HOT STOVE LEAGUE 2K4/2K5

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Beltran won't come to Chicago, I know there is some delusional thinking that it might happen, but I don't see it happening. Major free agent stars don't decide to play for either Chicago teams, it just doesn't happen.

I do think Jeff Kent might end up a Cub. Nomar won't be back, but I could see Chicago going after Cabrera, especially if they get Kent. They really need another left handed bat, but neither of these guys are one, so that trade for Sosa for Green could be good. I still have a feeling Sammy will be playing for the Cubs next season.

The Giants need to get with the stick and sign Moises Alou to complete the ancient ones.

The Twinkies also have a couple of ancients in their midst they could deal to the Giants with Terry Mulholland and Pat Borders.

They need to bring back Benito Santiago, he was the perfect catcher for their team. They would look like an Allstar lineup from 1993!

but there has to be some market for moderately-priced 2b/of guy w/ good average & obp, huh?

on another note: anyone see espn's ranking of fa's and projected suitors?

kinda silly.

i would bet that carlos delgado has become their prime offensive target. it seems that the magglio ordonez talk has cooled quite a bit.

hairston and roberts are basically the same guy. matos and bigbie are basically the same guy. gibbons seems to injury prone to make an impact.

markakis is a couple years off and has good power potential as does this other guy...walter something or other.

I guess Oakland is in talks with Pittsburgh, maybe Zito for Kendall?

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/nyspken214050892nov21,0,7933337.column

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spken214050892nov21,0,7933337.column

Regardless, seeing the A's weather the supposed debilitating loss of their superstar has been quite remarkable. They lose Tejada, but get capable production from Crosby, see a spike in production from Durazo & Chavez, get a full year of Eric Byrnes' goodness and a damn good year from a (finally!) healthy Mark Kotsay. If it wasn't for Arthur Rhodes (& other bullpen pitchers not named Octavio Dotel or Justin Durscherer) blowing up in their face, and the Big 3 doing #2 on the mound for a short portion of the year, they would've played the Red Sox in the DS.

Is Jermaine Dye off their books yet?

Essentially (since he's in the final season of his contract), they are "renting" Zito. And forget the "big three" talk, there are FOUR quality starters on the As, and Zito's arguably the most disposable of them.

Another side note that I've wanted to touch on here but always forget to is that in last year's BP guide they pointed out the departure of longtime Oakland pitching coach/trainer (i can't remember which one) and forecasted a steep decline in the quality of Oakland's pitching. Needless to say they were right.

And I seriously doubt that the Pirates (who stole Perez & Bay from SD) would be so willing to give them up.

The others who started games in 2004 were Mark Redman and Kirk Saarlos.

And yes, Jermaine Dye is off the books (hence the resigning of Chavez).

and yes i doubt the pirates would ever make the trade i suggested above, but to deal for kendall would be a HUGE mistake.

Kendall DID lead NL catchers in VORP last year (trailing Pudge, Javy, Posada, Martinez and Varitek in the AL).

You're talking about Rick "Kazmir Ain't Spit" Peterson, right?

Yanc3, I think he's counting Harden as 1 of the 4 - Saarloos got starts when one of the 3 went on the DL. I was under the impression that Redman had a solid #5 type of year, but I could be wrong.

Oh no I do!!! It's just that nobody else seems to ("Big Three this and that"), Harden outpitched Zito last year.

Oliver Perez reminds me a little bit of Johan. Esp. the change when it's working.

And yes, Redman as their #5 guy is pretty solid.

Here are the Sacramento Rivercats (NOTE: hitter-friendly PCL, it would be nice to see these adjusted) pitching stats:

http://rivercats.com/game/stats/?type=pitching

Zito hasn't shown much of the excellence that he showed up to and including his CY year. His reputation far exceeds his ability at this point, and Beane surely has recognized the slow slide in his performance over the last couple of years. I'll be shocked if Zito doesn't get dealt soon.

Is Rick Peterson some sort of conditioning wizard? Oakland's pitching was great up until around the end of July, then everybody became ass all at once. So ... was this just bad luck, or a mark of bad coaching/preparation?

Kapler first to bolt World Series champions

November 22, 2004

BOSTON (AP) -- Gabe Kapler became the first player to leave the World Series champion Boston Red Sox, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo.

``He spent the better part of a week really agonizing over the decision,'' agent Paul Cohen said Monday. ``He really felt at this point in his career, he wanted the guarantee to play.''

Kapler, 29, was a backup on the Red Sox team that won the AL wild-card berth, then came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the New York Yankees in the AL championship series. Boston swept St. Louis in the World Series, with Kapler going 0-for-2 and appearing in all four games.

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Kapler, among 16 Boston players who became free agents, was a full-time player for three seasons, the last in 2001, when he played 134 games for Texas. He joined Boston from Colorado during the 2003 season and appeared in 63 games with the Red Sox, batting .291.

Last season, he played in 136 games but started only 73 and hit .272 in 290 at bats.

With Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon and Trot Nixon all under contract, the Red Sox starting outfield seems set for next season. They also have outfielder Dave Roberts, a starter with Los Angeles before Boston acquired him July 31.

Did anyone else catch the YES 2K4 Yankee season recap? I only watched a brief snippet (because, y'know, I wanted to have a little gloat, & I was curious as to how they'd address the season's conclusion). The one segment I caught was a roundtable discussion w/ Brian Cashman. Not that it was really a "discussion" - it was more like an interrogation or a hostile exit interview, w/ Michael Kay & Suzyn Waldman asking blunt pointed questions about where things went wrong & how they were going to reload for the upcoming year. As always, BC looked like he just crapped himself, or maybe that's his face of restraint - lord knows I'd be hard pressed to control my temper if I had puppet asshats grilling me about the shortcomings of personnel decisions I possibly had little control over (if only because I imagine George asked the very same questions, albeit in a more profane manner). Should I be surprised that the broadcast tentacle of the Yankee behemoth is exhibiting the same sort of pensive anger and soulless resolve as the mother brain in regards to what happened last year? Should I read anything into the YES Network's endless rebroadcasting of past glories over the last 4 weeks? Am I a hypocrite for painting Los Yanquis as cold haet-filled automotons while I pledge my support to the team that's right behind them in terms of wealth & power & nuclear capabilities?

Also - Suzyn Waldman is joining Andy Capp in the Yankee radio broadcast booth; Mr. Charley Steiner is possibly escaping to the Dodgers' broadcast booth.

Cashman's answer to all "what happened" questions should be "Mariano walked the leadoff guy."

The Steiner move is done; Waldman isn't as big a dick (ahem, metaphorically) as Sterling, but her voice thuds on my ears. I'm sure she's in the amen chorus on the Greatness of Jeetah, yes?

The few times I heard Yankee games on the radio this past year, Steiner sounded shocking out of place & out of sorts, either because he's not so hot as a radio broadcaster, or because he was trying to fight the implants.

You know, a walk's as good as a homerun at this point.

I dare say the Twins are afraid of their farm system. However, someone on Baseball Prospectus posited yesterday that the Twins' questionable handling of prospects (dicking them out of playing time, letting them fester on the bench or in the minors) could be some dastardly cost-cutting measure (to avoid paying contract incentives, perhaps lower the arbitration salary ceiling, etc.) - of course, if they were cutting costs, then please to explain why they're throwing money at Proven Veterans that aren't much of an improvement of their own organization's players.

Oh man I don't see how this isn't pure gold for the A's (I mean assuming health and all that and that the Pirates assume a good part of this stupid back-weighted contract.)