The Offseason Baseball Thread

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Some of which was simply bad luck, which happens to all teams. Some of which may have been some bad managing by Francona. Some of which was due to poor defense.

thats true - bad luck etc all play a part. but when you lead the league in unearned runs allowed, and you average 1 per game, thats not bad luck, thats bad defense.

You talk as if it was instant success once Cabrera showed up. It wasn't, IIRC. At first, nothing much happened. But about a week or two in, they really caught fire. Now you believe that's because of "chemistry" and "heart." Fine, sure, whatever.

you gotta give the kid at least a week to settle in. i mean he switched leagues.

the pyth standings are great, but it doesnt specify why the team overacheived/underachieved. i think the yanks overacheived because of superior managing, and good luck. oveerachieving can be everyone however (heart, good luck , good manager, etc) but the pyth standings dont show that.

[Arrian]

The 2004 Red Sox, according to LoA, had tons of chemistry and heart, and that's a major reason why they won (coming back down 0-3 in the ALCS being the centerpiece argument).

The Red Sox front office is a bunch of stat head fools who treat players like they're machines and see only numbers.

This is bad, because numbers are "1/10" of the equation (note the numerical representation of the worth of numbers...).

Meanwhile...

Theo & Co. put together the very team which won because of its great heart & chemistry. The stathead goons who can only see numbers brought in a bunch of great clubhouse guys who won the WS.

Huh?

-Arrian

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Imran was right back then, when he said "good trade." He didn't think Cabrera was going to be the reincarnation of the Messiah, but he was also right about that. You, meanwhile, have swung from one extreme to another, and remain wrong.

imran was repeating what everyone else was saying. bit only time would tell if cabrera was a good fit. looks like he was right that time.

So since 1995, 10 teams have made up a September deficit. That's about 1 per year. So the Angels coming back to beat the A's is par for the course

there ya go. since houston also overcame a september deficit, thats two teams this year. oakland did not play well and couldnt rebound. the 04 team lacked heart.

Nixon came back from injury. Man-Cave-Itch could play 1b, allowing greater lineup flexibility. Was it also around that time that Foulke came out of his funk (he had that one hiccup period when he blew a bunch of saves ... most closers do)?

v

nixon came back in september when the streak had already been going for a month. mientkacixocz started a few games, but millar started complaining so minetrajhksd was just a late inning sub.

Arrian, I simply cannot believe we are having this conversation with the Deluded One. Can you IMAGINE? The Red Sox WIN THE WORLD SERIES and not even 3 months afterwards, LoA is critisizing the man who built the team!!! It's utterly flabbergasting!
v

there was nothing broken on the team, i dont see why they should change it

[Arrian]

They really have no choice but to change it. They cannot keep everyone. Well, ok, they might be able to, but it would be dumb.

They had too many free agents, basically. And some of those free agents, as we have seen, have SERIOUSLY swollen egos right about now...

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Ok, I wanna talk some Yankees now

From Baseball Prospectus:

New York Yankees

The Butcher's Bill, Part 2: The Yankees' arb-eligible free agents:
Offered Arbitration: Orlando Hernandez, Jon Lieber, Ruben Sierra

Not Offered: Miguel Cairo, Tony Clark, Travis Lee, Esteban Loaiza, C.J. Nitkowski, John Olerud, Enrique Wilson.

Signed: John Flaherty (one year, $800,000).

The Yankees get more time to negotiate with El Duque, and draft picks from the Phillies for Jon Lieber. Ruben Sierra is an odd player to offer arbitration to, unless it was agreed in advance that he wouldn't accept, then it would simply extend the time for the Yanks to negotiate with him. Sierra's power numbers could lead to a strange arbitration decision otherwise.

One wonders whether John Olerud would have been offered arbitration in a world where Jason Giambi wasn't a steroid user, but sadly, we don't live in that world. More than enough has been written on that topic, here and elsewhere.


One Yankee Fans' Dream: A direct transcript, edited for television.
Interior, New York Yankee GM Brian Cashman's house. Cashman sits in an armchair, reading scouting reports. Above him on the wall is a framed picture of George Steinbrenner, pointing toward the camera like Uncle Sam. The legend underneath the picture reads, "Shouldn't you be on the phone, Brian?" At a nearby desk, a young boy, Cashman's Son (fictional) sits before a computer, busily clicking on the mouse.

SON: Dad, what do you think of Tony Womack?

DREAM CASHMAN (barely looking up from his papers): It's pronounced Woe-Mack. We've been talking with his agent.

SON (rolls eyes): Whooooa, Mack! I think you should get him. It'd only cost four million dollars.

DC (amused): Whoa, yourself! A second ago you didn't even know his name, now you want to make him a millionaire?

SON: I like him. He hits .300, and he steals a lot of bases, and he hits left-handed, just like me.

DC: He hit .300 once. He's got absolutely no power, and he never walks. Maybe if he was looking for a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training…

SON (clicking absently on mouse): I don't care. He's clutch. And he made Uncle George cry.

DC: Womack only hit .250 in that World Series. He was killing the Diamondbacks until the last two games.

Son, you don't have to call him "Uncle George" unless he's in the room. And we don't talk about Uncle G--Mr. Steinbrenner crying. Never.

SON (eager to change the subject): What about Jaret Wright?

DC: Funny, I've been talking to his agent, too. What do they say on the Internet?

SON: They say $21 million, for three years.

DC: Where do they get this stuff? For that price, Leo Mazzone should be part of the package. It's crazy!

