What I found even more interesting was the Dodgers giving up on Andruw Jones. I think this is the right move. Talk about a bust. I didn’t see anything in him last year to lead me to think that Jones can be a productive player in MLB.
The CEO of the D-backs resigned so he could buy the Padres? Whatever. When baseball gets a real commissioner, there needs to be rules about changing ownership of a team. That John Henry mess from a few years ago still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Speaking of the D-backs, they’ve been very quiet this year. We’re certainly ready to win the NL West this year, but I’d love to see us sign another bat.
It’s not that Ramirez can’t pick a team, it’s that there isn’t as much interest in him as he hoped. He hits like a motherfucker, unquestionably. But given his age, defensive weakness and the amount of years he is looking for, he hasn’t been able to get an offer that jumpstarts a big bidding war. I always figured he’d stay with the Dodgers, and so far I think the only competitor is the Giants.
I’m not sure why the Giants think that signing Manny will help their team. Is Manny going to turn Barry Zito into a good pitcher?
Perhaps they’re trying to force the Dodgers to pay more for Manny.
As far as the Giants go, I hope Randy Johnson can get his 300th win and then retire. I’m certainly glad he’s gone from the D-backs. Johnson would have been a better fit with Oakland since the A’s really need a veteran pitcher.
Thanks for getting him off the Red Sox studio show, at least. No other announcer I’ve ever heard could ever put me to sleep as quickly. He’ll provide your guys an even keel, at least.
Give this a listen. It’s a local comic named Graig Murphy, who often calls the local sports talk station’s Whiner Line. He does a great impersonation of Bob Kraft (the Patriots’ owner), including in this ditty. His Terry Francona voice is dead on, too.
I think the Mets should be interested in Manny, not because I’m a Mets fan or a Manny fan. But they need a corner OFer, they need a bat, they need a gate attraction, and they have money to burn.
Though the owner lost a shit load on Madoff’s ponzi scheme, and Citibank paid for the naming rights to their new stadium, which won’t exactly bring out fans’ goodwill, so maybe there’s not as much as money to play with as I think, but otherwise I think it’s a match.
I know Manny is the big name outfielder who’s still a free agent, but I’m really curious about where players like Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu are going to go. As a Phillies fan, I definitely DON’T want Abreu back, but I’m curious about the kind of team that would be interested in him and how much he’ll get. With only a little over a month to go until spring training, aren’t these players going to start getting a little anxious and more likely to take any offer that’s given to them?
I’m not in love with Burrell, but I’m starting to wonder if we (the Phils) could’ve saved ourselves a ton of money by not signing Ibanez and getting Burrell at a huge discount. 3 years, 36 million is starting to seem really steep when no other outfielders seem to be getting signed…
I hope they all become Pirates.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!
sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
Until revenue sharing AND a salary cap become a part of baseball, I’m afraid us Pirate fans will never sniff another championship. Hell, I’d take a winning season.
Yuck. Honestly, if the Mets traded for Jones they’d get more value out of the deal by making him an intern in their media relations department than by having him play baseball.
More realistically, the trade would be a salary dump: they’d send Luis Castillo to the Dodgers in exchange for Jones, who’s restructured his contract so that his 2009 salary ($15M!!!) is to be paid over the next six years, with no interest.
They seem to be on the right track. A winning season is not imminent, but in 3-5 years I would expect an honest-to-God playoff race for Pittsburgh.
You don’t need Salary Cap/Revenue Sharing. You need competent management. Which I believe you finally have, but it will take a while to undo years of a decade of terrible moves.
50 million? That’s money flushed into the Allegheny River.
The young stars of the Pirates went to management last year and asked to be kept together. The result? Jason Bay to the Red Sox. Every time the Pirates develop a young talent, they are plucked to a real club. It’s frustrating.
I’ve been resigned to the Pirates being a glorified Triple A franchise. I had World Series tickets for 90, 91, and 92 and they never could get over the hump. When the '92 season ended, we all knew it was over. pre-roids Bonds left, Drabek left, Bonilla, Lind, Smiley… hell everyone left within 2 years.
The Pirates are profitable, and that’s been good enough for the owners. I don’t know who you are referring to by competent management, but until the Nuttings are no longer the owners, I doubt it will really matter.
With that said, I hope you are right… I can’t stand thinking the last W.S. memory we have is the 1979 “We are Family”. Yes they won, but we are forever linked to that ugly disco-era multi-colored uniform combo. For those that don’t remember, my Buccos had three sets of uniforms… the all black uniforms, the all yellow (or bumblebee) uni’s and the white pinstripe uni’s (ugly as hell). They used to mix and match the shirts and pants. It looked like they dressed in the dark.
