Rich Aurilia??? At 1B??? Why on earth would the Yankees want a 35 year old utility infielder who’s had one good year in the last five to play first base?
Don’t get me wrong, he’d make a great utility IF / pinch hitter - but I doubt he wants to do that after his year last year.
Hmmm, after looking through the list of FA first basemen, there really isn’t anything better than that out there… I still wished they’d signed Garciaparra, but I can’t blame Cashman for not wanting to pay $8.5 million a year for him (or more likely, a lot more than that to woo him away from LA).
I’m not getting giving up on Milledge either, especially when you’re giving up on him for Piss-For-Hands.
Not the catcher (Posada). The other Piss Hands.
Some more action last night. Yanks gave Moose 2 years for $23m. I think this was a needed move by the Yanks where as usual the pitching talent of the free agent market is thin. He is a very good regular season pitcher and the price is not too bad. It works out cheaper than what he was paid last year.
Mets finalize 1-year Alou deal, decline option on Glavine. Well at least it is only one year. "Alou’s deal includes a $7.5 million club option for 2008 with $1 million buyout.” This little contract could cost the Mets $9.5 for a partial season. On the other hand, the Mets can afford one season, if it was two seasons, I would seriously question the move.
**Rumor Mill, Yankee Department: **
The major rumor is that Ted Lilly wants to return to the Yanks and the Yanks are very interested but Lilly’s agent wants 4 years for $36M and the Yanks will not go that high and probably not that long. Yanks are also looking at Gil Meche.
Yes and no. He was involved in a trade that would have brought Roy Oswalt to NY, but it wasn’t the Mets who nixed that deal. I believe he was on the table in a Jason Schmidt deal, but the Giants decided against it.
Lesser, not-quite-blockbusters were offered to the Mets and they declined to hold onto young Lastings.
The talk was Millidge and Heilman for Barry Zito, and that the A’s would have done it but the Mets didn’t want to. I don’t believe the A’s would have done that deal though.
Anybody know of any solid 3rd basemen on the market? The Dodgers have got to nail down that side of the infield, and I’d be willing to sacrifice power hitting for range and speed. Of course, if Drew signs with somebody before Dec. 1st, the Dodgers will get a couple of draft choices. I think Pierre is a good acquisition, if a little pricy. Werth isn’t going to be coming back, I’m afraid, and that gives us some dealing room in the outfield.
Here is the complete list of Free Agent 3rd baseman. Some may have signed or retired already.
Player Team Position Roster Service Agent Age Option
Edgardo Alfonzo New York Mets 3B MFA 10 Peter Greenberg 33
Rich Aurilia Cincinnati Reds 3B FA 10.027 Barry Axelrod 35
Tony Batista Minnesota Twins 3B FA 8.072 Andy Mota 32
David Bell Milwaukee Brewers 3B FA 10.048 Joe Bick, Reich, Katz and Landis 34
Mark Bellhorn San Diego Padres 3B FA 5.117 Mark Rodgers 32
Geoff Blum San Diego Padres 3B FA 6.056 33
Aaron Boone Cleveland Indians 3B FA 7.039 Reich, Katz and Landis 33
Vinny Castilla Colorado Rockies 3B Retired 13.056 Eric Goldschmidt 39
Jeff Cirillo Milwaukee Brewers 3B FA 11.064 Jeff Borris 37
Mike Edwards Pittsburgh Pirates 3B MFA 0.167 29
Pedro Feliz San Francisco Giants 3B FA 5.031 Mike Arias 31
Alex S. Gonzalez Philadelphia Phillies 3B Retired 11.055 Jim Bronner 33
Tony Graffanino Milwaukee Brewers 3B FA 8.125 Dan Lozano, Jeff Borris 34
Aubrey Huff Houston Astros 3B FA 5.003 Sam and Seth Levinson 29
Justin Leone San Diego Padres 3B MFA 0.101 29
Lou Merloni Cleveland Indians 3B FA 6.059 35
Bill Mueller Los Angeles Dodgers 3B Retired 9.063 Michael Maas, Dave Meier 35
Joe Randa Pittsburgh Pirates 3B Retired 11.114 Ron Shapiro 36
Fernando Tatis Baltimore Orioles 3B FA 5.065 31
Of course the Dodgers could call Brian Cashman and knock his socks off for A-Rod.
Ehh, Morneau’s more defensible than Ryan Howard was yesterday. Pujols CARRIED that Cardinal team for 2 months before a freak injury took him out for a month, and he came back and led the team to the playoffs despite being short on talent in several key areas.
Well, they haven’t gotten rid of him yet. Regarding Jim’s comment above, I think his problem might not be stupidity but immaturity, in which case I’d expect to see him start 2007 in AAA (wherever the hell that is now). If Alou goes down they have Endy “I Made The Most Amazing Catch You Ever Saw, Remember Me?” Chavez to start and can call up Milledge then.
I am too sentimental for 21st century baseball, I would have re-signed Cliff Floyd for a year to sit on the bench and dance his funky dance. I’lll miss the guy.
I’m also sorry to see Henry Owens go to Florida (“Where Prospects Go to Overachieve”), I think that will bite the Mets on the ass in 2008 if not sooner.
I liberally extract the following from metsgeek.com, comparing Moises Alou to Alfonso Soriano:
I sort of edited out the point of the Alou/Soriano thing above, which was that despite his age Alou’s numbers are actually as good if not better than Soriano’s the past 2 years, with the caveat that he hasn’t played as much because he’s so frickin’ old. The other upside being he isn’t Mo Vaughn.
I think the Mets should strike some kind of deal with Glavine rather than let him drift back to Atlanta. I don’t think El Duque can hold up over a whole season. So what are the bets for the Metropolitan’s rotation in April? I think Maine and Perez proved they deserve a shot, but I’m not so sure that Hernandez (some of the time)-Maine-Perez-Bannister-Pelfry is going to strike fear in many NL hearts. I suppose I should learn to relax and trust Omar. Even his dopey deals seem to turn out all right.
As an aside, I know that Yankee fans can revel in the certainty that they will still be going to Yankee Stadium through the rest of this century, but (if you haven’t heard) the Mets new stadium will be Citi Field, and CitiBank paid a gadjillion for the privilege. Eh, it could have been far worse. It’s short. You can sort of pretend it’s City Field. It doesn’t have the word “Trump” in it. And I don’t think CitiBank is going to change it’s name every 3 years. I was kind of pulling for Italian Ice King of Corona Field, though.
The Matthews and Pierre (Dodgers, 5 years/$44m) deals were both ridiculous. Yesterday’s Carlos Lee deal (Astros, 6 years/$100m) is probably bad in the long term, but doesn’t approach the level of insanity that either of those other deals do.
Either way, most of the outfielders are flying off the free-agent-market shelves. J.D. Drew is likely the next to be ridiculously overpaid; I just hope it isn’t by the Sox.
Orioles, Baez agree to three-year, $19M deal
Pretty good money for a setup guy coming off a bad season. Is this just the Orioles having to overpay for any talent, or did crappy signings like Farnsworth by my Yankees last year help set the bar too high?
I don’t know, but I’m hoping this turns out like a miniature Adrian Beltre signing: one good free agent year, then a disaster for his new team. That would help my A’s immensely. But hey, maybe Matthews really did find the next level.
Is Carlos Lee really all that good? He didn’t make the Brewers or Rangers noticeably better, and the White Sox got better after he left. Maybe the Astros are being foolish, too?
Dodgers are augmenting the rotation by signing Randy Wolf from the Phillies. It would be nice if we could gat him and keep Maddux. We’re paying too much for Pierre, but what can you do?
