Some Sunday links to browse….
- The Royals agreed to terms with Brayan Pena and Chris Getz, according to a team press release. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed. With Pena and Getz sorted out, the team now has four unsigned players remaining: Billy Butler, Alberto Callaspo, Luke Hochevar, and Carlos Rosa.
- In his most recent blog post, ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that Prince Fielder ought to consider a long-term extension with Milwaukee, since "it's still unclear whether any team would value him as much as the Brewers."
- Mike Cameron considered signing with the Mariners before he landed in Boston, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
- Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that the Phillies were Chan Ho Park's first choice heading into this winter, but that the two sides just couldn't work anything out.
- If Josh Beckett's last contract was any indication, he won't be concerned about "setting the market" when he signs his next deal, writes John Tomase of the Boston Herald.
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle defends the Astros' offseason bullpen signings, explaining how the team evaluated Brandon Lyon and Matt Lindstrom.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch passes along comments from Tony La Russa about how the club's infield rotation will work with Felipe Lopez now a Cardinal.
- Blaine Boyer played a major part in recruiting Adam LaRoche and Kelly Johnson to Arizona, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
So it looks like the Beckett situation will be the same as Bay. Boston media tells us he wants to be in Boston, wont just go after money like players on the Yankees, he wants to win, he wants to be comfortable, etc. Boston wont blow him away, he’ll hit FA, sign with another team, and then the Boston media will crap on him.
Cudos to Olney for being dense. Yah, clearly nobody else could value a 1B who can hit for ridiculous power while maintaining a solid average and okay defense. The man should clearly just extend and be done with it.
But what I like best is the logic behind it. Ike Davis? The Mets would pass on Fielder because of IKE DAVIS? Really? He must be like the #1 prospect in baseball or something.
What does he mean “if any other team values them like Milwaukee would” Prince Fielder is an elite type player by now – of course any team would give up anything for him, if I were GM of the White Sox, I would maybe even give up Beckham for him
A lot of GMs might be a bit trigger shy to give up what it would take to get what Milwaukee deems fair value for Prince. I think that’s what Olney means. Good name, by the way!
To give up on Beckham for just about anyone would be folly. A second baseman w/ his hitting is far more uncommon than other positions, especially first base.
Josh Beckett signed his last deal when it was uncertain whether or not he would remain healthy, and he was in the midst of putting up a 5+ ERA first season in Boston. He knowingly gave up money in his last deal for security. He’s absolutely looking for what he’s worth this time, and that makes him no different from most other players in the league. Boston just gave Lackey an $85 million deal. 0% chance Beckett takes anything less than that from Boston.
Wishful thinking from the ever-more-worthless Boston Herald sportswriters.
This often goes unnoticed; Beckett had his ERA close to 5 when he signed his extension, after years of not staying healthy and struggling in a new league he’d be dumb not to take that 30m to set himself up for life.
What 30m are you talking about? 30m was the value of his last contract extension with a 12m additional option.
He should get paid, again, but really, how is he not set up for life already? I am completely confused by your response.
Strrrroooongly agree. Boycott Boston sports media.
Stupid article. I can’t stand hometown writers that try to make some ridiculous argument that their elite level star doesn’t want his share of the pie, due to an extension signed early in his career for security. Ya, there are slight hometown discounts, we all get that, but come on. This article makes no sense.
I’m rather torn about giving Beckett $85m though. On the one hand, I do think he is legitimately better than Lackey. Lackey is more consistent, but Beckett can be more overpowering. From a playoffs standpoint, I much prefer the latter. Plus Beckett has been putting up similar performance in a harder park. The only issue is, I think that 85m for Lackey was a crazy contract. It’s market value, but that just means the market is almost surely overpaying for his performance. If you could be assured of him playing like he did between 2004 and 2008 it’s a great deal. But we all know he’s just as likely to give out a bunch of 2008-2009 performances. So where does this leave us?
Should the Red Sox re-up Beckett at market value, and probably end up with poor spending efficiency? (between him and Lackey together at those prices, I’d imagine the actual performance could be easily a 10m loss apiece)
Or should they let him walk, knowing he’s probably at least as good a pitcher as Lackey, that they could have extended him for just about as much as they did for Lackey, but they want to demand the hometown discount?
Basically, this is a no-win. You either are stuck paying market price when the market is overpaying or you are stuck without a better pitcher that you could have gotten for the same price as a slightly worse pitcher (Lackey).
link to baseballanalysts.com
So Justice’s defense of the Lyon signing is showing a scouting report that, by the Astros’s own standards, basically says that Lyon is a slightly above average player?
Just think of that outfield defense that could have been! Cameron, Franklin, Ichiro?! That could have been the first outfield in history where all 3 win a gold glove in the same season…Franklin and Ichiro are almost locks next season (barring injury) and Cameron has the name recognition. Oh well, I guess they’ll have to deal with Bradley in left instead.