Let’s Go Bucs! (Best new stadium in the majors, and is only behind Wrigley for the best stadium in baseball).
I’d just like to chime in and say that I think that the Indians’ trade for Mark DeRosa was a shrewd move. He’s gonna play 3rd, which will settle most of their infield issues (aside from what to do with Hafner and Garko if they decide to play Martinez at 1st more), but he’s versatile enough to play almost any position and he’s got a decent bat. The best part is they only gave up three minor league pitchers, and it was such a smart trade that I don’t feel as bad about them giving $20 mil over 2 years.
As for the Cubs, I’m not sure why they think Milton Bradley is the answer. Dude’s always hurt.
I would love to have Manny back in Los Angeles. I’m even willing to throw a little more money his way. But no more years. Two years plus an optional third is plenty, and I hope Colletti will have the balls to walk away if a bidding war starts for Manny. Maybe I’m too much of an optimist, but I still think the Russell Martins and Ethiers and Kemps and Loneys have yet to peak in terms of talent and production, and I’d rather wait a couple of years for us to reach championship caliber than be tied to Manny for the rest of his career.
And of course, if we sign Manny, we’ve got too many outfielders. Pierre wants out if he can’t start, and no member of the Dodger fandom or management wants to see Ethier and Kemp platoon again – those guys need to be on the field every day. I certainly wouldn’t mind Pierre and Furcal at the top of the lineup again doing damage on the base pads. If Kemp can figure out how to hit a slider this year, with his power and speed, we’d be in fantastic shape.
If we sign Manny, then we need to trade Pierre. No two ways about it. I’m so happy we dumped Jones I can’t tell you. Total waste of money.
We should have the cash to get Manny back, to a short contract. No-one is bidding for him, so we have some leverage.
What do we have in the rotation right now? Anybody? Time to deal for some starters. But no “big name” jokers. Just some steady, every 5th game studs. We can get the superstars from the farm system. And a closer. We definitely need a closer.
Who precisely would you want to deal right now? We have money to spend, and there are a few options in the free agent market. I really can’t think of anyone I’m willing to get rid of other than Pierre, and no one is taking that contract. The current rotation to the best of my memory would now be Billingsley, Kuroda, Kershaw…um, hmm. Any news on Jason Schmidt’s health lately? And I suspect we’re going to resign Saito, so I’m not nervous about a closer right now.
Three games in, Saito will break again. I want a stud as a closer. Someone like Gagne during The Streak, a true “Game Over” killer. Too bad there aren’t any on the market. Maybe time to shift some bull pen people to different places. But I have no idea who we can get to fill the rotation. Other than playing a waiting game and sniping someone from a club in the cellar in July.
I’m willing to trade Pierre for a box of bubblegum if we retain the services of Manny.
Mark Derosa should never have been let go. He enhanced the lineup, and I have yet to talk to a Cub fan who thinks it was a good idea. Getting rid of a sure thing in Mark to pick up a maybe is never a good idea.
On another topic why does it seem everytime the Cubs get rid of someone with any talent, they always end up becoming “All Star” material, even if they were mediocre before?
Try being a hockey fan, where every year a bunch of guys pull a Roger Clemens and wait until midseason to loot some team for big bucks. Mats Sundin just now joined the Canucks. Baseball players are hasty by comparison.
Jones fascinates me. During his meltdown last year I asked in one of our baseball threads “Hey, Dodger fans, like, WTF is with Andruw Jones?” and nobody really had an answer. So I’ll ask again; what happened? Was he hurt? Insane?
Jones never really became the superplayer the Prospectus guys were babbling he would become, but he was pretty consistently good with the bat and great with the glove, and as recently as 2006 had another Andruw Jones season - 41 homers is nothing to sneeze at.
Then in 2007 he was bad. And in 2008, Suckus Maximus.
If there’s a player with a comparable career path who WASN’T seriously injured I can’t think of them. Jones was only 31 last year and only a season removed from a very good season. What the hell happened? I think the Dodgers were smart to release him and accept a sunk cost, but… he can’t have just become an awful player that fast, could he?
It’s a local comic named Graig Murphy, who often calls the local sports talk station’s Whiner Line. He does a great impersonation of Bob Kraft (the Patriots’ owner), including in this ditty. His Terry Francona voice is dead on, too.
And I suspect we’re going to resign Saito, so I’m not nervous about a closer right now.