It’s a J.P. Ricciardi move all the way; overpay someone at the very height of his value. The Jays had an opportunity to get him LAST year, at the nadir of his value. Now that he’s expensive, Ricciardi wants him.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.
Of course, since the Blue Jays are doomed in the medium term - they will be the worst team in baseball around 2010 - they may as well make a big push for 2007, since it’s likely their last chance for a decade.
Let us assume that you build stadiums for the long term. Let us say forty years or more. If during that time, the team finally develops a real and supportive fan base, is the stadium being built with easy expansion in mind? Talk to Fenway execs about undersized stadiums. In the last 3 years, Yankee Stadium could have used being back to its larger capacity of over 60,000.
Building a 30,000-seat stadium seems like the owners are accepting of a permanent second tier income status. I think it is a shortsighted plan. YMMV.
Jim
I’ve been here! I was the first one here, as well as the inspiration for this thread!
Here’s the dilemma here in Detroit (at least according to me):
Left Field: Craig Monroe Center Field: Curtis Granderson Left Field: Magglio Ordonez
Monroe isn’t loved in the clubhouse (allegedly), but he’s young and a LOT of his home runs came after the 7th inning. Essentially, he’s Little Papi for us right now. I want to keep him around, even if it’s just off the bench. Granderson is going to be the center fielder of the future. Ordonez has (if my memory is right) 4 years left.
Clevelen and Maybin are coming up (Clevelen was around this past year, Maybin is being led along slowly and is touted to be The Truth). They, along with Granderson, are the outfielders of the future. Monroe goes to DH. What’s up with the Sheffield acquisition? Are we going to trade/not resign Monroe? Move Monroe to first base? He’s not a great fielder to begin with, so I don’t like that move. Move Ordonez to first (possible)? What about the infield?
I’d like to see Guillen move to third. Good defense, great bat, but he lost a step after the knee surgery. Inge can play short or be moved to first for (insert free agent shortstop here). After the outfielders come in, then we’ve got a NEW logjam at first.
Apparently, the solution is to stand pat (and apparently give up our touted pitching propects for aging sluggers).
We’re anxious for the Next Move here in Motown. We don’t see the Sheffield acquisition as bad, but most of us see it as a gross overpayment and almost a move just to make a move.
Thomas signing with the Jays is a very mixed bag. No doubt about it, he brings a solid bat to the lineup. He’s a force and will boost their offense, as long as he remains vertical. It’s that last part that may be the problem. Toronto is notorious for having a rock hard playing surface, and while he won’t have to play the field, he’ll still need to run the bases when he hits, unless he will just walk between bases whether the ball flies out or not. And I don’t think you can count on him for 3 whole years. A big roll of the dice.
I really don’t get the Mussina re-signing. I know his numbers from last year look good, but Yankees pitchers almost always have numbers that look good. He’s aging, and has not performed all that well in the playoffs (significantly, he was the losing pitcher in the Game 2 loss that turned the Detroit series around). For years we’ve heard that NY’s biggest problem is pitching: that it’s old, injury-prone, not living up to the billing, etc. Doesn’t anyone there realize that they need to develop a pitcher or two, not just keep running the same old nag around that track? They’ve got money; why not spend it on a little bit of scouting? With those resources they should be constantly developing great players. Instead, it will be same old, same old, and then we’ll get breathless stories about how the boss doesn’t like the results. Boring, and dumb.
That’s another weird thing about the Tigers-Yankees trade. There wasn’t a pitcher with big-league experience in it. You’d think that the Yankees would want one, possibly two pitchers that actually pitched in the majors. They don’t rebuild (unless they trade him for another piece).
Yankees suck!
They ARE developing pitchers. Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner saw some big-league time last year, and Philip Hughes will eventually get a call-up this year. Hughes is expect to make some real noise. They’re also expecting good things from Tyler Clippard. Meanwhile, it does make sense to bring Mussina back because he wins.
I read a rumor yesterday that they might deal Humberto Sanchez, who came over in that deal, for Gil Meche. If not, add Sanchez to that list of prospects I mentioned.
Meche is still a Mariner, no?
Why would the Mariners want another big righty that throws hard, gets lots of strikeouts, and has elbow issues?
Exactly. Cashman cannot develop pitchers overnight, he is doing everything possible, and stressing the Yanks must develop pitchers. Meanwhile Moose is a proven NY quantity that you can pencil in for 13-17 wins for the next two years.
At $11.5 million per year, this is not bad.
