Then SF didn’t need to pay any more than minimum wage for him.
Gotta disagree. If he tries his best but just can’t do it, and doesn’t get obnoxious, the scorn will go to the front office instead (assuming dumping Gonzalez for Lugo doesn’t get to them first). If he really misses most of the season with injuries, that only gives Wily Mo Pena a chance to blossom, and then who’ll care?
I haven’t posted to this thread… cuz, well, I’m an Orioles fan. 
We signed Jay Payton tonight, BTW. woo hoo. yankees, red sox, fear our power, woo.
Guy on our baseball board posted this frickin’ gem tho. yahoo messenger rofl smilie
I am happy to report that Pettitte signed with the Yanks. I am a little less happy about the price tag of $16m and a player option, but what the heck.
Required Link:
Jim
For that price, I would almost prefer Zito.
It is only 1-2 years. Zito is likely to be $15 to $18m for 5-7 years. As Texas is involved I would not be surprised to see 7 years and $138m
Jim
Oh, I know, but I’m just saying that if the money was comparable, I think I might have to go with Zito.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with Payton. He’s solid, good on defense, and a guy who wants the bat in his hands when there’s ducks on the pond. It was nice having him here with the A’s these last two years; good luck to him with the O’s.
After the RELENTLESS crying and front office bashing on our baseball board, that’s refreshing to hear. 
I’ve always kept an eye on Jay Payton. He was supposed to be a Super Prospect coming from the Mets’ farm system, and got traded for pennies on the dollar. He never QUITE materialized, but he’s turned into a fine player. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing him on the Tigers.
Lord knows I try…
I am hearing the Cubs are close to signing Jason Marquis for 3 years at $20m to $21m. Anyone have a clue as to why?
Rangers close to signing Kenny Lofton.
Jim
The Cubs apparently want a young pitcher with problems. Like those can’t be had.
I guess it’s a good move. Do the Cubs have anything coming for pitching help? Anything?
I’m a big fan of Boston baseball, but when I heard what they payed to post negotiations for Daisuke Matsuzaka I couldn’t believe they had spent that much. I thought it was ridiculously paying through the nose for a guy who has yet to pitch in the MLB.
Now rumors are that the Sox and Scott Boras are not close to each other in negotiations and Matsuzaka has a chance of not being signed and going back to Japan. Which would send all those millions of dollars back to the Sox.
And all I can think, now that we’re close to losing him, is noooooooooooo. I don’t care aboyut the $50 million! I don’t care that the prices of my seats are going up! i don’t care that this knocks out the chances of grabbing any other big name this off season! I want Daisuke Matsuzaka! I want him so bad!
That is my rant.
PS: I also wanted to take a chance on Gagne, so kudos to the Rangers.
I hate to root for a team in division… But I want to see this gyro-ball. See if it’s for real.
Really? They bid a completely outrageous (but refundable) amount for the chance to negotiate, then the negotiations go nowhere… I’m shocked, SHOCKED that they’ve blown the chance to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on an unproven pitcher, while preventing anyone else (Yankees) from getting a chance to sign him, while spending nothing to do it.
There was talk that the $50 million was just a stop-the-Yankees bid, if they don’t get the deal done, I have to think that speculation was right.
As a Red Sox fan, I have to say I like their handling of this deal, even if it was planned as you say, which I don’t agree with. What I think:
They fully intended to sign him, but with a “total package” bottom line in mind. If signing him would cost 100 mil (to get him for a five year deal), then that’s what they’d pay, 50 mil to the Japanese club, 50 mil to him or 20 mil to the Japanese club, and 80 mil to him. It doesn’t matter.
Since they had to acquire the rights to talk contract with the club first, they had blown half their budget, which left them 50 mil to offer him. Since that wouldn’t cut it, they went back to square one, and the Japanese club gets nothing. That’s too bad for them, but IMO they were greedy. Now no one wins, least of all the Yankees.
I think there are issues to be fixed here in the way clubs bid for Japaanese players’ contracts. This was messed up all around.
I would like to hijack my own rant. Looking back, the morning after, I think I may have sounded too critical of Gagne. The guy is a Cy Young winner, still young, and has plenty of experince bouncing back from injury. How do we all feel about Gagne bouncing back to the dominant closer he once was? Or at least in some effective role for the bullpen.
Agreed, this whole process seems designed to be taken advantage of. Let all the teams get an open shot to negotiate, but the Japanese team gets 50% of the total potential value of the contract as a one time payout. Or make a percentage of the bid non-refundable. Or a value based on the average annual salary. Or have a shorter negotiation window and let the 2nd, 3rd, 4th place teams get a chance to sign him.
There are so many options that make this speculated gaming impossible, I really can’t believe that intelligent business men didn’t think of using any of them.
Lose-lose-lose-lose-lose. I can’t figure out who profits here in any way at all.
I loved having Eric in LA, but he’s been a zero factor for the last 2 seasons. If he still has some years in him as a reliever, good for him, but personally, I doubt it. He’s one strain away from retirement, and will never be the “Game Over” closer he was at his peak with the Dodgers.
“Welcome To The Jungle” will not get much play this year, I’m betting.