HOT STOVE, COOL SAND

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2678036

Post-Thanksgiving Delight: El Caballo + The Woodrow

Shea at The Stadium?

Dec 1 - Shea Hillenbrand's agent tells the New York Post that the Yankees are interested in Hillenbrand, a right-handed hitter, as a first baseman.
"We are having discussions, and [the Yankees] are one of the teams in the mix," agent Dan Lozano told the newspaper. "We aren't as far along as we would like with all the teams but hopefully in the next couple of days we will have something."

Hillenbrand, according to the newspaper, might be willing to accept a two-year deal.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5735

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5738

Down Frank Catalanotto, up Frank Thomas and Royce Clayton. It's a close call whether the Jays' lineup or Fox News' lineup lists more heavily to the right.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=41

Terry Ryan is coming to the realization that Santana-Bonser-pray for roof collapse is not the best strategy so he's going after FORMER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR! Jason Jennings.

i don't understand the red sox falling in love with Drew and Lugo. for some reason theo has had a boner about lugo for three years now.

http://www.nokahoma.com/lugo.jpg
http://www.nokahoma.com/lugo3.jpg

CAN YOU BLAME HIM?!?!??

That's a lot of money, but it still seems like a better deal than Sorianos.

Is polyphonic around to comment on the Maddux signing?

Some interesting Drew projections:

http://tinyurl.com/yz3gb7

I mean, obviously I'm stoked. I don't think he's appreciably worst than Padilla or Wolf or Eaton and maybe is better than any of them, AND is only signed for one year. Then, maybe there will be more available pitching on the market when he retires.

The Padres have something like $25 million to spend. A rotation of Peavy, Young, Hensley, Maddux, Carillo could be the best rotation in the history of the franchise (not saying much), and they still apparently are interested in adding another starter.

A source at the meetings said that St. Louis and Kansas City are both going hard after free-agent righty Miguel Batista.

Royals = when pigs fly?

http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/blogs/images/1186.jpg

Lilly, 30, has a career 59-58 record in eight major-league seasons with Montreal, the Yankees, Oakland and Toronto. He went 15-13 with a 4.31 ERA for the Blue Jays last season.

I'm starting to think that JP was a prophet after all.

Gleeman's NBC.com Winter Meetings blog suggests that Schmidt screwed himself out of buxxx by settling for "Meche / Lilly" money w/ that Dodgers contract. Let's remember the dude was signed for $47M over 3 years. WTF kind of world is it where GIL MECHE gets over $15M?

I like paying Loaiza 7M/yr the best. No one on the A's boards think that was dumb deal now.

Lilly strikes $40M deal with Cubs | Hendry has angioplasty

any correlation?

Jays lose Meche to Royals

wtf are the Royals even doing spending money?

They still get money ya know? What are they supposed to do with it?

The Twins have spoken with the agents for righthander Sidney Ponson, a career 80-96 pitcher who was 4-5 with a 6.25 ERA last season in stints with the Yankees and Cardinals, both of whom released him. He was 17-12, 3.75 in 2003 with Baltimore and San Francisco. The Twins likely would sign him to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

AAAAGH AAAGH AGH

We need all that $$$ for quality pitching, which apparently involves helping Dennys Reyes feel better about his weight by signing someone even fatter.

Then again I didn't understand why they didn't try for Thomas last year either.

Frank Thomas + turf = problems.

Tell JP that *cough*.

Any GM that signed a player to a bad contract prior to this offseason looks like a genius.

1) Invest in their farm system.
2) Keep away from the mid-level starting pitcher free agent market.
3) Rent the services of multiple bodyguards for Alex Gordon.
4) Bring Rush Limbaugh back into the fold as the Grand Royal With Cheese.
5) Have Tony Muser killed, then brought back to life as a zombie.
6) Have Undead Tony Muser kill Allard Baird.
7) Turn Mike Sweeney into sharkbait.
8) Post Angel Berroa's ROY trophy on eBay.
9) Buy Bob Hamelin & Ken Harvey a Monte Cristo each.

at least he's still better than GORD Ash

Wells for Penny, Kemp and let's say Billingsley? I mean, you'd pretty much have to take that deal if you're JP.

?!

wanna compare ash's draft history to jp's?

ILX COME BACK WE MISS YOU (and I have rocks in my ass).

While with the Cubs, Alfonseca was thrown out of a game on September 2, 2003, for hitting an umpire with his stomach.

WAHT.

