2009-2010 Offseason Thread

[italstallianion]

I think it's a good fit for Chapman. He won't have the pressure he would in Boston or New York' date=' and they can take their time with his development. All in all good deal on both ends, IMO.[/quote']

 

 

 

Until Dusty Baker gets his hands on him.

[Dipre]

Until Dusty Baker gets his hands on him.

 

f***.

 

The Baker factor. Let's hope he bites the dust before the kid gets promoted to MLB.

[26 to 6]

f***.

 

The Baker factor. Let's hope he bites the dust before the kid gets promoted to MLB.

Yeah exactly

 

It will be interesting to see how he does though. I'm always very interested to see how the Cuban defectors do, as I admire the passion Cuba has for baseball and their dominance in most international tournaments. One guy I would LOVE to see defect is Gourriel. With his family's prominence in Cuba and the history they have in Baseball, and with his pops being a coach for the national team I doubt it would happen, but I would love to see what that kid could in the bigs. 5 tool player who can play awesome defense at either third, second, or short. It's almost like a wet dream.

 

In other news though, according to TV reports out of San Fran, the Giants appear to have agreed on a 1 year, $3m deal with Aurbey Huff. I don't really like the deal for the Giants (in terms of the fit, financially it's a good deal though), but oh well, thankfully I'm not a Giants fan.

[Keeper]

The Giants need all the lumber they can get. The problem with Huff is you never know what you're going to get from him.

[Dipre]

The Giants need all the lumber they can get. The problem with Huff is you never know what you're going to get from him.

 

Exactly what i was about to post.

 

Which Huff shows up?

[26 to 6]

and he's not particularly good at any of his positions, whether it be first, third, or in the outfield. He's a perfect DH type.

[Dipre]

and he's not particularly good at any of his positions' date=' whether it be first, third, or in the outfield. He's a perfect DH type.[/quote']

 

He does provide a decent amount of flexibility though.

[26 to 6]

He does provide a decent amount of flexibility though.

True.

 

In other news, the Dodgers signed Nick Green today, and the Pirates agreed to terms with Ryan Church. A good deal for the Pirates, IMO. I think he fits well with them. What I think the Pirates really need to do is get rid of that clown Huntington and work towards rejuvenating some prestige to what was once a great franchise with a ton of history.

 

Also the Rays have signed Dan Johnson to a one year major league deal worth $500,000. He played for them in 2008 before they sold his contract to the Yokohama BayStars in Japan last offseason. In 325 ABs (382 plate appearances) he hit 24 homers but drove in just 57 and hit just .215 with an OPS of .792 (.462 slugging, .330 OBP).

[Dipre]

Arizona has signed Adam LaRoche to a 1-year deal worth between 5-6 mill. Lol@ 3-year, 30 million expectations.

 

The Marlins have reached a 4-year, 39 million extension with Josh Johnson on the heels of rumors about them pocketing money from revenue streams.

 

The Tigers have signed Jose Valverde to a 2-year, 14 million deal with a 9 million option.

[Keeper]

LaRoche would have been much better off taking the Giants' offer for 2 years $17 mill. Although, statistically speaking Arizona is the better choice.

 

So much for Joel Zumaya becoming their closer.

[26 to 6]

LaRoche would have been much better off taking the Giants' offer for 2 years $17 mill. Although, statistically speaking Arizona is the better choice.

 

So much for Joel Zumaya becoming their closer.

I like the LaRoche move for Arizona a lot, which also allows them to move Jackson to left.

 

I hadn't heard any confirmation that the Tigers and Valverde agreed to terms, I know they've been very interested but nothing else. I better check on that I'm slacking today. If it is indeed wrapped up then good move for them too.

 

And I'm glad the Marlins opened their purse a little bit to pay Johnson, even if they were somewhat "forced" to do so. Even at that price I feel like Josh Johnson is a bargain. On another note, all of this Marlins stuff just has me hating Loria even more. I think he's the worst owner in the game and seriously needs to lose that team and dwindle away somewhere far far away from the game.

[Dipre]

I like the LaRoche move for Arizona a lot, which also allows them to move Jackson to left.

 

I hadn't heard any confirmation that the Tigers and Valverde agreed to terms, I know they've been very interested but nothing else. I better check on that I'm slacking today. If it is indeed wrapped up then good move for them too.

 

Morosi tweeted the confirmation.

 

http://twitter.com/jonmorosi/statuses/7763499776

[jacksonianmarch]

Zumaya and Valverde in the back of that pen. If Zumaya could stay healthy, that'd be one hell of a 1-2 punch

[riverside sluggers]

Didnt see this mentioned. Pirates are closing in on a deal with Octavio Dotel

 

[26 to 6]

Zumaya and Valverde in the back of that pen. If Zumaya could stay healthy' date=' that'd be one hell of a 1-2 punch[/quote']

Indeed

 

I like the Dotel deal too for the Pirates. Assuming the cost isn't too great, which I doubt it is otherwise the cheap-skate aka Huntington wouldn't be involved. But I've always liked Dotel going back to his days in Houston. The downward spiral his career has taken since though raises suspicions about PEDs in my mind, but hopefully that's not the case and he can return to the stature of the dominant reliever he once was.

