MLB Hot Stove 2010

[Palodios]

9 picks in the first two-ish rounds. That's going to rebuild them nicely. The Rays won't be going away quietly into the night for the next ten years. I wouldn't be surprised if Hellickson/Price/Davis is the best 1-2-3 punch in the AL East in 2012.

[raygator]

Hellickson/Price/Davis could very well be the best 1-2-3 punch in 2011. Shields could still get moved or moved at the deadline.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6045200

 

Manny and Johnny Damon to the Rays.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/losangeles/story?id=6046548

 

Vernon Wells to the Angels for Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli.

[RedSoxRooter]

I LOVE this move by the Rays. So what if it's main intent is to draw attendance? It will surely do that, but what it really does is make any combination of Sox/Yanks/Rays absolutely must see TV!

 

:clap:

[BSN07]

The Royals and Billy Butler have agreed to a four-year, $30MM contract extension according to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. The deal buys out all three of Butler's arbitration-eligible years and one year of free agency.

 

Nice to see the Royals spending that extra cash from Meche on a good player.

[Northern Star]

I LOVE this move by the Rays. So what if it's main intent is to draw attendance? It will surely do that, but what it really does is make any combination of Sox/Yanks/Rays absolutely must see TV!

 

:clap:

 

Hopefully this makes the Red Sox and Rays the division champ/wildcard and leaves the Yankees on the outside looking in.

[Palodios]

Great move by the Rays, they have nothing to lose on this. And to put it into perspective Manny hit better than Arod, and Damon hit better than Jeter in 2010..

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Hopefully this makes the Red Sox and Rays the division champ/wildcard and leaves the Yankees on the outside looking in.

 

Yes! I doubt it though but that would be pretty f***ing sweet!

[Keeper]

Great move by the Rays' date=' they have nothing to lose on this. And to put it into perspective Manny hit better than Arod, and Damon hit better than Jeter in 2010..[/quote']

 

Manny had 320 PAs, his power has rapidly declined, and he's a DH. Arod had 595 PAs, he still has power, and he's a decent third baseman. Damon is a bad outfielder who is used mostly as a DH now. Jeter is a shortstop. That's putting it into perspective.

[Palodios]

Manny had 320 PAs' date=' his power has rapidly declined, and he's a DH. Arod had 595 PAs, he still has power, and he's a decent third baseman. Damon is a bad outfielder who is used mostly as a DH now. Jeter is a shortstop. That's putting it into perspective.[/quote']

 

Oh, Jeter is a shortstop now? I thought he was a relief pitcher. It doesn't change the fact that the Rays added two sorely needed bats to a weak lineup for a mere 7 million. They're both on their way down, but that's the beauty of a one year contract.

[italstallianion]

Oh' date=' Jeter is a shortstop now? I thought he was a relief pitcher. It doesn't change the fact that the Rays added two sorely needed bats to a weak lineup for a mere 7 million. They're both on their way down, but that's the beauty of a one year contract.[/quote']

 

 

You're missing the point. Keeper brought up that Jeter was a SS to show that as a DH, Damon and Manny SHOULD ALWAYS be hitting better than Jeter. Which they aren't.

 

I thought that the deals were ok, but if they weren't on a team with a low payroll or a team that's opening the season fighting for 3rd place, then they'd be mediocre to bad moves. And that's not even mentioning the cluster f*** at the DH spot, the basic inability of either of them to field, and Manny's lockerroom cancer issues.

[bsox0407]

2 million dollar contract for manny. For a chance that he does well. It is well worth it for 2 Million.

[Dipre]

You're missing the point. Keeper brought up that Jeter was a SS to show that as a DH, Damon and Manny SHOULD ALWAYS be hitting better than Jeter. Which they aren't.

 

I thought that the deals were ok, but if they weren't on a team with a low payroll or a team that's opening the season fighting for 3rd place, then they'd be mediocre to bad moves. And that's not even mentioning the cluster f*** at the DH spot, the basic inability of either of them to field, and Manny's lockerroom cancer issues.

 

Jeter's fielding is just as, if not more, atrocious than Damon's, and he plays an up-the-middle position, giving some validity to his point.

[italstallianion]

Some at best.

[Keeper]

Not really. A corner outfielder/DH who barely outperforms a shortstop isn't exactly something to brag about. Besides, while Jeter isn't a great shortstop, he's far from atrocious. And 151 games at shortstop is considerably more demanding than 33 games in left and 4 in center.

[Palodios]

You guys are clearly overthinking this.

[Keeper]

Definitely. Didn't mean to make a mountain out of a molehill here. Just antsy for the season to start. Arguing over meaningless things helps pass the time.

[Youk Of The Nation]

Besides' date=' while Jeter isn't a great shortstop, he's far from atrocious. [/quote']

 

He's not atrocious, but he's not far from it either. I'm not saying the point was a great one, and it could have been made better, but let's not forget that Jeter is about as far from being a terrible shortstop the last couple seasons as Manny is from being a terrible...well, person.

[yeszir]

June 24th - 26th the Marlins play an interleague series at Seattle but the Marlins will be the home team because U2 had already booked their ballpark

[bsox0407]

June 24th - 26th the Marlins play an interleague series at Seattle but the Marlins will be the home team because U2 had already booked their ballpark

 

I saw that.

 

Also I was looking at the Sox Schedule during the first month. We have quite a tough stretch.

@TEX

@CLE

NYY

TB

TOR

@OAK

@LAA

@BAL

SEA

 

 

 

That is a Pretty tough schedule for the first month. Playing all the AL East and all the AL West.

