Here are some links to check out before the NLCS kicks off later this afternoon..
- Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel points out that the somewhat low payrolls of the remaining playoff teams are examples of the importance of drafting, scouting, and player development. The Tigers have the largest payroll (10th), while the Cardinals (11th), Rangers (13th), and Brewers (17th) round out the pack. It's also worth noting that the Diamondbacks rank 25th and the Rays were 29th.
- The progress of center fielder Jon Jay allowed the Cardinals to trade Colby Rasmus at the deadline, GM John Mozeliak told Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, and Octavio Dotel have been key parts of the team's drive to the NLCS.
- Some people think that C.J. Wilson has keen interest as a free agent in New York, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. He adds that the Yankees are probably the early favorite to sign him.
- A Lakeview, Illinois resident is "99.9 percent sure" that he saw Red Sox GM Theo Epstein at a Starbucks in Lincoln Park, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Boston ownership has yet to acknowledge a report that the Cubs have asked for permission to talk to Epstein.
- The Angels continued their front-office purge by not renewing the contract of player development director Abe Flores, a major league source told Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Flores spent four seasons as the team's player development director after spending the previous six as the team's manager of baseball operations.
- No matter what kind of career pitcher Pedro Strop has, the trade for left-hander Mike Gonzalez at the August deadline was worth it for the Rangers, writes Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com.
An Epstein sighting at Starbucks!?!? Now that’s news!
what an embarrassing article
Agreed. I know a guy who is 87.23% sure he saw C.C Sabathia in a Boston McDonalds earlier this year. Does this mean I can be on the internets too?
This sounds like an Onion news story
Maybe to TMZ…
My dog.
I like your dog. King Charles Cavalier?
yep.
yep.
As if I didn’t like C.J. Wilson enough, the possibility of seeing him in pinstripes would make me die a little inside
The way the free agents have been playing the last few years I would be more concerned the play of CJ rather than the money!
Lol same thing im thinking.
I’m 100% sure if Wilson isn’t back with the rangers next year he will be in the NL. And it’s a guarantee that he will play for a west division team.
Well if the Cubs made Theo go get his own coffee while in Chicago, I’m sure Boston has nothing to worry about.
There are no Starbucks in Boston. Only Dunkin Donuts.
Um, that is false.
If only
lol. i live right next door to one.
you fail
you’re forgetting how much theo likes to overpay for mediocre things
Consistency…..I can always count on your posts to be humorous.
Wow…Epstein drinks coffee?
As for Wilson going to the Yankees–Kevin Brown
Im not sure what you are getting at?
Join the club…
Paul Sullivan should be reprimanded for writing such an embarrassing article. That headline goes against everything journalism should be about. It is the worst thing I’ve read all year.
Arte should fire himself!
huh?
The Angels Owner, Arte Moreno. Should fire himself. I can’t stand the owner of my team.
We’ll take him.
Sincerely,
Dodgers fans
What is there not to like about the guy. I think he’s a great owner. He expects to win every year, and doesn’t care what it cost to make that happen. The team the angels have is a great one granted they have had injury issues. They have a amazing head coach and now ya are about to bring in a new GM who ever that is. What is the point of complaining. I think many teams would like a owner like that
Uh okay. Sucked that he got us those 5 division titles then. Disney or whoever else they would have sold us to certainly wouldn’t have gotten them.
Also regarding the Strop/Gonzalez trade. Yeah, I’m also sure the Tigers really wished they traded John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander. I’m sure the fact that Smoltz pitched excellently for the Braves for 20 years when the Tigers had ONE playoff appearance in that time really was worth it.
I mean sure, Alexander was great for 11 starts, but does anyone think Smoltz would have helped the Tigers have 14 playoff appearances like he had for the Braves? Absolutely.
Can we all stop with black and white or WIN/LOSS determinations on trades? If Stroup becomes a beast, its a shame for Texas, Gonzalez was good in the playoffs and down the stretch, but it wasn’t “worth it” because its only short term success, whereas its a potential massive failure long-term, but its just one of those things that a team has to make. There aren’t “worth it/not worth it” decisions, its just a part of the game. Oakland did the same thing with Bradley/Ethier to get them to the ALCS, but they wish they had Ethier now. Short term success vs long term failure is never “worth it”, that’s a bad way of putting it, its more a necessity.
