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« Sherman's Latest: Red Sox, Lowe, Manny | Main | D'Backs Re-Sign Tony Clark »
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Jays, Mets, Red Sox, Nats, Yankees
On this date 32 years ago, commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended Braves owner Ted Turner for one year for tampering. Turner had announced publicly that the Braves would sign free agent-to-be Gary Matthews. Unfortunately, 30 years later, nobody was disciplined when the Angels signed free agent Gary Matthews Jr. to a $50MM contract. In the first two years of the deal, Matthews has been paid $15MM and his play has been worth -$600K (yes, that is negative) according to Fangraphs. With several big free agents still looking for new teams, will any of them be the next Matthews Jr? Only time will tell. In the meantime, let's see what is being written in the Blogosphere...
- The Eddie Kranepool Society is not worried about Derek Lowe, feeling the deal will get done once the Mets add a fourth option year and sweeten the pot just a tad. They are also putting the Mets front office on notice about the possibility of letting Manny Ramirez slip through their fingers.
- Mets Geek feels the Mets still need to add one more piece to their revamped bullpen and suggest Wil Ohman or Joe Beimel are better options as a lefty specialist than what is already in-house.
- The Southpaw takes a look at some young players the Jays should try to target in the trade market, with Chin-Lung Hu at the top of the list.
- My Baseball Bias is not satisfied with just Mark Teixeira and wants to see the Yankees sign Manny Ramirez.
- Fire Brand of the American League makes a case for three players to be the Red Sox fourth outfielder, including Rocco Baldelli, Brad Wilkerson and Eric Byrnes.
- MLB Notebook takes a look at how the Nationals could spend the $20MM that would have gone to Mark Teixeira.
- River Ave. Blues says this offseason is proving to be a test of just how good Scott Boras can be.
- Sully Baseball is running a series of posts breaking down each team's all-time home grown versus all-time acquired teams. Here he looks at the Astros.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
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Halladay for Chin Lung Hu!!!
Posted by: NedCollettiClueless | January 02, 2009 at 01:10 PM
wilkerson would probaly be the best bet for the sox. would like to have baldelli but i dont know if he could play for more than a game or two at a time
Posted by: glen_quagmire | January 02, 2009 at 01:16 PM
I don't understand how Manny would fit with the Yankees... You got Melky, Damon, Matsui, Nady and Swisher in the OF. The DH spot will be filled with one of the two extras from that pile, or Posada.
Who are you going to move from that? Matsui has a no-trade clause and I don't think there is anyone who would take that contract.. Damon's numbers have been steadily declining over his unfavorable contract. Swisher had a rough year in Chicago.. They can move him, but they are going to get little in return and have to take a bite out of his salary. Nady and Melky will draw some interest, but then you get to the problem of the Yanks getting older and older
... I just don't get it.
Posted by: GoTribe | January 02, 2009 at 01:23 PM
"Damon's numbers have been steadily declining over his unfavorable contract."
I hate to say it but thats not true. Damon is putting up pretty good numbers and would have decent value in a trade (that is assuming there is a market for him).
Matsui, on the other hand, is immovable. The Yanks would probably have to eat 7+ million to move him.
Posted by: themfightnwords | January 02, 2009 at 01:27 PM
^^And I doubt the Yankees will eat 7+ mil of his contract
Posted by: themfightnwords | January 02, 2009 at 01:27 PM
You are right, Damon did have a good '08.. We saw a decline in '06 and '07 from his years with Boston. I still don't think he is worth the kind of money that he is making. Other teams may see it differently, but I would rather go with some of the young options that are out there.
I don't think Matsui can be moved.. It be fun to watch it happen though. Matsui, Austin Jackson & $7 million for a PTBNL? Haha.
Posted by: GoTribe | January 02, 2009 at 01:49 PM
Two things here:
Damon is a well above-average lead-off hitter and the Yankees need one of those right now. If the Yankees trade anyone, it should be Melky or Matsui. Hideki does not have negative trade value if you don't set your sites too high.
I cannot believe that Joe Beimel remains unsigned. Do teams not place a premium on effective left-handed pitching anymore?
