MLB Offseason Thread

[snoopy369]

Hmm, sounds like we got two really good pitchers for him, Masset (probably a reliever) and Danks (possibly 5th starter, 1st rd pick in 2003). I guess I'll have to trust Kenny on this one, as he's had some really good deals in the past ...

I suppose having 5 top pitchers in the rotation isn't necessary to win a championship I'll be a lot happier if our relievers are solid.

Oh, and as long as we still can beat the cubs with 2/3 their salary

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Wait, we traded away McCarthy? WTF? Not that I'm that high on him, but we traded away Garcia "to give McCarthy a spot in the rotation" ... wtf?

Yep... that's the big shocker a lot of Chicago fans were mad about after McCarthy was dealt away.

Does this make the White Sox stronger or weaker? I personally am not a fan of these moves, but maybe it won't matter in the AL Central, depending on if the Tigers was a one year magical run and how the Twins deal without Radke and how healthy Liriano stays.

I think with Zito gone from the A's, the Angels have the inside track for the AL West... though Texas is trying to pick up pitchers and we'll see if they land a big one in a trade deal anytime soon.

[reismark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Reports coming out of the Bay Area say Barry Zito is signing with the Giants for a seven year, $126 million deal.

Looks like Scott Boras gets the last laugh on us again - he found an idiot GM to overpay through the nose for him. Seven years at $18 mil per (with an eighth option year, even!) isn't even close to what the rest of the market was offering for him.

I would never wish this on Zito, but if he were to get injured and require, say, Tommy John surgery, it'd be exactly what Brian Sabean would deserve for this utterly foolish move.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Errr... 7 years for $18 mil is not very foolish in the current market where pitchers like Meche gets $11 mil per season for 5 years.

[reismark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Errr... 7 years for $18 mil is not very foolish in the current market where pitchers like Meche gets $11 mil per season for 5 years.

And you're saying that the Meche deal was somehow less foolish than this one?

[Imran Siddiqui]

No, but that's the market this offseason. Everyone is overpriced. From Soriano to Meche to Zito. That's just the way it is. Add to the fact that Schmidt is making about $16 mil per season for 3 years and the Giants had to replace him badly (and really, at the end of each of their respective deals, Schmidt and Zito will the same age )

[rah]

So will the market in the future stay the same, go up, or crash and burn. If it continues in the current trend, the GMs making the longer term deals today won't look so stupid barring injuries. It just sucks though.

[Imran Siddiqui]

That's the question isn't it? Last time the market went this high, you ended with some bad looking deals in retrospect (Manny's $20 mil a year deal, A-Rod's $26 mil a year deal, Jeter's $19 mil a year deal, etc).

[snoopy369]

The higher they go, the more GMs get on the salary cap bandwagon ...

[-Jrabbit]

It's hard to believe that MLB is still living in the dark ages, seemingly forever tied to a 19th century economic model. How would you like to be Baltimore or Toronto? They can't come close to competing in salary in the AL East, and even when they try, they can't attract the premier free agents. Teams like Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota have to be extremely lucky AND smart to be competitive. Giving your richer franchises a spending advantage of $30 to $120 MM is anti-competitive. It's turning from an athletic competition into a corporate management contest.

It's only a matter of time before they start losing teams. (In fact, they would/should have, but management can't stand up to the union.) It's long past the point of turning my stomach. Now, I'm just not that interested.

[OzzyKP]

You would have included Detroit in that list if asked a year ago.

And trust me, after the long dark period since the 80s, the World Series berth for the Tigers is all the more sweeter.

[-Jrabbit]

With a level playing field, smaller markets would not have to be so thankful for one World Series berth every 20 years or so.

[rah]

Gee, I settle for a world series berth every 20 years or so.

[Arrian]

There are a lot of teams out there that "don't have a chance" because of stupidity, not because of money. Baltimore, mentioned above, is just such a team. They're not "small market" - that's such crap. They've got a terrible owner who has ruined a great franchise. Toronto won back to back WS's in the early 90s under the same financial system.

I do favor a change in the structure of the game's finances, though. If nothing else, it may decrease the whining.

My overhaul, however, would not result in a system that forced every team to spend exactly the same amount of $. There is a lot more to it than that.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

When Toronto won, though, it was a far different era in terms of revenue streams. The gap has significantly widened. And it isn't really the ability to sign big time free agents (and to be able to deal with failures in the free agent market because of extra reserves), but having far more money for worldwide scouting. A team like the Royals can't hire as many scouts or open as many academies in Latin America or Asia.