~~~Unofficial Baseball Offseason Thread~~~
 

We already have a couple specific threads going, so maybe this one can be more for the low content rumor type posts. Today is the first day teams can pursue free agents.

Who would've thought that Gary Matthews Jr. may be among the top 10 available free agents?

Aramis Ramirez, according to his agent, is looking for "Beltran money."

Zito, Schmidt, Weaver [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] , Dmats, where will they all end up going?

Let the fun begin? [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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Cubs sign Aramis to five year deal

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Also, in an atrocious move for the Orioles, they traded Britton to the Yankees for Wright. Britton is signed for five more years and will be extremely cheap for at least two more. Wright is signed for one year, and the Orioles are miles behind three teams in their own division.

The Orioles remind me of a slots player: trying to hit the jackpot because they aren't willing to take time grinding it out at the poker table, which is what is required for +EV.

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Also, in an atrocious move for the Orioles, they traded Britton to the Yankees for Wright.

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LOL. Cashman=genius.

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[ QUOTE ]
Also, in an atrocious move for the Orioles, they traded Britton to the Yankees for Wright. Britton is signed for five more years and will be extremely cheap for at least two more. Wright is signed for one year, and the Orioles are miles behind three teams in their own division.

The Orioles remind me of a slots player: trying to hit the jackpot because they aren't willing to take time grinding it out at the poker table, which is what is required for +EV.

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I think this might be a case of Leo Mazzone thinking he can work the magic with Wright again. I wonder how much, if any, of Wright's salary the Yanks are going to pay?

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The Angels better get at least 1 big bat

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Yeah, I am suprised Aramis signed so soon with the Cubs. He figured to have significant interest from the Angels, Dodgers, maybe even Padres, as well as the Cubs.

And the Orioles continue to be horrible. I wish that the Angels could somehow pry Miguel Tejada from them.

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WIP 610 (A Philly sports talk show) reported Phillies and DBacks close to trading Burrell and minor leaguer to DBacks to get Estrada and Minor leaguer. Clubs are negotiating how much of Pat's contract Phillies have to "eat"

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i'm doing my best to post running commentary on the offseason moves in my blog.

cliffs notes so far:

tigers: overpaid for sheff by a lot (more in terms of contract extension than prospects)
cubs: good pitching signings, probably paid market value for aramis
indians/padres: decent trade that could benefit both teams

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WIP 610 (A Philly sports talk show) reported Phillies and DBacks close to trading Burrell and minor leaguer to DBacks to get Estrada and Minor leaguer. Clubs are negotiating how much of Pat's contract Phillies have to "eat"

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This would be a very stupid trade for the Phillies - and I haven't been able to verify that this rumor is real.

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Gyroball

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Also, in an atrocious move for the Orioles, they traded Britton to the Yankees for Wright. Britton is signed for five more years and will be extremely cheap for at least two more. Wright is signed for one year, and the Orioles are miles behind three teams in their own division.

The Orioles remind me of a slots player: trying to hit the jackpot because they aren't willing to take time grinding it out at the poker table, which is what is required for +EV.

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I think this might be a case of Leo Mazzone thinking he can work the magic with Wright again. I wonder how much, if any, of Wright's salary the Yanks are going to pay?

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$4 of a $7 million contract but it was essentially a sunk cost as the Yankees would have had to pay it, if they opted out of the Wright Contract.

Looks like a really good move for the Yankees

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Looks like Valentin will return to the Mets at 2B, one year deal. I'm not counting on him doing what he did last year with his bat, but if his defense is close to last year I'll be very happy.

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Yeah, I am suprised Aramis signed so soon with the Cubs. He figured to have significant interest from the Angels, Dodgers, maybe even Padres, as well as the Cubs.

And the Orioles continue to be horrible. I wish that the Angels could somehow pry Miguel Tejada from them.

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The Angels have one of the top shortstop prospects in all of baseball in Brandon Wood...Why would they want an aging Miguel Tejada?

