HOT STOVE LEAGUE 2K4/2K5

Pierzynski may be a head case, but I like that signing for the White Sox. It's a pretty minimal risk for them, and gets them back some of the offense they'll lose if Magglio Ordonez moves on -- and at a more important position. He played well in the AL Central as a Twin, and his .729 OPS last year was a bit of a fluke, I think. PacBell doesn't strike me as much of a hitter's park -- Barry Bonds being the exception that proves the rule. And there's always the possibility that the lack of interest showed to Pierzynski in the FA period this year and his inability to secure a multiyear contract will change his attitude.

On another note, my vote for steal of the offseason is the Red Sox nicking Wade Miller after he was nontendered by the Astros. They took practically no financial risk, have him locked down for two years, and if they can fix his funky mechanics to keep him from injuring himself, he could be a legit No. 2 starter down the road. Not bad.

Derek Lowe anywhere besides LA (or Detroit) = disaster waiting to happen. The fact that he will probably get the $10M/yr he's asking for is mindboggling, unless people are shortsighted & optimistic enough to replace 300+ innings of 5.xx ERA pitching (over the past 2 years) for the 15 innings he threw in last year's playoffs & think the latter's more indicative of what he'll do. DL needs a lot of space with which to work (when those sinkers don't sink) & an infield that can make plays (when those sinkers do sink). Though I thought I remember hearing that Camden Yards is playing less like a hitter's park nowadays, so maybe Baltimore would be a good place for him (assuming Melvin Mora got over the yips that plagued him early last year).

I have no idea what the Rangers are thinking in trying for Delgado - they already have the best infield in the AL (if not the majors). Unless they can turn someone (Soriano? Tex?) into a #1 starter, they shouldn't be sniffing around that stuff. (If Boston wants to start sniffing, though, I won't complain too much.)

Also, re: the AL West - even w/out Hudson & Mulder, the A's are probably going to do what they've always done, & the M's aren't going to be much better than last year (since, as Rasheed noted, their problem was the pitching, which is still poised to be the colossal suck).

How many days until pitchers & catchers report??!?

fucking fuck fucker

Wow, a whole 3% attendance increase, which has everything to do with the Astros making an unprecedented playoff run and little to do with Beltran's specific drawing power.

And even if the attendance increase was entirely due to him, it's an extra 1K per game, which isn't going to cover the $105M they were offering him.

Jim Edmonds (88.9) - $10.0M
Carlos Beltran (74.5) - $17.0M (est.)
Johnny Damon (51.0) - $8.5M

-- John (johndahle...), January 10th, 2005.

Boo hoo. You follow a team that is a perennial contender and which has been in the World Series what, 5 or 6 times in the last 10 years? Plus they seem to have an almost limitless supply of cash... (not that they seem to spend it very wisely - what is it with NY teams and overspending?)

By John

I don't believe the Mets are guaranteed more than .500 at this point, but rasheed, you have to figure in the added value of a full season of David Wright ... and, if they get lucky, Reyes, Benson and Victor Z. (not that one or two of those might not be permanent disappointments).

As for the pitching: I'm a fan of Victor Zambrano, especially as a No. 4, even though to this day the fact that Jim Duquette gave up Kazmir to get him makes my head hurt (imagine Martinez-Glavine-Benson-Kazmir-Trachsel). Benson I'm not so sure about, even though I have no real sound statistical basis to think that he'll be anything other than a very solid No. 2 or 3. As for Martinez, I remember hearing some commentators talk about how some of Pedro's late-season control problems last year might have been related to his adjustment to once again pitching at full strength -- that he had altered his mechanincs slightly to compensate for playing hurt over the last few years and that as he got stronger he was slower to adjust than he should have been. His throwing at 92+ at times in the ALCS and World Series lends some credibility to this theory, but who knows. There's also a lot of talk about his allegedly "90% torn" labrum.

