The 2008 MLB Offseason Thread

[Brett Favre 0]

He had some bad luck last year. I think he'll be fine. Plus he's a good firstbasemen, and he can play someoutfield

 

I think Wilson Betemit might have also been invovled in the trade.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

The Brewers have been resistant to put "Milwaukee" on their road uniforms because they want to be thought of as Wisconsin's team, not just Milwaukee's. I personally liked their gray road jerseys from the late '80s/early '90s that had "Milwaukee" on the front.

 

The Yankees came out and announced that they plan to "blow away" CC Sabathia with an offer, probably tomorrow. Way to come out and be total dicks about the fact that you can buy any player you want, Steinbrenners.

[Guest Israeli Mixed Wrestling]

I also expect that Swisher will run around like a dumbass yelling "ROCK ROCK NEVER STOP YEAHHHHHHHH MANNNNNNNNNNNNNNN." And then hit .225 and strike out looking a lot.

[Guest Israeli Mixed Wrestling]

The Brewers have been resistant to put "Milwaukee" on their road uniforms because they want to be thought of as Wisconsin's team, not just Milwaukee's.

Well, they're thinking wrong, since it doesn't necessarily work that way. I'd also think Milwaukeeans (and Racine and Waukesha Cos.) would prefer that the Brewers are, in fact, Milwaukee's team, since it was their tax dollars, and not those of their friends in Eau Claire or Madison, that built Miller Park. Would you agree?

 

I personally liked their gray road jerseys from the late '80s/early '90s that had "Milwaukee" on the front.

Me too! I'm in a quandary w/r/t which Brewers uniforms are best. I like the ones you're talking about, 'specially with the ball/glove. The ones from the mid-'90s were cool because of the German lettering, but the colors were too dark and ran together. Also, that's when the Brewers were really bad.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I also doubt he can play center in Coors. In that ballpark, you want to be absolutely sure the guy can handle the position defensively. I see him playing a corner slot.

Considering Holliday played LF, that's probably where they'd want him. Taveras is the starter at CF, and he's pretty decent there.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

I really like the Orioles new uniforms, but let's not get crazy here. Most people know where the Orioles are from to begin with.. don't they?

[Guest Israeli Mixed Wrestling]

Yeah, but it was a sore spot for Baltimore-area fans that Angelos wouldn't put it on the roads out of some misguided notion that he had to appeal to Washington-area fans. Not even the Nats appeal to Washington-area fans. I don't think there are any to which one can appeal. I wonder how Marvin took this, being a Delmarva denizen. Marvin? Are you brimming with B'more pride?

 

All this fuss about "appealing to a wider area" is ridiculous and means nothing! The Braves and Red Sox represent entire regions of America, and nobody gets butthurt about them saying they're from Atlanta and Boston. Probably because factually speaking, that's where the teams are from.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

You know, for all the shit this board gives Kenny Williams..he took two prospects, turned them into Nick Swisher which lead (along with a couple other moves) to a division championship...and then turned Swisher back into a prospect. He did pretty well.

[Guest Israeli Mixed Wrestling]

I wouldn't call Swisher a big part of the team. He hardly played down the stretch, and when he did play, he was just running around throwing pies in people's faces and bleaching people's hair. He gave up some decent prospects for Swisher, whom I'm sure was expected to be more than a one-year layover.

 

I will continue to give Kenny Williams shit if only for being a complete asswipe, irrespective of any moves, good or bad.

 

One other thing that I think hurt us was everyone jumped on our bandwagon (because of) the 100th year, and I think looking back, these kids tried a little too hard.

Manager of the Year? More like smoker of the pole. Don't blame the fans and media for your players not hitting. That's how losers talk, and these are far from kids: Soriano, Lee, Ramirez are seasoned veterans, which makes their failure under pressure all the more maddening. Leave town, tired fatass.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Yeah, but it was a sore spot for Baltimore-area fans that Angelos wouldn't put it on the roads out of some misguided notion that he had to appeal to Washington-area fans. Not even the Nats appeal to Washington-area fans. I don't think there are any to which one can appeal. I wonder how Marvin took this, being a Delmarva denizen. Marvin? Are you brimming with B'more pride?

