The Offseason Baseball Thread

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by bfg9000
Dont you feel terrible for the Yankees that they didnt land the Big Unit?

And did you hear that the Yanks say they will NEVER deal with the Dodgers again , even though it was Vasquez who said he'd never play for the Dodgers and refused to get a physical with them? heheh

[-Jrabbit]

Funny how they could work around no-trade clauses with Johnson and Green, but Vasquez can still stop the deal by refusing a physical.

Is he hurt? The White Sox want him badly...

BTW, the Big Unit will definitely start the 2005 season in NY pinstripes.

Bet the ranch.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I won't. I doubt he'll be moving anywhere . This is like the A-Rod to the BoSox deal. Too many missteps.

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


And did you hear that the Yanks say they will NEVER deal with the Dodgers again , even though it was Vasquez who said he'd never play for the Dodgers and refused to get a physical with them? heheh

Did they really? How silly. I could see saying they wouldn't deal with LA's current GM ever again, maybe, but the ballclub itself? Idiocy.

-Arrian, off to check out the latest

[Arrian]

Ah, that's not *quite* what they said, Imran:

The Dodgers withdrew Tuesday from the proposed three-team, 10-player trade that would have sent Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the New York Yankees, who then criticized Los Angeles for "reneging" on the deal.


"As we sit here right now, the deal is no more," Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta said during a conference call. "I've been saying all along that we weren't going to do the deal unless it made sense for this club in 2005, and that was not the case."


Yankees president Randy Levine had harsh words for the Dodgers after the deal's collapse.


"The Dodgers reneged on the deal that was agreed to last Friday, unequivocally and with no contingencies except for a window for contract extensions and physicals," Levine said. "For some reason, the Dodgers over the weekend started to backpedal. Why they would break their word is only something they can answer. It sure is disappointing, and we'll have to think long and hard before ever doing business with the Dodgers again."

Translation: we're mad at them 'cause they stole our toy. We're gonna pout for a while and not play with them.

-Arrian

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I won't. I doubt he'll be moving anywhere . This is like the A-Rod to the BoSox deal. Too many missteps.

This is different. This is the Yankees (the team that landed A-Rod).

The fact that the Dodgers won't be George's b1tch means nothing. Vaszquez is sufficient bait. Someone will want him. Randy wants to do it. George wants it to happen.

It WILL happen.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Maybe never ever dealing with them was an overstatement, but from ESPN (Yank's President Levine):

It sure is disappointing, and we'll have to think long and hard before ever doing business with the Dodgers again.

Which in diplo-speak means the same thing, basically .

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
This is different. This is the Yankees (the team that landed A-Rod).

The fact that the Dodgers won't be George's b1tch means nothing. Vaszquez is sufficient bait. Someone will want him. Randy wants to do it. George wants it to happen.

It WILL happen.

You are being overoptimistic. At some point, Arizona will just say screw it and pull out of negotiations, like it did during last season.

we're mad at them 'cause they stole our toy. We're gonna pout for a while and not play with them.

They did say we'll have to think long and hard before EVER doing business with LA. A bit more than pout for a little and not play again.

[Arrian]

Meh. Levine's a mouthpiece, and they're mad right now.

Reality, however, says that if Cashman sees a juicy deal he can make, and Steinbrenner wants the player Cashman can get in said deal, they will work with the Dodgers again.

-Arrian

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
You are being overoptimistic. At some point, Arizona will just say screw it and pull out of negotiations, like it did during last season.

"Optimistic"???

If anything, I'm being pessimistic. I hate the Yankees.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Then overpessimistic. The D-Backs won't chase the Yanks around and around for as long as the Yanks want to pull the chain. They balked last season, they'll probably do it again.

[-Jrabbit]

Disagree (conditionally).

The Yanks know what the Dbacks want and will proceed to obtain it for them. Arizona needn't pursue; they can just wait for George's folk to get it done for them. While I agree it's now less unlikely that anyone will overpay to be involved, I do think it's on the Steinbrenner-Cashman radar.

The condition: If the Yanks sign Beltran, everything changes. Including the need for Randy. But even then, it could happen. George knows how long it's been since his last trophy.

He wants another one -- now -- and damn the cost.

We'll see.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yes, but I think in the end, Randy stays. The D-Backs don't want the Yanks prospects, and they have to find another team that does want them AND wants to take on Vasquez, who doesn't seem like he wants to leave. It's a problem all the way around.

[Vlad Antlerkov]

In other news, Wade Miller signed with Boston for one year, $1.5 million (with up to $3 million in performance incentives). And I'm wondering if the other 29 GMs were just asleep at the switch. Miller's going to be entering his age-28 season next year. So far, he's 58-39, 3.87, ERA+ of 116 (which, as I understand it, is better than any FA starter this year except for Pedro himself-- which is to say that it's better than that of any non-demigod FA starter), 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Plus Schilling apparently likes Miller's style and demeanor or whatnot. Of course, he's only cleared 200 IP once in his career, so durability's going to be something of an issue.

And one other thing... the Sox apparently have the rights to Miller for 2006 because of this.

Originally written by Dan Szymborski
And it gets even better - after the 2005 season, Miller will still be short of 6 full years of major league service (5 full seasons being 2001-2005, half season in 2000, a month in 1999), so they'll still have control of his rights for 2006. If Miller stinks and is injured, those rights don't cost them anything and if he's good, they have him for another year or as trade bait.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

this guys seems like a temporary filler until we get santana