The St. Louis Browns were officially re-christened the Baltimore Orioles on this date in 1953. Jack Dunn III, whose family had operated the International League's Baltimore Orioles for decades, turned over rights to the Orioles name and became the first traveling secretary of the MLB franchise. Here's the news and notes from today's AL East:
- In the wake of what happened with Grant Balfour, one agent's solution to dealing with the Orioles is to never discuss money until the player's medicals have been examined, tweets Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com.
- Despite the retirements of Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte, the Yankees have managed to become an older team this offseason, reports the New York Post's Joel Sherman. The eight projected position starters will be at least 30-years-old come Opening Day and Sherman notes the chances six or seven of them performing at a high level are not good and there's a lack of talent in the pipeline ready to step up and provide quality and energy, if needed.
- Carlos Beltran, one of the Yankees' 30-something acquisitions, is listed as the best free agent signing this winter by Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. The Yankees' signing of 30-year-old Jacoby Ellsbury, however, is ranked as the second worst by Dubroff because speed doesn't age well. The worst? Robinson Cano's 10-year, $240MM pact with the Mariners.
- Beltran told reporters, including Newsday's David Lennon, he insisted on a third year to improve his chances of making the Hall of Fame. "I felt that having the third year, it allowed me to play longer, and it allowed me to put up better numbers. In my consideration, it would be more realistic." Beltran also hinted this may not be his final contract.
I dont view Canos as being the worst. He is durable and an All Star that puts up big numbers yr after yr which is exactly what Seattle needs.
Ten years, inconsistent defense, has showed platoon splits through his career, most power has come from Yankee Stadium and is now moving to a pitchers’ park. It’s very probable that in 5-6 years the Mariners will have him in a platoon and in the last 3/4 seasons of his contract he will be limited to DH/1B. Not to mention that, even if he has been durable, second basemen tend to age horribly.
even so, how else were they going to get a guy like him?
Ecactly my point and he pretty much demanded a 10 yr contract
Seattle could almost have Ellsbury and Choo for the same money as Cano. They needed a boost and Cano is an awesome player. But the smartest thing would probably been signing slightly less expensive stars.
Except that they couldn’t as they had an offer to Ellsbury and he declined. I think Cano is what they needed. Most people view it as bad but the name value will help put fans in seats and excite people. It’s a lot to spend but I think it’ll actually help in more ways that just on the field.
Also, Seattle has a lot of great young players with potential that I think people forget about. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for a couple to turn it around and become prominent.
Their attendance is going down hill and bringing in the MVP of the New York Yankees will help, at least in the short run.
Ya except for Ellsbury didnt want to play for the Mariners
Nowhere, but a “guy like him” is not enough to go to the postseason, as last year showed. Ellsbury + Beltran + McCann = around the total money given to Cano and amount for more WAR, and a shorter commitment (all contracts will be over in 7 years). That’s using the brain.
that’s also assuming that they do not plan to put anyone else around him. i think we’ve had this conversation in these posts enough to agree that this isn’t the only move they will ever make, and that everyone knows that him alone is not enough to get to the postseason. we also know that they weren’t going to get ellsbury, so he wasn’t an option. that’s hardly enough reason to sit idle.
But that’s the point: Seattle had more space to give a 10 year, 240 million dollar contract, the Yankees weren’t going to make that mistake again. My reasoning and what the Yankees’ behavior seems to indicate is that they didn’t see him worthy of more than 5 years of top production ahead, hence the 7 year offer (2 dead years as sign of respect). The Mariners either think differently or (most likely) don’t care.
How do you figure that he is going to fall off the planet at age 35. Just because it happened to Sandy Alomar Jr. does not mean it is going to happen to Cano or anyone else just because they play 2nd base.
Roberto Alomar, Sandy Jr. was a catcher that played into his 40s. I’m not saying HE IS GOING TO. If anyone could accurately predict the future then we wouldn’t have this debate. Evidence, as in long term results from other men manning the keystone, speak of a lesser probability of staying power than, let’s say, outfield. Hence, it is harder, from a business standpoint, to reason giving 10 years to Cano. He could be like Craig Biggio or Jeff Kent. He could be like Roberto Alomar. He could even be like Chase Utley and keep being useful… when healthy. Yes, he’s a workhorse now., but so where Hideki Matsui and Miguel Tejada back in the day, until Matsui simply had no knees and Tejada appeared to be a decade older than what he was supposed to be.