 

All this fuss about "appealing to a wider area" is ridiculous and means nothing! The Braves and Red Sox represent entire regions of America, and nobody gets butthurt about them saying they're from Atlanta and Boston. Probably because factually speaking, that's where the teams are from.

 

I was born and raised in Baltimore (although I don't live there now unfortunately) and it is pretty insane for us Orioles fans to think that, but oh well. I usually do think outside of the box.

 

[Guest Vitamin X]

While I hated living in South Florida (Miami in particular) as much as anyone, I certainly couldn't see how much more I'd hate that than freakin' Baltimore. I had L.A. as my only standard of comparison, and now Portland which I like a lot more than Miami (but could understand if some people felt the opposite way, this city just appeals more to me). Just strange.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Well, they're thinking wrong, since it doesn't necessarily work that way. I'd also think Milwaukeeans (and Racine and Waukesha Cos.) would prefer that the Brewers are, in fact, Milwaukee's team, since it was their tax dollars, and not those of their friends in Eau Claire or Madison, that built Miller Park. Would you agree?

 

I do think they should do that, due to the stadium tax. Like I said, I liked the old unis that said Milwaukee on the front. However, I'm not from the greater Milwaukee area (I live west from there), so my opinion doesn't matter too much in regards to the five county tax.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I really like the Orioles new uniforms, but let's not get crazy here. Most people know where the Orioles are from to begin with.. don't they?

Smarter than a 5th grader had a question..

 

The Oriole is the state bird of which state? And the contestant deduced that The Orioles played in Baltimore so it must be Maryland.

 

The only part of the new jerseys I dont like is the dumb MD flag circular logo patch. But putting Baltimore back on the Road Jerseys was long overdue. They also should have ditched the psuedo nature correct bird on the hat and went with the cartoon bird again, or at least as their alternate hat in replacement of the dumb O's hat they have.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

You know, for all the shit this board gives Kenny Williams..he took two prospects, turned them into Nick Swisher which lead (along with a couple other moves) to a division championship...and then turned Swisher back into a prospect. He did pretty well.

No, no, no. Kenny Williams got ass-raped by Billy Beane and Brian Cashman on this one. Williams gave up two very good prospects (Gonzalez, de los Santos) and one average to good prospect (Sweeney) for one crappy year of Swisher. Then he sold him at his lowest value for a utility guy and a non-prospect. These kind of deals are the exact reason why Williams does get shit. He bought high and sold low.

 

Personally, I think Williams is a bit underrated. He did win a division championship this year and his wheeling, dealing style at least keeps them competitive in the short run. But this deal is just terrible from the Sox perspective.

 

As for the Yanks, Swisher's a great pick-up, but I wonder what they expect out of him. His numbers were crappy last year, but he still drew walks and hit for power. Maybe it was a fluke drop, or maybe he's just the new Brad Wilkerson. It really shouldn't take them out of the market for Teixeira or Abreu. I just don't think you can go into a season with the idea that he'll start at first or in a corner. Too many question marks for that to be Plan A.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

5) a Big Four team already had "Rangers" before you

 

The Rangers was actually the nickname of the minor league baseball team before the Senators' moved.

 

Swisher is a good buy-low pickup for the Yankees. He retained the power and plate discipline, and just had a low batting average. At his age, a player should recover from that. The Yankees gave up little of consequence. You are not going to sweat your utility infielder on a team with Rodriguez and Jeter. Marquez sucks, IMO. That leaves Jhonny Nunez as the one player of real consequence. The Yankees are well stocked for their bullpen though, so they trade an area of strength to fill a void.

 

This is a good deal for the Sox too. They have Quentin and Dye in the corners, Konerko at first base. Might as well deal Swisher for a half-decent package. They have some instability in the infield, so Betemit will help. I think Nunez can make a contribution in the bullpen by the end of the year.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

Cheech, Gio Gonzalez had a 7.68 ERA in his MLB stint this year, maybe Williams knew exactly who he was getting rid of. Faustino de los Santos is not someone I'm going to pretend I've ever heard of, though.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Cheech, Gio Gonzalez had a 7.68 ERA in his MLB stint this year, maybe Williams knew exactly who he was getting rid of. Faustino de los Santos is not someone I'm going to pretend I've ever heard of, though.

