2007-2008 MLB Hot Stove (1 Viewer)

[Shane Martin]

Andy Pettite is back in Pinstripes for next season
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3139152

The Mets traded Lastings Milledge to the Nationals for 2 players.

and Jake Peavy is close to a 3 yr extension with the Padres worth 17 mill each season

 

[Mike Frezon]

The public bidding war between the Sox and Yanks is certainly getting interesting.

I think Hank Steinbrenner is going to be fun to have around.

Excerpted from mlb.com:


Takes you back to when the Boss was in his prime.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I wonder if Bud or someone else is going to have a talk with Hank about what sort of comments constitute tampering, because he's getting awful close to that line.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Bowie Kuhn & Walter O'Malley are elected to the H-O-F today by the Veteran's Committee. They are joined by managers Dick Williams, Billy Southworth & long-time-ago Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss.

Williams is the only one of the five still living.

 

[EricW]

the Twins could easily call the Yankee's bluff. let the deadline pass and see if the Yanks still come knocking. the Yanks NEED pitching.

anyways, Hughes and Cabrera is a pretty steep price, but Santana is still in his prime and a franchise player, not an almost-has-been big star. hopefully the Yanks can pull this off. i don't think Wang is ready for the pressure of being #1, if he ever will be.

 

[Brian Perry]

It's fun to think about how good (or should I say better) the Red Sox rotation would be with Santana. The question is, who would be your opening day starter -- Beckett or Santana? I think some would say Beckett is a no-brainer, but I remember when the Cubs lost Greg Maddux to the Braves, he was immediately installed as the ace even though Glavine had just gone 20-8 the previous year.

 

[Chris]

Royals sign Jose Guillen to a 3/$36M deal.

It appears as though the Twins have taken the BoSox offer at value, and ESPN believes that's a deal that could be done today.

 

[Brandon_T]

Well, while all the focus seems to be on the Santana deal, and rightfully so, the Tigers are working on a blockbuster of their own. They are currently working on a deal that would send Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin and some minor leaguers to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. That would really make the Tigers a contender even more than they have been. I would not mind if that goes down at all. Go Dombrowski!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Wow! Those would be TWO HUGE pick-ups for the Tigers.

Who do they have @ 3b now?

 

[Brandon_T]

Brandon Inge, who is a great defensive 3b, but averages .220 and strikes out way too much.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

So what does eveeryone think of Bob Watson and his "Francona Rule"? I think it's pretty sad that a league which took 15 years to even acknowledge the steroids scandal has the nerve to single out an individual for a discretion and actually name a rule after him, especially when your press announcement refers to him wearing "a nightshirt, or whatever it is". I don't see any "Bonds Rule" or "Giambi Rule" coming from MLB anytime soon. Then again, Bob Watson never had any class and he's had it out for Francona for a while. He even sent a rep to inspect Tito's uniform in the middle of a game last year. He's also the one who made Mike Timlin stop wearing a camoflage T-shirt under his uniform, even though Timlin did it to honor our troops overseas (Timlin's wife sewed a red collar on the shirt and he kept on wearing it ). Not every team has dress codes like the Yankees, and I personally love the way Francona eschew's the formal shirt for his beloved pullover. It's kinda his version of the Belichick hoodie.

File under: Petty BS

 

[Jason Seaver]

It's not technically called the "Francona Rule", but, yeah, I've got to think baseball has more important things to worry about, especially considering the reasons Francona wears the fleece (he's been on blood thinners to prevent clotting ever since a 2002 knee surgery, and it's very difficult for him to stay warm; he's wearing more layers under that). It's something that bothers nobody aside from some anal-retentive nut.

I wish MLB would make up their mind, though. Which is the bigger threat to baseball going on in the Red Sox dugout - Johnny Pesky being in uniform or Terry Francona being out of uniform?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

No, Watson actually called it the "Francona Rule"

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/b...icleid=1048668


Not officially called the "Francona Rule", but I don't think Watson could be any less specific on who the target is.

Whatta tool.:rolleyes

 

[Mike Frezon]

That is a completely classless statement. "Nightshirt?" He was wearing an mlb-licensed pullover for gosh sake. Idiot.

I don't know how baseball ever managed to survive with Connie Mack in the dugout for the first 50 years of the 20th century!



He's even *gasp* got his arm around Ty Cobb!!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Looking for Connie Mack photos reminded me that when baseball wanted to play games in Japan they would send "all-star" exhibition teams of players (Here's Mack, Ruth and Jimmy Foxx on one such excursion) during the off-season...not when there are 162 game seasons to be played!

 

[James_Kiang]

Reports are that that Marlins-Tigers deal is done. I'm kind of bummed as I wanted the Angels to get Cabrera. Now they'll probably end up with Tejada. If they can get Santana on top of that then I guess I would be happy, but I don't think they will figure in that one either.

 

[EricW]

are the Twins really getting a better deal with the Red Sox or are they just sticking it to the Yankees? didn't the Rangers practically gave A-Rod to the Yanks just to piss of the Red Sox? after that whole negotiation fiasco? 8) "sure, we'll let you have ARod and pay for a third of his salary too"
man, the Red Sox will have such strong pitching their only enemies will be themselves (imploding) but that's more of a Yankee thing heh heh.

 

[Brandon_T]

This is huge for the Tigers and really moves them up as far as contending, assuming they can stay healthy. Starting pitching is this

Verlander
Willis
Rogers
Bonderman
Robertson-weak link for sure

Then the line up

Granderson
Polanco
Cabrera
Ordonez
Sheffield
Guillen
Renteria
Rodriguez
Jones/Thames

Not bad at all, with over half that line up batting 300 last year or close to it. Very happy with this deal.

 

[Mike Frezon]

The Tigers will definitely be a force with which to be reckoned.

 

[Jason Seaver]

The American League just gets stronger. Meanwhile, the idea that Jeff Loria has been allowed to own two baseball clubs - the first of which he systematically destroyed - while Mark Cuban will likely be locked is becoming offensive. I'm embarrassed for the part that the sale of my local team has played in this.

I think the Red Sox are able to fill more of Minnesota's holes. They need a middle infielder, for instance, and the Yankees don't have anyone to compare with Lowrie in their system. Melky Cabrera has a strong arm for a center fielder, but the rest of his game is below what Crisp or Ellsbury would give the Twins.