In other news, surprising no one, Bonds re-signs with Giants.

jp's highlights so far: russ adams, david bush, aaron hill and adam lind.

admittedly it's not exactly fair to compare 95-01 guys to those from 02-05, but that's still a pretty damning dropoff.

jp's highlights so far: russ adams, david bush, aaron hill and adam lind.

OK, this is silly. Young didn't come up in the J's org, and the last nine names are unproven/fouth OF/burnouts (koch), with the possible exception of Blake. The Jays were a shittier team when Ash ran the club, and therefore they could draft earlier and get more can't-miss prospects. It didn't take a genius to pick Vernon Wells fifth overall. Meanwhile, we won't know how JP's picks (which included a lot of impressive Sept 2006 callups) turn out for a few years yet.

Gord Ash banked on rejects from last-place Pittsburgh (Carlos Garcia, Orlando Merced, yeah WHO DEY) to push the team over the edge from mediocrity, and signed 190-year old Ruben Sierra because he didn't think Shawn Green was ready for the big leagues (even though it was his third full season with the club). His best trade was Plesac-Tony Batista, which looked like an absolute steal at the time but then again, only a couple of years later, Batista was gone and Plesac was resigned.

The biggest transaction that occured during Ash's tenure was the free-agent signing of Clemens, and he had nothing to do with it (club president Paul Beeston did all the work).

Well, they replaced Meche for a lot less than $11 million, and I'm not sure he's any worse!

Discreet.

Oh: the Tigers just signed JOSE MESA.

Negative spin expected tomorrow morning.

i was intrigued by the lowkey signings of ken phelps and j.r. house, but the orgy of relief pitching, the signing of bako and payton...yuck.

i actually think the wright deal wasn't too bad. oh, well.

if they can swing rodrigo lopez for marcus thames, i'll regain a little confidence in flanaquette.

yeah, yeah, probability that Gagne's arm falls off = 75%

All winter long, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with tracking the inflation in the free agent market. The magic number, after the most recent round of signings, is 47%. That is, teams are willing to pay 47% more for the same talent than they were one winter ago. This number seems to have stabilized after being as high as 70% — and as “low” as 30% — during various other parts of the free agent cycle.

I’ve had to make a few modifications to the Marginal Value Above Replacement Player formula, by the way, which I’ll describe in a full-length column sometime soon. But as a teaser, here are the three best and worst deals of the winter so far, according to MORP 2.0.

Best Deals

1. Adam Kennedy, Cardinals: $17.9 million savings.
2. Dave Roberts, Giants: $9.4 million savings.
3. Craig Counsell, Brewers: $7.3 million savings.

Worst Deals

1. Carlos Lee, Astros: $27.2 million overspend.
2. Gil Meche, Royals: $19.4 million overspend.
3. Adam Eaton, Phillies: $12.8 million overspend.

c: larue/buck
1b: shealy
2b: grudz
3b: gordon
ss: berroa
rf: teahen
cf: gathright/dejesus
lf: emil brown
dh: sweeney/huber

i honestly don't know TOO much about their bullpen minus macdougal, sisco and ambidextrous burgers (two of which are now gone), but does anyone know what the deal w/ greinke is?

Marcus Giles non-tendered, Mets and Pads said to be in pursuit.

If the Royales actually give Gathright (.262 / .332 / .328 ) PT over DeJesus (.295 / .364 / .446 ) or anyone else in the OF in any instance other than day-off situations or injury, then I hope Gil Meche turns into a kicked-in Jack O'Lantern that some neighborhood kids used as a chamber pot, because Joey Jo-Jo the Jumping JG should see time only as a 4th OF and pinch runner. Giving that dude more that 200 ABs ON PURPOSE would be criminal. They also need to either cut bait on Sweeney now (and, um, GIVE PLAYING TIME TO JUSTIN HUBER"IS"), or hope Sweeney starts the year off shit-hot so they can swap him for, um, Chiclets. Also, Angel Berroa needs some B12 stat.

along the lines of darren oliver, i can't believe people were actually talking about dustin hermanson getting a big payday.

dude, please!

Walker's poor defense scares the Pads, so I think if they can get Giles they'll do it. Walker didn't start for them last year either, so installing him in that role was always more of a last resort, even if he is a solid option offensively speaking. He can backup 3b, 2b and 1b and get a decent amount of playing time.

Anything that decreases the amount of potential playing time for Branyan or Blum would be ideal.

Yeah, that was something, wasn't it?