Posted by: rossdfarian | January 02, 2009 at 01:59 PM
Please don't link Southpaw anymore. That's one of the worst blog posts I've ever seen. It spells at least three names wrong, shows little knowledge of the players involved, and has the nerve to carry the slogan "Because you're too lazy too look it up yourself."
Posted by: aap212 | January 02, 2009 at 02:04 PM
"I cannot believe that Joe Beimel remains unsigned. Do teams not place a premium on effective left-handed pitching anymore?"
That depends on your definition of effective. 1.45 whip? Yikes.
Posted by: nrmax88 | January 02, 2009 at 02:11 PM
"That depends on your definition of effective. 1.45 whip? Yikes."
216 appearances, 11 - 4 record, sub 3.00 era in last 3 seasons ... the guy completes a bullpen
Posted by: rossdfarian | January 02, 2009 at 02:22 PM
ERA is misleading. The guy also gave up a hit per inning and a little over 3BB/9 over the same period of time. He can be effective, but he is no sure thing.
Posted by: nrmax88 | January 02, 2009 at 02:34 PM
I can't believe the Sox would actually consider Brad Wilkerson for the 4th OF position.. *MAYBE* signed to a minor league contract, but even Jeff Bailey and Carter are above this suspected steroid shooter whom is acting like he is suffering the after effects of it's use now the last several years. Bringing back Sean Casey as just a 1B/PH again and giving Bloomquist 2-3 million instead of Wilkerson is much more preferable.
Posted by: johns | January 02, 2009 at 02:44 PM
WE don't need Manny! matsui and damon come of the books after this season, $26 million, we then have that money to sign Holliday for lf!
Posted by: Taylor89 | January 02, 2009 at 04:18 PM
Well we'll see how Holliday does outside of the NL West and Coors field this year. Anyway, we may be able to trade Matsui, which i wouldnt mind doing even if we dont sign manny, but it would be for very little. I would rather hold on to Swisher, he takes walks and is a switch hitter, and if Manny is at the right price, why not? I'd sign him for 50 over 2yrs.
Posted by: tomthehammer | January 02, 2009 at 05:18 PM
The Sox are offensively weak at center, short and catcher with the latter two being hard places to find offense. With his low OBP, poor-to-average bat and low pricetag Ellsbury (at least for this year) makes much more sense as a 4th 'supersub' outfielder while they look for a reliable, high-production bat to satisfy their immediate power needs. With Manny gone and Texiera playing for the enemy the Yanks/Rays will both be better than last year. Time for Theo to open his wallet or prospects list and get serious about filling the holes.
Posted by: Lock | January 02, 2009 at 07:40 PM
"Please don't link Southpaw anymore. That's one of the worst blog posts I've ever seen. It spells at least three names wrong, shows little knowledge of the players involved, and has the nerve to carry the slogan "Because you're too lazy too look it up yourself.""
Reasonable criticism (like spelling errors) are always welcome but "not knowing anything about the players involved" is kinda harsh, IMO.
I suspect that pretty much every sports blog on the web occasionally publishes a comment which reflects a gap in their knowledge about a particular situation.
None of us know everything (except you perhaps)
Posted by: WillRain | January 02, 2009 at 09:09 PM
Cork:
The comment on GM Jr. and the lack of discipline on anyone from the Angels was just plain funny. Period. Thanks.
Posted by: Mattyc44 | January 03, 2009 at 12:05 AM
"With his low OBP, poor-to-average bat and low pricetag Ellsbury (at least for this year) makes much more sense as a 4th 'supersub' outfielder"
I would have to disagree. I would take his .280 batting average any day and even though he does have a low obp his 50 steals mean most of the time he will be on second after each hit or walk.
Posted by: HandsHannon | January 03, 2009 at 08:38 AM
For Manny to happen in New York a lot of things would need to happen.
Find a taken for Matsui, Nady, Swisher, or Damon would have to leave. All of which are perfectly quality players which confuses me personally. But one of them needs to go anywho(Nady to the Braves I'm hoping.)
and one of New York will need to repeal their strong stand on clean cut players or convince Manny to cut his hair neither of which I see happening honestly.
Good luck with that one.
Posted by: insomniac | January 03, 2009 at 03:00 PM