After tearing his ACL in a freak injury back in May, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera vowed to reporters that he would return. “I am coming back. Write it down in big letters. … I’m not going out like this,” said the 42-year-old. Now, General Manager Brian Cashman says that Rivera’s future is less-than-certain, writes Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. Marchand notes that a new contract could also be tricky for Rivera as his two-year, $30MM contract has expired. Here’s more out of the American League East..
- The John Farrell compensation talks came down to Mike Aviles or Andrew Bailey, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The Blue Jays of course wound up with Aviles, who gives the club flexibility with Yunel Escobar.
- Rather than hire one of the many experienced managers available, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star would rather see the Blue Jays hire a fresh face. Griffin suggests that Alex Anthopoulos & Co. should speak with Sandy Alomar Jr., Sal Fasano, Dave Martinez, Paul Molitor, and others.
- The Red Sox’s uncertain contender status will impact the way that they build their roster this winter, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Speier writes that the Red Sox will likely treat trade opportunities similar to how they did leading up to the July 31st deadline. That means holding on to key prospects unless its for worthwhile players that are under control for multiple years.
COME ON MOLITOR!!!!
ew
Yankees pay their homegrown talent very well. Jeter and Mariano made more than they would have on the free market. Who else would give a 40 year old closer 30/2
It’s a little different when they’re performing at the levels they are. Mariano’s production was not that of a 40 year old on his last legs.
Won’t find very many market area deals with NY, or once they have been in the league a few seasons.
“Who else would give a 40 year old closer 30/2”
Sox and Angels both had similar offers I believe. Maybe even more.
Red Sox offered him 3 years $51 million.
mlbtraderumors.com/2010/12/cafardos-latest-papelbo…
Did the Red Sox offer 3 year, or am I just being delusional right now?
I believe the Red Sox offered him the contract that the Yankees gave him (2 year $30 mil) and if I”m not mistaken, it was the Angels who offered 3 years.
3 years $51 million.
I think anyone in baseball would give moe that money regardless of age. You are talking about the best reliever of all time.
Yeah.. Teams that can afford it would at least.
Yeah, and unlike every other free agent, Mo you’re paying on what he’s done of course, but with him it pays off and then some with what he gives you. He’s one of the rare players who you can pay for past performance and still get that same performance through the life of the deal.
That only applies to Jeter. Unlike Jeter, Rivera is still the premiere player at his position. He is the best reliever of all time and still plays at that level. As someone else said, he got similar offers from other teams.
Slight difference in Bailey and Aviles. One a career utility IF and the other a pretty decent closer, just injury concerns. Doubt if Toronto actually had a choice of those 2 that they would have taken Aviles over Bailey.
Not necessarily. Bailey is likely going to cost approx 4x as much as Aviles and the Blue Jays already have a ton of RH relievers under contract for next year. They also don’t have a 2B right now and their backup infielders have been awful for years.
Boston has very little along the way of financial commitments next year, isn’t one of the teams teams that isn’t able to afford small, 4-6m salaries (hello Rays) and when/if Bailey shows he is healthy by, say the 7/31 deadline next year he will be worth a fair haul from some team. An awful lot more than Aviles, that they couldn’t even get anything worthwhile out of from Oakland who were desperate for a SS this past July.
Aviles was a goner over the winter anyway. Trade, compensation.. Just like Aceves. Even with Bailey coming off of a season where he was hurt I can’t see his trade value as low as Aviles. Stats don’t really do justice for Bailey either, cause he gave up most of his hits and runs in 1 game.
I’m shocked given AA’s love of relievers..
but at their peaks, there is a really big difference in value between bailey and aviles. So just the fact that bailey was being offered really speaks to how much his value has dropped.
You’re getting ahead of yourself there. Olney doesn’t say the Red Sox offered him as compensation, just that it came down to those two. It is very possible the Blue Jays were aiming for those to players, Bailey first, then settled on Aviles when the Red Sox wouldn’t have it. I find it hard to believe, even with injury concerns that any side would believe them as comparable. He is risky indeed but there is much more upside in Bailey.
Agreed 100%. My first reaction when I saw it say it was between Bailey and Aviles was “thank God it ended up being Aviles.”
Will give you this.. He was VERY hittable in some games.. Throwing just 95mph and nothing else isn’t a key to success. His “junk” was flat sometimes. Very flat and Valentine left him out there 1 game in particular.. Think was Vs NY last of the season and he got really pummeled.
Why could he have maybe been available? Junichi Tazawa..
“AA’s love”
from a recent intvw with Bob McKown it sounds like the deal was made higher up than AA — Beeston, Rogers
Thumbs down. Bailey is better. Unless injured.
Thought made that point clear.. Bailey is better 🙂
Just a play on words with regards to his injury. Ha Ha.
As I Red Sox fan, I really want to see Mo come back and have another sub 2 season with 40 saves and THEN call it a career. He deserves it.
On Mariano Rivera—I wonder if during the recovery time, he has thought about truly having nothing left to prove…as much as I don’t want to see it, each year he keeps pitching likely pushes his chance of getting into Cooperstown back a year. If he comes back, I see it as only with the Yankees…but if he does retire, the Yankees cannot afford to let Rafael Soriano go; he was signed as a luxury, but became a necessity.
Likely pushing? It’s definitely pushing back his entry. Mariano has been a first ballot HOF lock for a couple of years now. The only thing that could stop him is a drug or betting scandal (Not saying there is, just citing history).
That said, I also only see him as being a yankee. But I see him coming back having nothing to do with proving himself and more to do with him loving the game and the competition.
The thought of having another inexperienced manager leading the Blue Jays is nauseating.
Hire Ozzie!
ew
At the very least, he would hold players accountable for their mistakes, something it seems Farrell wouldn’t/didn’t do very often. Plus, he’s a good sound bite 🙂
Instead the Jays fans will be stuck with something way worse.