The 2008 MLB Offseason Thread

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

That deal for Pedroia isn't that much of a discount. He only has two years service time. He's not even arbitration eligible yet.

 

Pedroia's deal covers one pre-arbitration season, all three arb seasons, and two years of free agency. Ramirez received $54.4MM for the same slice of his career, Wright got $55MM, and Braun received $43.8MM. Also, Brian McCann gets $37.8MM, Grady Sizemore gets $30.95MM, Evan Longoria is at $31.95MM, Robinson Cano gets $42.49MM, and Chase Utley gets $55.5MM. That assumes options are exercised, where applicable.

 

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

WFan was reporting a rumor of AJ Burnett going to the Braves because they are the only team willing to sign him for 5 years.

 

 

This also has to be the most boring off season in years for Baseball. Everyone is waiting for CC to sign.

 

I heard that The Orioles max potential offer was 3 years..way to go!

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

WFan was reporting a rumor of AJ Burnett going to the Braves because they are the only team willing to sign him for 5 years.

 

 

This also has to be the most boring off season in years for Baseball. Everyone is waiting for CC to sign.

 

I heard that The Orioles max potential offer was 3 years..way to go!

 

 

 

It's just a rumor, nothing is official.

[Bored 0]

The shortstop carousel is about to begin as there's a report that Khalil Greene will be traded to the Cardinals for two minor leaguers and Edgar Renteria is about to sign a two-year deal with the Giants. Wouldn't be surprised if the A's ink Rafael Furcal any day now.

[sfaJack 0]

Rumor has it the Astros are saying that Carlos Lee is available. They are intent on cutting payroll, as the falling oil prices have impacted the Houston area quite a bit. He could help some teams, but he has a hugely bloated contract that will make him hard to move.

It's not that they're cutting payroll; Drayton McLane wants to keep it around $90 mil, like it was in '08. The Astros announced that they're freezing ticket prices for next season and apparently there's a couple of sponsors that aren't yet onboard for 2009 so they're unsure of how strong their revenues will be at this point. Plus, Drayton McLane wants to make him some profit.

 

Ty Wigginton and/or Jose Valverde are more likely trade candidates. Each is due a big raise in arbitration and they can't fit both into the $90 mil payroll cap.

 

Besides, Lee has a no-trade clause and has stated in the past that he doesn't want to go anywhere.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Padres are going to be blatently non-competitive this year. A 99 loss team, and they are selling off its best players. The rotation is a complete disaster area, even before they trade Jake Peavy.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

WFan is reporting that the Boston Globe is reporting that Derek Lowe has received two contract offers. One of them being from the Phillies.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The only guy that they (Padres) really should not let go is Peavy. Anyone else can really, just... go. Though how they treated Trevor Hoffman is pretty shitty.

[LuckyLopez 0]

No one really wants to be a Yankee and deal with the media and ownership (unless they're the kind of guys that crave attention like A-Rod and Jeter). The huge money is the only plus.

I'd argue it has less to do with those factors and more to do with how the organizations handle contracts. The media issue especially since Boston's media is notorious for being suffocating and cutthroat where most Yankees tend to be able to disappear if they want to in NY unless they are guys like A-Rod and Jeter.

 

It probably has more to do with Boston having shown its willing to make "cold" decisions towards fan favorites and team heroes. The Red Sox have generally shown toughness with negotiations and been able to divorce emotions from things. It means that if you want to stay in Boston you're probably going to have to play ball with them because if you demand too much they'll let you walk. NY give huge contracts to pretty much everyone they sign/re-sign. There haven't been many if any situations where a player wanted to play in NY but didn't end up because the Yanks were unwilling to meet his demands. So there's no real need to give the Yankees a chance to get you at a discount if all available evidence suggests they'll blink first as long as they want you.

