I really do think that Billy Beane is trolling the league now, and perhaps his own fan base.
I keep going back to “How does this get them into San Jose.” You could sort of see why totally surrendering with the Cahill and Gonzalez trades could help them get to San Jose. I don’t understand how this does that, though.
I don’t get it either but maybe the great Beane has seen that Cespides is going to be a bargain at $9 per and will be able to trade him part way through the year.
Maybe it was just their way of telling Manny Ramirez to go to hell.
It looks like Boston has finished up its budget for the year with Ortiz’s 14.5 million deal. Do they have enough pitching to make the play-offs for their 160-170 million?
I could’ve done that for them for just a million bucks. I’d even pay for the long distance myself.
I don’t think so. I think they look at signing Ortiz as saving the 2 million compared to if he had won his case. The pitching is too big of a question mark to just stand pat. They may not end up with anyone, but I’m pretty sure it’s far from over just yet.
Please, please Pirates, take Burnett. I just can’t bear to watch him pitch anymore. He was pretty good in 2009 and contributed to the Yanks championship. Who knows? He might do well in the NL.
Otherwise, the Yankees seem all set for 2012. I hope they go with a dh platoon of Jones and Dickerson rather than signing a limping veteran. The regulars are going to eat up a lot of dh at-bats so if Dickerson isn’t ready I hope will see other young and speedy prospects.
I agree with all of this and I think AJ is likely to put up a respectable year in a soft NL division that just lost its best two hitter plus Braun will miss 50 games.
Burnett sucks. He’d suck in the NL Central, too.
He’s been pretty bad for a few years now and he’s 35, so why would we not expect him to be just as bad?
Slightly better park, easier line-ups including facing a pitcher for 2-3 at bats. Less pressure to perform also plays into it.
GARY CARTER passed away a little over an hour ago, having loss his fight with brain cancer.
R.I.P Kid.
The trade of A.J. Burnett to the Pirates is just about done. The Pirates will pay Burnett $13 million over the next two years and the Yankees will get the rest. There are reports that the Yanks will use some of the money they’re saving to sign a DH and occasional OF, with their main target being Raul Ibanez. And man, the Pirates’ rotation looks brutal.
Prince Fielder isn’t fat . . . he’s big boned! 
Truth be told, Fielder worked very hard the last few off-seasons and was in very good shape the last few years. The question is whether he will continue to work as hard in the off-season now that he has his HUGE contract. He could age very poorly.
For a big man, he can motor around the bases. I know I wouldn’t be a catcher with him coming down the 3rd base line.
As a Brewer fan, I’m gonna miss watching Fielder run the bases. I look forward to seeing a Brewer first baseman stretch to nab an errant throw, though.
It’s a win for both teams. The Yanks saved 13 million and Pittsburgh knows where a lot of their innings will come from and I still say he will likely look better there then he did in Yankee Stadium in the AL East. At an average of only $6.5M per year, The Pirates did well giving up nobodies unfortunately.
The AJ Signing has proved costly for the Yanks but he did help them win #27 2 years ago and hey he is not the reason the Yankee season ended last year at least. I still like him way better then Pavano. 
I’m not gonna lie - I got a bit misty-eyed watching Wake announce his retirement. I’ve seen more Wakefield starts than any other pitcher, by a pretty significant margin. Will never forget what an incredible nail-biter of a ride it was to see him pitch - you never knew if the ball coming out of his hand was going to be launched out the stadium or if it would dance impossibly out of the way and make the hitter look like he was swinging a baseball bat for the first time in his life.
Fun fact: Tim Wakefield’s fastball has, over the past ten years, been as good a pitch as Justin Verlander’s fastball. It’s amazing how unhittable a 71-mph fastball can be when you’re expecting a 59 mph knuckler.
Wakefield had a good career and was always a class act. I was always jealous of the Red Sox for having a good knuckle-ball pitcher.
So pitchers & catchers have reported!
The Theo compensation: Chris Carpenter! Woo baby!
Oh, wait - not the *good *Chris Carpenter. The *other *one. Oh, well.