A few links to check out after the Rangers picked up their first World Series win in franchise history…
- Torii Hunter is at the World Series for TV work, though he did mention liking the idea of Carl Crawford in an Angels' uniform according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Hunter wouldn't confirm if he's been lobbying the soon-to-be free agent outfielder.
- In a mailbag piece, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer answers questions about the Indians chances of signing quality free agents and whether or not Javier Vazquez is a fit for them.
- FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal tweets that Giants' lefty reliever Javier Lopez will fall short of qualifying for free agency this offseason by just five days of service time. It's a shame he won't be able to cash in on his dominant postseason (5.2 innings, one hit, one walk, six strikeouts).
- Rosenthal also says that the Brewers are just doing their due diligence, and are expected to name a manager shortly after the World Series (Twitter link).
- Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune lists the hurdles the White Sox would have to clear if they want to acquire Colby Rasmus. He also noted that St. Louis had people watching ChiSox prospects at a recent Arizona Fall League game.
- Chad Jennings of The Journal News provide an offseason to-do list for the Yankees.
- MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli tweets that the announcement of the Orioles' coaching staff is being held up by Don Wakamatsu. He'll be their bench coach unless he lands a managerial gig elsewhere.
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post explains what impressed him about Sandy Alderson's introductory press conference yesterday.
- Meanwhile, Newsday's David Lennon wonders if Alderson's hiring will boost ticket sales (via Twitter). Mets' attendance has dropped from an average of 51,165 fans per game in 2008 to 32,401 in 2010 despite the opening of CitiField last season. Obviously the economy is part of the problem.
- Jennings also passed along a lengthy quote from Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who explains his desire to make his team younger without sacrificing their ability to be competitive.
- Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle compares the path the Rangers and Giants took to the World Series to some of the moves the Astros made a few seasons ago.
Excellent. Bring up JM after the first month of the season, and Dave Phelps to set-up or be a reliever in the middle of the season. Ivan Nova should get a look in spring training and so should Joba.
and citi fields has 10 000 less seats then shea which was open in 2008 lennons borderline retarded!!!!!!!!!!!!
Citi Field holds 42,000 and “borderline retarded” is to build a ballpark that has 10,000 less seats than what you know your average attendance can be. It’s like telling fans, “wait till you see what we’re going to charge per seat!”
The Yankees dropped about 5,000 seats when they built their new ballpark, and that ain’t bright either. Not to mention they chose to reproduce 1990’s outfield dimensions rather than the dimensions of the 1976 renovated stadium.
I’m sure the 5,000 seats were weighed against all the other revenue generating amenities they added. I’m sure they’re not losing any money because of those 5,000 seats.
Yes, you’re correct the amenities make up for the loss of seats. In fact higher prices per seat makes up for the lost seats. That’s what I don’t like. When the cost of the game per seat sold goes up.
It’s okay for luxury boxes, or when extra revenue comes from the fan choosing to buy stuff at all the extra stores, but the increases never stop there. They still want the same money for less seats and jack up the ticket prices.
It’s hard for me to see the Yanks in person anymore. It used to be downright easy.
You guys are making it sound like they went from 51,000 to 0. 42,000 is plenty and it just makes the ballpark better.
It’s more like 57k to 42k in terms of capacity. But that’s not the issue. It’s dropping the capacity 10k below what your average attendance can be.
There’s no doubt that Citi Field is a better venue, but it would have been nice for them to consider more seats and a lower per seat price.
Well, I can say that I’ve learned to never again read anything that Richard Justice writes. In his article, he criticizes Brian Sabean for signing Jose Guillen to his 3 yr/$36M contract. Just….Wow.
Yeah, that was strange. You’d think that if he knows the details of the contract he’d know who originally signed it. You can give Sabean grief for trading for Guillen but he’s not the one responsible for giving him the contract, if Justice knew that he should have made it clear.