Winner: Marquis
Big Winners: Jeff Weaver, Jeff Suppan
Losers: the entire world

i mean, we roasted him for the soriano trade, soriano played well and then they ended up letting him walk for nothin. that sort of sums up bowden.

also consider this: a prime force behind unloading vidro was freeing up middle infield space for the triumphant return of cristian "the truth" guzman!

So when's he going to turn Ryan Church into waiver bait?

i'm still hoping the o's flip rodrigo lopez for someone useful and i think church fits the bill. i can't imagine church getting cut loose for nothing now that frank robinson is gone.

Steven Goldman: Because they were in the position of having to give a dead man a raise. They'll try to get him back more cheaply and see if they can salvage something... But compare this to the possibility that the Yankees might not move Pavano. Minaya has no personal investment in Zambrano so he can dump him.

Nah, it was probably "Cowboys From Hell".

Actually, I completely think so. The dude is a great hitter AND he plays center field. He gets on base, hits for power, hits for good average. He's definitely one of the 10 best players in the league, and he's pretty young.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2698288

I'd say Wells' deal looks pretty good amongs the company on that list. There are a few major duds on that list, particularly for the money involved (Hampton, probably Helton and Giambi). Wells vs Soriano? Fairly close offensively, but only one of them can play defense. Jeter has been vastly overpaid for most of his contract.

Wells' deal looks bad next to those of Beltran and Pujols (who never became a free agent), but I think that's about it.

Wild.

Which is a million degrees of fucking retarded.

Whoa, that's an understatement:

Pre-AS: .330 / .383 / .585
Post-AS: .261 / .297 / .411

Did he get hurt? (I'm guessing him playing all of 3 games in July means "yes," tho I'm willing to bet Shea Hillenbrand has something to do w/ it.)

That said, he'll only be 26 @ the start of the season, and it might behoove the Jays to see if his first half was the sign of better things to come. Unless the trade's a whopper (for a solid #3 starter type, or better), I'd hold off. And given that most folks probably see AR the same way we do, I think trading him now would be selling him & the Jays short. (Ha - maybe JR can trade AR to the Royals for Meche!)

And even doomsday-scenario-Cruz Jr. at 25 yrs old and $400,000 would've been a steal.

The Rangers now are shopping Otsuka to the Mets and D-Backs. I have a feeling this comes back to bite them hard.

His K rate has declined each year, and his hit rate has increased (mitigated last year by cutting his walks down by 66%). These are minor fluctuations, but given how Otsuka's mojo works, and the wack-ass market, and their (misplaced) faith in Goggles McGee, and what happened to Francisco Cordero last year, it might behoove the Rangers to at least test the waters & see what schwag Otsuka can get them. But given how many pitchers up & die in Arlington, and the sad-ass state of their rotation, you'd think holding onto one pitcher that stood firm (& establishing the semi-solid foundation of a functional bullpen) would be the prudent move.

How weird of an announcement is this? "We know our starter won't go nine and we know we won't blow them out so you can expect to see Gagne opening day."

ZiPS absolutely loves the Giants.

Of the 33 Giant hitters I've projected:

1 player with OPS above .800 (Bonds)
1 player with OBP above .350 (Bonds)
3 players with SLG above .450 (Bonds, Niekro, Durham)
1 player with more than 20 homers (Bonds)
15 players with OBP below .300 (Schierholz, Feliz, Ortmeier, Finley, Alfonzo, Hansen, Knoedler, Velez, Matheny, Ishikawa, Sanders, Santos, Requena, Guillermo Rodriguez, Jennings).

The brighest spot found by ZiPS is that all 5 of the Giant projected starters (Cain, Lowry, Morris, Sanchez, Hennessey) have ERAs below 5!

Finley is no longer a Giant and Matheny's career looks to be over based on the recurring concussion tests.

Wow. I mean wow. Hey, I guess Giants fans get to look forward to the All-Star Game!!!

i am completely perplexed by the "strategies" hatched in the warehouse.

also the new kyle farnsworth epic is pretty great
don't want to spoil it but part 4 involves a midi of 'lose yourself'

homosexual_rod: BAH THEY ALWAYSS SAY ON THE LOWSPEAGER THA

You just don't toss away a guy who gives you 200-plus innings, no matter how disappointingly or unpleasantly he delivers them.

Don't count on a Yankees run at Barry Zito if Johnson goes; general manager Brian Cashman has been resolute about creating more roster and payroll flexibility, and you don't do that with a five- or six-year contract to a starting pitcher, even one as reliable as Zito. The Yankees have barely talked about Zito internally this winter, a person familiar with those discussions said.