I think its a stupid article. Gonzalez is incredibly inconsistent and wasn’t great during his time in Texas leading up the playoffs.
Let’s stay away from Wilson, Yankees. If you’re going to buy a SP, get Darvish. While he hasn’t proved he can do well in MLB, he’s younger, his contract would take less of a hit on the payroll and wouldn’t cost the draft pick.
Plus all the media benefits, and subsequent revenues from having a Japanese superstar in New York. $$$. The Yankees are aware of this and for this reason, why they’d take a stab at him first. And agreed, it wouldn’t cost Cashman in the draft. C.J Wilson is a good pitcher, but not someone I’d like to hand over an $85mm contract too.
Since when have the Yankees cared about taking a hit on contracts?
Matt Holliday, Carl Crawford, John Lackey, Jayson Werth…
in other words, since 2010
haha yeah, pretty much, but you have to admit the philosophy is different in the Yankees’ FO now than it was in say, 2006. They have had one big off season in FA and it was 2009, other than that it’s been mostly resigning their own guys or the bargain bin.
Cliff Lee would have been a big signing but it didn’t happen. Anyway, the overall point is there is a conscience in the FO about taking bad contracts and I think Igawa was probably the start of it.
Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Carl Pavano….
Please don’t include Holliday’s name with that bunch
I think the struggles of Igawa and Dice K have made the Yanks a little wary of big ticket international guys. They passed on Chapman who was relatively cheap. I think there’s interest in Darvish but it’s going to be very scrutinized within the organization I think.
Question. Does Darvish require a posting fee or is he a straight up free agent?
Posting fee. He’s not a free agent until after 2014.
Darvish…really? Don’t think Yankee fans have forgot about Igawa.
Would it be weird if a Boston fan wouldn’t mind if his team took a shot at him then?
I would sign Wilson over Darvish he has proven to be a good pitcher in the majors,is left handed, and hasn’t pitch that many innings. He also has playoff experience with some success. It’s a no brainer!
epstein to the cubs for tyler colvin
epstein and lackey to the cubs for nothing.
What a great move by GM Mozeliak to land those pitchers. What was AA thinking trading away all that pitching, add to that Marcum in the off season. AA helped put both the Cards and the Brewers in the playoffs.
and he helped the Jays by dealing from a position of strength to secure two young potential superstars at positions in which the jays were organizationally weak. Boom.
Also J. Jay had developed so much that he didn’t even get tabbed to start the deciding game of the NLDS.
Played in 150 games this season…. I will say this again. John Jay played in 150 games this season. You guys got Colby Rasmus a really weak outfielder & we are in the playoffs. Thanks …. I hope we can doing business with you guys again next year. LOL
lol
Your acting as if John Jay came from the Jays in the deal for Rasmus. Rasmus wasn’t keeping you from the playoffs and JJ wasn’t the piece that got you into the playoffs. Time will tell about Rasmus although I always thought he was overrated.
Criticizing AA is a no-no around here…
AA is a weak GM…. enough said.
Except from that whole trading Vernon Wells thing?
Getting rid of wells and locking up bautista for an under market value contract is pretty ok in my book.
I think AA is a good GM but those two deals aren’t necessarily indicative that he’s a GREAT GM. He found a sucker in Reagins. It’s not like he made a trade that showed incite or wisdom. He found a sucker. Signing Bautista was smart but it was a mutual thing where Bautista wanted the security after 1 break thru season.
Good GM but he has to prove himself with more traditional moves.
If he makes traditional moves then he won’t be spectacular. He has had to think outside the box to make up for the screw ups JP made the previous 8 years. He did what no one thought was possible in trading Wells. He also made a move by signing Bautista to an extension when a lot of people, me included, thought it was a bad idea and it has shown to be a great idea. He made some bold moves by trading Marcum for Lawrie and he got a good haul for Halladay. He hasn’t been in charge long enough to declare that he is “masterful” and make him the King of Canada, but he is one of if not the hottest GM in baseball right now.
