The Official 2010 Hot Stove Thread.

[Dipre]

I won't give up until i see an instance where you say: "I was wrong about this". Gives me something to do during the off-season.

 

I am willing to negotiate the use of a Carl Crawford avatar for your admission.

[a700hitter]

I won't give up until i see an instance where you say: "I was wrong about this". Gives me something to do during the off-season.

 

I am willing to negotiate the use of a Carl Crawford avatar for your admission.

You like to research the threads to prove me wrong. If you research, you will find numerous instances where I have admitted being wrong about a player or a trade etc. That being said, I'm on a heckuva a run this off season. Don' t worry about your recent slump. I'm confident that you will rebound. We all make some bad calls.

[a700hitter]

Looks like Okie back with Sox

Posted by Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff December 31, 2010 03:08 PM

 

Hideki Okajima's departure from the Red Sox may be short lived. A Major League source indicated that Okajima is close to agreeing on a 1-year deal that would keep him in a Red Sox uniform.

 

Okajima would join lefties Rich Hill, Lenny DiNardo, Andrew Miller and Felix Doubront in competition for a role out of the pen, Okajima was non-tendered, but general manager Theo Epstein always indicated he might have interest in re-signing him. Okajima had a poor season, but seemed to bounce back in September.

[Palodios]

Smells like trouble to me. He better EARN whatever he gets.

[a700hitter]

The deal is final:

 

Red Sox, Okajima Agree To One-Year Deal

By Zach Links [December 31 at 2:58pm CST]

 

The Red Sox and reliever Hideki Okajima have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

[EXman369]

Prolly means were out of the running with fuentes

[Dojji]

I'm fine with it. We have enough setup depth behind him that if he flames out or needs to be assigned low leverage duty it's no big deal. If he has the kind of bounceback year soft tossing lefthanders can manage at times, we have an excellent pen.

[example1]

I'm fine with it too. Oki is probably as good a mediocre lefty reliever as we could have hoped to land. Plus, if he regains any of his old effectiveness then they will be in good shape. I've always liked him too.

 

He's certainly not the best reliever, but having him go to another team so this team can pick up another warm body from the scrap heap doesn't make much sense to me either.

[Poopsicle]

The deal is final:

 

Awww mang! He's no Frank Viola.

[Youker20]

id much rather of had fuentes

[italstallianion]

I think that we all would rather have Fuentes than Okajima, but Fuentes realistically might not have wanted to pitch in Boston since he wouldn't likely have a chance to close, let alone the fact that he'd cost a lot more than Okajima.

[Palodios]

Is anyone realistically letting Fuentes close?

[Will617]

Not for a 3-year contract, they're not.

[Keeper]

Oki could bounce back and still be effective. Look at Matt Capps.

[a700hitter]

Orioles, Lee Agree To One-Year Deal

By Zach Links [December 31 at 10:07pm CST]

 

10:07pm: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports tweets that Lee's deal with the Orioles includes incentives and could be worth as much as $10MM.

 

3:42pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets the "early word seems to suggest" that Lee got close to $8MM, maybe $7.5-8MM. He adds that the amount is unconfirmed, however. In a second tweet, Heyman mentions that Lee turned down an $8.5MM offer from the Padres, while Dan Hayes of The North County Times tweets that he asked them for $10MM.

 

MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli says Lee's physical will likely be Wednesday (via Twitter).

 

2:32pm: The Orioles and Derrek Lee have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, reports Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (via Dan Connolly on Twitter). The deal is pending a physical, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The veteran slugger is represented by CAA.

 

Baltimore has been in talks with Lee for a good portion of the winter and recently began zeroing in on him as talks with Adam LaRoche stalled. While LaRoche seeks a three-year, $21MM committment, Lee made it known that he was willing to take a one-year deal. Terms are not yet available but it was reported that the O's were open to giving the 35-year-old a contract in the one-year, $8MM range.

 

Lee had a down year in 2010 by his standards, hitting .260/.347/.428 with 19 homers for the Cubs and Braves. Although he qualifies as a Type-A free agent, the Braves did not offer Lee arbitration and will not receive compensation draft picks.

[SoxSport]

I would be surprised if the Yankees don't make a big play for Fuentes. Or even Soriano.

 

I predicted the Sox would re-sign Oki, after the good September he had. They saved some money vs tendering him, since arbitration has become so inflationary.

[Poopsicle]

We got a loogy! We goot a loogy!

 

Coooool dood!

[Dojji]

Is anyone realistically letting Fuentes close?

 

Some might let him set up, and a team hard up for relief might let him close. he wouldn't get either opportunity here with Papelbon, Jenks, Bard and possibly Wheeler ahead of him on the situationally-blind depth chart.

[Dipre]

Enrique Rojas tweeted that Beltre is about to reach a deal with Texas, and since MLBTR is re-posting it, it seems to have some weight behind it.

[italstallianion]

That would help me out a lot.

[Dojji]

Where does that leave Michael Young?

[a700hitter]

Where does that leave Michael Young?

He is reportedly on the trading block.

[Palodios]

So what was wrong with Young again? His stats seem fine, did he get hurt or something?

[Dipre]

Defensively, he seems to not be a very good 3B (by all stats account) and signing Beltre would open the door to move him to DH or 1B, where he should fare better while keeping his bat around.

 

Earlier trade rumors seemed to be looking to clear payroll for Lee, now it seems that it's a move to shore up the D and offense.

 

On a side-note: MLBTR now reports that the deal is not finalized, but that the sides are still linked to each other.

[SoxSport]

The Rangers get Beltre, the Sox get their no.1 draft pick. Fair enough.

[example1]

Defensively, he seems to not be a very good 3B (by all stats account) and signing Beltre would open the door to move him to DH or 1B, where he should fare better while keeping his bat around.

 

Earlier trade rumors seemed to be looking to clear payroll for Lee, now it seems that it's a move to shore up the D and offense.

 

On a side-note: MLBTR now reports that the deal is not finalized, but that the sides are still linked to each other.

 

5 or 6 year deal it sounds like... No, thanks.

[msubulldogs21]

5 or 6 year deal it sounds like... No' date=' thanks.[/quote']

 

No kidding. I wouldn't have felt comfortable going more than three years with Beltre.

[jacksonianmarch]

Not official yet

[Dipre]

Rangers close to deal with Beltre per ESPN:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=5984163&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_5984163

[GWSoxFan]

This is excellent news for the Sox who will come away with the 26th pick in the draft if this deal is completed. Gonzo, Crawford, Jenks, Wheeler, the 19th and 26th pick in the draft plus 2 sandwich picks. Not a bad off-season for the Red Sox.