In 34 innings at the age of 22, and he struck out a batter an inning in the process. That's not exactly something I give up on.

[Bored 0]

I would be remiss in not noting that Fautino del los Santos had Tommy John surgery in May so that trade didn't turn out that great for the A's. Gonzalez really wasn't ready for the Majors when they called him up.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I would be remiss in not noting that Fautino del los Santos had Tommy John surgery in May so that trade didn't turn out that great for the A's. Gonzalez really wasn't ready for the Majors when they called him up.

Whether or not Gonzalez or de los Santos ever make anything of themselves does little to change the fact that they were perceived as elite pitching prospects one year ago. Those were top notch pieces available for a trade and Williams got a guy that flamed out early and hit the bench by September. I still stand by my assessment that Williams bought high and sold low on Swisher.

[jimmy no nose 0]

I guess the Yankee trade means the end of Nick Swisher's hair and beard experimentation? It's a sad day.

[Guest Israeli Mixed Wrestling]

Oh man, Swisher is just gonna dieeeeeee without being able to run "the Dirty Catz Salon" or whatever-the-fuck. God, what a stroke.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I know it was touched on earlier, but is there any realistic chance that the weak economy will keep contracts down a bit this past off-season? I heard on the radio yesterday that the Yankees haven't even sold out all their luxury boxes yet for their brand new stadium. Or since baseball is still doing relatively well, will contracts just keep going up?

[CanadianChris 0]

I doubt it, at least for this offseason. The economy won't affect teams for real until next season, when the impact of all those unsold tickets is known. Only prudent front offices will try and hold the line on salaries, and the one team I know of that is in the market for a lot of players is anything but fiscally prudent, as far as I can see.

[CanadianChris 0]

Boy, was I right. ESPN.com reporting that the Yankees are offering CC more than the 6/137.5 that Santana got, and are expected to make offers to AJ Burnett and Derek Lowe as well.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

They intend to make the World Series next year, come hell or high water. They could have a payroll approaching $250 million when all is said and done this off season.

 

Yeah, and still no salary cap in baseball. That makes sense. It's not so much that they can spend that much money...it's that they can spend it without any consequence, even if some of their high price players end up being total busts for them.

[Guest Smues]

Boy, was I right. ESPN.com reporting that the Yankees are offering CC more than the 6/137.5 that Santana got, and are expected to make offers to AJ Burnett and Derek Lowe as well.

I'm glad that the success of the Yankess farm system has encouraged them to build from within and not revert to their old ways of buying all the free agents on the market.

 

Oh wait.

[naiwf 0]

I fondly remember the lunatic fringe of the local Yankees fanbase predicting 20 wins each and Cy Young contention from Joba and Hughes and another 10-15 from Kennedy last year before the season began, and them calling Hank a moron because he wanted Santana and was going to have to overpay for him, and/or that Santana was overrated. Now that they realize they can't expect that kind of production from the kids they've reverted to the "just buy every All-Star caliber player on the market" strategy and if you get saddled with a Pavano or Kevin Brown, just pay more for the next big name a year later. It'll be fun when they lose in the first round to the Angels yet again. Before anyone reminds me that my team sucks, I'm fully expecting the Mets to have the division lead with 17 to go, and find a new and exciting way to blow it yet AGAIN next year because Minaya was busy scouting 13 year olds in the Dominican instead of fixing the bullpen.

 

[Guest Israeli Mixed Wrestling]

Yeah, and still no salary cap in baseball. That makes sense.

It does, because spending doesn't guarantee winning.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah, and still no salary cap in baseball. That makes sense.

It does, because spending doesn't guarantee winning.

 

Doesn't mean a cap isn't needed.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Been eight years since the Yankees won a WS Title. They could spend $500 million and I wouldn't care, as long as they keep losing.