I don’t know how the Yankees plan on getting younger. 3B, 1B, SS, and 2B are all locked up for the forseable future. Posada I guess will be gone, but the outfield is already pretty young. If they sign Crawford(30 in 2011) the outfield actually gets older cause he would replace Gardner(28). They have 3 spots in the rotation set already so they have to replace Pettitte if he retires and Vazquez. One of those spots goes to Cliff Lee more than likely and he is 33 next year. Mo is going nowhere. So the only place I see the Yankees getting younger is middle relief (which is already pretty young), catcher and the last spot in the rotation.
Good luck with that Cashman.
I think you have to hear what he says carefully. He says he wants to remain a champioship caliber team and get younger “when possible”. The Arod deal wasn’t his idea and Jeter is one of those things he just has to do. The nature of making a commitment to any player is that they will get older. I think what he means is that when a chance is there to get younger you do so, especially if you have young in house options. It’s obvious that Cashman has wanted Hughes, Joba and IPK to fill rotation spots. I think they rushed Joba and IPK but neither made the most of their opportunities when it was given, regardless of whether they were groomed properly. Still the intent of teams like the Yanks and Sox is to sign the elite FA if you have a need and to try and build a strong farm along the way. Position wise the Yanks aren’t very strong in the minors with C (Montero, Romine, Sanchez, Murphy) and 2B (Adams, Joseph) being the exception. Nunez @ SS and Laird @ 3B are blocked and will either be utility guys or trade bait. But if you look at the players currently w/ the Yanks or ones that were traded and holding jobs in the majors w/ other teams you can see the farm has been productive (Hughes, Joba, Gardner, Robertson, Cervelli, Pena, Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, Jose Tabata, IPK, Mark Melancon). I think in some cases the Yanks had issues w/ a players maturity (Jose Tabata) or simply felt the need to go w/ a mlb player who was young and in their prime over a prospect w/ question marks (Granderson vs Jackson and IPK).
One has to wonder though how an OF of Gardner, Jackson and Tabata would’ve faired? Or how much better IPK and Joba might’ve been if they didn’t rush them thru A/AA/AAA/MLB in the same year in 2007 and instead spent 2 or 3 years in the minors?
“Jeter is one of those things he just has to do.” Why? Don’t the Yankees have an actual shortstop that can play the position in their farm system? That is the primary way to “get younger”, replace “old guys” with “young guys”.
Obviously the Yankees are intent on bringing Jeter back thus no need to discuss.
What Cashman said and what he meant are two different things. This whole statement was given to the media but aimed at Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Rivera and Rodriguez. What he’s telling these guys is that the have to prepare themselves to face reality in the future. While all are icons and aside from Andy, are certainties to come back, they have be ready to make concessions and/or position changes in the coming years. Posada will most likely not come back after his contract expires this season. Jeter and Rodriguez will have to move to 3B and DH respectfully in the next season or two, unless they have some kind of miraculous turnabout. Rivera will be the closer as long as can perform at the current level, as Cashman so subtly stated. They have to come to terms that they are not going to play for the Yankees forever.It’s a touchy situation with these guys, but already the organization’s plans to get younger are being demonstrated by letting Berkman and Wood go. That their contracts were too big to pick up was a consideration, but it’s a small and slow step in getting younger.
Yeah theres a problem with the Sox acquirng Rasmus…
They don’t have a package to formulate.
Well i guess they could give up something like sale,beckham,Quentin. To much? To little?
Picks can’t be traded for a year. Sale is unavailable for trade.
Even if picks could be traded, I don’t see the Sox matching well at all with the Cards for Colby.
It would have to be Gordon Beckham involved, which isn’t going to happen.
Ah i see. Never mind.
I just don’t think its worth it. How does that help the Sox?
Ok, I’m really not understanding this sudden belief that the Cards would want Quentin for Rasmus. Quentin is 28, has yet to play a full season, not a good fielder, will probably cost $5M-$6M next season, and his production is unreliable. Meanwhile Rasmus is an underused player already showing star talent and is under team control for 4 more years. If I’m Mozeliak and I get a call from Williams proposing “Quentin for Rasmus” I’m asking Ok, what are you really giving me for Rasmus and what are you giving me to take Quentin as well.
