The repeated appearances of Jayson Stark and Peter Gammons on TV confirms that it is indeed Hot Stove time.
So far we’ve had some big moves, Clemens is out in Houston…for now, Furcal is in LA, Soriano is in Washington, Burnett and Ryan in Toronto, Pierre in Wrigley, Beckett’s in Boston, Thome is in Comiskey, and Dontrelle and Miggy are all by their lonesome in Miami and thats barely even a taste of it.
This is the place to lament your teams ineptness or honk their sucesses. Cuss out your team owners for their penny pinching and call for the GMs head!
Some topics for discussion off the bat.
[ul]
[li]Kenny Rogers…2 years, $16 million from Detroit :eek: [/li][li]The Rocket…Houston, Texas, Yankees, Del Boca Vista? [/li][li]Frank Thomas…done? [/li][li]Amazin’ Mets…are they for real?[/li][li]Whats the best move so far?[/li][li]Whats the worst?[/li][/ul]
Personally, I’m feeling pretty blue about the Cubs. I was really praying we’d get Furcal. I have no idea why he went to LA, I guess he hates the cold. The Cubbies offered more cash, so I can’t be too hard on them I suppose, though I think the LA offer was more per year for 3 years instead of 5. I’m not sold on this Pierre acqusition, we didn’t give up too much but the guy never really impressed me that much, but I suppose a base stealing leadoff hitter who has a .355 OBP is fine. Miguel Tejada wants out of Baltimore and I’d love to see him at SS but I’m pretty sure the Os won’t give him up for anything we’re willing to offer.
Well, as a Mets fan, I’m delighted. Certainly picking up Carlos Delgado was a great deal for them (though with the Florida fire sale, any deal with the Marlins should have an asterisk).
I also think it’s great that the Mets now have had all the players in ML history named “Franco” on their roster.
There’s some groaning about giving up too much for Paul Lo Duca, but it’s a cheap way to get a solid presence behind the plate. Omar Minyana is doing a fine job of improving the club and they’ll definitely be contending this year (barring injuries).
The rumors flying around the Boston media today are all Manny for Tejada centered. If nothing else, it at least makes ridiculously more sense than the other Manny moves that have been proposed so far.
For all that Wakefield isn’t thrilled about it, I think Mirabelli for Loretta was a steal. I also think the Sox did very well in the Florida deal. Really not sure about Renteria-for-Marte, but no one is at this point, I don’t think. Depends a lot on whether we end up having to watch Alex Cora bat on an everyday basis, I think.
Worst move so far is the Soriano trade, I think… not sure how it really makes sense for either side. I also think the Dodgers overpaid for Furcal, and the Braves completely made out in the Renteria deal (for what they will end up paying him).
Kiros, I just came here to paste this quote from The Sports Guy’s column before seeing your post. It’s the perfect segue.
It’s from his NFL column found here. I really hoe there’s some avid Dodger fans around here so we get to watch their heads explode.
Incidentally, that Tejada for Manny trade actually sounds like a pretty good one, escpecially for the Sox. I guess the real catch is if Manny wants to play in B-more.
The Cardinals are KILLING me so far. We won 100 games last year, we’re in the process of building our new ballpark and you’re telling me we can’t find a little more money to sign some free agents?
This “take a discount because we’re the Cardinals” crap isn’t working. DeWitt needs to put some money up so Walt can go sign some guys. Hell, we wanted to bring Grudzielanek back but ownership won’t let Walt spend more than $2mil on a second baseman.
I don’t understand going after Burnett to begin with, unless it was a prelude to dealing Marquis for someone.
As for the Red Sox, I don’t understand a one of their deals. Trading Renteria for another 3B prospect? Dealing the only guy on the roster who can catch Wakefield? They’re gonna regret both those deals by June.
Bluejays are playing High Risk/High Return with there 3 big deals.
BJ Ryan could prove great but as the highest price Closer ever, they better hope he improves on 1 good season as a closer.
The Lyle Overbay deal is great for them, perfect fit.
A.J. Burnett should be a solid pickup. Should slot nicely in as the 2 or 3 in rotation.
They probably overpaid, but I think they had to.
O’s are headed the wrong way for now.
