Offseason Baseball Thread

[flash9286]

Yanks got Farnsworth for a 3yr contract worth 17mil.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-farnsworth&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Arrian]

Meh. Overpriced for an inconsistant pitcher who will throw ~100 innings, but the market is nuts this year and there was indeed an important hole to plug. So be it.

-Arrian

[flash9286]

Is it possible that the Braves bullpen will be worse than last year's bullpen?

[Ming]

Originally posted by Arrian
but the market is nuts this year

Yep... it's a good year to be a free agent relief pitcher. The deals have been "interesting"

[Arrian]

To say the least, Ming. It was bound to happen, I guess, since there just isn't much out there and demand remains the same, so the price shoots up for anyone half-decent. Wait until the situational lefties start signing, eh? "Well, he's left handed" "But he's dead" "Yeah, but he's prolly still worth a couple 'a million"

-Arrian

[Sava]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
And the fire sale continues... Marlins deal Castillo to the Twins for a couple of pitchers. ESPN.com said one could be Florida's closer, but obviously another fire sale deal.

Chicago sports radio is reporting that both the White Sox and Cubs passed on deals for Castillo...

word is, Castillo has a bad hip and Florida was asking too much in return

I like Castillo though... I wouldn't mind seeing him on Chicago if he was healthy. Too bad about Florida though.

What a terrible place to have an MLB franchise.

They have to keep doing this... gutting their team because they can't afford their players.

MLB expanding to places where it shouldn't be

[Ming]

I hope Vegas gets the team

[Sava]

Yeah, that would be interesting.

But they don't have a stadium. Where would a Vegas team play? That minor league stadium they have?

"if you build it, they will come"

[Ming]

They could get one built in no time. I think Vegas can offer a lot to a major league team. There are more than enough locals to support a team, and the tourist trade would be a good source of additional revenue... assuming they don't lose all their money at the Casinos

[reismark]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
still no CF or leadoff hitter for the yanks. if they cant get farnsworth, then they are in big trouble this year.

(the best yankee fans are those who wonder why they cant manage to trade jorge posada.)

May not be much longer on the CF/leadoff hitter... the latest rumors are Henn & Proctor to the Marlins for Juan Pierre, a trade that while losing two great pitching prospects is a good value.

As for Posada, I don't see a need to trade him. The only way the Yankees should do it is if they can get good value for him (two prospects at least) and they can line up a replacement easily. It's not like his ability died this year...

[Imran Siddiqui]

MLB expanding to places where it shouldn't be

I wouldn't blame MLB. I mean there is NO reason why a team in South Florida shouldn't succeed! The problem has mostly revolved around the stadium (I don't think anyone thought the Marlins would still be there). But aside from that, shouldn't all the Cuban ex-pats be out there for the Marlins?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Btw, Furcal has signed with the Dodgers. It's interesting to see what they do with Izturis and whether they move Kent to 1B and tell Choi to take a seat.

Oh, and the Mets are talking with the Marlins about Paul Lo Duca.. the fire sale doesn't look to be finished yet.

[Kontiki]

Jays get AJ Burnett. Five years, $55 million.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1133823011619&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Kontiki
Jays get AJ Burnett. Five years, $55 million.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=970081593064

I like this quote from the article:

Ricciardi spent time yesterday revisiting with the Philadelphia Phillies a potential blockbuster swap of Vernon Wells for right fielder Bobby Abreu.

That's an Abreu rumor I hadn't heard yet. Not quite sure what the point would be except maybe freeing up salary. The Phils need pitching, not another outfielder. We already have too many of them which is why Abreu is being shopped.

[Arrian]

My only guess, Stuie, is that Philly management was thinking that Wells' defense in CF would be good enough to save some runs - kinda like improving in pitching w/o getting new pitchers.

As for the Yanks CF/leadoff thing...

If they do get Pierre, I hope that Torre has the sense to realize that sticking him in the leadoff spot would hurt the offense. Derek Jeter is pretty much the perfect leadoff man, whereas Pierre's OBP isn't high enough and while he does steal bases, he gets caught at too high a rate. If they do get him, he should bat somewhere between 6th and 9th. This whole "get Jeter out of the leadoff spot" thing (in the media/NYY fans) drives me NUTS.

That said, I don't want them to get him. He's not that valueable as a hitter - and from what I can tell his defense isn't good either! So, while it would be an upgrade, it wouldn't be much of an upgrade. There's gotta be something else that can be done for CF. Or, alternatively (and more likely, IMO), some things can be done in other places such that the Yanks can easily live with Bubba in CF and the 9th spot.

EDIT: one more thing... Henn might still be a prospect, but Proctor? In no way can he still be called a prospect. Isn't he like 29 years old already? He's never been particularly effective. He throws hard, but dead straight. Henn is only 24 or 25, so there is still hope he'll learn some command and improve, plus he's lefty.

-Arrian