2006-07 Free Agents

[RoyNHSox]

 

Thanks for putting up those numbers. It really puts the payroll budget into perspective. But isn't the current payroll over the luxury tax limit? And if so, what is the difference between the $32M of freed up money and the amount that the current payroll is over by?

[jacksonianmarch]

Thanks for putting up those numbers. It really puts the payroll budget into perspective. But isn't the current payroll over the luxury tax limit? And if so, what is the difference between the $32M of freed up money and the amount that the current payroll is over by?

 

I think the lux tax limit will be 130mil next yr and that is the # the sox want to stay under.

[Matt]

I think that most of the Sox moves will come from trades. I think that guys like Coco Crisp and Matt Clement could be traded away along with prospects for a top end starting pitcher. If the Sox do happen to trade away Crisp, I would expect them to go after Mike Cameron in free agency, who the Sox have eyed for a while now.

[Cityofchampions33]

I think that most of the Sox moves will come from trades. I think that guys like Coco Crisp and Matt Clement could be traded away along with prospects for a top end starting pitcher. If the Sox do happen to trade away Crisp, I would expect them to go after Mike Cameron in free agency, who the Sox have eyed for a while now.

 

I think your sellin Coco wayyy to early. Plus, who would we put in CF that is near as good defensively as he is? Honestly, I mean i realize he has had his struggles, but he is starting to get to the .300 mark. He's just entering his prime soon and in the past eh ahs been betetr than this. If anything he's an above-average stop-gap to get to Ellsbury.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

As for the Yankees, they have a little less wiggle room. Here are their FA's.

 

Cairo, Dotel, Lidle, Mussina, Ponson, Sheffield, Sturtze, Villone, Williams, Wilson.

 

That leaves them with every position player spot filled. Now, there have been rumblings that Sheff is learning 1b, which is not much of a stretch as he came up as a 3b. Many people have also said that the yankees will likely exercise his option and either keep him at 1b/DH or trade him. Either way, they will either get a 1st and a sandwich pick for him leaving, get a prospect in a trade for him, or have one of the best lineups in the history of baseball next yr with Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Sheffield, Giambi, ARod, Matsui, Posada, and Cano. On another note, Craig Wilson will be leaving and will be a B free agent. Meaning that the yankees traded Shawn Chacon for a solid role player this yr and at least one draft pick next yr. How stupid are the pirates?

 

As for the rotation, well that is where the fun begins. For starters, Lidle will be leaving and will garner the yankees another 2nd rounder as he will be a B free agent as well. Mussina has a 17? mil option that will be rejected. I do have a feeling that he will resign for something like 2 yrs 20 mil with the yankees. I also have a feeling that the yankees will buy out Jaret Wright at 4 mil to open a spot in the rotation. That leaves the yankees with.

Mussina, Wang, Johnson, Pavano, ??? Pavano will have a backup in Phil Hughes who will likely serve as the 6th starter next yr when Pavano makes his trips to the DL for a hangnail and vaginitis. That 5th spot will likely be filled by Daisuke Matsuzacka, the Japanese dude with filthy stuff who was the WBC MVP. That would make for one hell of a rotation for them, if Johnson was the 4 or 5. Granted, he isnt what he used to be, but he sure has the capability to dominate on any given night. As for the pen, Dotel has stated a want to prove that he can pitch as a yankee, and I have a feeling the yankees will resign him for one year. He will join Farnsworth, Proctor, and Rivera in the back of a deep pen. Myers will still get his one pitch ventures and JB Cox will likely get some time in the bigs as well. Either way, the yankee farm is rising in the pitching market and their offense will be nasty. If they make the above changes, or even more crazy if Mussina leaves and they add either Schmidt or Zito, then there will be no stopping them. Or will there be? If the sox add Oswalt and Papelbon to their rotation and the yankees add Matsuzacka, Hughes, and Schmidt/Zito how nasty will those battles be. This offseason is gonna be great.

"Pavano will have a backup in Phil Hughes who will likely serve as the 6th starter next yr when Pavano makes his trips to the DL for a hangnail and vaginitis."

 

good job of breaking down the Yankee situation. I couldnt have said it any better.

[Dana Kiecker]

You know.. this may be the antithesis of everything Ive posted in the past 48 hours...

 

 

But...

 

Are we all getting a little too short sighted and impatient with players?

