Links from Spanish-language news sources…
- Sources close to Miguel Tejada and Juan Uribe said the infielders will wait and see what kind of contract Derek Jeter signs before committing to anything on their own, according to ESPN Deportes' Enrique Rojas. Neither player is aspiring to Jeter-like money, Rojas writes, but they think Jeter will "establish the market value of veteran shortstops" and give their own respective values a boost. The Cardinals are supposedly interested in both players.
- Neftali Feliz told Jose Caceres of Hoy he's heard rumors about the Rangers planning to move him to the rotation, but on the team's end, "Nobody has said anything to me." SI's Jon Heyman tweeted earlier today that the team would consider the move if they can't sign Cliff Lee.
- Victor Mesa, a former Cuban National Team manager and one of the all-time greats of Cuban baseball, told the official government newspaper Trabajadores that the time has finally come for those in power to allow Cuban players to sign with foreign teams, conveys Diario de Cuba. "I think there could be incorporation [into foreign teams], so that they could spend eight years playing in our National Series and [sign] with our involvement, not independently," Mesa said. The most recent prominent player to flee the country is a speedy teenaged outfielder in the mold of Mesa himself: 17-year-old centerfielder Yasiel Balaguer, who arrived in Nicaragua a few days ago.
So if Jeter signed for $20 million, Uribe and Tejada are going to think they are worth $10 million, right? They don’t realize that Jeter has more meaning to his club than they’ve had any meaning to any club they’ve ever played for, and that the Yankees are willing to overpay?
I think the Pirates would be a good fit for Miggy. He has that winning/veteran vibe that everyone likes and he’s just a great guy to be around. He can also obviously still swing the bat well…I’m really interested in seeing where he signs, but I feel confident that he’ll sign with a team he wants for the amount of money that suits him.
I don’t know Span, I think the opinion of Tejada has changed in the last few years, more specifically since the Mitchell Report came out. I’m not all that sold on his bat anymore either, he’s definitely not the same player he used to be and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he hits the wall hard soon. He’d be nothing more than a stopgap for the Pirates but they really need to be putting their money into pitching if they’re going to spend it on the free agent market. That should be their first priority anyway. Also, with Tejada’s career winding down I’d think he’d want to go to a team that has an immediate chance of winning.
I don’t know Span, I think the opinion of Tejada has changed in the last few years, more specifically since the Mitchell Report came out. I’m not all that sold on his bat anymore either, he’s definitely not the same player he used to be and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he hits the wall hard soon. He’d be nothing more than a stopgap for the Pirates but they really need to be putting their money into pitching if they’re going to spend it on the free agent market. That should be their first priority anyway. Also, with Tejada’s career winding down I’d think he’d want to go to a team that has an immediate chance of winning.
jeeziz Uribe, you win a world series and you wanna go? Money shouldn’t be a factor here..You’re in good hands with the Giants org. Plus how u gonna feel if u get that world series ring next season in a another uniform? lol
Actually I think it’s just the opposite. He’s won the World Series now so if he’s focused on anything it should be financial security. No reason for him to take less to stay with the Giants just because they had success in 2010, he needs to look out for himself and doesn’t need to focus on winning a WS now. Not that money is the only important thing for players but they need to focus on it because their careers are relatively short and once it’s over their earning potential is more or less finished.
Actually I think it’s just the opposite. He’s won the World Series now so if he’s focused on anything it should be financial security. No reason for him to take less to stay with the Giants just because they had success in 2010, he needs to look out for himself and doesn’t need to focus on winning a WS now. Not that money is the only important thing for players but they need to focus on it because their careers are relatively short and once it’s over their earning potential is more or less finished.
If it’s true that Uribe is pegging his demands to whatever Jeter gets, then Sabean better have a Plan B ready to go. It was already known that Uribe wanted to hold out for 3 years, but if he also wants to get a signficant fraction of what Jeter gets annually as well, then he just priced himself off the Giants.
This article is hilarious…
Tejada is waiting on Jeter? How’s about Tejada is waiting for a team to offer him a minor league contract with an invite to spring training…
Feliz to the rotation? No no and no. As a Yankees fan, I can offer some evidence that this is a bad idea. And his name…Joba Chamberlain.
Keep him as the closer. Much harder to find a shut-down closer than it is to find a starter.
“Keep him as the closer. Much harder to find a shut-down closer than it is to find a starter.”70 Innings @ 2.50 era < 180 Innings @ 3.50 eraJust because Joba failed to transition to a starter, doesn’t mean every successful young reliever will as well. Feliz’s minor league stats as a starter are pretty impressive, and no matter how you slice it, if he is successful as a starter he will be more valuable to his team. And while Joba is a pretty good comparison, Feliz tallied up 276 IP in the minors (3.03 era) while Joba only pitched 88 minor league innings (2.45 era)
Hey wasn’t there a rookie closer that helped a team win a WS in 2006?… Oh yeah! ADAM WAINWRIGHT!!! Moonraker has it right, if they’re young and talented, try and throw them in the rotation. Worst case scenario you have to put them back in the BP. It’s definitely worth the risk considering what happened with Waino.
Hey wasn’t there a rookie closer that helped a team win a WS in 2006?… Oh yeah! ADAM WAINWRIGHT!!! Moonraker has it right, if they’re young and talented, try and throw them in the rotation. Worst case scenario you have to put them back in the BP. It’s definitely worth the risk considering what happened with Waino.
“Keep him as the closer. Much harder to find a shut-down closer than it is to find a starter.”70 Innings @ 2.50 era < 180 Innings @ 3.50 eraJust because Joba failed to transition to a starter, doesn’t mean every successful young reliever will as well. Feliz’s minor league stats as a starter are pretty impressive, and no matter how you slice it, if he is successful as a starter he will be more valuable to his team. And while Joba is a pretty good comparison, Feliz tallied up 276 IP in the minors (3.03 era) while Joba only pitched 88 minor league innings (2.45 era)
If we don’t resign Lee or trade for Grienke, then I wouldn’t have a problem with at least letting him try starting in ST next year, and see how he does. The Rangers did strike gold by letting CJ Wilson do that last year, and he wound up being one of their best starters. And they did stretch him out as a starter last spring before ultimately moving him back to the pen, so it wouldn’t be a totally foreign concept to him
Worst case scenario, it doesn’t work out and you send him back to the bullpen. Best case scenario, he blossoms into a shutdown starter. He certainly has the stuff to do it, and they have some power arms they can turn to in the pen if he does make the transition (Ogando, a healthy Mark Lowe, maybe even Tanner Scheppers)
Jeter’s contract should have no bearing on anyone else’s contract with a different team.
Jeter is going to be grossly over paid because he’s an icon in NYC. See, there’s dollars, and then there’s Yankee dollars. The four highest paid players in the game in 2010 were Yankees, and the only five players to make above 20 mil per year played in NYC. Jeter’s deal may impact the future cost of another Yankee icon, but not any player at any position on any other team. Nice try, guys.
What Jeter gets is irrelevant. He’s a special case to the Yankees and the Yankees alone. Tejada and Uribe should wake up and smell the coffee.
I demand a prospect report/profile on Yasiel Balaguer now.
Thank you!
It’s laughable to put Miggy and Uribe in the same sentence as Jeter. Here’s hoping that the Yankees put together a package that has tons of strings attached, which gives him the potential to earn $xx, but does not guarantee a large figure salary, unless he attains those goals. That would be a great model to apply to the remaining shortstops in the mix as well. What they’ve accomplished in the past means absolutely nothing going forward. Results = more money.