The point is, there’s no accurate way to predict it, and given A-Rod’s experience, the Yankees will simply not give a 10 year contract that ends with a player in his 40s. And for that, I commend them. No one is worthy of a floor of 3 years as an albatross.
While I agree with you agreeing that it’s a terrible contract, Cano is a very good defender, hits lefties at around a .290 career clip, and will see some home runs translate to doubles and triples not disappeaer, as he doesn’t really hit lofty, floaty, home runs, but those that get out on a line.
Cano is a very good defender? What cano have you been watching?
He is not very good, he is the best. NO ONE turns the double play better. His range is excellent. He has a shortstops arm with pin point accuracy. His coverage on pop ups (where he literally) turns around at full speed and makes the “Willie Mays” catch effortlessly takes away runs from the opposition. I am disappointed he is gone, but as I stated previously he is one of the 5 best position players in the game. Ask Derek Jeter about Cano’s defense. Without him the Yanks would have lost 100 games last year.
The Cano who wins Gold Gloves, perhaps?
Cano is a very good defender? What cano have you been watching?
Shown platoon splits? Talk about grasping at straws. Cano is a top five player and nothing can be argued against that. It still means the contract is bad but most are nowadays.
Check his batting against left handed pitchers. It comes and goes intermitently in the last 4-5 years.
Defensive stats are probably inconsistent, not him. Cano has always been a better hitter on the road.
Not in the power department. Also, lags a lot with runners in scoring position and post season batting.
I coulda swore he has won a gold glove and is a good defender, his numbers are almost the same in Safeco
Not disagreeing with most of this, but basically every LHH has platoon splits. Cano’s are not drastic. He’s still above average vs. LHP.
Not quite above average, plus, on the bad side of thirties there’s a higher probability that the split will increase.
Evidence for this? Baseball Prospectus did a study a few years ago that showed platoon splits don’t really widen with age. I’d link, but every time I do my post gets rejected.
I just say it due to what other players (Teixeira, Hamilton, Ethier, Choo himself) have shown.
Don’t worry we have Dean Anna. Cano is one of the 5 best players in baseball. He turns the double play better than anyone in the bigs. I hate that he is gone.
He is a great 2B right now, he is worth every single penny he is going to make next season and probably the 4 after that. But I do praise the Yankees for not commiting a decade to yet another player that at the end of his tenure will be roster clutter.
We are all in for a rude awakening watching Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts trying to replace him next year. I agree that 10 years is too long. But that is how the market played out. One thing about the Yankees Front Office I can’t stand is how they are willing to spend more money on other team’s free agents rather than their own. If Cano was say with the Red Sox, I have ZERO doubt they would have given him 10 years at 240.
And you base that on what? The Ellsbury contract? I guess that A-Rod and Jeter don’t count as spending in their own free agents, right?
Yes, Johnson and Roberts won’t be able to take Cano’s place, agreed. But they don’t have to. the batting replacement is spread between Ellsbury, McCann and Beltran. They’re not brought in to replace Cano, they are brought in to man 2B and they are both capable of it. In 2001, when A-Rod left the Mariners, who was brought to replace him? Bret Boone? Ichiro Suzuki? Carlos Guillen? The previous year who was brought to replace Ken Griffey Jr.? John Olerud? Mike Cameron?
And yet, 2001, the immediate year after consecutively losing the 2 best players that ever played for them, the Mariners had the best season they have ever posted.
Regardless of how good he is its a terrible contract for any team. Its an even worse contract for a team that doesn’t have nearly enough talent around him. Wasted money.
it’s their money to spend though. some team was going to end up with that contract.
You’re absolutely right. They have every right to spend their money as they wish.
I think it’s not great.
Cano is valuable because he is so much better offensively compared to other 2b. Then you go and you have several scrubs in your of, which comparatively corner outfielders are easy ways to get offense, Same thing with them at 1b.
What is Dubroff basing his claims off of? The “speed doesn’t age well” mantra has been proven wrong time and time again by statistics. Dave Cameron has a good write up on it: fangraphs.com/blogs/yankees-sign-jacoby-ellsbury-b…
What decline might occur in speed could be offset by maturity in steal selection and defensive positioning in the field.
Dubroff’s arguments are mostly based around postseason performance and RIBEYEZ!!!!
Hard to see how it was a good move, let alone the best move, for the Yankees to sign a 37 year old below average fielding outfielder who hit 278 with 5 homers during the second half for big money over 3 years. The Royals dodged a bullet when Beltran again used them to further his own self interest.