 

Cocoa can go, Clement can go, Foulke can go, on and on..

 

I mean yah these guys havent performed but must we constantly beat the " these guys suck lets trade them" drum?

 

Im sorry if this is off topic.. just a reminder to myself mostly..

[jacksonianmarch]

You know.. this may be the antithesis of everything Ive posted in the past 48 hours...

 

 

But...

 

Are we all getting a little too short sighted and impatient with players?

 

Cocoa can go, Clement can go, Foulke can go, on and on..

 

I mean yah these guys havent performed but must we constantly beat the " these guys suck lets trade them" drum?

 

Im sorry if this is off topic.. just a reminder to myself mostly..

 

Coco has trade value, albeit not what it used to be. Foulke can just be released without any string attached. Clement is the toughy. He wont get traded because nobody would want him even if he were free, so I find it hard to believe he will be wearing anything but a sox uni for next yr. And for Matt, there is no way any package involving Clement nets anything back aside from cash relief if you are lucky. Clement will not be packaged with anyone to get a front line starter. That package would start with Lester and likely have to include at least one of the trio of Hansen, DelCarmen, and Ellsbury.

[Dana Kiecker]

I just dont get how the sox have just shut him down.. ala Foulke last year...

 

Do the Sox have any sort of personal resources for these guys? Counseling?

 

Im starting to wonder if its the Limelight of Boston these guys cant live with or its the fact that the team does nothing for these guys as PEOPLE..

 

I mean they just let these guys melt down , drink too much, womanize,.. its crazy... Clement is a 10M INVESTMENT, what other business would just let that sort of thing rot ?

 

Its crazy.

[SoxFan02]

Varitek- jury is still out

Are you kidding me did you not see the royals or tampa sieres. The red sox have gone 5-7 since tek's injury against the 4 worst teams in the AL. Varitek is the most important person on this team. Papi is close but Papi isn't the support of the entire pitching staff. The young pitchers seem to be less confident now that they have to pitch to Mirabeli or Lopez. Lester's ERA has climbed .50 points in his last three starts without Varitek. Delcarmen''s has climed .30 points, Hansen's is up .36, Beckett has an ERA of 6.75 in his two games without Varitek. I could keeping going on and on but the fact is that Varitek deserves every bit of money he gets.

[Dana Kiecker]

Small sample size.

 

By the way.. it wasnt the $$ per year that people around here bitch about.. its the years of the deal that he would have gotten from NOBODY. Nobody.

[riverside sluggers]

You know.. this may be the antithesis of everything Ive posted in the past 48 hours...

 

 

But...

 

Are we all getting a little too short sighted and impatient with players?

 

Cocoa can go, Clement can go, Foulke can go, on and on..

 

I mean yah these guys havent performed but must we constantly beat the " these guys suck lets trade them" drum?

 

Im sorry if this is off topic.. just a reminder to myself mostly..

 

Clement has an ERA close to 7 since the All-Star Break last season, that doesnt include his pathetic game 1 vs the White Sox. How can Sox fans not become inpatient with him?

[Dana Kiecker]

My point is... how can these guys just fall apart?

 

I dont get it.

[noonanberg]

well in the case of clement, he was doing fine until a baseball crashed into his head at 85 MPH, he hasnt been the same since.

[jacksonianmarch]

Are you kidding me did you not see the royals or tampa sieres. The red sox have gone 5-7 since tek's injury against the 4 worst teams in the AL. Varitek is the most important person on this team. Papi is close but Papi isn't the support of the entire pitching staff. The young pitchers seem to be less confident now that they have to pitch to Mirabeli or Lopez. Lester's ERA has climbed .50 points in his last three starts without Varitek. Delcarmen''s has climed .30 points, Hansen's is up .36, Beckett has an ERA of 6.75 in his two games without Varitek. I could keeping going on and on but the fact is that Varitek deserves every bit of money he gets.

 

His production this season is in the 3-4 mil a yr category. 6-7 mil a year for his leadership abilities? In my opinion it is just about how bad the backups are. If Mike Matheny were back there (I know he is injured but still), I think you'd see the same thing out of the pitchers that you saw when tek was in there.

[jacksonianmarch]

well in the case of clement, he was doing fine until a baseball crashed into his head at 85 MPH, he hasnt been the same since.

He was falling apart before that happened. It is just a convenient crutch for cement head to fall back on.