Sheehan -- I chortle as I paste:

"The Mets have had the best offseason of any team, not just this year, but in recent memory. By ignoring the middle class and focusing on getting the best players they could, they've improved by 10 to 15 wins, vaulting to the top of the NL East mix.

If New York is a Mets town again in 2007, it will be the decisions made this winter by the two teams that made it that way. The Yankees' mistakes directly benefited the Mets, and that they took advantage is a credit to Fred Wilpon and Omar Minaya. For the first time in a long time, the best front office in New York may be located in Queens."

"The Mets have had the best offseason of any team, not just this year, but in recent memory. By ignoring the middle class and focusing on getting the best players they could, like Mike Cameron, they've improved by 10 to 15 wins, vaulting to the top of the NL East mix."

"The Mets have had the best offseason of any team, not just this year, but in recent memory. By ignoring the middle class and focusing on getting the best players they could, like Cliff Floyd, they've improved by 10 to 15 wins, vaulting to the top of the NL East mix."

"The Mets have had the best offseason of any team, not just this year, but in recent memory. By ignoring the middle class and focusing on getting the best players they could, like Mo Vaughan, they've improved by 10 to 15 wins, vaulting to the top of the NL East mix."

"The Mets have had the best offseason of any team, not just this year, but in recent memory. By ignoring the middle class and focusing on getting the best players they could, like Bobby Bonilla, they've improved by 10 to 15 wins, vaulting to the top of the NL East mix."

Three or four again? Well four guys is something, I guess. I suppose LA should just be grateful they unloaded his horrendous contract.

as per the mets, while neither move is terrible it's easy to see how either could become serious deadweight for a seriously long time. i dunno, seems well worth it to me but it's not my money/team.

Carlos Beltran: 27

Pedro Martinez: 33
Tom Glavine: 37
Mike Cameron: 31
Cliff Floyd: 30
[Carlos Delgado: 33]

Mo Vaughn: 34
Bobby Bonilla: 29 / 36 (ha!)

"One of these things is not like the other..." (though it might be in 4/5 years)

BTW - what NY's (nominal) CFs will be making this year
Beltran - $17M
Bernie - $12.5M

The Pedro contract presents a similar problem for the Mets, I think. There is just no way they are getting four solid years out of him. Even if he starts the contract in relatively good health, he's fragile. Plus, if the Mets don't win right away, his attention is likely to wander and he might even bark for a trade -- whereby the Mets are likely to have to eat a sizable part of his salary. So Wilpon is probably at the end of the day paying Martinez more like $26 or $27 million a year for performance.

My fave thing about the Unit-cameraman nonsense is "Don't talk back to me." I guess he doesn't have a noblesse oblige clause.

ED FUCKING KOCH!
W. T. F?

Fucking Riccardi. He better pull of this Hillenbrand thing that I've been hearing rumours about.

I wish I could just turn on some hockey (World Juniors notwithstanding) and ignore all this.

i wouldn't get too excited about shea.

i wouldn't get too excited about shea.
I am also aware of this - but it would be nice to have someone on the team that's played SOME 1st base!
Plus, I only became aware of his "colourful personality" ("Trade me faggot") after my last post.

$500,000

http://rotoworld.com/content/playernews.asp?sport=MLB

Koch as a hard-thrower to burn through some righties in the 7th or 8th, preferably w/ bases empty = not too shabby. Koch as your save guy, or your guy in a bases-filled situation = you get what you deserve. This pickup is in the same realm as the BoSox's transaction involving Matt "Mickey" Mantei - if he pans out, super duper; if not, whatever. Though I would think the Jays would do s'more scouring & scavenging before dropping nearly a million on a "proven veteran".

Tony Batista getting $7.5M overseas = HOLY CRAP!

Fuck a bunch of Tom Hicks. He got roasted on drivetime radio today because he said that shipping off A-Rod gave them room to acquire veteran talent - only now he's tying major free agent acquisitions (ie Delgado) to shipping off Soriano to keep the payroll close to even. I hope they go 60-102 this year and he loses the Stars forever.