Odds & Ends: Colletti, Youkilis, Turnbow

“Baseball America's Jim Callis notes that the Cubs released "three of their top picks from the last six drafts this spring: outfielder Ryan Harvey, the sixth overall pick in 2003; righthander Grant Johnson, a second-rounder in 2004; and lefty Mark Pawelek, the 20th overall choice in 2005."

Ah yes, as if the news that Gregg would be the closer wasn’t depressing enough. Thanks for pointing this out to us as well Callis!

i remember when the rockies wanted to trade todd helton for youkilis, and it almost happened! im SOO glad that didnt work out...

"Isn't this the same clown who signed Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre and Jason Schmid?"

And outbid the next nearest team by an estimated 10-15 Million for Manny (as people were projecting the Giants to be in the 15MM range at best)

As well as gave Furcal a new 3 year, 30 million contract shortly before bringing in a comparable player, Orlando Hudson, on a 1 year, 3 million deal. In fact, Furcal, a 31 year old with 36 games played last year and a 2003-2007 run of an OPS+ around 100, signed one of the largest contracts of the off season; did he not?

Two potentially horrible deals (Ramirez and Furcal), one guy falling into your lap (Hudson) and a couple scrapheap signings comparable to many contracts given out by many teams around the league this off season. Well, it doesn’t say “reading the market” that great at all. But I guess people anticipated him doing a lot worse, so maybe he should be proud of himself for not blowing it completely.

"i remember when the rockies wanted to trade todd helton for youkilis, and it almost happened! im SOO glad that didnt work out..."

With MDC as the throw in! Talk about an over rated Helton..

'Isn't this the same clown who signed Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre and Jason Schmid?'

Those deals were done by mccourt, not Ned. Ned had to take the blame for them. but mccourt made him do those deals. It was reported by the LA Times a few months ago.

'And outbid the next nearest team by an estimated 10-15 Million for Manny (as people were projecting the Giants to be in the 15MM range at best)

As well as gave Furcal a new 3 year, 30 million contract shortly before bringing in a comparable player, Orlando Hudson, on a 1 year, 3 million deal. In fact, Furcal, a 31 year old with 36 games played last year and a 2003-2007 run of an OPS+ around 100, signed one of the largest contracts of the off season; did he not?

Two potentially horrible deals (Ramirez and Furcal), one guy falling into your lap (Hudson) and a couple scrapheap signings comparable to many contracts given out by many teams around the league this off season. Well, it doesn’t say “reading the market” that great at all. But I guess people anticipated him doing a lot worse, so maybe he should be proud of himself for not blowing it completely.'

You see, when a team has 14 FAs, then teams have to make tough decisions. The Braves grosely overpaid for Lowe, who is not an ace, but a #2. Do you want to play a 36-40yr old #2 15m per? and what did the dodgers win with Lowe that they didnt win with Manny and Furcal? Lowe was not helping them at 15m per and that money was better spent on 2B and SS. the dodgers were very smart on the furcal negotiations. they stood at 2 yrs until furcal proved he'd get 3 yrs at 10m. if he did not resign, we would have Berroa at SS at opening day. do you want that? i dont.

You know that Manny was the key of last yr and they did exactly what they needed to against Boras. they gave a deal in November, one that Boras laughed at. they waited and not only did they accept that deal, but it is deffered, so they would be able to make a midseason trade.

Damn, what did your team do? i bet they werent able to sign a 3B, 2B, SS, #4 pitcher, LF(HOFer), 3 relievers, backup catcher, and get rid of a $21m mistake, while only paying him 5m this yr. thats 9 FAs and a bad contract fixed with the payroll down 28m and under 100m. so read ALL the facts before ripping the dodgers.

King, Im not saying Lowe was horrible for us, maybe i didnt word it correctly. Part of the reason Lowe was brought in was because of playoff experience. however, he struggled twice against philly. meanwhile, manny kept hitting. With the growth of Billz, Kershaw, Mcdonald, and the vets Kuroda and Wolf helping the young guys, i think we can sustain a loss of Lowe. If the kids dont work, Colleti is saying that the dodgers will be players in the trade deadline, and big ones by saying that they realize they have to give up talent to get talent(ie, an ace). Meanwhile, we could have one of the strongest lineups in the NL.

McCourt MADE him sign those guys? Oh please. There's actual evidence that McCourt pulled the trigger on the Manny trade and re-signing, but Colletti was the very one jerking off to the prospect of having Pierre's "gamerness" and "grittytude" on the Dodgers.

Sdecee,

Again, solid enough off-season versus "reading the market". Did he hold a club together despite needing to fill many holes? Yes. Did he read the market to take advantage of low salaries and bargain players? Nope, not in the least. (well, only on Hudson at the end) No one is saying he had a bad offseason - I am saying he didnt do what he is bragging about. He overspent for the production he signed this off-season, by a ton when you factor the huge amount Manny and Furcal got compared to other options at the positions. that cant be denied.