Mr. Dubroff’s assessment ignores defense, uses traditional hitting stats, and credits Beltran for his past teams being in the playoffs. Weak stuff.
You just sound like a Royals fan that is upset that Beltran didn’t sign with them. I bet you’d be thinking the opposite if Beltran would have signed with the Royals instead of the Yankees.
When the rumor was that KC had signed him for $48M/3, I posted I was disappointed that the NYY hadn’t signed him (I’m a RS fan). He’s a good hitter, but not a great hitter. And he is among the worst fielders in BB, at an age where he should become slower and more injury-prone.
No way. I was totally against the Royals signing Beltran for a long term high dollar contract and losing the 19th pick in the draft — the Cards used the 19th pick from the Angels for Puhols to draft Wacca. I don’t think he is that good anymore, and he would have cost the Royals about 20 to 25 runs in RF (no DH spot available) in comparison to a good fielding RF.
No way. I was totally against the Royals signing Beltran for a long term high dollar contract and losing the 19th pick in the draft — the Cards used the 19th pick from the Angels for Puhols to draft Wacca. I don’t think he is that good anymore, and he would have cost the Royals about 20 to 25 runs in RF (no DH spot available) in comparison to a good fielding RF.
Seems like the usual media and fan bias at work here. All we hear is what a great hitter Beltran is. The Cardinals were very shrewd to sign him last time around with the same injury history. Now the Yankees get him and he’s a hot geriatric mess? He’s going to split time in a small RF in Yankee Stadium and DH. Let’s not make it seem like the Yankees intend to install him in CF and roll him out there eight days a week.
These blogs that subscribe to the theory that “speed doesn’t age well” in Ellsbury’s case as a reason that the signing is a poor one for the Yankees ignore the fact that in year 5 of that contract Ellsbury will only be 34 years old. He turns 31 in Sept. 2014 the end of the 1st year of his new contract. It’s insane how some of these blogs get hold of a “catch phase” and run with it. It makes me wonder if they do any research or just put stuff out there to see it in print.
Completely agree. The whole speed ages poorly thing is ridiculous. Everyone gets worse as they age and there is no real evidence that speedy players age worse than everyone else. If you actually think about it, speedy players are the guys who keep themselves in the best shape so wouldn’t you rather bet on them to succeed into their mid 30s than a overweight, out of shape, immobile slugger?
You use a straw man argument in trying to compare an aging speed guy against an “overweight, out of shape, immobile slugger.” Who said anything about preferring a fat guy? You agree everyone gets worse with age, so that means you expect Ellsbery to deteriorate. It seems logical that a speed guy would be likely to age worse, but I have not seen any analysis of the issue. Even at 31, are there many speed guys who are playin at a high level? I don’t know the answer, just aking.
You should look around then because there’s been plenty of analysis done. Could start with fangraphs since they did a nice piece that discusses age vs speed specifically in response to the ellsbury signing.
I’m a RS fan, I had no problem with Ells leaving and Bradley starting, but I doubt that there will be anything more than normal aging for Ellsbury. The contract is a little too high and a little too long, but Ellsbury is also an outstanding athlete.
“It makes me wonder if they do any research or just put stuff out there”
Ellsbury is 30 now, how can he be 34 in 5 years?
Using years and meaning seasons, 2014 will be his age 30 season.
“It makes me wonder if they do any research or just put stuff out there”
Ellsbury is 30 now, how can he be 34 in 5 years?
Yankees have spent almost $300 million this offseason and not a penny of it to add to an average at best rotation (Kuroda was re-signed so I wont consider it an addition to last years rotation). In the American League East mediocre pitching will get you nowhere so my guess is another year of both New York teams golfing in October.
My guess is you are premature in your evaluation of at least the Yankees season. There are still 2 months until pitchers and catchers report to spring training and over 3 months until teams begin their seasons and the rosters are set. BTW, none of the so called “elite” starting FA pitchers have gone anywhere. They are all still available.
Why not Ervin Santana for the Yankees? He was very good this year for Royals.
Flyball pitcher.
Not to mention he was good for one year. He was terrible in LA.
Weak pitching market. The Yanks are foaming at the mouth for Masterson, Bailey, Scherzer and possibly Kershaw to hit the market. The money will be flying next year.
Pineda and Banuelos could surprise this year.
