MLB Off-Season Moves

[Munch]

Who's the ad wizard that came up with the Baltimore Orioles? They're currently going guns-a-blazin' after Troy Glaus or Carlos Delgado to play 1st base, which would give them an even more potent offense. But... They have absolutely no chance of competing in the AL East for a playoff spot without going balls-out on pitching. Seriously, their pitching sucks complete jockstraps. Their rotation sucks, their middle relief sucks, their closer sucks. Are they not paying attention?!? Do they have something cooking in the minors that I'm unaware of?

The exact same thing can be said about the Mariners (who are going after the same free agents), but they have an excuse of having decent pitchers who just didn't pan out.

Magglio Ordonez appears to be leaving the South Side. Which is fine, because I hate the White Sox. Actually, I think it's a good move, because Boras wants way too much money, and they have other needs. I wonder how many more years Frank Thomas has left.

Any random thoughts people want to blather on about? Fantasy football has gone down the crapper for me, and baseball off-season moves are just now firing up.

[Paisley Park]

Well you can never have enough offense. Delgado or Glaus would be a huge pickup for the O's.

We are looking at pitching too. Carl Pavano, Brad Radke and Eric Milton are being courted. I really hope we land Pavano.

Plus, you have to remember that the GM duo of Beattie and Mike Flanagan has maintained a philosophy of building through the farm system and draft, and there are some holes that could be filled by youngsters.

I think we are going to surprise some people next year!

[brianjedi]

I don't like these rumblings I keep hearing about trading some combination of Jason Marquis, Danny Haren, Rick Ankiel and some minor leaguers for Randy Johnson.

Don't get me wrong, the Big Unit is impressive, but Danny Haren's gonna be a replacement for Matt Morris soon and I still haven't given up on Ankiel.

I like the rumors of Placido Polanco coming back to St. Louis to play second base. He's solid defensively, not a bad hitter and popular in the clubhouse (close friends with Pujols.) Sure, Tony Womack was good this year, but I have concerns about his durability.

Who's going to be the first team to pull the trigger on Musical Shortstops?

[Mullinator]

Originally Posted by brianjedi

Who's going to be the first team to pull the trigger on Musical Shortstops?

That would be the Giants who chose the mummy of Omar Vizquel as their long-term solution at shortstop. But then, they like the older players so I can't fault them too much.

The Expos are clearly insane by signing 2 guys (Castilla and Guzman) who can't get on base. There's no telling how big of a drop Castilla will face without the comfort of Coors surrounding him.

As for my beloved Cubs. I am assuming we lose Nomar, Moises, and Clement. I think just having a healthy pitching staff and development of already owned assets will more than offset the loss of Clement. I'm a little more worried about the offense. We need to get a couple of younger, consistent bats on the team. I'd also love to see the Cubs figure out a way to have a 4th outfielder that actually gets on base rather than using his speed to walk quickly back to the dugout after striking out. Heck, we need some better utility infielders as well.

But again, just being healthier will take care of a lot of issues.

[Captain Lance Murdoch]

Since I live in MN the offseason is just an annual exfoliation of players. The Twins will make no move to bring in any significant free agent.

Ever.

[Munch]

[quote=Mullinator]The Expos are clearly insane by signing 2 guys (Castilla and Guzman) who can't get on base. There's no telling how big of a drop Castilla will face without the comfort of Coors surrounding him.UOTE]
What stadium are the Expos playing in? I saw that move, and wondered how it would affect Vince. Of course it'll drop his production, but will it lessen his production as much as moving to Shea would, or moving to someplace like Kauffman or Wrigley?

[Munch]

That was well done.

E-3

[Mullinator]

I think they are playing at RFK. From what I have found so far, RFK has historically played as a pretty neutral field. But, the data isn't exactly current and many things have likely changed so you can't read too much into that.

But, I think for this year it's likely to not be a really great hitting park which really dulls down Castilla's potential impact. The Expos will have a couple of years to deal with that mistake.

[cmkeller]

The Royals signed some career .230 hitter (Chris Truby) to plug the third base hole for a year between not wanting to overpay Joe Randa to warm the hot corner for Mark Teahen(is there any market for him at all? I've heard tons of rumors all over the majors, but none involving him) and not wanting to expose Mark Teahen to Major League pitching before he's ready...which, going by their Zack Greinke strategy last year, will be mid-May in an effort to not set a new team loss record.

We got rid of an old inning-eating # 5 pitcher (Darrel May) who was acting as our # 2 and an inconsistent middle-releiver (Ryan Bukvich, though that could describe any of the Royals relievers) for a pitching prospect with promise that hasn't yet panned out (Dennis Tankersley) which will probably mean, given the Royals recent history with pitchers, 1.5 months of amazing performance followed by 1 month of terrible screw-ups, followed by Tommy John surgery, and an underachieving outfielder (Terrence Long).

I'm not seeing any good news in Kansas City, unless John Buck shows an uncanny knack for handling pitchers and unless Runelvys Hernandez, Miguel Asencio and Kyle Snyder return to first-half-of-2003 form.

[lieu]

Astros have let go their GM Hunsicker after he put together their best decade yet. Now it's up to his assistant/replacement to sign Carlos Beltran before the Yankees or Cubs get him, bring back released Jeff Kent at a lower salary, convince Clemens to postpone retirement for yet another year, etc. With Manager Garner and Biggio resigned, it looks so far like we're just trying to bring everyone back.

[Jonathan Chance]

Originally Posted by Mullinator

That would be the Giants who chose the mummy of Omar Vizquel as their long-term solution at shortstop. But then, they like the older players so I can't fault them too much.

Nay! My beloved Cubs signed (alleged) SS Neifi Perez for a cool million last week. Ugh. What the hell are they thinking?

I've been to baseball games (exhibition) at RFK stadium and it gives it a bit of a short porch in left but not a huge one. Then again, they may be configuring it differently now.

Oh, and I'm dropping the dime to go to opening day. Even if I've moved to Ohio I know where my loyalties lie and it ain't with Cleveland, Cincinnati, or Pittsburgh.

Fah.

[Superdude]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

Nay! My beloved Cubs signed (alleged) SS Neifi Perez for a cool million last week. Ugh. What the hell are they thinking?

They were thinking that they could let Ramon Martinez walk. And that Perez is SUPPOSED to be a backup. Here's hoping that's true. Speaking of the Cubs (and I'm another diehard), I've heard that Jim Hendry is pursuing SS's inthe following order: Renteria, Cabrera, them Nomar.

I'm hoping Sosa gets traded (at this point, I'd trade him for lunch from McDonald's). I've heard Sosa for Piazza, with Piazza then going to the Angels for Jose Guillen. I've heard Sosa for Cliff Floyd. At this point, I don't care. I just want him gone.

His current contributions to the team (not career...just his last few seasons) don't outweigh the hassle of having him around.