Since the whole gold glove thing is just politics anyway, I don’t think they would ever give each outfield award to the same team. That being said, it would have been a joy to watch that outfield. Also, Cammy would have added some pop to the line-up too… would have been a perfect fit. I kind of wish I didn’t find out about this, because now I’m sad.
Not only a politics award but also an offensive award.
Let’s see…
Over the past 3 years, Prince Fielder has averaged 160 games, a .287 batting average, a .393 OBP, 43 homeruns, 120 RBIs, .576 SLG, .969 OPS, and showed improved defense last year. Fairly sure any team will value adding that to their lineup, as a 1B or DH, Mr. Olney.
i think Olney’s point is big money teams may not have a need and the Brewers may pay him to be the “face of the franchise”. I think the point is valid but that extra value they place on him should be in his contract.
Teams will make room.
“I can honestly say that if I had to pick any first baseman, I would pick Fielder. ”
Pujols>Fielder.
the problem is most teams can see he can’t/won’t keep his weight under control. he is going to eat himself out of the league. that shows a lack of determination and self control. big issues when signing a guy to a huge deal like fielder will be commanding.
Fielder over “any first baseman” in baseball? Fielder is certainly at the top of Tier 2, though Tier 1 contains only one player.
i wouldn’t call a lifetime .284 avg a “high average” person. i would also take pujols and teixeria over fielder because overall, with defense factored in, their superior. Then FOR ME it would be a toss up of A-gonz and fielder.
Pujols….
Always remember when you are dealing with a guy the size of Fielder they seem to lose there power faster, remember Mo Vaughn. Bay has established himself as a power hitter and has also put up good numbers since they started steroid testing which is a good sign. Beckett has a lifetime ERA with the Red sox of 4.05 yet he has a two to one win loss record. It says alot about the Red Sox offense. I am sure the red sox can find a guy with a 4.00 ERA for less money.
bay’s overrated and old. they knew it and didn’t really want him. the sox played it about as well as they could.
He’s in his early 30’s. He still has at least 4 years left in the tank.
old???? last i checked he is 31 years old which is right in the heart of his prime-years. Unless he is secretly domincan or something and not canadian and lied about his age.
I’m pretty sure Fielder is more of a Snackfooditarian.
I’d take A-Gon over Fielder any day just because he can run the bases better. I said better.
What he neglects to mention/know is that Ryan Howard’s career BA is only .08 points lower than Fielders. Ryan Howard is also a much better fielding player.
31 is old for your first big power season.
heh. well played, Span.
and field.
not really. They offered him 4/$60, then after looking at MRIs of his knees decided they wouldn’t guarantee him more than 2 years.
Not really sure your math makes sense in any case.
You are complimenting the Red Sox but do not seem to know it.
“good genes”? Not a valid excuse for a guy who’s 5’11 ane 280+lbs at 25, he’ll be a FA at 28, investing 100m+ into him is a mistake IMO.
Vaughn seemed to lose it overnight as an Angel, of course he may have also lost interest in the game because of his hugh at the time contract.Sometimes that ruins the ambition and desire and hunger of an athlete. Call it the Barry Zito effect.
they didn’t think Bay would hold up for 4 years. It wasn’t Bay vs Lackey, it was they wouldn’t take bay for 4 years in any case. Holliday would have been nice, but they offered him what they thought was reasonable and he said no, so they moved on. He ended up getting a whole lot of money, and we’ll see if he’s worth his contract at the end.
I didn’t love the Lackey signing, but if they were going to sign one of those big free agents, he makes a lot of sense- they don’t have a good amount of SP, but there is never too much. Someone gets hurt and then all of a sudden the starting pitching doesn’t look as incredible.
Tell us again about how Bay’s good ’cause he doesn’t make errors.
The Mets and the Bay signing are very confusing. Not sure what the Mets long term strategy really is here. They should’ve saved their money.
Sure. But none of those years are worth what he’ll be paid.
Babe Ruth hit more HRs in a season than entire teams did, to compare that era of baseball to this era doesnt make sense.
Lol, I’m mad I missed that discussion.
Though I sometimes disagree with metsvilleslugger, this is one point I have to back the man up on. There are plenty of players on the upper end of the weight scale who have played well until 33 and 34. That tends to be the drop-off point for players that size, but still. That doesn’t mean teams won’t be fighting over him, there will just be limitations as to the length of the contract they’re willing to offer. I would say a 4 yr + mutual option deal is fair. Which means some dummy team will offer 5 plus a player option.
Seriously Ryan Howard over Prince Fielder? They shared the RBI title and look who Howard has in front of him. BA isn’t everything, but Fielder is showing improvement while Howard has established himself as that .240-.270 guy with power.
Unfortunately, I will as well. I can see no reason why most teams in baseball would not want Prince Fielder & why Prince would not be a highly productive addition to any squad.