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Cheech Tremendous

The 2008 MLB Offseason Thread

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I think Milwaukee would be a fine place to play give the quickly rising profile of the Brewers, but w/r/t living there the impression I get with Milwaukee is that you either fall in love with it or want to leave and never come back. Still, players would have a supportive fanbase and nice facilities. There are worse places to sign.

 

Yeah, it's definitely a love it or hate it kind of place. You either like the semi-blue collar atmosphere, or hate the lack of stuff that larger metropolitan areas have. I've heard some MLB players say they hate going there because there's not much of a night club scene, etc.

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Some interesting non-MLB news...

 

- According to the Kyodo News, the Lotte Mariners of Japan's Pacific League have offered free agent infielder Tadahito Iguchi a three-year contract.

 

He had two really good years at age 28/29 in Japan and parlayed that into playing for the White Sox but seemed otherwise pedestrian. Do the Japanese leagues look at the really lower tier MLB free agents or do they really focus on home grown players whilst adding 1-2 gaijin a year, if that?

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The Boston Red Sox were close to signing free-agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli on Wednesday night. It is expected to be announced at the Boston Baseball Writers Dinner, where Baldelli will be honored.

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Yeah, nice to see the Crew finally do something to add to the team. Not that exciting, but at least they don't have to go into spring training and have a "closer competition" or something.

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Guest Czecherbear

If the rest of the team can keep putting the Brewers in save situations, now they're not going to blow them anymore. Significant improvement.

 

This whole Milton Bradley thing is going to be a disaster, though. Third-place team.

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Hoffman was homer prone playing in Petco Park. How's that going to look in Miller Park?

 

And what's wrong with Milton Bradley? He's been a better hitter than Mark Teixeira the last two years.

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Guest Czecherbear

Piniella has been relatively docile with the Cubs, actually.

 

And what's wrong with Milton Bradley?

He doesn't have any goddamn knees, and I'm loath to say this but black people have had a rough time at Wrigley Field. Dusty Baker was run out of town, LaTroy Hawkins and Jacque Jones didn't like playing there, and all Derrek Lee does is complain about how much he hates the fans. Of course, the common theme between those four guys is that they're all shitty at their jobs, so Bradley could be safe. Come to think of it, all that Fukudome stuff was pretty racist too.

 

rough transcript of his interview with Boers & Bernstein today:

"One of my concerns is that you may misinterpret Lou's gruffness as disrespect."

"I'M DISRESPECTED THAT YOU WOULD THINK I WOULD DO THAT."

 

So we're already off to a good start.

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I'd be worried about the Cubs OF defense right now, if I was inclined to be concerned about that team right now.

 

Big topic amongst Brewers fans right now is "Whither Ben Sheets?" It didn't sound like he wanted to come back to Milwaukee after the end of this past season, but if Melvin decides to make him an offer, he might not have a choice. It doesn't sound like hardly any teams are interested in him at all (probably due to all the recent injuries), and I would assume that if he was going to the Rangers, it would be done by now. I'm not a huge fan of the guy at this point, but the Brewers may as well make him an offer, as long as it's not for an insane amount of money.

 

It's been interesting to see how many guys who would have been snapped up in the past are just sitting out there with hardly any buzz right now as far as rumors. Adam Dunn would be a prime example. Guy isn't even 30 years old, should be good for about 40 home runs, and it sounds like his signing options are extremely limited.

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If everybody gets healthy and stays healthy a potential rotation of

 

Beckett

Lester

Smoltz

Dice-K

Penny

 

looks real nice. I want to see Wakefield fade away already. Oh, and I love that they resigned Kotsay for next to nothing.

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ESPN is reporting that Pedro Martinez is in talks with the Marlins.

 

He would really serve the club as a #4 or #5 and to mentor Volstad, Nolasco, Johnson and such... Hopefully he isn't asking for too much money and hopefully it happens.

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Guest Czecherbear

That "mentoring"/"coach on the roster" shit never works. Greg Maddux has shared a dugout with young pitchers who come out of the year as mediocre as they came in. If Greg Maddux can't teach kids to throw strikes, I'm not sure which Hall of Famers can. What's Pedro gonna teach them, how to be freaks of nature?

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It's not like either of those are bad signings. Zaun's a fantastic backup catcher, and you can't possibly fret about the players who are likely to play in Norfolk.

coughbrianrobertstradecough

 

Plus, Zaun will probably be the OD catcher since they dont plan on calling up Wieters until May (unless things change in ST)..

 

also, I forgot to post that the Chicago Tribune thinks the Orioles are one of only 7 teams to improve this offseason.

 

The most improved teams, in order: Yankees, Athletics, Giants, Mets, Indians, Orioles and Royals.

 

Maybe they really meant "most moves made" and not "most improved"

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Honestly, I'd be quite surprised if the Orioles finish worse this season. A lot of the things wrong with the team are easily fixed, like lack of production at first base.

 

Richie Sexson (who they are looking at signing to play 1B) is no better than Kevin Millar who they will probably end up bringing back anyway because no one else wants him.

 

try again

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Honestly, I'd be quite surprised if the Orioles finish worse this season. A lot of the things wrong with the team are easily fixed, like lack of production at first base.

 

Do you mean worse by record or position in the division? It must REALLY suck to be either a fan of Toronto or Baltimore considering you got used to Yankees/Sawx dominance, but when TB comes out of nowhere and makes your future prospects of ever winning a playoff berth that much more remote it may be time to find something else to watch from March/April to October.

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Honestly, I'd be quite surprised if the Orioles finish worse this season. A lot of the things wrong with the team are easily fixed, like lack of production at first base.

 

Do you mean worse by record or position in the division? It must REALLY suck to be either a fan of Toronto or Baltimore considering you got used to Yankees/Sawx dominance, but when TB comes out of nowhere and makes your future prospects of ever winning a playoff berth that much more remote it may be time to find something else to watch from March/April to October.

By record. Stranger things have happened though. One team gets a rash of injuries, and things can change in a hurry.

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This has been a unique offseason, one where teams aren't really improving.

 

A couple of things puzzle me, like the Cubs seemingly getting rid of DeRosa for Bradley. Bradley could put up better numbers if healthy, but I really don't think outdoor games in Chicago during April/May/September is what his hamstrings need. Plus, I really liked what DeRosa brought to the Cubs. Also, it is evident what GM's really think of Adam Dunn. I know Dunn has been perhaps the most polarizing sports figure in Cincy (and maybe on this board) in terms of what he brings to the table. I am curious as to what type of contract Dunn gets, and why he probably won't get near the money Tex got despite fairly similar offensive numbers. I guess the economy has really changed things unless you live in NY.

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