Links for Thursday, as the White Sox announce that Dayan Viciedo will miss 3-4 weeks with a fractured right thumb…
- Scott Miller of CBS Sports says it's starting to seem likely that the Rangers will move Neftali Feliz to the rotation.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan argues that the Rangers will keep Feliz in the rotation, where he has pitched this spring, if they know what's best.
- Rival teams sense that the Rangers would prefer to move Michael Young before his ten and five rights kick in this May, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). They won't give him away, though.
- Boof Bonser has a clause in his contract that allows him to opt out if he doesn't make the Mets, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). The Mets would love to keep Bonser regardless, but he isn't sure what he'll do if he isn't on the team's Opening Day roster.
- Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson of the New York Times report that the Mets' owners were in financial trouble before Irving Picard filed a $1 billion lawsuit against them.
- One talent evaluator tells Olney that Carl Pavano looks like the best pitcher in Florida this spring (Twitter link).
- Lyle Overbay told Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he signed with the Pirates because "they were going in a better direction" than some of the other interested teams. Overbay, the oldest player on the Pirates roster, says he liked the idea of playing under new manager Clint Hurdle.
Really Johnny???? What exactly did you do here that made you think it was a “slam dunk” that DD would bring you back???
Diamond Dave likes giving out bad contracts or haven’t you noticed?
I wouldn’t say bad contracts as much as bad extensions.
Yes, the team that is TRYING TO TRADE YOU definitely wants you around. Dummy.
Couldn’t have said it any better myself but then again, Damon will always be an “Idiot”!
I thought it would have been obvious that the pitcher with the best mustache would look like the best pitcher. He did say Florida, so John Axford doesn’t count.
Very good point, that upper lip sweater for the cool Minnesota evenings certainly makes him the best pitcher, even in warm sunny Florida.
Look forward to the Sabermetric crowd’s defense of Overbay.
Come on clowns! Where are you?
you’ll be waiting a long time. his LD rate is declining, he’s swinging at more bad pitches and taking fewer walks, he’s seeing the fewest fastballs of his career, and he just turned 34. i wouldn’t hold my breath 🙂
There wasn’t much there for him to decline from to begin with. He’s been basically the definition of league average for pretty much his whole career.
WATCH THE GAMEZ!!!1!
I was underwhelmed by the Overbay signing as much as anyone, but his defensive play at 1B should be a vast improvement over Clement and Jones’ aggregate performance in 2010.
Sweet story on Reyes – Never heard that before. Good stuff.
Other things Reyes does with his right hand; eat pizza, eat McDonalds, eat twinkies, and pick up the check when he goes out to eat with Pablo Sandoval.
Google “Pablo Sandoval weight loss”
Let me know whatcha find.
I Googled that. The article states that he has lost at least 17 lbs. Not bad.
Only 150 lbs more to go.
Nah – you have to look at him in person. There’s no way it was just 17, he literally looks like half a person now.
I’ll take your word for it. That’s impressive.
Does he realize he could have been the winning contestant on NBC’s The Biggest Loser?
Hmmmm, that article from early December?
He dropped 38 lbs. Looks good. Not sure how much that’s going to help him with the bat. Still, he’s not going to drop dead on the field this year, anyway.
Funny what telling him he’d be sent down if he didn’t get his game and conditioning together does for his motivation.
Wilpon and Katz are clearly in dire straits – I hear that the Gaddafis are offering them help.
Slam dunk?? Don’t get me wrong, Damon was good for the tigers but with all of the young guys coming up in the OF, how did he figure the tigers were going to pay him 5mil(or plus) to be a part time OF/DH? They will get basically the same stat line from raburn for half the cost and he will be a full time outfielder who can actually hold a runner from advancing. I really liked having Johnny on the team but he should have seen this coming—it’s almost as is he’s using the tigers as a scapegoat for him being too afraid to show his face at Fenway again.
I’m not sure why everyone seems to think it’s such a no-brainer to move Feliz in the rotation. I know closers generally get over-hyped, but I feel like, especially with the departure of Francisco, this leaves a big gaping hole in the back of the Rangers’ bullpen.
That aside, are we even sure Feliz can make a smooth transition into a starting role? His numbers as a starter got progressively worse as he moved up in the minors, and he’d really need to be able to use his change-up more than he did last year in order to have three true pitches. I feel like it’s best for them to leave well enough alone, really.
part of the problem for them is that an air-tight closer won’t matter much if they can’t get to the ninth with a lead consistently. i don’t think they’re at all satisfied with their rotation, and that’s priority 1
i’m not sure what you’re talking about in terms of his minor league numbers. they are small samples (because he was successful), but he posted FIPs of 3.07 and 2.88 in AA and AAA respectively. his stuff more than qualifies him to start effectively, and that’s all he’d been doing until texas moved him to the bullpen
Ok so the Tigers try to trade you Mr. Damon, and you think it’s a slam dunk that they would want to retain you? Where the hell does that make sense?
Meanwhile in what the rest of us will refer to as “reality,” everyone was expecting a “slam dunk” for the Tigers to say bye-bye to Damon.
…The Mets’ owners were in financial trouble before Irving Picard filed a $1 billion lawsuit against them.
Now that the lawsuit hit, all of the old guard is gone, and there’s no Omar (etc.) for them to hide behind any more, we have a much better perspective on what the Wilpons call “running a Major League ball club.” In keeping with that, words can not express my utter disgust at their incompetence…or my impatience for them to sell. ALREADY.
Welcome to what us Dodger fans want out of McCourt.
“This comment was flagged for review”
What? I’ve never seen disqus do that before.
apparently the wilpons by chance came on the site and flagged my comment that was urging them to just sell the team already. haha
Just be happy someone still wants to employ you, Boof.
Feliz is not gonna be in the Rangers rotation, not now. He said himself he’d prefer to go back to the bullpen for another year. Besides, until he shows consistency with at least one more pitche besides his fastball, he can’t hack it as a starter.
Of course the Stache is the best pitcher in Florida. Too bad he’ll have to play most of his games in 47 other states.