My gut feeling on Andruw Jones is that his problems are between his ears. Unless he’s nursing an injury that no one knows about, he should have two or three more years left in him before his age starts sapping him of his ability. He has always struck out too much, which I have a problem with, but he should still be good for .250/30/90, a dozen steals or better and a Gold Glove on any given year, I would think. Maybe playing in a pitcher’s park like Dodger Stadium got into his head? Maybe he needs to go to Colorado or something, where he doesn’t have to worry about trying to muscle every pitch over the fence? Just a thought…
Ruben Sierra? Was younger, and not as consistent, when the bottom fell out of his career:
Dale Murphy was precisely 32 when he for no apparent reason stopped hitting:
On the other hand, Andres Galarraga’s stats took a major dive from ages 28-31, before being revived by thin air. (And it wasn’t all Coors Field/Mile High, either - look at the OPS+ numbers):
Anyway, those are the closest matches I could think of off the top of my head.
I’m worried about that, too. Numbers don’t lie, and Manny has the potential to be great, but a) can he be bothered to be great once he has a contract, and 2) can we stand another X years of dealing with a prima donna who pisses us off more than comes through?
I was certain that Manny would be in a Met uniform and I am surprised by the lack of interest. I think somewhere I predicted CC to Yanks and Manny & K-Rod to Mets. I would like to be 3 for 3 on my predictions but then I think I also said Teixeira would return to the Angels.
The Yanks are nearly done. They will probably trade someone from the group of Matsui, Damon, Cabrera, Mick Swisher or even Nady. They still might try to get one more starter or a Center Fielder. They have several bullpen spares to sweeten a deal and some talent in the AA & AAA levels that they are willing to part with.
Rumor is there were many, many Ramirez incidents in Boston that never became public, thanks to Francona. Torre has similar skills from dealing with Steinbrenner, and may have convinced the Dodgers he’d like to keep that bat around. 'Course, Ramirez did drop hints that he was keeping up a pretense to get his price up.
If those stories got related to GM’s considering signing him, or even if they only had the reported stuff to go with, it’s easy to see any of them deciding his good, but aging, bat isn’t worth the constant aggravation or the damage to their young players’ attitudes that come with it. Plus, he’s a defensive liability, although not an intolerable Bondsian one yet.
Claudio Vargas??? That’s the best you guys can do? C’mon, Coletti. Give us a rope here. Filling in the bottom of the bullpen shouldn’t be your top priority right now.
Just wait until Coletti pulls off the Juan Pierre/Andruw Jones for Jake Peavy trade, then shocks everyone by resigning Derek Lowe for next to nothing. Then you’ll see!
Dodgers and Brewers are in the running to land Trevor Hoffman. Hope the Dodgers get him. A proven, driven closer would be nice to have again.
Anybody want to place a bet on where Manny finally ends up, and at what price? Seems like the whole league is uninterested in what Boras is demanding. I’m betting whoever gets him will pay a hefty amount, but for only a 1 or 2 year contract.
I’ve been betting on a 1-2 years at $25 million plus per year. I still think the Mets might step up if they can get him for a 1-2 year contract. I don’t think the Dodgers are unlikely as the demand falls. He also might get advised to go to a hitters park like Baltimore for one year and shop himself around again next year in a hopefully improved economy. My gut feeling is he won’t be a Giant. I would say the Yanks are an outside shot and it is not even vaguely likely unless you first hear that the Yanks traded either Matsui or Damon.
I don’t see an NL team being the top bidder, not with his defensive deficit that can only get worse for a guy in his mid-thirties already. His likeliest spot is with a ramshackle AL team that needs a gate attraction as DH and doesn’t have a clubhouse chemistry worth protecting. Problem is, those teams don’t have the money Boras wants anyway, but do have young players whose minds they don’t want poisoned. He may just be SOL here, power and plate coverage notwithstanding.
So I’ll go with a ramshackle *Japanese *team instead. Those imitation dreads would go well with a Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters uni.
You know, it’s amazing. If you’re a complete headcase or a bad citizen, but you can still play good ball, you’ll get paid. If you’re accused of dogging it because you’re not happy, even though you can still play good ball, that’s an indelible mark on your career, apparently.
It’s almost like Manny is getting blacklisted. Some “minor” market team is going to swoop in and get him. He’s going to have a monster year, too.
Baltimore has the money. They can’t seem to get a good player to take their money. That is why they were my example. Also his defense is not as bad as you seem to think it is. It is more than outweighed by his incredible hitting ability. Long before he took a Japan deal, Boras would find a way to get $27 million out of the Yanks or Mets for a single year or settle for a $42 million contract for two years from the Dodgers or Giants. He might even end up on the Nationals, another team trying to find top players to overpay.
I think it is more about Boras asking for 4 years and $100 million. It is just too much. Sometimes even Boras asks for too much, but all he needs to do to look OK is get a contract worth more than what the Red Sox were going to pay.