As of right now the Yanks only have Wang & Moose. Johnson will probably not start the season and Pavano is well Pavano. Cashman will sign a free agent pitcher or maybe two and let the 5 spot go to the winner of the pool of Jeff Karstens, Darrell Rasner, Hughes. Sanchez and Scott Proctor who will have a chance to join the rotation.
Jim
Bolding mine.
Heh heh. You said “wang and moose”.
What Exit? I understand what you’re saying about building for the future. I just think that if over the last six years (which the A’s have been very competitive) fans haven’t come out, once the novelity of the new stadium wears off attendance will once again slip.
Gil Meche is a unrestricted free agent.
If this is true, than perhaps they are planning to move to the wrong location.
Marley23: Cashman is hoping Humberto Sanchez can make an impact this year or next year. I would be surprised if the moved him for a Gil Meche level pitcher. In a package for a Dontrelle Willis level pitcher I would believe.
There may be talk about developing prospects, and guys in the farm system who will make a big splash eventually, someday, maybe. It’s more an “I’ll believe it when I see it” thing. If you are developing pitchers, you can’t keep signing free agents because you leave yourself with no room on the roster for those prospects. And the Yankees have had plenty of time to do that developing. They were winning championships in the late '90s with a fairly set rotation. It’s now been 3 years since they made the Series, they’ve been shuffling veterans in and out, and have not developed any of their own talent into the rotation since Andy Pettitte. (I believe Wang pitched in somewhere in Asia before signing here, no?) I mean a guy who they called up and actually stuck, not just a temporary stopgap pitcher.
Actually, I prefer seeing the Yankees lose anyway, so it’s fine with me if they don’t build through the farm system.
The A’s fans have come out during their current stretch of winning ball. There’s a substantial difference over what they were drawing back in '96. However, they’re only getting 1.9 million because of the bad ballpark. (And the bad economy; the A’s fan base is largely very blue collar, people who don’t have a ton of discretionary income. When times are bad, they can’t spend a lot of dough at the ballpark.) No one argues that the A’s could use a new ballpark. But the location they’ve chosen is based largely on pipe dreams fed by marketing assholes. Yes, the novelty will wear off quickly, and then the team will see attendance fall off drastically, perhaps back to current levels. The Giants, with a much more solid and wealthy fan base, are no longer selling out their park; the A’s sure as hell will not once the bloom is off.
Santana is a deserving Cy Young winner. Not so sure about Brandon Webb. Any thoughts, folks?
Even better. Then he can be had for no trade (speaking from a Yankee-slurping standpoint).
Isn’t that almost like taking a step back then? I mean, you’re taking a young pitcher that’s nearly ready and trading him for a lefty with odd mechanics and questionable consistency/durability.
It’d have to be a…unique package.
Webb had a good, consistent year in the NL. He also pitched VERY well for an overly-shitty team. I’m fine with it. I mean, who else would you give it to?
Not A Tame Lion: Several things.
MINOR LEAGUE PITCHING STATS
Year Team W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV INN H R ER HR HBP BB SO
2000 A-Staten Ilnd 4 4 2.48 14 14 2 1 0 87.0 77 34 24 2 2 21 75
2001 -Injured 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002 A-Staten Ilnd 6 1 1.72 13 13 0 0 0 78.1 63 23 15 2 0 14 64
2003 AA-Trenton 7 6 4.65 21 21 2 1 0 122.0 143 71 63 7 2 32 84
2003 R-Yankees 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 3.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
2004 AA-Trenton 6 5 4.05 18 18 0 0 0 109.0 112 53 49 6 3 26 90
2004 AAA-Columbus 5 1 2.01 6 5 2 1 0 40.1 31 9 9 3 1 8 35
2005 AAA-Columbus 2 1 4.24 6 6 0 0 0 34.0 40 16 16 4 0 6 21
The Yankees have drafted badly and traded away every decent starting prospect for years. Cashman has only had control over the draft and developement for 1 year. In a very short time, he has already improved the farm system.
Santana was a no brainer. Webb was a toss.
Jim
Not to help in fellating Cashman, but I think some of his success is accidental.
He’s a good GM, don’t get me wrong, and having bags of loot to throw around certainly helps that cause, but I don’t know if i want to heap ALL this prasie on his shoulders. Not yet, at least.
He has a secret, when he made his move to take power last year; he also brought Gene Michaels back into a senior advisor role. Gene Michaels built that 90’s team. He is a great talent evaluator and Cashman’s mentor/top advisor.
Jim