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Biggio: 1 year, 5.15 mil..... 2006 OPS: .727 His VoRP has to be pretty low. But 20 is a big round number, and he's "Bigs"! I guess if you can make a guy the highest paid player in the game without actually playing in a game (Jeff Bagwell), you can do this, too. But what do I know? The Cardinals won the WS with (the heavily-acclaimed by JIm Leyland) David Eckstein and Yadier Molina, two of the most mediocre players around, playing regularly.

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Phillies have been wanting to deal Pat for sometime now just want to unload him. He is not a bad player but I guess time for change for them both.

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Mets signed Valentine to a 1 year deal. I have got to believe he is going to be used as a fill in utility player. Do you think the Mets would be "sureing" up the 2nd basemen position with that deal? As if saying Valentine will be the starter and Hernandez is the future and will take the position when he's ready?

Just wondering how other people see the deal.

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Valentin will be the starter. At 36 or 37 he obviously won't be a long term solution at second. I don't think Anderson Hernandez is a long term solution there either.

The real impact of this deal is that I think it pulls the Mets out of the second base market for players like Durham, Loretta, Kennedy and Lugo. Which I personally prefer as giving long term deals to those players probably won't be the best move. Like I said earlier if Valentin can come close to what he did defensively next year then anything he gives you at the plate is just an added bonus.

The Mets are going to be spending most of their money on starting pitching, obviously. And I think a big free agent splash in LF is a definite possibility. Trading Milledge and maybe Heilman for Willis could happen as well depending on how things shake out in FA.

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The Mets also have to think bullpen once again this offseason. Bradford, Oliver & Hernandez are all free agents. Re-signing Bradford has to be a priority. Mota is definitely gone now that he got caught juicing. Heilman wants out if he isn't a starter. At least we get Sanchez back.

If they can hang onto Bradford they might be able to piece a good bullpen back together again with Ring (who finally looks like he is ready) and Sanchez coming back.

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BTW, Met's broke ground today for Citi Field. It will be great to finally have a new stadium in the metro area. Stadium looks great.

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Kaz Matsui signs a 1 year deal with the Rockies.

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, I am suprised Aramis signed so soon with the Cubs. He figured to have significant interest from the Angels, Dodgers, maybe even Padres, as well as the Cubs.

And the Orioles continue to be horrible. I wish that the Angels could somehow pry Miguel Tejada from them.

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The Angels have one of the top shortstop prospects in all of baseball in Brandon Wood...Why would they want an aging Miguel Tejada?

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The Angels were going to ask Tejada to play 3rd base. Rumor was if he would have agreed to this the deal would have been made before the trade deadline.

I love B. Wood, but with Aramis being signed by the Cubs and the Dallas McPherson headed to bustoville, Tejada would be a huge upgrade for the Angels at third.


- Note - Saw on MSN today that the White Sox are looking to move a starter? Is just this because they have McCarthy? They don't really need offensive help do they? Not sure what they would be looking to gain unless it is prospects...

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I think D-Mac would be a good hitter if he could stay healthy for any amount of time

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tigers: overpaid for sheff by a lot (more in terms of contract extension than prospects)


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Who would they be able to get for $41m over 3 years that's going to outproduce Sheffield over that time?

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- Note - Saw on MSN today that the White Sox are looking to move a starter? Is just this because they have McCarthy? They don't really need offensive help do they? Not sure what they would be looking to gain unless it is prospects...

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Well, they definitely need to move someone. You can't leave McCarthy in the bullpen (where he doesn't seem very comfortable). Something needs to be done in the OF. You can't have Brian Anderson and Scott Podsednik hitting .250 all year. I've heard rumors that they are looking at acquiring Crawford, Roberts, or Figgins. I'd be very into acquiring Crawford, not so much the other two (as it doesn't solve the problem).

Sox are pretty set next year. They need to shore up the pen, solidify the outfield, and maybe find someone as insurance for Crede's back.