In Carlos’ defense he was crushing the ball in 130 gms in 2008 before he broke his hand but still finished @ .284/.394 w/ 36 hrs and 100 rbi. In 2010 he rebounded w/ 26 hrs in 131 gms. Rasmus looks great and will probably be great but something tells me he might not be getting along with LaRussa.
Theres no way in hell its gonna be that simple to pluck Rasmus from the Cards… I don’t really think they have what it would take to pry Rasmus away from the birds on the bat. If you wanna start talking a trade somewhere with the teams that have been linked to Rasmus, talk Rasmus for Justin Upton + Prospect(s).
Upton + Prospects? I thought tomorrow was Halloween not April Fool’s Day.
Let me guess? Cardinals fan? The only way the Dbacks would do Upton for Rasmus straight up is if they were dumping salary and the Cards picked up everything owed to Upton (just under $50 mil) where as Rasmus is making lge minimum I beleive). But as far as talent I would say they are about equal and despite having an off yar, Upton has already had 300/.366 20/20 year @ age 21.
upton for rasmus? man, i’m a cardinal fan and even i think thats an overpayment from the Dbacks. i just can’t think of any serious trade partners from any team for the simple reason, the cardinals would then have no one to play centerfield on a consistent basis(jay isn’t a regular player). it would have to be an overwelming offer to pry him loose(i guess upton classifies as that, but the dbacks wouldn’t do it).
Yeah, swapping a lefthanded mid-range power-speed guy for a righthanded slugger doesn’t make sense for a batting lineup that’s already right-hand-dominant. However, as you suggested, the Cards’ GM has to talk when someone comes calling because he needs to gauge what the market is for Rasmus. The same goes for Pujols too, the Cards’ GM needs to know what other teams’ GMs would be willing to cough up for him too if a scenario plays out where the Cards are out of contention by the end of July 2011 and they foresee some difficulty being able to extend him.
“Meanwhile, Newsday’s David Lennon wonders if Alderson’s hiring will boost ticket sales ”
Yeah, because fans go to the game because of a GM or manager…. Why should a Met fan go spend out a couple grand until they actually improve the on-field talent?
Yeah, I’ve always gone to games in the hope of seeing the GM sitting in the stands.
Alderson’s more of a suite guy than a stands guy.
A couple grand, come on. If a fan likes the moves a front office or ownership makes it will increase individual game ticket sales. After Yost and Macha (2 confrontational to coaches to the media and fans) Bobby V. would be a godsend to many of the fans in Milwaukee that want a firey coach to stand up for his team. I also would have liked Pat Listach as their new coach.
The Braves hired a new hitting coach…. Didn’t see anything on the site about it, so here is the official story from the Atlanta Braves Official site:
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101029&content_id=15903246&vkey=news_atl&c_id=atl
Hopefully Larry Parrish works out, seems like a “safe” choice.
I swear if Rasmus is on the market and the Red Sox don’t get in on it, I will puke. An outfield of Werth/Crawford, Rasmus and Kalish in the future would rock!
I really don’t see the Red Sox matching up well if Rasmus hits the market. We’re not talking about the strength of the farm, rather the strength of the individual pieces. In other words Kelly is a great trade chip, but he’s a year or 2 away from being fully major league ready. If I’m trading someone like Rasmus I’m going to want a blue chip prospect back who’s ready to start in the majors in 2011 and the Sox don’t have one of those.
This is purely me being curious and no anti-sox hate intended, how is Kelly a year or two away from being mlb ready when he just had a horrible year @ AA and a bad start in the AFL? You have no idea what he will do next year so why the optimism?
Do we ever know what a prospect will do the next year? Why are we ever optimistic about prospects. I’d say the 1 year guess is optimistic whereas the 2 years one is realistic.
We’ve had this argument about Kelly before. You keep pointing to the ERA as proof of a bad year. I keep pointing out the context and his periphery numbers. He had a good K/9 rate, a decent walk rate, an FIP around 3.8, and it was his first full year pitching professional and he was in a league that’s usually where serious prospects get their first real test. As for the AFL… he’s had 4 starts, one bad, two good, and one meh. Sounds like any other pitcher with a small sample size to me.
