Home field advantage in the Division Series and League Championship Series hasn't given teams the advantage you might expect, as ESPN.com's Buster Olney shows. But the Rays, Yankees and Twins presumably want home field advantage anyways and there's no question that the teams' respective owners would like the extra revenue. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:
- Some MLB executives expect the Red Sox and Angels to get into a bidding war over Carl Crawford this offseason. He’d be a good fit on either team, though Mike Cameron would likely become a bench player if the Red Sox signed Crawford or Jayson Werth.
- High-ranking executives wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rangers’ payroll rise to $90-100MM. The team opened the 2010 season with a $65MM payroll, so that would be a substantial increase.
- There seems to be a very good chance that Adam LaRoche and Mark Reynolds, who have combined to strike out 375 times this season, will not be on the D’Backs in 2011. LaRoche will probably hit free agency this winter, but Reynolds has $13MM remaining on his contract and would have to be traded.
I wonder how much in terms of prospects the D-Backs would demand in return for Reynolds. He is going to start making a sizable salary for a team like the D-Backs, his K rate is a crazy 41.9%, hits under .200, and UZR puts him as a below average 3B but he does have legit 30-40 HR power and his walk rate is actually very good at 13.9% so his OBP isn’t completely horrendous.
A team like the Braves who are loaded with OBP contact guys might have interest in Reynolds as someone to power in some of the ducks on the pond. He has played some OF in the past and looking at his SB numbers he has some speed and therefore maybe some range. Even if he ‘starts’ in LF he would see plenty of time subing for Chipper at 3B and being the RH compliment to Freeman at 1B.
I’d love to have Reynolds on the Braves, he’s the right-handed power bat that we need. There’s some terribly concerning things about him though, like his total inability to make consistent contact. All he has to do to be an elite power hitter is bat .260, but can he do that?
I doubt the RS will be serious about Crawford. They likely will be more interested in middle-order power –like Werth– although I don’t think they’ll be involved in a bidding war for him either.
I disagree. The Red Sox have so much money coming off the books and they want to build a team that’s going to contend for many years to come this offseason. Sort of like what the Yankees did two years ago with signing Texeria.
I agree with you. I think the Sox will be very active this off-season. Especially with missing out on the playoffs this year.
The Sox wil definitely inquire on Werth, but will be more serious about Crawford. Like DC said, they’re looking for a player that they can use to help build a contending team that will be good for the foreseeable future. Crawford lacks the power that Werth has, but he’s the better all-around guy. If they’re really serious about getting a middle of the order guy that isn’t Jayson Werth, expect to see the Adrian Gonzalez rumors start up again this winter (not gonna happen until at least July, more likely when he hits FA). With the amount of money they have, they want to build around a combination of good-great players on the FA market and they’re good prospects (Kalish, Kelly, Rizzo. Westmoreland?) but, don’t be surprised to see Beltre and V-Mart return. Beltre has already said where he goes will be a family-based decision, and they could convince him with enough money that it’s best to stay in Boston, and Martinez is a known sucker for the team he’s playing for. I expect to see a WS contender out of the Red Sox next year, and if not, boston fans will call for Theo’s head (they already are for some reason, though)
It always saddens me when people mention Westmoreland’s name in trade scenarios and talk about him like he’s still one the Sox’ top prospects. No one seems to realize that there is a VERY good chance this kid never plays pro baseball again 🙁
I, for one, can’t wait to trade my prospects for a $13M player who strikes out over 200 times per season. Where do I sign up?
Don’t you mean that you can’t wait to trade prospects for a $5MM player who despite hitting under .200, still managed to hit over 30HR with a decent OBP? There’s risks involved with Reynolds, but the reward/upside is amazing with this kid.
/Checks Cots/
Yes, I suppose I do. $5M next year and $7.5M the year after. Still do not want.
As much as would like to see an all around talent such as Crawford on the Sox, just think about what the cost is going to be even if the NYY decide for some weird reason to not get involved.. Anaheim had it’s worst season in years and is going to be looking to improve at an area they are the worst at.. OF and Crawford fixes a BIG problem for them much more so than he fixes for Boston, so figure they are going to be full tilt spend mode if the Yanks are out on him. 80-90m over 5 years perhaps? Is a to be 30YO corner OF that makes his living with speed worth 5 years and that kind of money? A Johnny Damon type that Boston let walk when he was 32YO, same skill set and wanting 12M per season back in 2006? Think about it long and hard before committing 16-18m per season to an almost identical player only 2 years younger.
That ‘weird’ reason the Yankees decide not to go after CC or Werth is that they have 3 quality outfielders all under team control past 2011.
Oh yes, but I imagine you put lefty swinging Crawford in yankee stadium and all of a sudden you have the false power of Johnny Damon all over again, 2 years younger and Crawford still capable of stealing 50+ bases for 2-3 more seasons and a superior defender as compared to what Damon was by the time his body was pretty much worn out when the Yanks got him from going all out of defense previously.
It would also free up the Yanks to move an affordable Swisher or Granderson for that 3rd starter to go behind Sabathia, the soon to be acquired Lee, Hughes and Burnett as well since the FA market has pretty much nothing that looks like it could help in the tough AL east and either of those are an A+ chip.