 

Its kind of interesting (and frustrating as a Yankee fan). Cashman seems to be a smart negotiator when it comes to trades usually getting a good deal. But he seems to get very little in the way of good deals on signings, be that free agents or re-signings. Cashman and others in NY would argue "its the cost of doing business for the Yankees" but its theoretically a self fulfilling prophecy. I can't think of any examples of players who balked on NY because they stood their ground on lower demands so why is it presumed that would be the standard? But nevertheless the Yankees and Cashman seem to presume it and thus constantly overpay even when they're bidding with themselves. They voluntarily give the players leverage.

 

Ultimately if you're never going to stand your ground on contract demands (and I'm at a loss to remember any time the Yankees have in the last decade aside from maybe Tom Gordon) then you're never going to get a bargain. Even if someone was willing to give a home town discount you're not going to volunteer that if you know the team will probably give more and probably won't be handicapped by it. In Boston players understand the organization will let a player walk if they deem the contract bad for the team.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Shortstop roulette continues as Jack Wilson is apparently headed to the Tigers. Still looking for a confirmation source.

 

EDIT: http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2008/1...re_ss_jack.html - Bastards even stole my "shortstop roulette" line

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

At this rate the only free agent SS the Os could probably end up signing is Brandon Fahey because no one else could possibly want him.

 

Maybe they could bring back Hairston too.

 

 

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

Braves have made a contract offer to AJ Burnett.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Shortstop roulette continues as Jack Wilson is apparently headed to the Tigers. Still looking for a confirmation source.

 

EDIT: http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2008/1...re_ss_jack.html - Bastards even stole my "shortstop roulette" line

Same link now says the Tigers called to say the deal didn't happen. They seem to think it's still going through though. Hmm...

 

Out of Pittsburgh:

This is what is known: The Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers continued talks regarding Wilson throughout the week, but Detroit re-emerged last night with a fresh offer, one that was enough to cause some buzz within the Pirates' front office. That, apparently, has turned up the heat on both parties. One source a few minutes ago told me, "I know that the Dodgers are still players in this." There still are no names on the Tigers' side.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I like that there appears to be a market for all these shitty shortstops. It increases the chances of the Red Sox being able to unload Julio Lugo with minimal subsidies.

[2GOLD 0]

At this rate the only free agent SS the Os could probably end up signing is Brandon Fahey because no one else could possibly want him.

 

Maybe they could bring back Hairston too.

 

Hairston is better than Alex Cintron and Luis Hernandez combined, as god damn horrible as that is.

 

And don't worry Cheech, the Orioles will take Lugo. Probably give you Guthrie for him too.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The Red Sox officially announced the signing of Junichi Tazawa. This is the Japanese pitcher that skipped the draft in order to come directly to America. Scouting reports differ heavily on his ceiling, but most agree he would have been a first round talent in the MLB draft.

 

Major league contract worth about $3 million over three years. He'll still be arb-eligible at the end of the contract; he will not be a free agent.

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...a_announce.html

 

The Red Sox today formally announced the signing of 22-year-old Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa, who is expected to start his career in the minors.

 

"The reason I came directly to the US is I wanted to try to play here," Tazawa said through a translator at a press conference at Fenway Park today. "I wanted to challenge myself."

 

The Red Sox suspect he'll start at the Double-A level next season, but they'll evaluate him during spring training and make a final decision on his landing spot then.

 

The righthander Tazawa reached an agreement with the Sox on a three-year contract earlier this week, and the Globe's Amalie Benjamin and Tony Massarotti have learned that the total value of the contract is $3.3 million.

 

Tazawa will receive a $1.8 million bonus, with salaries of $450,000 in 2009, $500,000 in '10, and $550,000 in '11. The Sox retain his rights as a pre-arbitration eligible or arbitration eligible player until 2014.

 

The Red Sox confirmed the length of the deal but did not disclose the financial terms.

 

The pitcher, who has drawn some comparisons to former major leaguer Shigetoshi Hasegawa, elected to forgo a professional career in Japan so he could play in the United States. General manager Theo Epstein said the Red Sox have been scouting him for more than a year.

 

Though Tazawa was pursued by several teams and offered more money by at least one --the Texas Rangers -- the pitcher is said to idolize Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka and reportedly was interested in pitching only for the Sox.