SON: The Mets gave Kris Benson $22 million for three years, and he's nowhere near as cool as Jaret Wright.

DC: The Mets also have neon stick figures decorating the outside of their stadium. That doesn't make it a good idea, though.

SON: But Dad, Bill Madden says Wright has "electric stuff!"

DC: I don't know about electric, but he's been injured, a lot. Before this year, the last time he threw a hundred innings was when you were in pre-school.

SON: That was a long time ago. Still, I don't care, I'm going to get him. (Clicks with mouse.)

DC: What is this, are you in a fantasy league or something? (Gets up, looks at computer.) That's not a fantasy league, that's my e-mail! You're making real bids, on real players! Oh, my God, what am I going to do!

Please, just tell me that these are the only ones!

SON: I never did ask you what you think about Carl Pavano…

NOTE: This is called a "dream" and not a nightmare, because the alternative is that the Yankees' front office has lost its collective mind.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

The Yankees have finalized a four-year contract with Carl Pavano worth $40 million, ESPN's Peter Gammons reported Friday.


Carl Pavano
Starting Pitcher
Florida Marlins
Profile

2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM W L Sv K ERA
31 18 8 0 139 3.00


Pavano decided Saturday that he wanted to join the Yankees.

The pitcher's deal also has a team option for a fifth year at $15 million with a $2 million buyout if the option is not picked up. Pavano also can become a free agent after four years if he pitches 200 innings in the third and fourth years of the deal.

A news conference to introduce Pavano as a Yankee is expected on Wednesday.

Anaheim, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit and Seattle also sought the right-hander, 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA for Florida last season.

Christ, $10 million/yr. for Carl Pavano. A good pitcher, yes. But yet again we overpay because we gotta have it all RIGHT NOW. And prospects/other young players are yet again being packaged off to get proven talent (Randy Johnson, and yes, I know he's amazing, but *at some point* this must stop, and there must be genuine rebuilding).

-Arrian

[Lawrence of Arabia]

They really have no choice but to change it. They cannot keep everyone. Well, ok, they might be able to, but it would be dumb.
v

sure, dont keep lowe, but dont treat him like trash.

actually i think carl pavano was an excellent signing by the yanks and he will turn into a true ace. as i said before, the yanks got screwed yet again by the d backs (3rd time in 4 years hehehe) with the randy deal if it goes through. i thought the sox shoulda signed him

lets compare rotations

yanks: randy, mussina, pavano, wright, (el ducky/brown/ someone else?)
sox: schilling, wells, arroyo, wakefield, (halama/BH Kim)

lets face it, im complainin cuz theo said wed put up a good defense. its obvious that 05 will be a rebuilding year for the sox.

whose left: milton (huh?), clement (solid #3 starter, will be a #2 on the sox), burnett, steve kline (not a starter, bora$$ as agent)

sox will get killed next year. not to mention that wells hasnt had a good streak in fenway in his life.

but in 06, we're gonna bust out singing santana.

[lord of the mark]

Pedro "whos your daddy" Martinez goes to NY, but NOT to the evil empire

DC council says no to MLB blackmail
DC may lose the team

The Orioles line up: will they hit it?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

lets compare yank/sox lineups

Catcher: Jorge Posada: thanks to Steiny's backloaded contracts, as Jorge's skills decline, he gets paid more and more each year. however, unless sox get varitek, hes a better catcher than anything thats left on the market.

1B. Giamboids is obviously a big question mark, but if hes healthy, hes by far better than anything else. next in line would be millar, minektisndcxzcn, and then olerud. minetkircnzm would be my choice cuz hes better defensivly, a lefty, and can hit .300 no problem.

2B. Bellhorn vs. cairo. both weak players, bellhorn strikes out just enough to be a good 9 hole hitter. but since bellhorn is such a walk machine, he comes in way above cairo who has low OBP.

SS. If it was cabrera it wouldnt be an issue. but with renteria, id say captain america takes over as top SS between the two teams.

3B. Payrod has got the hype but failed to deliver. Mueller is gone after this year, and Youkilis will see lots of time. you have to give it to payrod in most cases unless he gets slap happy, or decides to hit .260 for most of the year. youkilis will end up a cornerstone of the sox with all the walks and high OBP that he draws.

LF. Manny hands down no question. for somereason this team is always trying to unload him, but thats just wrong. we have $120 to spend each year, why are we acting like the As. we can have Manny AND good pitchin, and when his contract is up, negociate for less than the $22 million he makes. matsui's alright, about the same defensivly, but no where near the threat that manny is offensively.

CF. Johnny's alright, but if Yanks get Carlos, theyve got this hands down. if they keep b will in here, this one goes for the sox.

RF. Sheffroids got shoulder problems. expect a dropoff in production, too many injections in there eh sheff. Nixon is a consistent .290 - .300 hitter, and plays good defense in a tought right field in fenway. he gets the edge.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

season series: yanks 11, Sox 8.

[Imran Siddiqui]

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20041217&content_id=923895&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp

Clement signs with the Red Sox - 3 years, $25 million.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

a must move. but our rotation still blows.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

sox need another starter, maybe a midseason trade for ben sheets. but theyd prolly have to give up HR, and id hate for that to happen.

[Brundlefly]

Dont you feel terrible for the Yankees that they didnt land the Big Unit?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

sox trade away another gamer, dave roberts, for two utility players. not a bad move, since he wanted to start, and now we have someone to fill in for gabe kapler.