Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[JakeYonkel]

I think Andy comes back probably for like $12M, a bit of a pay cut. He's not as good of a pitcher but he eats innings and will give you a great start every so often - can't ask for much more than that at the back end of your rotation. I assume Cashman may be waiting to hear a final word from Mussina because I doubt he'd want to bring both of these guys back. The Yankees still hold exclusive rights with Pettitte until Thursday anyway.

If the Yanks can land Sabathia, I think a rotation of CC/Wang/Burnett or Lowe/Pettitte/Joba is pretty solid...

[killeverything]

It's interesting for sure. I don't think there is anyway in hell Lowe ends up in NY.

There is a huge question mark for them this upcoming season. You still have to watch Joba's innings, is he a starter or BP guy? While Hughes is doing pretty good in Winter Ball, there is still a transitional period for LHPs ( see: Lester, Jon ), Kennedy is Kennedy. Wang should be healthy all season, so a rotation of

Wang
( insert FA here )
Joba
Pettite/Moose
Hughes/Kennedy/Ranser

is filled with too many question marks for IP. With the new Stadium opening, I highly doubt the Trust Fund Babies are going to want to wait for their pitchers to develop in the Farm.

I'm curious to see what they do. A lot of questions with a "win now" mentality.

[johnk5150]

Fantasy Free Agency!

http://www.mlb.com/mlb/fantasy/free_age ... nt.jsp?m=a

[JakeYonkel]

It's interesting for sure. I don't think there is anyway in hell Lowe ends up in NY.

Yeah, he's said he's not interested. But I really think the Yankees are going to wind up with him or Burnett. This is going to be all too reminiscent of the 04-05 offseason where they spent big bucks on Pavano and Jaret Wright and traded for Randy Johnson. Ugh.

There is a huge question mark for them this upcoming season. You still have to watch Joba's innings, is he a starter or BP guy?

They have claimed Joba enters 2009 as a starter. I guess the thought is they make him the #5 guy so he's skipped occasionally which will keep the innings down. Who knows though.

I am going to Puerto Rico over Christmas and plan to catch as much winter ball as I can. Kennedy is pitching out there and there's plenty of other established players (Pudge, Beltran) who will play. Can't wait.

[killeverything]

Kick ass dude!

Hughes is in the AFL, I know they want him to work on his mechanics which they've tweaked quite a bit. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him make the transition to Winter Ball also.

So far he's been doing pretty well. This is his line from 11/4:
5 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts. 59 pitches, 41 strikes.

He got lit up slightly before that working on secondary pitches, which is to be expected. It's his change and cutter, the FO wants him to have a more "over the top" motion which will also add more bite to his curve.

I think for those reasons, he'll end up in Winter Ball too. I'm still completely sold on the guy, injury concerns aside.

[tin00can]

Rumor has the As getting Matt Holiday from the Rockies.

WTF? Good job, Oakland.

[JakeYonkel]

If that's true, the A's make no fucking sense.

They sell off everybody, they're LOADED with outfielders (albeit shitty ones) and they're constantly playing for "next year"...

WTF?

[killeverything]

Rumor has the As getting Matt Holiday from the Rockies.

WTF? Good job, Oakland.

No shit?

There's been a few teams approach Colorado for him so far. NYT reported that Cashman offered Cano and I believe Melky for him, but was denied.

There's stuff on si.com about it, and Heyman is saying "it's done". No word on the prospects yet. Carlos Gonzalez maybe?

It makes sense in someways for Beane. With the Pythag ratings for the Angels and Teix likely gone, the suckitude of Seattle and Texas, Holliday could be what they need to push them over the top to a possible 90 win team. They always have a young base to build on.

Or he's July 31st trade bait. Beane usually knows what he's doing. Plus it will be funny to hear Joe Morgan erroneously go off on "Money Ball" next year.

[JakeYonkel]

The only thing I can think of is that maybe Oakland's got something up their sleeve, like they're going to immediately turn him around and flip him somewhere that actually makes sense...

Maybe Oakland liked the package St. Louis was offering better than Colorado did?

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

This is the craziness of FA season.

First the Phillies were the frontrunners.

Then a report that St. Louis was ahead with a package centered around Ryan Ludwick (which baffles me, that kid was AWESOME this year, why would spend that kind of money for Holliday)

Now the A's?

who's next?