 

Talk last night from Jon "God" Heyman was that the Tigers were getting in on Damon, and today it appears those talks are continuing according to Jason Beck. I don't like the fit, but if they're going to pony up the biggest bucks he may just go there. Granted he has a career .961 OSP there, but on a regular basis I don't see him producing very much in that ballpark. Also it would be a field-day for him in that spacious outfield.

 

On the Ben Sheets front, it's pretty much common knowledge now that he'll be throwing Tuesday at his alma-mater University of Louisiana at Monroe. A lot of teams will be there, and there's plenty of interested suitors. Not at the price he's asking, but I can see him getting a pretty favorable incentive-laden deal. With the acquisition of Vazquez I don't see the Yankees being players for him, nor do I see the Sox. The Cubs' serious interest has been made no secret, but I think the team that needs him most is the Mets. Perhaps with the right deal they can sell him on pitching in that pitcher's heaven behind Santana, which if healthy would give them another decent-to very good starter, which they DESPERATELY need. Also, Kurkjian pointed out the history between Sheets and Jack Zduriencik going back to their time in Milwaukee, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the M's get seriously in on this, as I'm sure they would love to make another splash and solidify themselves as the favorites in the AL West if there was still any question. So coming down to the wire here as we get closer to spring training it's going to see how things play out with the remaining free agents. I'm excited! As much as I HATE the winter, I love this time of year simply because I have the hot-stove to keep me warm.

[riverside sluggers]

http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/01/tribe_signs_redmond_to_be_back.html

 

Mike Redmond signed a 1 year $850K deal with the Guardians. He will be backup to Lou Marson.

[riverside sluggers]

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Athletics have acquired third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and a prospect from the Padres in exchange for outfielders Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.

The Athletics have been in the market for a competent third baseman all winter and after Adrian Beltre signed with Boston, they turned their attention back to Kouzmanoff. The 28-year-old third baseman has a .261/.308/.435 batting line in four major league seasons. His exit will clear the way for Chase Headley to be the everyday third baseman in San Diego.

[26 to 6]

According to Morosi the Tigers DON'T have interest in signing Damon and that they are "counting on" Austin Jackson.

[suns]

http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/01/tribe_signs_redmond_to_be_back.html

 

Mike Redmond signed a 1 year $850K deal with the Guardians. He will be backup to Lou Marson.

 

Who is Lou Marson?:dunno::dunno:

[riverside sluggers]

 

Brendan Donnelly signs with the Pirates

 

Theyve also added Dotel and DJ Carrasco who had a respectable 3.76 ERA in 93 innings with the White Sox. Like what theyre doing for the bullpen, also the favorites to sign Rick Ankiel

[Spudboy]

Not exactly worthy of it's own thread so I'm posting it here for lulz.

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/01/offerman_in_tro.html

 

Jose is still at it!

[Dipre]

Not nearly as big as they're making it out to be though.

[26 to 6]

I was curious as to what you thought about this, being that you're so close and you follow the team more closely than any of us. I mean he did punch an umpire in the face (even if it was a pussy hit lol), which is unacceptable on a baseball field. But I was curious what the reaction was by the fans and media down there in the DR.

 

 

Also, the Padres are close to signing Jerry Hairston Jr. to a $2mil deal.

[Dipre]

He's getting suspended for a couple years (pending appeal), but no criminal charges will be filed. However, sources claim the umpire verbally abused Offerman, which isn't justification, but still, if umpires demand respect, they must give it, and verbal abuse from players to umpires or vice-versa is heavily sanctioned here.

[Keeper]

Looks like the Hairston brothers will be playing together in San Diego. Too bad the Padres don't have Edgar Gonzalez anymore. Two pairs of brothers on the same team would have been unique. Possibly historic?

[26 to 6]

Wow i didn't even realize Edgar had left. I completely missed him signing with the Yomiuri Giants a few weeks ago. That would have been cool. They also had Marcus and Brian Giles playing together for a little while.

[example1]

Looks like Felix Hernandez will be staying in Seattle for the timebeing. Good for Seattle, it's about time they started being a competitive force in the AL West. Not sure the terms, but it is reported here:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4837939

 

I was very hopeful he would have become available until the Sox got Lackey. At that point it wouldn't have been as necessary. In any case, Felix is a tremendous talent.

[Dipre]

^ Ahhhh, the feeling of pounding one's chest is always fantastic.

 

I expect props from BSN07.

[example1]

I'm interested to see the terms of the deal. I will be surprised if it is too many years into his FA period, but at his age he could certainly pull it off AND have a major FA payday in 4 or 5 seasons.

[msubulldogs21]

I'm interested to see the terms of the deal. I will be surprised if it is too many years into his FA period' date=' but at his age he could certainly pull it off AND have a major FA payday in 4 or 5 seasons.[/quote']

 

I bet it's something like 3/42