 

"I think there is a definite influence of having Daisuke Matsuzaka play here," Tazawa said. "To me he is the best player and to be able to learn from him is an incredible opportunity for me."

 

Tazawa joins the Red Sox organization after a four-year amateur career with the Nippon Oil ENEOS of the Japan Industrial League.

 

This past season, Tazawa was 13-1 with five saves and a 0.80 ERA in 21 games,11 starts. He struck out 114 batters and walked just 15 over 113 innings.

 

In September, Tazawa helped Nippon Oil win the 32-team Intercity Baseball Tournament for the first time in 13 years. He appeared in all five of the ENEOS' games from September 1-9, and won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award, going 4-0 with one save and a 1.27 ERA.

 

With the addition of Tazawa, Boston now has 39 players on its major league roster.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

At this rate the only free agent SS the Os could probably end up signing is Brandon Fahey because no one else could possibly want him.

 

Maybe they could bring back Hairston too.

 

Hairston is better than Alex Cintron and Luis Hernandez combined, as god damn horrible as that is.

 

And don't worry Cheech, the Orioles will take Lugo. Probably give you Guthrie for him too.

How the hell do the Orioles give up their only good starter for Lugo?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

The Brewers sign former O's closer Jorge Julio for under a million, plus incentives. Not exciting, but they need to restock on bullpen arms.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Jack Wilson-Dodgers talks are supposed to be back on and the Tigers are looking at Adam Everett as a plan B. A proposed Pirates-Dodgers deal would be Jack Wilson and some of that contract for Chin-Lung Hu and Delwyn Young with the Pirates still looking for another piece in the deal.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Does Ned Colletti have a complete aversion to playing young guys? Why would trade you Chin-Lung Hu for Jack Wilson of all people? Just start Hu instead. Hu's every bit the defender that Wilson is, and it's not exactly like Wilson is setting the world on fire with his bat. Save that money and use it to resign Derek Lowe.

[Guest]

Uncle Ned has only traded one young player who ever turned out to be worth a shit, as of yet. I know it's early with LaRoche, but I'm pretty confident in saying he'll suck. In addition to that, we always hear these rumors flung around about our young players and they always involve those at the top of their position within organizational rankings and whatnot. Specifically about Kemp and Loney. Do those trades ever happen? Nope. Most of these Dodger rumors are a load of shit, as such, it's hard to talk about them with any real seriousness.

 

The real problem is with free-agent signings. His signings should be a clear sign for nobody to trust this guy with their cash.

 

All in all, I think this team can do a lot better than Chin-Lung Hu (just look at the guy's AAA numbers for Christ's sake) and Jack Wilson. I wish we could re-sign Furcal, but that's not going to happen. What I suggest is for the Dodgers to

 

A.) Re-sign Casey Blake.

 

B.) Keep Blake Dewitt at second.

 

C.) Re-sign Manny Ramirez so that you can go with a very inexpensive, non-offense oriented tandem at shortstop. Keep him, you can live with playing Angel Berroa or Chin-Lung Hu.

 

If you've read Joe Sheehan's idea of what to do with the Dodgers, well, you probably think it's dumb. If you haven't, read this article and see his plan how to make the Dodgers a 90 loss team.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8335

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

If you've read Joe Sheehan's idea of what to do with the Dodgers, well, you probably think it's dumb. If you haven't, read this article and see his plan how to make the Dodgers a 90 loss team.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8335

Call me crazy, but I think his plan is good. In fact, if I were the GM I'd practically do the same thing. I question his notion of trying Weeks in centerfield with Pierre and Jones already on the roster, but the fact that he can play second lessens that concern. Where exactly do you see fault in his ideas? Concentrating on pitching and defense is the easiest way for that team to compete.

