MLB Hot Stove League 2006-2007 (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

And THAT is the $64-thousand dollar question!

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Mets 3b coach Manny Acta has been named manager of Washington for next year.

 

[Evan M.]

I like that people are getting excited about players from across the seas.....but let's put things in a bit of perspective before we start annointing players the ace of a staff or someone to replace Ramirez. It is very much talked about that the Japanese league is a slight notch "better" than AAA. Yes, I know that peopl cite the Jpanese win against USA and Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic as great....and it was eye opening, I must admit. But people need to realize the the WBC was not a true showing of Major League Baseball talent. MLB Allstars went over there recently and pretty much mopped them up in the 5 games they played. And most of the best MLB players were not there...Ortiz, Manny, A-Rod, Santana, Pujols etc....

With all of that said.....I do think, from little that I have seen...that Matazuka will be a fine player and one that I hope the Sox can get. But before we start annointing him the next Pedro, let's all remember that him and Igawna and others play in a TOTALY different class than that of MLB. Name 5 GREAT Japanese players that play in MLB....nobody can....name 4??....try again...name 3?.....nope.....Name 2?.....sorry......Name 1??...Ichiro, THAT'S IT. Matsui is very solid...not great...Nome was solid...certainly not great. Other Asian players like Sasaki were good as well....not Great. To reiterate, I have NOTHING against rooting for Japanese players....hell I am a BIG fan of Matsui (even though he plays for the dreaded Yanks ) but I think people are being a bit too quick to anoint some of them the next great player....when in reality...we know nothing other then what we read, see on espn...or a few utube video's.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Let's not start THAT again!

Evan: you are dead on. There's just no way to know...just like there's no way to know about AAA All-Stars when they are brought up to the bigs.

Matsuzaka is one big gamble. A very expensive pig-in-a-poke, if you will.

 

[Joseph S]

If you're a AAA All-Star these days you're a has been or a never will be.

I think they want to sign him: 1) So Yanks don't get him 2) Because their bullpen sucks 3) Matt Clement

Not too sure about JD Drew, but I sure don't want Nixon in Right next year.

 

[Evan M.]

sorry about that Mike....didn't mean to re-open and battle wounds LOL !! I found out something that I thought was interesting. If the Sox want to they can actually trade the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka. The Yankees did this with Irabu. San Diego won his rights but Irabu refused to play for them so they traded his rights to NY. I personaly do not see this happen as I think the Sox would lose their bid money in the process....although I am not positive on this but it does seem logical.

I persoanly hope the Sox a re not stupid about it though and they don't lowball him just because they want to keep him from the Yankees. I think this for a couple of reasons:
1) The Sox NEED a good young starting pitcher as Schilling and Wake are getting old...and Schilling is retiring after the season

2) It will look very bad to do this and may be a turn off for other potential dealings and FA's in the future.

3) The Sox need to worry about themselves. They have enough problems. Worrying about the Yankees is pointless. We all know the Yankees are going to do something big (sign Giambi, Trade for A-Rod, Sign Damon, Trade for Abreau). The Sox need to do what they can to improve their club....without losing their good solid young pitchers and position players in a trade. Look at the Beckett deal. They get Beckett...but trade Hanley Ramirez...a future allstar and annibal Sanchez....a future #2,#3 pitcher. Then they trade Josh Bard, a very solid backup catcher with youth and Cla Meredith, an EXCELLENT relief pitcher and future closer to San Diego to get an aging hitter in Mirebelli. Theo needs to get his head out of his A--. He caught lightning in a bottle a few years ago with the Nomar trading....but has done a VERY poor job since....ie.Clement, Renteria, losing Damon and Lowe, trading Arroyo and all of this on top of what I mentioned above. Time for Theo to step up and signing Matsuzaka (if they did indeed win the bid) is one way to do it.

Sorry about my rant.....I know this is not a Red Sox thread but I have some pent-up-aggression that needed to get out....thanks for the therapy session LOL

 

[LewB]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...p-396085c.html
Wright to Baltimore for ???

 

[Shane Martin]

Lew,
If they don't trade him then they get nothing for Wright because they had planned on cutting him loose.

Evan,
I think Takaishi Saito was quite good for the Dodgers this year.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...e?statsId=7726

If he closed the entire year, I think he would have ended up with over 40 saves. Of course now he wants to be paid like an all star closer and may go back to Japan.

 

[LewB]

Agreed. Keep him and he costs $7 Million and a roster spot. Releasing him costs you $4 Million. Might as well try to get something for your $4 Million.
Numbers like these for Jaret Wright make my mind wobble

 

[Mike Frezon]

The Yanks would get (for Wright) O's reliever Chris Britton--a 280-pound reliever who worked in 52 games last season with a 3.35 ERA...and some cash.

 

[Shane Martin]

Sure to make Cubs fans happy, Ramirez and Wood resign with the team


Ramirez got 73 million over 5 years.

 

[Brian Perry]

There is a theory floating around that this debacle is the work of former president Andy MacPhail, who resigned in disgrace last month.

The idea is that he agreed to give Ramirez the opt-out clause in 2005 because he (MacPhail) figured to leave after 2006 to become commissioner. Giving the opt-out clause enabled him to sign Ramirez for "only" $42 million over 4 years. At the time it looked like a good deal for the Cubs but now turns out to be financially devastating. I would be extremely surprised if Ramirez's performance justifies the extra $52 million the contract calls for after the next two years, which should have been locked up.

GM Hendry is obviously desperate to save his job, so he overpaid for Ramirez, will probably do the same with Juan Pierre, and ends up clinging to the impossible dream, Kerry Wood. I just don't see how the Cubs can compete next year, unless they sign A-Rod to play short or Soriano to play left. And even if that were to happen, the pitching staff is in shambles.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Not quite; Nomo and Irabu came over before the posting system was in place. San Diego had a working arrangement with Irabu's NPB team and purchased the rights. Irabu made a stink, and San Diego reluctantly traded Irabu to New York, where he signed an extension. The posting system was then created to prevent this from happening again.

 

[Patrick_S]

If you objectively look at it and not bring your baggage along for the ride they really didn’t over pay for Ramirez. His new contract is worth on average 14.6 million a year. He would have gotten that on the open market so they definitely didn’t over pay. Sure it would have been nice to keep him for the next two years at his old contract pay of 11.2 a year but you really can’t consider that when evaluating his new contract in terms of “did they over pay”.

As for Wood, even though they were able to sign him for 1.75 million I’m not sold on the thought that he’ll be any more durable coming out of the bullpen this year. I guess they thought that 1.75 was worth the gamble.

 

[Brian Perry]

I agree the money is not really a risk...I'm just afraid they will fool around trying to fit him in somewhere, and all the juggling will affect the rest of the staff. I would be fine if they declared Wood or Howry the closer and moved Dempster to the starting rotation.

 

[RobLe]

Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins wins the NL ROY. Justin Verlander nabs the AL award by a significant margin.

 

[Shane Martin]

It's official. MLB confirms that Matsusake's rights belong to the Red Sox for $42 million.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Another Evil Empire has emerged.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'd like to think of it more as a "rebel alliance."

 

[Robert Crawford]

Not at those prices. They're now a well-funded empire.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Well...we've been #2 for awhile. I suspect we'll still be #2 for awhile longer.

Us #2s gotta try harder!