasy games, stocks, and all that other good stuff. Don’t be surprised if in five or ten years you can bet on any professional athlete’s career the way you can bet on Newsom’s. Maybe college athletes will even begin selling a piece of their booster payments.

I don't expect him to make the majors, or last long if he does, but damnit now I own (.000016% of) him!

 

I'd say this completes my tri-fecta of purchases, but I know NFL.com isn't going to ship that Charges shirt (fuckers) so I still need to find a 3rd item to purchase.

[Fuzzy Dunlop 0]

I guess some Baltimore beat writer (Zrebiac?) thinks the O's will trade Bedard to Seattle and Roberts to the Cubs by the end of the week. And the Cubs would be giving up Gallagher, Murton, and Cedeno.

[Vampiro69 0]

Twins resign Morneau (six years, seventy-five million) and Cuddyer (three years, twenty-three million with a club option for fourth).

http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_...?nclick_check=1

 

Did I miss something or did Carl Pohlad die? Or did he finally realize that at the age of 92 that he can't take the money with him and decided that he could actually spend some of it?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Strong rumors right now that Eric Bedard is on his way to Seattle in exchange for Adam Jones.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

ESPN crawl just said Mike Lieberthal retired.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Strong rumors right now that Eric Bedard is on his way to Seattle in exchange for Adam Jones.

I dont want to say its all but a done deal but I think its about as close as it can get.

 

Seattle nor Baltimore is saying anything but Adam Jones himself is saying hes going to Baltimore tomorrow for a physical and when he passes that the deal will pretty much be done.

 

I question if Adam Jones is the best the Os can do for Bedard as the key player in return, but everyone is really high on him as being a big time player in a couple years. I just hope Orioles fans can sit through the next 2 years of Bedard pitching in Seattle and probably winning a Cy Young until he gets there, least he not get there and turn out to be a huge bust. Hopefully they can build around Jones/Markakis/Wieters on the offense side and Guthrie/Loewen/Patton in the pitching rotation. Lots of supposedly real good young talent (well, Markakis is proven and really good..he doesnt count) but it'll take 2 years to get here fully.

 

Obviously the other shoe will probably drop as the on again/off again/on again trade saga of Brian Roberts to chicago seems to be on again.

 

Im really going to miss Bedard too..

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Phillies have signed Pedro Feliz to a two-year contract, says Jayson Stark. Great move. Feliz's defense will aid Jamie Moyer and Cole Hamels. His OBP sucks, but his has pop and the Phils' lineup already led the league in runs scored last season. This probably means Wes Helms will be traded in the near future.

[C Dubya 04 0]

The Phillies have signed Pedro Feliz to a two-year contract, says Jayson Stark. Great move. Feliz's defense will aid Jamie Moyer and Cole Hamels. His OBP sucks, but his has pop and the Phils' lineup already led the league in runs scored last season. This probably means Wes Helms will be traded in the near future.

 

Please make this happen. K Thx Bye.

 

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The Phillies have signed Pedro Feliz to a two-year contract, says Jayson Stark. Great move. Feliz's defense will aid Jamie Moyer and Cole Hamels. His OBP sucks, but his has pop and the Phils' lineup already led the league in runs scored last season. This probably means Wes Helms will be traded in the near future.

 

 

Feliz can't hit for shit, but he's good enough defensively to make up for it and be a better than average player. It's the kind of signing that makes a lot of sense for a team like the Phillies. I think Kyle Kendrick will like him as well with his tendency to put the ball on the ground.

 

Apparently the Bedard trade will net the Orioles Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman and one or two other prospects. The hold-up at this point is Angelos, who has not signed off on the deal. I don't know what he's waiting for because that's a monstrous haul for Bedard. A Scott/Jones/Markakis outfield is nasty... and cheap.

[the pinjockey 0]

I think it is a little unfair to say he can't hit for shit. He certainly has terrible plate discipline, but if he can hit 20-25 HRs (maybe more if he plays everyday in CBP) out of the 7 hole I can overlook the terrible OBP.

 

It will be nice to have a 3B that doesn't have to be yanked in the 7th inning for defensive purposes.

 

And 2yrs 8.5mil is pretty great value in this market.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Phillies have signed Pedro Feliz to a two-year contract, says Jayson Stark. Great move. Feliz's defense will aid Jamie Moyer and Cole Hamels. His OBP sucks, but his has pop and the Phils' lineup already led the league in runs scored last season. This probably means Wes Helms will be traded in the near future.

 

 

Feliz can't hit for shit, but he's good enough defensively to make up for it and be a better than average player. It's the kind of signing that makes a lot of sense for a team like the Phillies. I think Kyle Kendrick will like him as well with his tendency to put the ball on the ground.