[killeverything]

Given more thought into the situation it's possible to that Beane is going to aquire him, to straight flip him to someone else before the season even starts.

This one is from yahoosports. Beane's got something up his sleeve.

The Oakland A’s are close to acquiring Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday, according to a source familiar with those discussions.

A’s general manager Billy Beane, who gathered more than a dozen prospects during recent sell-offs of Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton and Nick Swisher, refused to comment Monday morning. But it appears he is ready to cash in on some of those hauls with Holliday, a great offensive player who could be a free agent after next season.

[Machado]

It's interesting for sure. I don't think there is anyway in hell Lowe ends up in NY.

There is a huge question mark for them this upcoming season. You still have to watch Joba's innings, is he a starter or BP guy? While Hughes is doing pretty good in Winter Ball, there is still a transitional period for LHPs ( see: Lester, Jon ), Kennedy is Kennedy. Wang should be healthy all season, so a rotation of

Wang
( insert FA here )
Joba
Pettite/Moose
Hughes/Kennedy/Ranser

is filled with too many question marks for IP. With the new Stadium opening, I highly doubt the Trust Fund Babies are going to want to wait for their pitchers to develop in the Farm.

I'm curious to see what they do. A lot of questions with a "win now" mentality.

I am also very curious what we do with our starting pitching.
As of today, we have Wang and Joba in the rotation. That leaves
3 spots open.
Assuming Joba does start, his innnigs limit will come into play. I can see the Yankees skipping him from time to time to keep the innings below the ceiling.
Pettitte has said he wants to return, but he'll have to take a pay cut from the $16 million he made last year.
I've read reports that Moose also wants to come back. Whether those are true, that is to be determined.

I can see Wang, Joba, a FA to be, Moose and Pettitte in the rotation. Not bad.
I can also see Moose not returning and being replaced by
Hughes.

The possibilities are endless.

[killeverything]

Here's the tentative deal.

The ever-unpredictable Oakland Athletics have acquired slugger Matt Holliday from Colorado, sources with knowledge of the talks have confirmed to, CBSSports.com, pending the outfielder's passing a physical examination on Tuesday.

The Rockies will receive outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, left-handed pitcher Greg Smith and closer Huston Street in return, though they may not keep Street. One source said Monday that the Rockies are prepared to turn around and trade him -- though to which team he wasn't sure.

This will finally end the arguement "is Holliday that good? Or is it just Coors?" Some people think that Gonzalez is going to be some kind of monster. I think Beane knows something we don't ( think Atlanta with Marte ). His SO/BB rate isn't good and it's not getting better. He strikes out way to much, although may tear up Coors. Smith is a flyball pitcher with a slow FB. Street is Street, moving to Coors is a death sentence for a pitcher. Word is Colorado is planning on moving him immeadiatley.

If Holliday is what Beane's numbers suggest. Someone "big" will need a big bat come the deadline. That puts Beane in the drivers seat. Plus he's been given permission to increase Oakland's payroll to 80m this season. Never underestimate Billy Beane. One of these days "his shit will work in October."

[JakeYonkel]

Nationals got Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen from the Marlins for Emilio Bonifacio and 2 other minor leaguers...

[tin00can]

Man, if Uggla is on the market...wow.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Jacobs is gone to KC, Hammer and Olsen to the Nats. No big surprises there. Kinda bummed, I love Hammer, but he refuses to get his back issues taken care of.

Thanks, guys.

[killeverything]

Trevor Hoffman was cut today, by a fax. Unfuckingbelieveable.

They say divorce hurts the children the most.
Trevor Hoffman hasn't been a kid since the mid-'80s, but the very adult business of the San Diego Padres cutting salary, which apparently is tied to the team's owner splitting with his wife, has kicked baseball's career saves leader to the curb.
Several news outlets (among them, the San Diego Union-Tribune, ESPN's Buster Olney and MLB.com) are reporting the Padres have rescinded a contract offer to Hoffman, a free agent, who has piled up all but two of his 554 saves with the Padres since 1993. (He had a couple with the Marlins.)
The Padres say they're slashing expenditures, most notably by trying to trade ace Jake Peavy, probably to the Braves or Cubs, and further scorching the Earth by pushing away Hoffman, the indisputable face of the franchise.
And, get this: The Padres informed Hoffman not in person with a one-on-one conversation, or a hand-written note, or even with a phone call

Instead, they sent his reps a fax.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_le ... mlb,121295

[BootheelBoozer]

Trevor Hoffman was cut today, by a fax. Unfuckingbelieveable.