Tampa is still not going anywhere.
Mets improved at the expense of Marlins and Phillies. This is especially key. It should be Mets vs. Braves now for the Division. I’ll bet on Braves until they actually lose one. Mets are a good contender for Wild Card spot.
Soriano Deal has to be a prelude to another trade. Wait on that one.
Yanks are sitting pat for a change. I think Yanks will make one big move towards the end of Spring Training involvong Pavano or Wright.
They might really start the season with Bubba Crosby in center and wait for July trade.
Clemens will end up either in Texas or NY if he starts the season or he’ll wait month a go back to Houston. I don’t think he’ll retire yet. I am leaning towards him going back to Houston. His son will be in Single A this year for them.
I think Damon returns to RedSox but for only 4 x $13million range.
I disagree. They’re still not going to win anything, but they have a number of really good young players who are going to keep getting better.
For the most part, I’m glad the Yankees stood pat. I like them and I’ve thought for years that their “overpay for everybody” strategy was a bad one. If they can get Damon and make a trade or two for pitching, I think they’re alright.
Clemens was good for the first 5 months of the season, but dropped off after that. Since the Astros can’t sign him until May 1 now, that would give them 5 months of Clemens through the Series.
He’ll stay in shape, pitch in the WBC and come back in May for less money than you’d expect.
Tampa has excellent young players; they don’t have much pitching again. They won’t get to .500 yet. That is all I meant.
I don’t really want Damon, his defense is waning, his age is up there, his arm is weak and his price will be high. But, if you said 3 years at 10 per, I would grab him in a heartbeat and help him find a house.
The Positives with Damon is he is probably the best Leadoff hitter in the game today, but Yankee OF defense is not good and Damon does not improve it enough. Sheffield has little range left; Matsui was worse last year than prior years. We don’t really need an offensive boost, so we can live with Bubba for a while. His range is about the same as Damon with a better arm and no cost. Offense is weak but I think we can survive with him in the 9 hole. Starting rotation: Johnson, Moose, Chacon, Pavano & Wang (outside shot of Rocket) Bullpen: Rivera, Farnsworth, Sturtz, Myers (L), Wright & Small (Leiter and Mendosa possible)
I expect to trade Pavano or Wright when teams get more desperate for a starter.
The Bullpen is not great but Mo & Kyle are a good tandem and the Rotation is solid.
Am I the only one who doesn’t see the big thrill with the Mets? Yeah they spent alot of money, but it feels like every single offseason they try and steal the back page from the Yanks. They usually get their headlines, the sportwriters and pundits call them the next big thing, and then they proceed to suck.
Last year it was Beltran, Benson and Pedro…how’d that pan out? A few years ago it was Floyd and Glavine. What’d they do this year that’s a sure thing?
Let’s see, Wagner is old and a undersized power pitcher, and has an injury history. Valentin is Valentin. Lo Duca is fine, but is he really supposed to pick up for Piazza? Even with Piazza aging the way he was I’m not sure Lo Duca is a upgrade. Delgado is a good addition no doubt, but it’s not as if he’s going to be a one-man wrecking crew.
It’s true that Wright could develop into a all-star and Kaz Matsui could become excellent, but it’s also true that Pedro could spend 3 months on the DL and Glavine’s arm could fall off.
They are solid, but I think the moves are mostly sizzle and not enough steak. If they do win it this year, it’ll because the Phils, Braves and Marlins have come back to the pack.
I am absolutely cackling at some of the moves this offseason and I’m glad that the Angels haven’t done anything terminally stupid (like give an injury prone pitcher 5y/$55M). Although Stoneman did irritate me by not offering Washburn or Molina arbitration. I’m glad the Angels didn’t wind up paying Konerko an immense amount of money that he’ll likely never live up to. My thoughts on a couple of fun items:
Toronto: What’s in the water? What’s the line on how many years it will be before the Jays are trying to get out from under those contracts. Is Burnett the next Dreifort? Fun times in the frozen north.
