ehaz

http://hotstove.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/11/jays_gm_keeping_an_open_mind.html Of course it's just a report but how much more would you give up if you could sign Halladay to an extension?

I never thought he'd sign this fast... I hoped we'd have more time to use him as a fallback.

27/28 1st place votes one guy voted Cabrera in for 1st (idiot) Thank God it wasn't Captain Intangibles, voters got it right this time. I've been fairly pleased with the ROY, CY and MVP choices so far this year.

His agent just told the media that Florida has no chance in hell. He's two seasons away from FA and whenever Johnson has shown potential in the past, he's screwed up the next season with injuries. Does it make sense for Florida to let him walk? Florida will NEVER get in the playoffs until they stop shipping off every arbitration eligible player and until they spend some actual dough. Johnson's value will NEVER be higher than it is now. Florida doesn't care about taking PR hits, seeing as they have no fans anyways.

Billy Wagner open to accepting arbitration offer: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091111&content_id=7651524&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Red Sox met with Boras today about Matt Holliday:

Apparently the Sox are kicking the tires on Dan Uggla. Why? They supposedly would want him to play LF, and he hasn't played in the outfield since 2004. Curtis Granderson is also apparently available (same link). So here's two new trade options as potential Bay replacements. Granderson in CF, Jacoby in LF. Uggla in LF, Ellsbury CF.

I think they could get it done without Buchholz. Halladay is now a one year rent-a-player. Riccardi really f***ed up when he didn't get a trade done at the deadline. Halladay has now only one chance to help a playoff team, whereas at the deadline he had two. thats worth a significant amount. ^Exactly, and it's even more than 13m it's 15.5 i think. Not many teams will be interested because even though he's signed for one year, it is a lot for one year (to most teams).

I know this is kind of a crackpipe-fanboy scenario but I couldn't stop thinking about this. With Halladay destined to be traded with the Jays not contending and obviously not able to re-sign Halladay (he's frustrated with the direction of the team and wants to win), what if we traded for Halladay AND signed the best available pitcher on the market (John Lackey). Halladay Lester Beckett Lackey Buchholz or Dice-K Thats an unbelievable rotation to say the least. It's pretty much the AL-All Star rotation. 5 years 85 million? to sign Lackey, trade for Halladay. Here's a quote from Jon Heyman on Halladay: With the Red Sox probably not going to offer as much since they're just getting a rental for Halladay, how much could it take to trade for him? Will we need to give up Clay Buchholz? Could we do it for less? Also, signing Lackey would take up some of the money that would be needed to sign a left fielder. So why not just sign one of the most underrated players on the market for less than Bay? I'm talking about center fielder, Mike Cameron. Here's a Bay vs Cameron comparison from Fangraphs:

I thought that they'd go for a starter too. But CF was really a glaring hole with Cameron being a free agent. Maybe they thought that they could sign a pitcher with the money they'd save by not having to re-sign Cameron.

Making the postseason isn't enough anymore. Especially when getting embarrassingly swept by the team that you had made a joke out of for the last 30 years. Theo considered it a disappointment, and the Red Sox have tons of cash coming off the books in 2010.

I'd go as far to just switch Ortiz and Drew. Well, if Ortiz struggles like he did last season that's what I would do. JD had too good of a season to waste him in the 8 spot. Ortiz never really got on base.

Funny how the article has not mentioned his HORRIBLE defense, how the Red Sox will be stuck with a DH in 2 years, not to mention, his scary increase in strikeouts (30% K rate!). Here's a quote from Fangraphs: His increasing K-rate is the first sign of a hitter starting to deteriorate. First signs that he's not seeing the ball well, not making enough contact. Then the power numbers will go, along with his defense which is already gone.

Agreed, look at this years Cardinals. Pujols, Holliday, Wainwright and Carpenter. Yet the only player that really did anything was Rasmus.

Very true but all this being said, I wouldn't trade Westmoreland and I don't think the red sox will either. Westmoreland signed out of high school with the red sox and he passed up a full ride to Vanderbilt to sign with his hometown team. It was not expected at all that the red sox would get the chance to sign him. It would not only screw up their chances and damage their reputation for drafting in the future, but it would also be a bit classless.

Fangraphs.com has a new article up on why they shouldn't resign Bay. I can't post the link due to forum rules but I'll provide some quotes: "Bay turned 31 about three weeks ago and is fresh from his best season in years. Since moving to the American League in July 2008, Bay has seen his strikeout rate leap in upwards to 30%. Bay strikes out, walks, and hits home runs. Two of those qualities are great to have and make the third tolerable. The problem begins with his age. He’s on the wrong side of 30 and while he does play in a notoriously hitter-friendly ballpark, his bat is likely to decline over the next four years instead of remain static or (somehow) improve. This would be fine if Bay’s value was supplemented by playing a key defensive position or at least playing defense moderately well. Instead Bay is anything but a black hole in left. Bay has posted negative UZR in each season since 2004 with the exception of 2006. His arm has never been good and whatever range he has left isn’t enough to make up for it."

I'll take it. I was looking for somewhere to post other than the increasingly retarded MLB forums.

True, I meant that as in having Kelly and Westmoreland as the centerpiece of the deal over Anderson and Bowden.

Regardless of how far away they are Westmoreland and Kelly are obviously the most talented players in the Red Sox minor league system. Hoyer would be stupid not to request them in a trade for Gonzalez over prospects who are closer such as Anderson or Bowden.

I meant as in consistency throughout the year OPS per month .978 .701 .689 1.097 .988 .819 Sure Ortiz will have moved on by then, but signing someone and planning for them to become a DH down the road is no way to go about planning future rosters. I don't like the idea of already having your DH spot in 2011 or 2012 being taken over by the soon to be declining left fielder.

Agreed. If I were Theo, I wouldn't go a cent over 3 years, 15 million per. I'm sorry but I'm really just not a fan of a streaky, future DH. His defense is horrible, he has no range, and I don't want to be watching him play 2 years from now as an overpaid, "average" player.

I wouldn't be so sure about him signing with the Yankees. He just had a meeting with the Red Sox, and apparently came away very impressed: "“Boston was one of the teams he was interested in from the start, and that certainly hasn’t changed,’’ said Chapman’s agent, Edwin Mejia. “It was a very good visit.’’" Also, for what it's worth his agent Mejia is a graduate of Boston Latin, UMass Amherst and Boston University law school. And don't forget the Red Sox recently signed Chapman's fellow countryman and former teammate, Jose Iglesias.