They say divorce hurts the children the most.
Trevor Hoffman hasn't been a kid since the mid-'80s, but the very adult business of the San Diego Padres cutting salary, which apparently is tied to the team's owner splitting with his wife, has kicked baseball's career saves leader to the curb.
Several news outlets (among them, the San Diego Union-Tribune, ESPN's Buster Olney and MLB.com) are reporting the Padres have rescinded a contract offer to Hoffman, a free agent, who has piled up all but two of his 554 saves with the Padres since 1993. (He had a couple with the Marlins.)
The Padres say they're slashing expenditures, most notably by trying to trade ace Jake Peavy, probably to the Braves or Cubs, and further scorching the Earth by pushing away Hoffman, the indisputable face of the franchise.
And, get this: The Padres informed Hoffman not in person with a one-on-one conversation, or a hand-written note, or even with a phone call

Instead, they sent his reps a fax.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_le ... mlb,121295

I just read this about an hour ago. Stay classy, San Diego.

[Sabu]

If Hoffman's agent had any smarts he'd be forging a birth certificate that says Hoffman was born in San Pedro de Macoris...

He should have a 4 year / 40 million dollar contract on the table from the Mets by lunch time...

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

A couple of other random bits I read today:

-Florida pitcher Henry Owens will be suspended 50 games starting in 2009 for performance-enhancing drugs. Any major league player caught doing this should get an extra 50 games tacked on for stupidity. Seriously, why even take the chance anymore?

-Twins setup man Pat Neshek undergoes Tommy John surgery and will miss all of 2009. That guy was lights out in 2006, but they overused him. I guess the Twins are in the market for someone now.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Nationals got Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen from the Marlins for Emilio Bonifacio and 2 other minor leaguers...

Guess I should've read the whole thread before I posted. Anyway, I've heard good things about Bonifacio. So far the scuttlebutt is that they're going to keep Uggla at 2nd, move Cantu to 1st (YES!) and try Bonifacio at 3rd.
Outfield would be Cody Ross in left, Maybin in center, Hermida in right, although I'd love to see John Raynor in there somewhere, he's faster than Maybin!!

The Owens thing really pisses me off. He's coming off an injury though, I wonder if he took the drugs to speed up the healing process, maybe? Regardless, he fucked up. He was a good reliever, too. Damn.

[killeverything]

Also the MFY re-signed Demaso Marte to a three year deal today.

I don't understand this one. They gave him a 3 year deal? With the unpredictability of middle relief, especially one that's 33 it seems risky to me. Especially if they would of let him walk they would've gotten two draft picks, since he's a type A Free Agent.

They use him as a LOOGY essentially. Does this mean they're going to look at Phil Coke as a starter now?

5.40 ERA 1.41WHiP in a brief time with NY last season.

Try to wrap your head around that one.

[JakeYonkel]

So far the scuttlebutt is that they're going to keep Uggla at 2nd, move Cantu to 1st (YES!) and try Bonifacio at 3rd.

Well the problem there would be that Bonifacio has like NO bat - he's an all glove type of guy. You can't have somebody who doesn't hit playing third. I mean I guess the trade-off is that you've got an excellent hitter at second, but still.

[JakeYonkel]

Also the MFY re-signed Demaso Marte to a three year deal today.

I don't understand this one. They gave him a 3 year deal? With the unpredictability of middle relief, especially one that's 33 it seems risky to me. Especially if they would of let him walk they would've gotten two draft picks, since he's a type A Free Agent.

Don't forget the Yankees really haven't had a passable lefty reliever since Mike Stanton was decent, maybe 5-6 years ago. Marte really is a good pitcher. Did he hit a rough spot at the end of last year or what? Who knows. Either way if you look at the lefties given stupid 3-year deals last offseason (Schoenweis, Jamie Walker, maybe J.C. Romero) that seems to be the market for these guys, evidently. I can't kill them for the signing. Besides, if they wanna dump him in a year or two, somebody will trade them something for him.

They use him as a LOOGY essentially. Does this mean they're going to look at Phil Coke as a starter now?

Cashman keeps saying they've got flexibility with Coke. The guy strung together 15 great innings or so last year but it was in a stress-free environment of no-pressure games. He may be a scrub. Can't go into 2009 with him as your lefty. Look how Ian Kennedy pitched down the stretch in 2007 only to be assured a roster spot in 2008...