The only loss was Pettitte, as Hughes being replaced by anyone is an upgrade. However, CC and Kuroda are both # 3 SP’ers now, so they need an ace to compete.
Tanaka looks like the only potential ace available on the market. If they lose out on him they have to hope Pineda and/or Banuelos comes through
I really liked Pineda a couple years ago. The talent is there and he should have every opportunity to prove himself this year.
I think CC is going to surprise fans. He may not be ace the Yankees signed in 2009 in 2014 but my guess is he improves pretty dramatically over his 2013 performance.
Lost a lot of velocity after that elbow surgery. Not sure its coming back, if not, neither is he. If he does, its good news for the Yankees, but that’s as likely as Jeter returning to 2012 form
Shouldn’t be hard, but he’ll never be a $25MM pitcher again (assuming he ever was).
He was worth 7.5 WAR in 2011 which was clearly worth more even than the $24M the Yankees paid him. He’s topped 6 WAR on two other occasions. So yeah he’s been worth $25M during several seasons.
And just last year and even for a bit this year Lester was looking pretty bad. CC is getting older, but I doubt that this will be a trend for him. Also, after being close to his FIP for much of his career he really diverged from it this year. It alludes that there was some regression, but he wasn’t 4.78 era bad.
Youre forgetting another big loss..Mariano Rivera. Impossible to replace and will definitely result in a few losses that a traditional Yankees team with Rivera would not have had.
exactly what elite pitching is so available?
Not my job to play GM. All i can do is evaulate what they have done to upgrade from the previous season and so far ive seen one signing that will really pay big dividends and thats Brian Mccann. Ellsbury is a glorified Brett Gardner who lands on the DL often and Beltran is due for a drop off in performance at some point. Pitching wins and they have done nothing to improve an already mediocre pitching staff. Not to mention Mariano Rivera is gone and the bullpen is looking shake as well. Tanaka would be a big help and even a guy like Bronson Arroyo would be a nice pick up for them. Hes put up consistent numbers in the most hitter friendly National League ballpark so Yankee Stadium shouldnt be a big adjustment for him at all.
“In the American League East mediocre pitching will get you nowhere”. I’d say it got boston pretty far.
they only won a world series. what have they done lately?
That was his point
Walked around town without shirts?
I would not call their pitching mediocre. They didn’t really have a top #1/ace (except for Lester in the second half), but they had depth. That is the difference. They didn’t have much top of the line starters, but all five in their rotation were pretty reliable (especially once Dempster was out of the rotation). Compare that to what the Yankees had in their rotation at the end of the season and it is not hard to see that they do need to add a starter or two.(However, some advanced metrics say that the Yankees rotation wasn’t really all that bad last season).
6th in the AL in runs allowed is not really anything more than average pitching.
“(However, some advanced metrics say that the Yankees rotation wasn’t really all that bad last season).” Most metrics say it was essentially the same as bostons.
Boston had the 2nd best ERA in the AL East last season and only .05 points behind Tampa for tops in the division. So exactly how is that mediocre?
They actually got younger on the field at most positions. Beltran replaces the older Ichiro, Gardner replaces the older Soriano in LF, Ellsbury replaces the older Granderson in CF, Johnson replaces the older Arod/Youkillis at 3B. Soriano is only 1 yr older than Hafner at DH and the same age as Papi with the red Sox. Tex replaces the older Overbay at 1B. McCann is younger than Stewart at C
jeter and Roberts makes them older at SS and 2B though.
Gardner played CF not Granderson.
Granderson has always played center, Gardner played because Granderson was injured all year.
Is to never discuss money until the player’s medicals have been examined..
What would this call this “The Oriole” rule?
Peter Angelos finally makes his mark in modern day baseball.
It’s not because the fans love him or free agents want to come and play for Baltimore.
Peter Angelos will be known for creating a new rule.
Marvelous! Leave it to a Lawyer!
Assuming he can get to 2500 hits and 400 home runs over the next 3 years I still don’t see Beltran doing more than getting on a HOF ballot. He has some great postseason numbers which might keep him around, but I don’t see Bronze in Beltran’s future.
Nice to know what Beltran’s focus is on.
I’m not sure I understand why Beltran needed a third year to increase his HOF chances. What, he couldn’t have signed a one year deal in 2016?
He’s a long shot anyway. In an era in which 500 homers is no longer a lock, he may not even get to 400. And the guy has never lead the league in a single category.
Very good player, yes. HOF player, nope.