I agree with you, but weren’t you and I arguing this point a few days ago?
Oh I agree, I do not think he is a great GM. I just think he is good, in order to be great you have to win a WS.
“Enough said”. Yeah enough said for you to look like a fool.
In addition to Wells and the other deals mentioned here, that whole Marcum for Lawrie deal is looking pretty good too.
AA put the Brewers in the playoffs with that moved while you stayed in 4th place. Your pitching sucks & you trade Marcum. Toronto is the only city I know of that don’t like WINNING!!!!
Angels front office:
And here I was thinking all general managers stayed solely in their team’s cities…
Jon Heyman writing an article linking a top free agent to the Yankees? Shocking. Absolutely shocking.
C.J. Wilson will not be a Yankee. If the Rangers don’t get him he’s going to the NL. The Rangers are the early favorite, by the way. He’s already said he wants to stay, and I’m pretty sure Nolan and company will offer him a fair contract. Look at what Weaver just got extended in Anaheim for. It’s not always all about who can money whip somebody the hardest. CJ has no better chance of winning in New York than he does in Texas and he knows it.
Maybe not, but it was in BOSTON!!! That means he loves the burgers in Beantown and is ready to sign a big deal with the Sox! Right?
It’s called investigative journalism. It’s what the guys at the Chicago Tribune have that we don’t.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t early favorites. Just means they might not land him.
Ten words: What does C.J. Wilson have to do with Cliff Lee?
All I see are pictures of theo epstein…?
O_o ?
I guess it really depends if you consider C and J to be separate words.
4th place… enough said.
I wasn’t crazy about trading Rasmus, but if the rentals put us in the NLCS again next year, I’ll gladly trade you Jay.
I don’t think that the rentals you got put you in the NLCS. I see it more as an Atlanta collapse then a Cardinal comeback. I know that getting into the playoffs is huge and the Cardinals had to put themselves into a position for the Braves to collapse, but it was more of a Braves complete destruction rather then the Cardinals playing themselves in to the playoffs.
However you view it. Sure it took Atlanta playing bad to get us in. It also took us losing for the Brewers to win the division. Cardinals went 20-8 down the stretch and needed every win to get in. I’m very confident without Jackson, Dotel, and Scrabble they don’t go 20-8, so however you want to view it.
I give credit to the Cardinals to do what they could to get to the playoffs but if the Braves go even 11-16 instead of 9-18 in September, the Cards don’t get in. The Cardinals played well and took advantage of the Braves playing bad, but it was ultimately the Braves terrible play that got the Cardinals into the playoffs.
Well if the Cardinals go 18-10 instead of 20-8, then it wouldn’t even have mattered that the Braves went 9-18. The Cardinals did win 90 games you know? That’s a pretty good season. It’s not like they lucked into the playoffs with 83 wins.
For the record, the Rangers offered Lee the most money. Just sayin’.
So….maybe it should be
Cliff Lee: Rangers #1 LH starter, Yankees want him, hits free agency, RANGERS offer the most money ($161 mil > $148 mil). Signs with Philly.
CJ Wilson: Rangers #1 LH starter, Yanks want him (maybe).
He signs somewhere other than Texas.
LMAO you can’t believe you’re about to explain it to me? Dude, you made a vague assumption based on a different person. Just because Cliff Lee rejected the Yankees, doesn’t mean every top pitcher will for the rest of baseball history. CJ Wilson might sign with the Yankees, might not, but it has nothing to do with Cliff Lee.
CJ has said this before, his favorite mound to pitch on is in Boston. I hope the Rangers can re-sign him, but if not then he’s probably off to Boston
Hoping Boston does not sign him and not just because he will cost a fortune and only been a SP for last few seasons.
Fenway over the 100 seasons has been brutal to LHP except for a select few to home pitchers. They can be counted on a couple of hands. Spaceman Lee, Tudor, of course Lester etc.. There are not a lot of ones who have had success and brave enough to throw inside when they need to, yet keep hitters off balance and stay outside with the wall to RH hitters.
It is a more risky sign for them than was Lackey with him being a lefty.
Hahahaha What. A. Loser.