Not that i want Crawford in NY, or Boston either for that matter at 80M.. Anaheim would be perfect and let the Yanks find another pitcher on their own.
Of course the Rangers payroll will rise, since they will be signing Cliff Lee to a new deal.
And Cruz will get a significant raise through arbitration
id definitely would try to make a trade for Reynolds he is still pretty raw and he has massive power and plays a prime position that power is scarce. Yea i know he doesn’t play the best D but its not like hes god awful. And yea he does strike out alot but at least hes not hitting into double plays.
I wouldn’t count the Yankees out of getting Crawford, so quickly. With Jeter’s career low BA this year they could use Crawford at the leadoff spot and could definitely use his defense.
Where is the weak link on OF defense? Also, if they wanted a new leadoff hitter wouldn’t Gardner be a better option there? He has a better OBP, one of the highest P/PA, great defense and the same ridiculous speed.
If the Angels and Red Sox are both bidding on Crawford you can bet the Yankees will get involved for no other reason than to drive up the price, and rightly so. There’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t even if they have no intention of signing Crawford. If I were the owner and my GM didn’t get involved in that way I’d consider getting rid of him.
LaRoche and Reynolds both not returning to the D’backs? That’s a descent amount of offense to lose for a team that’s slightly above average offensively. Those two have their faults for sure but they’re also relatively productive. I suppose Towers knows what he’s doing but it sounds like he’s planning on rebuilding rather than fixing.
The division winning Rangers might up payroll by 50%? Sounds like a formula for sustained success as long as they spend wisely. No doubt they’ll be willing to pay a premium to keep Lee since they gave up some good young players to get him and they’ll likely try and lock up Hamilton. That should leave enough for one or two good players, I’d guess they bring back Vlad and sign another starting pitcher and/or bullpen piece.
Moving on from LaRoche would let them use Brandon Allen at 1B, and he’s more than proven he’s ready for a big league job, IMO. If I were them, I’d bring back LaRoche and use Allen in LF, as he’s gotten work there this year in AAA. They’ve got some damn good pieces already in place, they could go with a lineup of:
Young
Johnson
Upton
LaRoche
Reynolds
Allen
Montero
Drew
next year and score plenty of runs. If I was a D’Backs fan though, I’d trust Kevin Towers.
Yeah, I’d trust Towers too but I think he’d be making a mistake parting ways with those guys just because of an irrational dislike of strikeouts. They really aren’t that bad and if the trade off is a good amount of power I think you put up with them. Strikeouts don’t hurt you nearly as much as home runs help you. Maybe Towers has been conditioned to Petco where power wasn’t really a factor and hasn’t gotten out of that mode yet but I suspect that he’ll change his view a bit now that he’s GM’ing a team that plays in a bandbox.
Except Crawford doesn’t lead off… He isn’t comfortable doing it and has gone out of his way in Tampa to make it known he doesn’t want to do it…
I don’t think the Red Sox get involved in Crawford/Werth unless they let go off either Beltre/Martinez. Although I don’t want them to, they seem intent on picking up Ortiz’s option at 12.5m. If they sign Martinez and Beltre, it leaves them with just enough money to make some bullpen signings and fill out the bench. People keep talking about how much money is coming off the books without talking about all the arbitration raises and how much more Beltre and Martinez will be making.
I’ll be very disappointed if the Red Sox let either Beltre or Martinez walk and sign Werth/Crawford. They have no replacement for either guy and I think their outfield is good enough as is. If they platoon the guys correctly, giving Drew, Ellsbury, Kalish, and Cameron around 120 games each would be perfect.
Sox should take a look at Reynolds. Wouldn’t cost alot in prospects. Plays a decent defense and could bat atleast .250 at fenway.
I know it’s a very small sample size, but Reynold’s in 3 games at Fenway went 0-11 this season. I’d like to know how you figure his AVG is going to jump 50 points. Fenway does favor righties but those righties are batters that already hit for higher averages and have a swing that also gets several doubles in addition to the homeruns, see Lowell, Beltre, and Ramirez along with other players. Reynolds either hits a homerun or strikes out, which won’t change from switching stadiums, it will only change by changing his swing. And to say he is a decent fielder after one year of a still negative UZR is getting a bit ahead of yourself, especially when you look at his 2 previous seasons. And even if you look at his first season his UZR wasnt great either.
People can go back and forth about Cliff Lee but Cliff Lee will sign with who he wants to play for. The Rangers will make him a nice offer and my Yankees will make him a nice offer and both will be a lot of money and he’ll sign with who he wants to play for. I just like everyone is gonna have to just wait and see as well as with Carl Crawford and Jason Werth. Should definitely be an interesting offseason. I almost feel like saying screw it and skip the playoffs and go straight to the offseason.
I’m not a Padres fan, but I’m glad they did well this year, and hope they do well next year for the sole reason that I don’t want the Red Sox to get A-Gon.
If the Red sox get a gonz and crawford they will walk oall over the yanks next year.Potential lineup
Elsbury
Crawford
Pedroia
Gonz
Youkills
Martinez
Papi
Drew
Scutoro
assuming they sign back martinez