[Guest]

Knowing how this team was hitting before Blake and Manny showed up is where there seems to be a disconnect between his ideas and reality. Just to me anyway. Replacing Pierre with Weeks is a waste of time. Yeah, Weeks can play second, but he plays it pretty badly. Then we have Pierre in the outfield, Jesus, I couldn't bear that again. If we did those things (playing Weeks at second or not), we'd have four below-average spots in the lineup, those being (third, second, short, and CF). His idea for the Dodgers is probably the greatest case of 1 step forward, 3 steps back that a major league team could possibly pull. We fixed our hole in the outfield, so we go acquire a guy with a slugging percentage which didn't even hit .400? Then you compare Ray Durham's 2007 and 2008 years, and really, which one seems more like the fluke. Can we really afford to spend more money on a free agent which could amount to nothing? An old guy, no less? Thinking about his age, that might happen anyway. Fuck.

 

In addition, Dewitt's bat is either below-average or just average at third base. Can't do that. Add no players who hit over 20 HR's last year(same guy being the only one to slug over .500) and that group looks mighty shitty to me. You still have to hit to win games. That's a horrendous lineup. I don't know, but the production we'd get from that group he proposed could even be worse than what we got last season, pre-Blake and Manny. Maybe.

 

That's without taking the financial loss into effect. If this team loses Manny and doesn't add a big name, they are fucking done. Relegated to also-ran status. When you field that lineup on Opening Day, suddenly there becomes no doubt. Record be damned.

 

I only agree with two things he mentioned. Gregg Zaun. Release Andruw Jones. That's it. The rest is filler, try to be cute commentary. His article is not taking off-field things into account. With a bad economy you have to have a product that makes people want to show up, especially in a city like Los Angeles where there are so options of things to put your money towards. That team is not going to get my dollars. It's a huge letdown after a great run.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Then you compare Ray Durham's 2007 and 2008 years, and really, which one seems more like the fluke.

 

2007. There are a lot of OPS+'s in his career near 112.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

There could be a break in the CC Sabathia deadlock early next week...supposedly Doug Melvin (Brewers GM) will meet with CC's agent on Monday or Tuesday to get a reaction on their offer (which has been out there for almost a month now). Assuming they tell him something like "There's no realistic chance", the Brewer will quickly move on to other matters, and it may create an opening for a team like the Giants to make an offer. If San Fran makes an offer around what the Brewers are offering, you have to believe he takes it.

 

Supposedly Brian Cashman may be talking to CC's camp before the end of this week as well...I still don't think he goes to New York, though.

[NYU 0]

So....are the Mets planning to do anything this offseason? I know the same old song and dance of how Omar Minaya likes to bide his time and all, but considering how AJ Burnett, Derek Lowe, and CC Sabathia have all been offered contracts in the past few days, he might want to start sending out contract offers. I fail to see how there is no sense of urgency when it comes to the Mets rotation -- Santana, Pelfrey, Maine. That's it. I truly would not be surprised if his big game plan is to re-sign Pedro to a one year contract and shove Jonathan Niese into the #5 slot thereby maintaining the status quo once again.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

So....are the Mets planning to do anything this offseason? I know the same old song and dance of how Omar Minaya likes to bide his time and all, but considering how AJ Burnett, Derek Lowe, and CC Sabathia have all been offered contracts in the past few days, he might want to start sending out contract offers. I fail to see how there is no sense of urgency when it comes to the Mets rotation -- Santana, Pelfrey, Maine. That's it. I truly would not be surprised if his big game plan is to re-sign Pedro to a one year contract and shove Jonathan Niese into the #5 slot thereby maintaining the status quo once again.

 

 

 

If I were the Mets, I would offer a contract to CC and K Rod. That could give them a 1-2 punch of CC and Santanta and strengthen their bullpen.

 

I forgot to mention that Trevor Hoffman wants to speak with the Mets. Maybe it's because no other teams are interested. Hopefully Rivera is able to pass him as the career leader in Saves.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

If CC doesn't want to play for the Yankees, there's no way he's going to sign with the Mets.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yet another SS moves, as Khalil Greene is now a Cardinal.

[2GOLD 0]

If CC doesn't want to play for the Yankees, there's no way he's going to sign with the Mets.

 

Isn't one of his main reasons for not wanting to go back to the AL that he wants to bat? It might not be the city that is the problem, the guy wants to hit and he can't do that on the Yankees.