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As an Angels fan I hope they trade for Figgins

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Biggio: 1 year, 5.15 mil..... 2006 OPS: .727 His VoRP has to be pretty low. But 20 is a big round number, and he's "Bigs"! I guess if you can make a guy the highest paid player in the game without actually playing in a game (Jeff Bagwell), you can do this, too. But what do I know? The Cardinals won the WS with (the heavily-acclaimed by JIm Leyland) David Eckstein and Yadier Molina, two of the most mediocre players around, playing regularly.

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I was pretty surprised Biggio got a raise; he's obviously not worth that for his contributions on the field. I was worried that he would drag the Astros down next year while trying to get to 3000.

But, if used properly, he can still be an asset:

Home(B/O/S/OPS) .298 .346 .522 .868
Away(B/O/S/OPS) .178 .253 .288 .541

Left(B/O/S/OPS) .297 .373 .532 .905
Right(B/O/S/OPS) .233 .288 .394 .681

And, if defensive metrics are to be believed, he is one of the top defensive 2B in the NL.

If they just start him at home, and on the road against lefties, he'll get the 70 hits he needs while still helping the Astros win.

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As an Angels fan I hope they trade for Figgins

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Listening to the Big Show (Olberman and Patrick) a couple weeks ago I think Olberman mentioned how the Angels would not want to deal Figgy (and Santana presumably) for Arod. He said that Figgy provided more value to the Halos then Arod would. I seriously couldn't believe it.

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I wouldn't like to deal Ervin at this point but I wouldn't hesitate to get rid of Figgins

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tigers: overpaid for sheff by a lot (more in terms of contract extension than prospects)


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Who would they be able to get for $41m over 3 years that's going to outproduce Sheffield over that time?

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JD Drew for starters.

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Thayer, JD Drew is meh man. He is so anti jeter, anti clutch, anti big game.

Get over him man!!

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[ QUOTE ]
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tigers: overpaid for sheff by a lot (more in terms of contract extension than prospects)


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Who would they be able to get for $41m over 3 years that's going to outproduce Sheffield over that time?

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JD Drew for starters.

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Do you really think that Drew would:
A) sign for 3 years and $41 million?
B) sign with the Tigers for 3 years and $41 million?

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As an Angels fan I hope they trade for Figgins

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Listening to the Big Show (Olberman and Patrick) a couple weeks ago I think Olberman mentioned how the Angels would not want to deal Figgy (and Santana presumably) for Arod. He said that Figgy provided more value to the Halos then Arod would. I seriously couldn't believe it.

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LOL

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have you guys heard about DMATS?!?!?!?!?!?!?

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You mean Dmats to the D-Rays in a 12 year, $253 million deal? If that's what you mean, then no.

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I think D-Mac would be a good hitter if he could stay healthy for any amount of time

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I definitely agree. But his work ethic has been questionable (as far as following proper routines to minimize back injury risk) and that along with his injury history makes him v v v low on the Angels' depth chart. So oh well, he is just another prospect that didn't work out.

I do have high hopes for Kotchman next year. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Biggio: 1 year, 5.15 mil..... 2006 OPS: .727 His VoRP has to be pretty low. But 20 is a big round number, and he's "Bigs"! I guess if you can make a guy the highest paid player in the game without actually playing in a game (Jeff Bagwell), you can do this, too. But what do I know? The Cardinals won the WS with (the heavily-acclaimed by JIm Leyland) David Eckstein and Yadier Molina, two of the most mediocre players around, playing regularly.

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It's called rewarding a player's loyalty when he passed up much bigger money in years past to stay with Houston. As for Bagwell, he wasn't getting paid 18 mil last year based on his expected performance. It was deferred money from when he was putting up MVP type numbers year in and year out, and the Astros were under budget constraints and had to write it in the contract down the road.

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Signing 1st basemen to long-term deals such as the one Bagwell received is silly.

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You couldn't be more wrong.

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You couldn't be more wrong.

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He was talking about silly from a team's perspective, not that of Jeff Bagwell, Raphael Palmeiro, Todd Helton, and Mo Vaughn.