Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Tejada, Teixeira

When do the Yankees offer Tex a contract before it's too late?

I'm surprised there aren't more teams interested in Cabrera considering the walking dead that continue to stride to the major league mound. The Phils gave Jaime Moyer 2 years. He's the only person who remembers what the Liberty Bell sounded like.

from springfield not the springfield

mike bauman is an idiot. tex was on the sox radar long before the yankees signed CC. i'd venture a guess that they were waiting for him to hit the free agent market before the yankees were waiting for CC.

what a stupid thing to say.

If the Yanks grab Manny, which Hank has already said literally " I want Manny", then the Teixeira acquisition is nullified for at least the extent of Manny's contract.

Manny and Arod 3-4, is the most powerful 3-4 you can have in the current game of baseball.

Throw the new starting pitching and even if they perform at a little above average (which I expect), they still win it all.

"Also, Manny does not do the job."

Try telling that to Dodgers fans.

The Yankees are set with pitching. If they get Pettitte for a year and 10-12 million then so be it, but Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves and co should be capable of holding down the 5th starter's spot, especially with the 4 starters in front of them.

As for the bullpen, they definitely don't need anyone else. Rivera, Marte, Bruney, Veras, and some combination of Ramirez, Albaladejo, Robertson, Coke and Aceves should be a very strong bullpen like it was last season.

They could use another bat, and I think Dunn would be the best fit. Have him play 1st, move Swisher to right, and try to trade Nady for prospects or possibly a centerfield upgrade while he is cheap and his value is relatively high.

His character seems to have changed now realizing modern organizations will not tolerate it.

Posted by: KronTToP | December 16, 2008 at 07:01 PM

KronTTop, How are you determing Manny has had this great realization?

This is like Philly and Dallas thinking they could be the team that could control Terrel Owens.

As recent as July 30th Manny hadn't yet come to a realization that his behavior would no longer be tolerated. Then he was enabled by getting his trade and now he is sitting home waiting for another team to make the mistake of thinking they just might be the organization that finally changes him.

thats considering the sox sign varitek of course.

his markets lookin kinda small though. I think he's comin back to boston.

Eric-I like Dunn more at first if Nady is moved to left, Swisher to right and Damon is traded for something. He's coming off a solid year and still worth something to a team who needs a piece, while Nady could be a possibility to resign. I don't want Dunn though because I like Swisher's glove at first and Damon is their only prototypical leadoff hitter.

Santana-Nady will play right field, Bay plays left. Bay is better than Damon and Drew is comparable with Nady (when healthy), but much better on defense.

Ellsbury is better than both Gardner and Cabrera.

I would also consider Lowrie as the starting SS since he in all likelihood will be, but Jeter is still better.

vince: Lugo will be the starting SS if he's not down. Lowrie did great things for us and i'd love for him to be our starter. he plays with alot of heart and was very clutch last year. However a 12mm contract cant be ignored. lugo sat due to injury, not choice.

Santana, the contract is an issue, but I think he will be traded. If he's not, I still think Boston has the balls in FO and under Francona to have Lugo at least be on a short leash.

vince: agree entirely that he will be on a short leash. but opening day i think u will see lugo. That contract is damned near impossible to move.

I wish Cabrera luck, but, the odds are that he hits and misses bouncing from team to team for the next 2-3 years. His window to find command of his pitches is closing.

The real caveat to this is that he's likely only to receive incentive-laden deals, and, no team is going to give him the kind of extremely long leash that the Os did. For one reason few teams have the kind of holes in their rotation that the Os do at the major league level. Secondly, Cabrera is going to learn the lesson that the team that drafts you has a special investment in you that no new team will.

That being said, the main reason the Os released him is that his stuff has been regressing. So last year, his only value to the team as an innings-eater no longer even applied. He led the lead in Hit Batters, Walks, and Wild Pitches. Eats a lot of innings or not, he started to put a lot of pressure on the bullpen and hurt the team.