 

Apparently the Bedard trade will net the Orioles Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman and one or two other prospects. The hold-up at this point is Angelos, who has not signed off on the deal. I don't know what he's waiting for because that's a monstrous haul for Bedard. A Scott/Jones/Markakis outfield is nasty... and cheap.

 

Angelos nixed it.

 

In other news, PA is a complete waste and I cannot wait for the day when he dies.

[strummer 0]

The Mets have pulled Carlos Gomez from winterball.

 

It could mean nothing but it might be a sign something is going down with Santana pretty soon

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Buster Olney is reporting that the Twins asked the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox for their final offers for Santana yesterday and plan to make a decision in the next few days. No one can really tell who the front runner is, but there are at least rumors that the Yankees have pulled themselves out and Boston is no longer offering Jon Lester. This would seemingly put the Mets in the lead, but it's very unclear what is going on.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

USA Today breaks story

 

Rosenthal says Santana to Mets, pending contract extension

 

 

 

Deal seems to be in place, according to USA Today. It will send Santana to the Mets for Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, Deolis Guerra and Phil Humber.

 

I'll be back in a little while with some thoughts after I do a little more work on the prospects involved. On the surface, it is an inferior deal to previous Yankees and Red Sox offers, indicating that those two teams backed off or the Twins had different evaluations than most scouts.

[Brett Favre 0]

I think the Mets came out very well in this deal. The only guy that would hurt them down the line is Guerra, but who knows with even him since he's still a few years away from getting to the majors.

[devo 0]

I am going to be completely freaking ecstatic if that ends up being the actual deal. Wow wow wow.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

If the aforementioned deal holds true, I can't see this as being anything other than a resounding success for the Mets (and to a degree, the Yankees and Red Sox). I don't know if I'd go so far as to call this an abject failure for Bill Smith and the Twins, but it at least looks that way on the surface and unless these prospects succeed to a much higher degree than expected, it could cost Smith his job down the road.

 

The Twins set out to get impact bats and major league ready talent. In this deal, they get none. The four prospects are ranked 2, 3, 4 and 7 respectively in the Mets system by Baseball America, but they all rate out as B+ to B- talent. There is no future superstar in the bunch. Gomez is a five tool talent in the outfield, but very raw physically. He probably needs another year at AA to get things worked out.

 

Mulvey, Guerra and Humber are decent back of the rotation guys, none of whom rate as highly as Hughes, Lester or Kennedy. In fact, they are even suspect compared to the Twins other top young pitching talent. Guerra has the best stuff, but he's also the farthest away. Humber was a former first round pick signed to a huge bonus, but that has yet to translate at the professional level.

 

In the end, I have to think that the Twins decided that they weren't going to send Santana to another AL team, or the Yankees/Sox pulled their offers when they heard the contract demands. Santana reportedly turned down the Twins final offer of 5 years, $100 million which caused the team to move on with the trade. If that's the case and other teams knew this, it might have severely weakened the packsages being offered.

[naiwf 0]

If the Mets make this deal with those prospects there's absolutely nothing to complain about. Given the success rate of most of the prospects they've traded in recent years (Kazmir notwithstanding) it's practically a steal considering that Wilpon likely wouldn't have outspent the Steinbrenners if Santana had become an UFA. I still don't think we'll win the pennant, but at least Minaya finally woke up and improved the team.

[Brett Favre 0]

I don't know what more you could do to the team to make sure they win the pennant. Nothing is guaranteed, but they look like the top team right now.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't know what more you could do to the team to make sure they win the pennant. Nothing is guaranteed, but they look like the top team right now.

 

 

On paper, they are the best team in the National League heading into the season. They just added the best pitcher in baseball and did so without giving up anyone who would be expected to contribute next year. A rotation of Johan, Pedro, Perez, Maine, Hernandez looks formidable and the offense is still one of the best.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Mets fans will still find things to bitch about even though it looks like they've fleeced the Twins.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The package the Twins are getting for Santana is far less than the one Baltimore was offered for Bedard. Hell, it's probably worse than what they got for Matt Garza.

[Guest NYankees]

The package the Twins are getting for Santana is far less than the one Baltimore was offered for Bedard. Hell, it's probably worse than what they got for Matt Garza.

 

 

Thats what you get for being greedy.

[Krankor 0]

Good deal for the Mets and the Twins. The Mets really needed another arm. Oliver Perez and El Duque... no way you want those two as your 3rd and 4th starters. I don't care how incredible NYM's offense is... there's always a point in the year those Oliver and Orlando either break down or are nothing more than a batting practice pitcher pretending to be a starter. No telling if Pedro will remain healthy either. He probably will but he isn't exactly at the peak of his career anymore. Now the mets have another starting pitcher they can depend on for an automatic win like Maine.

 

Twins got the young prospects they always covet. They can watch those guys develop. Not want to resign them, and then trade each one back to the Mets for another bag full of farm hands.