[TawnyVonJagger]

So far the scuttlebutt is that they're going to keep Uggla at 2nd, move Cantu to 1st (YES!) and try Bonifacio at 3rd.

Well the problem there would be that Bonifacio has like NO bat - he's an all glove type of guy. You can't have somebody who doesn't hit playing third. I mean I guess the trade-off is that you've got an excellent hitter at second, but still.

Well, Beinfest has been saying that he wants to go back to pitching, speed, and defense. We need defense, yo! We have plenny o' hitters, not really worried about that.

[Machado]

The New York Yankees started their offseason makeover by acquiring Nick Swisher from the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

Swisher, who can play first base and all three outfield spots, was obtained for pitching prospect Jeff Marquez and infielder Wilson Betemit. The teams also swapped a pair of minor league right-handers as part of the deal, with Chicago receiving Jhonny Nunez and New York getting Kaneoka Texeira.

Swisher, who turns 28 on Nov. 25, hit just .219 with 24 homers and 69 RBIs last season.

“He’s selective,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “He’s got power.”

Still, Swisher’s .332 on-base percentage was the lowest of his career.

“We felt it was a risk worth taking,” Cashman said.

Swisher could replace Jason Giambi at first base. Should the Yankees sign free agent Mark Teixeira or another first baseman, Swisher could take over in right field from Bobby Abreu, who is a free agent. Xavier Nady is another option in right.

New York’s priority is pitching, and the Yankees figure to make a big-money offer to CC Sabathia.

“Would it be a disappointment if we don’t get Sabathia?” manager Joe Girardi said. “Obviously, for a deal to work it has to work on both sides.”

A.J. Burnett and Ben Sheets could be secondary targets for the Yankees, whose streak of 13 consecutive playoff appearances ended this year.

Sheets was 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 31 starts for Milwaukee—his highest total since 2004.

“As far as Sheets is concerned,” Girardi said, “he was shut down at the end of the year and that’s a concern.”

After two injury-shortened seasons, Burnett had his best season with Toronto and went 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA. That included a 3-1 record and 1.64 ERA in five starts against the Yankees.

“Obviously, we saw the best of A.J.” Girardi said. “But he has had some injury problems and those are things that you have to weigh in considering how you rate the free-agent pitchers out there, and we do weigh those things. I mean, obviously when you sign a pitcher and you sign him to a long-term deal and give him a substantial amount of money, you want him to make 32 starts during the course of the year.”

[JakeYonkel]

Well, can't kill them for this move. He's a bargain (owed $26M through '11), is young/athletic, and plays 4 positions.

Plus, the Yankees gave up virtually nothing for him. Betemit is horrendous, Nunez was a cheap pickup from the Nationals, and Marquez is a bit overhyped. I guess he could develop into a #5 at best.

Swisher had a horrible year, but he's been a good OBP guy with some pop and good with the glove...

[Machado]

Well, can't kill them for this move. He's a bargain (owed $26M through '11), is young/athletic, and plays 4 positions.

Plus, the Yankees gave up virtually nothing for him. Betemit is horrendous, Nunez was a cheap pickup from the Nationals, and Marquez is a bit overhyped. I guess he could develop into a #5 at best.

Swisher had a horrible year, but he's been a good OBP guy with some pop and good with the glove...

I like the move. Not sure if he will be a starter and play 140 games, but we'll see.
He gives us options and can hit from both sides.

The people we gave up are not top names/top prospects.

I still hope we retain Abreu.
As for a starting CF, somedays I want Melky out there and other days I'm not sure about that.

[Facedown]

DP

[Facedown]

I don't even think Pedroia is the most valuable on his team.

He's not but for 2008 who is?

Nancy Drew had a monsterous July, Manny was Manny, Papi was hurt, Beckett had an off year, Pappelbon felt the karma of badmouthing Rivera, no Schill, Timlin being 90, Jacoby being exactly what I thought he was over-rated, Lowell hurt.

Who?

I'll leave you with this funny quote from Ozzie Guillen why you ponder that. In light of being told Manny was leaving. "So, I wish Pedroia was leaving".

Youkilis, hands down.

Pedroia it is.
Report: Sox trade OF Coco Crisp to the Royals for P Ramon Ramirez.