I think Clement and most players from the Red Sox in the 90's can be on or near the top of that list.

Drew's ALCS in 2007 and that hit to end the comeback in 2008 probably gives him a pass for eternity, but who didn't think they overpaid for him at the time after one solid, healthy season?

yea exactly my point vince and i almost forgot clement.

and i dunno. lugo is pretty bad in his time with the sox... so far his .294 obp had to have been one of the worst in the AL in 07 and he was injured for just under half of 08... thats a pretty big choke.

and lugo was a pretty solid hitter in his days in tb avg between .275-.310 each year. he could definitely still have a comeback. it was in the same division.

lowrie figures to be moved sadly. every speculation i've heard says he will be moved as they dont think he can ever be the "superstar" shortstop that they are looking for. Hes not rly their face of the future there.

lowrie might be moved as part of a deal for a catcher if they sign teix and tek doesn't resign.

i hope lugo is moved. I dont see a return for him (Though possible). but as a sox fan i gotta say i'd much rather see almost anyone in the American League at that starting SS then Julio Lugo.

I love lowrie. he hit what like 18 rbi's his first 2-3 weeks in the majors. He had a great year in my book for a guy who just came up out of necessity and was thrown in to start at fenway.

However i dont think theo epstein agrees with you. gimme a sec and i'll link some articles. check in a few minutes.

If the Yankees want hitting so bad why dont they just resign Giambi and Abreu. I mean both said they want to come back. Abreu was solid last year with 100 RBI's and Giambi still has some pop left.

reality check. i agree with u on abreau. not so much on giambi.

Dominican:
It's about depth, not your cleanup hitter.

Damon
Jeter
Matsui
A-Rod
Posada
Nady
Swisher
Cano
Gardner

That'd be my lineup. Then A-Rod is your cleanup hitter. Matsui, when healthy, can still produce 100 RBI and he makes contact and hits lefty, at DH he should be productive, definitely more than he was last season.

There's no way in the world Swisher hits fourth, just because he's replacing Giambi's position doesn't mean he takes his spot in the order.

Abreu wants a 3 year deal I believe.

Vince Mercandetti, at leaste that would be something interesting to talk about. lol
but no, i wouldnt want that to happen.

Giambi will not be back because he is not a productive hitter. Yeah he is probably good for 30+ HR's but he bats .247 and still refuses to hit to the opposite field even though they throw that shift on every time he is up. Watching him on a day in day out basis will drive you crazy. He takes so many cock shot pitches it will make you want to strike the TV and he clogs up the bases when he finally gets on base. He is also an atrocious defender. Giambi is on the verge of becoming Matt Stairs except 10 years sooner.

"Giambi will not be back because he is not a productive hitter. Yeah he is probably good for 30+ HR's but he bats .247 and still refuses to hit to the opposite field even though they throw that shift on every time he is up. Watching him on a day in day out basis will drive you crazy. He takes so many cock shot pitches it will make you want to strike the TV and he clogs up the bases when he finally gets on base. He is also an atrocious defender. Giambi is on the verge of becoming Matt Stairs except 10 years sooner."

Will you stop using statistics like this is 1996 and please get with the times? Batting average and home runs are NOT good statistics.

Giambi is still a very productive hitter. He may not be able to bat over .250, but he'll still get on at a .375ish clip, which is extremely good. In 2008 he finished with a very good .247/.373/.502 line, good enough for a 128 OPS+.

I'm not sure where you see that Giambi isn't a productive hitter anymore, because Giambi was probably their second best hitter in 2008, with Damon and Abreu very close right behind at third and fourth.

ok.. so being a cardinals fan is a very daunting task! We have expressed interest in fuentes.. no news on that front except he prefers the angels. We are supposed to be "content" with adam kennedy?? instead of signing or trading for kelly johnson, or escobar.. anybody but kennedy! so the cardinals news is we signed two guys to MINOR league contracts?? why is mozeliak SO hesitant!!