Agree he is not HOF. He wants three years AS A YANKEE in the search for post season glory to boost his HOF chances. He should have looked at the players now on the team. The Yankess are likely to be a 500 club the next couple years, and they probably will be done with Beltran by year 3. As odd as it seems, he probably would have had as good a chance at post season magic with the Royals as with the Yankees, along with the feel good story and very friendly fans [don’t expect that in New York}
lol. Just up a bit you are talking about how the Royals are lucky not to have Beltran.
Very unlikely that the Yankees are a .500 team the next few years. They got a combined 116 ab from Teix and Jeter, and only 156 from Arod. So in essence they are are adding Teix, Jeter, McCann, Beltran, Ellsbury, and 2/3 of a season of arod and you think they will get worse? You can argue that they aren’t division favorites, but no argument that they likely a .500 team.
I would say they honestly will probably break even from last year. Yes they get Jeter and Tex back but the chances of a 40+ yr old SS staying healthy and producing anything drastic doesn’t seem to high. Also Tex has been trending downwards for the past four years. While it’s also possible that both have great years I would have to think the more likely scenario is that health continues to be a factor for quite a few players on the Yankees roster.
But there is a massive gap between trending downward Teix and Overway.
You know the team far better than me, but from a distance, losing your best players and adding at bats from old guys looks like 500. Their run differential last year should have produced 79 wins. I resepct Jeter greatly, but a 40 year old shortstop? And significant contributions from Arod? Does not seem like a team getting better.
But all of that was after a huge amount of injuries. Arod, Jeter, Teix, Beltran, Soriano don’t have to earn their contracts, they are a huge upgrade over what they had before.
Last year they saw Wells, Ichiro, Overbay, were awful and they were 3 out of the 5 guys that got the most ab on the entire team. Next 5 that saw the most ab you won’t see Stewart, Nix, or Hafner. Nunie had 300 ab last year, so if Jeter can fully replace Nix’s ab at short then that’s an upgrade.
the point is they’re really old and destined to get injured again. They won’t be a great team without fixing the starting pitching. As far as I’m concerned they’ve made pretty lateral movements this offseason
No inconsistency. Here, I was talking about what would have been in Beltrans’ best interest, not the Royals’ best interest. KC fans are overly sensitive and would have taken great joy at Beltran coming back.
“As odd as it seems, he probably would have had as good a chance at post season magic with the Royals as with the Yankees”
1980 called… It wants it’s standings back!! That was about the last time this statement was even remotely true.
Now that’s funny. But seriously, the Royals won one more game than the Yankees last year when the Yankees won about 6 gams more than their run diffrential suggested. The Royals are in a significantly weaker division. At least at to next year, I think the playoff chances are about the same, maybe a little better for the Royals (but the Yankees probably will sign more players).
Now that’s funny. But seriously, the Royals won one more game than the Yankees last year when the Yankees won about 6 gams more than their run diffrential suggested. The Royals are in a significantly weaker division. At least at to next year, I think the playoff chances are about the same, maybe a little better for the Royals (but the Yankees probably will sign more players).
He’s never been predominantly a home-run guy though. He was, in his prime, an elite defensive center fielder who added a ton of value with his legs and also happened to hit like a corner outfielder. He’s already a borderline HOF candidate. If he can put up another good year or two, he’ll have a strong case.
30-40 HR is not a HR guy? Beltran did lots of other things right that people forget about his power. With 600abs Beltran was good for 25-35 HRs and sometimes 38 and 41.
Not “predominantly,” like I said. My point is 500 HR isn’t necessary for a guy who isn’t just a power hitter.
The better the player is, the worse the contract is going to be. Thats just how it is.
Beltran is Hall of Very Good, but likely not Hall of Fame. Especially with longevity boosting his stats potentially. I’m conservative on the Hall though.
Seems to me there is a fundamental difference between signing a terrific ballplayer for too much/too long and signing mediocre or too old. Cano is a terrific ballplayer. Is he overpaid? Sure, but it would take something really catastrophic for Seattle to not get what it was expecting for the first half of the contract. After that, it’s a crap shoot. Elsbury? Too much for too long and not as good/durable as Cano. Contract could work out fine, or could be an absolute disaster. If the judgement is going to be on total value/length, with the bias always towards shorter, without looking at underlying quality, I question that. All these guys are overpaid. Look at the prices for C+ B- pitchers and middle relievers. Are they really “better” simply because they are shorter?