[Palodios]

I'd rather play the AL West than the AL Central. The American League is pretty strong all-around this year-- every division has 3 strong teams.

[yeszir]

The O's just signed Nick Green. We're doomed.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Sarcasm ftw.

[SoxFanForsyth]

I saw that.

 

Also I was looking at the Sox Schedule during the first month. We have quite a tough stretch.

@TEX

@CLE

NYY

TB

TOR

@OAK

@LAA

@BAL

SEA

 

 

 

That is a Pretty tough schedule for the first month. Playing all the AL East and all the AL West.

 

Dammit. I hate west coast games. Going to bed at 12:30 am central time is a quick game.

[yankees228]

The one thing to remember about Jeter is that, while he has no range (except for 2009), he is one of the best, if not the best, shortstops at making the routine play. It doesn't make up for his lack of range, but it just serves as a reminder that it could be much worse.

 

EDIT: A little late joining in, but hadn't noticed the discussion about Jeter until this thread was bumped.

[DirtDog]

Os sign Vlad and Randy Winn too. Watch out AL East.

[a700hitter]

Dammit. I hate west coast games. Going to bed at 12:30 am central time is a quick game.

If the Six win, I don't mind losing the sleep, but it sucks when they lose.

[jacksonianmarch]

Reports out of Minny say that the Twins would be open to moving Francisco Liriano this season since he's under contract through 2012 and is at his highest value since 2006. If they do put him on the market, he is exactly the kind of pitcher the Yanks could use behind CC

[BSN07]

Reports out of Minny say that the Twins would be open to moving Francisco Liriano this season since he's under contract through 2012 and is at his highest value since 2006. If they do put him on the market' date=' he is exactly the kind of pitcher the Yanks could use behind CC[/quote']

 

Too bad they won't have any interest in the Yankees best 2 trade chips. They would probably have to build a package without Montero and Sanchez. And that is going to be a major hit to that top 5 farm system. Unless they get a 3rd team involved.

 

Betances and Banuelos probably are the starting point.

[Dipre]

Well i will do my best to reciprocate Jacko's usual tactic of denying Red Sox fan any sort of hypothetical happiness (be it via trade or FA signing) of their team by providing reasons of why said move wouldn't happen, and demonstrate why the Yankees getting Liriano is very unlikely, stopping his mental masturbatory session in the process:

 

This is from the TYU blog:

 

Before Yankee fans start salivating over trade proposals, remember that Bill Smith is the GM of the Twins. The same GM who demanded a more expensive package from the Yankees for Johan Santana than he wound up getting from the Mets. The Santana deal was a fiasco for the Twins, they wound up trading their best pitcher for virtually nothing. They would have been better off holding on to him and taking the draft picks from a baseball standpoint. Deolis Guerra flamed out in the upper levels of the minors, Carlos Gomez proved he can’t hit and was traded to the Brewers, Philip Humber was mediocre in the upper levels of the minors and horrible in the majors and was released after the 2009 season, and Kevin Mulvey was traded to the D-Backs as a PTBNL in the Rauch deal. All totaled, they got very little value back for one of the best pitchers in baseball. Will Bill Smith be more open to dealing with the Yanks after the Santana experience? Perhaps. But he’s already shown a preference for trading his top pitchers out of the league, and the two situations are also very different in terms of affordability. The Yankees, Mets and Red Sox were the only realistic bidders for Santana, who was making 13 mil with the Twins and looking for a huge extension. Liriano will earn just 4.3 mil this year, has two years of team control left and was only seeking a 3 year, 39 mil extension from the Twins. That will expand the universe of teams who will be bidding for his services dramatically. If there are comparable offers from the Yanks and a NL team, history shows Smith will take the NL package. The Yanks will need to overbid to land Liriano.

 

That leads us to the next item, do the Yanks and Twins match up? The Yanks are loaded with catchers, but the Twins have Joe Mauer. Many scouts feel Montero’s best position would be 1B, but the Twins have Morneau there. The Yanks are also loaded with pitching, but the impetus for trading Liriano is the fact that the Twins are already 6 deep in starters, with top prospect Kyle Gibson on the way. Smith is known to love speedy outfielders, so Brett Gardner would be an obvious match to platoon with or replace the overpaid and under performing Michael Cuddyer and/or Jason Kubel. The Twins could certainly use some bullpen arms after losing Jon Rauch, Jesse Crain, Brian Fuentes, Matt Guerrier and Ron Mahay to free agency. The Yanks have a stacked bullpen at the MLB level, and some scouts feel one or all of the Killer Bs will end up as relievers. They may want a 2B as an insurance policy for newly signed Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, having lost Orlando Hudson to free agency. The Yanks have a few interesting candidates (Adams, Nunez) that could possibly fit there. But a Yankee-Twins deal would seem to require peeling players off the MLB roster, which would obviously create holes for the Yanks to fill. Would a 3 team deal do the trick? Maybe. One thing is for sure, early returns show that Twins fans don’t like the idea of trading Liriano, and things like that can impact how a team operates. That will make it harder to do a deal with the universally hated Yankees.

 

The bolded part is very important.

 

I'd just like to add that there's no indication that the Twins are actively shopping Liriano, and that , being legit contenders in the Central, can both wait out the best proposal, and it makes sense to try to deal him out of the AL (like the Jays did with Halladay) so they don't hurt their own post-season prospects unless, of course, the Yankees offer is substantially better than what any other team offers for Liriano's services, which would possibly be a problem in its own right.