Like any prospect, it comes down to wait and see. Personally I see great potential in how he pitches and how he approaches pitching, add in his decent periphery numbers and I feel fairly good about his ability to show his ace potential.
Let me first make this clear. I’m not knocking the kid at all. In fact my temperment is the same towards him as it was for Betances and Brackman who struggled last year and came back stronger this year. Certainly Kelly has two things on his side…a) youth b) talent.
But as far as peripherals I’m not seeing what you see from 2010. Forget about ERA because it doesn’t always tell much. It doesn’t say anything about his pitch development. It doesn’t indicate whether or not he’s experiment on new pitches that aren’t 100% mastered yet. However, numbers are numbers.
Positives-
From 09 to ’10 his k/9 increased slightly from 7/9 to 7.6/9.
-His FIP was 4.03 compared to his ERA of 5.31
Negatives-
From 09 to ’10 his BB/9 increased from 1.5/9 to 3.3/9.
From 09 to ’10 his H/9 increased from 6/9 to 11/9.
From 09 to ’10 his IP per start decreased from 5.5 per start to 4.5 per start
Summary: He pitched less innings per start but yielded more walks, allowed more hits but struck out about the same amount of batters.
Certainly w/ an arsenal of a plus FB and potentialy plus curve and change he has amazing potential. Add to the fact that he’s focusing on pitching and not playing SS. I think he’ll get past the struggles but see him being more than 2 years away.
So what positives other than the steady K rate at a higher level (from low A to high A) and increased velocity are you seeing?
And please don’t dismiss what I say as a Yanks fan trying to hate. I will be the first to say I don’t have a mastery of prospect evaluation and just want to see things from another person’s perspective.
I’m not dismissing you as a yanks fan trying to hate, you and I have had enough debates to know that the other takes a devils advocate point of view… I’m saying you’re not taking into account all the data and intangibles. Add to that I’m incredibly tired and not able to debate the individual pieces. Point being, I see positives in Kelly’s future, you ask if there are positives in Kelly’s future… the future? Who knows.
Im not a Boston fan or anything, im also not a Boston hater. But it seems like they have somewhat of a skewed view on their prospects even beyond the normal hometown bias. Yes Kelly is a nice piece but right now if i was a GM he is not someone who i would consider a centerpiece especially if i want someone who can contribute this year or even next year.
Am i saying he is going to be a bust? No. Am I falling in line with the rest of the Sox fans that think he is the 2nd coming? No.
He just finished his first year in pro ball as a pitcher. If you view him as a starter he will need at least another year or 2 just to develop a consistant, repeatable delivery and to develop his secondary pitches. Every pitcher at any level from High School on up needs at least 2 pitches off of his fastball to be effective. You cannot go through a lineup 3 times featuring 2 pitches. Much less go through a league over the course of a season. Give him time to see what kind of pitcher he can be but right now there is just not enough info to go on.
Sox fans generally do overrate their prospects a little bit, but Kelly is still a blue chipper. As a 20 year old in his first full year of pitching he was in double-A, where the average player is two or three years older than him. He may be a little far from the majors, but his is still by all means a centerpiece in any trade the Sox make.
That being said, I’m sure the Cards make major league ready players. I don’t see a deal for Rasmus in the future.
If Kelly has a decent year this year in AA he could be promoted to AAA for the end of the season and may have a September call up in 2012. But I think that is if everything goes right with him. I’d say 2014 before he has a set spot in the rotation.
completely agree with you. He may have an outside shot at a spot in the 2013 rotation depending on if they bring in any free agents but 4 spots are locked up going forward with Beckett, Lester, Lackey and Buchholz provided they dont do something stupid like trading Buchholz.
Dice-K is signed through 2012 as well but i could easily see them trading him to a team on the west coast like Seattle or maybe even LA depending on how much they are willing to kick in moneywise.
I could see them trying out in house guys if they do trade him or perhaps a piggyback trade for someone like a Wandy Rodriguez or Zach Duke. Or if they wait they could make a run at Mark Buehrle after next year if he isnt extended.
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