Soriano trade: Hee hee. The Nationals were taken to the cleaners on this one, just like they were by the Angels and Christian Guzman’s agent last year. Alfonso Soriano’s line outside of Arlington - .224/.265/.374 with 11 HRs (compared to the 25 he socked in Tom Hicks’s Magical Offensive Kingdom). And RFK isn’t even a neutral park! It’s a huge pitcher’s park. They gave up Wilkerson, Sledge and a minor league pitcher. Whoops.
Thome trade: I hear a lot of people praising this trade. I’m not so sure. To me, it just looks like the White Sox traded a good young CF for a more expensive version of Frank Thomas, with the exception that Thome didn’t hit when he was healthy enough to be in the lineup and Thomas did. So, we’ll see. Thomas is supposedly signing with the A’s (which will be weird seeing him in that uni and not a Sox one) so we’ll see which turns out to be the better player.
New York Mets: Gee, ya think they’re in a win-now mode? Well, they are and rightly so since nobody knows when Pedro’s arm will fall off, although he seems to be doing better in the NL. Looks pretty much like what Minaya did in Montreal during its last days, gut the farm for proven players. Should be a fun time in the NL East this year.
Beckett trade: I think this is going to be a let down for everyone involved. Beckett is not the ace people seem to think he is (look at the home/road splits). I think Lowell will be fine and that last year was just a bad season, so we’ll see. Mota seems to have collapsed since leaving the Dodgers. On the flip side, I’m not impressed by the prospects the Sox gave up so I guess it’s a wash.
Yes, they can definitely get by with Crosby. But I think it would behoove them to get a real leadoff hitter. They haven’t had one in years. Jeter can do it, but he’s really suited to be second in the order. Having Alex Rodriguez there (when he’s ideally #3) is just silly. But it’s better to stick with what they have than to make a Tony Womack deal all over again. The pitching is also certainly not awful, I’m just concerned about the age issue among the starters: the ones that aren’t mediocre are old. If Chacon and Wang are as good as they were last year, that’ll help a lot.
I think **Chacon ** is for real, I was very excited by the trade when it happened.
**Wang ** has an arm problem that was not fixed by surgery, be wary of DL time. I like him a lot but arm injurues are scary.
Unless **Sturtz ** rebounds the bullpen is weak in the middle. **Small ** probably can’t become a 7th inning guy and **Wright ** is probably only long relief. We’ll see.
A leadoff hitter would be great, but it should be someone with a .400+ OBP, not just a base stealer. Again if **Damon ** were cheap, I would welcome him, but we could end up overpaying for him and damning the deal later.
I think **Al Lieter ** will be in the Bullpen when all is said and done and one of the 7 starters will be gone.
This is the last year for Moose, I am hoping **Zito ** is a Free Agent next year and our #1 Priority.
BTW: Pipedream territory:
**Pavano ** & **Sheffield ** & **Henn & Duncan ** for **Ichiro ** and we take **Adrian Beltre ** to balance salaries. Would M’s ever go for it and would you do it?
I know nothing about Henn and Duncan, but I think this is pretty much impossible because of the value that Ichiro has for Seattle in the Japanese fanbase. Both local and international. Seattle and SF get a boost from those imports that no other franchise can expect.
As another Mets fan I think I’m 50/50 on most of their moves.
I’m sad Piazza won’t be coming back. Sure he’s aging real fast, but he’s Mike fucking Piazza! It’s a sad day in Metville.
Lo Duca is a pretty good replacement though. If you need a catcher, he’s who you want.
I was worried the Mets would end up with Carlos Delgado last year and I don’t like it any better this year. He’s solid but too streaky for me.
I love Billy Wagner. He throws more flame than andrewdt85 and VCO3 combined.
And David Wright is for real. It warms my heart to see a can’t miss prospect that actually didn’t miss. Yes I’m talking about Jose Reyes and Kaz Matsui, why do you ask?
I agree on Wright, I like everything about him. His attitude reminds be of a certain young SS on '96 on the Yanks. I can’t give him higher praise.
Wagner is a good closer. I actually think Delgado’s bat was needed, his glove work won’t kill you (too much)
Lo Duca is good but aging.
Piazza needs an AL team. DH and catch about 30-40 games. It is nice you appreciated him though.
Phillies are worse and Marlins are much worse and Nat’s aren’t improved. I think Mets should compete for WC or Div this year.