In a similar vein, the Yankees don't need to create a hole to make room for Roger Clemens. If Clemens decides to join the Yankees - and don't rule out the possibility of The Rocket pitching a full season, be it in New York, Boston or Houston - then the Yankees would gladly give Kei Igawa a one-year internship as a spot starter and long reliever.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spken275030195dec27,0,4261061.column

Their big offseason pickups could also include Brandon Wood, Jeff Mathis, Erick Aybar, ...

I mean, the Matthews signing was crazy, but I'd rather have him than Juan Pierre, and they did need SOMEONE to play centerfield. Maybe the fiscally intelligent play there would have been Chone Figgins, but it's not the worst possible decision.

That's like saying I'd rather have a pile of shit than a stack of rotting meat.

Almost anyone besides Erstad in CF would be an improvement, but paying $50 over 5 years for Lil Sarge's career year is a push.

Alex, you do realize that before he landed Jay Payton, Beane was making a serious run at Matthews? I guess fringe players are only good if they're on the A's.

Matthews Jr. had the #4 highest VORP for CF in 2006 (behind Sizemore, Beltran and Wells), #29 in all of MLB.

Actually, you forgot to list that the Angels landed Justin Speier (sp?), making their bullpen quite possible the best in MLB.

If Beane was making a "serious run TWO SUMMERS AGO, he certainly wasn't intending on then signing him to a 5yr/$55M dollar deal. He was looking for a fourth outfielder at a bargain price.

If the Angels get one decent season from Matthews they should count themselves lucky. He had one very good Arlington enhanced season (and it wasn't a particularly great fielding year by all accounts) at age 32. There is nothing that would indicate that he'll either a) be able to replicate that or b) will hold up well to age 37.

And it's great that the Angels signed Speier to make their already sick bullpen even sicker. It's too bad the bullpen can't teach the hitters how to A) get on base and B) get hits that aren't singles - they're going to need someone besides Vlad & Juan Rivera to help them in that department. & survey says Matthews & Shea Hey aren't the solution.

(also, what Alex said)

This is true, but it doesn't make overpaying for Matthews (and signing Hildebrand at all) any smarter.

I don't think this was a bad decision at all. The dude is a piece of shit, but he's at least a serviceable 1B/3B guy on a team with nothing but unproven young guys at those positions. It's a one year deal. In the worst case scenario, the young guys emerge and they trade the dude during the season.

He hit just as well on the road, though.

But he made that catch zomgsportcenterAMIRITE!!!!!

"Shea Hey" :D

I'd rather have a 28 year old league average starter than an aging flash in the pan center fielder, but that's just me.

"He hit just as well on the road, though."

Yeah you're right only 100 points of OPS. That's nothing.

"but he's at least a serviceable 1B/3B guy"

He's shit defender, who doesn't walk and who by all accounts is an asshole with an inflated opinion of himself. That's not my definition of serviceable. AT LEAST it's only a one year deal.

If his road OPS is the OPS he produces with any regularity for the Angels, I think he'll have been worth at least 60% of his contract.

He's shit defender

Who cares about defense from a 1B as long as you aren't Ortiz or Piazza over there.

who doesn't walk

Yeah but the Angels love that for some reason.

$ to donuts, Shea plays more DH than either of those positions. Also why even go with Shea? Rob Quinlan'll put up just as mediocre stats for you.

"Matthews had the 8th best road OPS among starting major league centerfielders."

He's also had one year where he's played that well. The Angels (are) aren't paying for what he did last year. They are paying for what he does the next FIVE. Also how many of those guys are going to make $11/year anyway?

Yes, we've covered that.

Oh yeah, I forgot that you are like me in that you live in the area but don't have terrible taste in baseball teams!

seriously...have you seen that guy lately?

Texas gives Borat & Zito a weekend ultimatum, ie they're out.

</jaymc>

I don't really know anything about his politics. He's allegedly one of the smarter players in baseball, and is one of the most respected among the union reps.

Is he really? I had no idea although with ballplayers it usually safe to assume they are.

ha! is doug glanville retired? he was an engineering major from penn or somesuch and i know mussina has a degree (maybe masters?) in econ from stanford.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/06/16/17477381.php?show_comments=1

I mean, it's sad that he might be a Republican, but about 99% of baseball players are Republican.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pitchka/Republican_Celebrities_Page

Alamo! Maybe he was auditioning to be a backup guitarist in Green Day.

And now he's thinking about Bolinas... what a match!

He seems more like 2007's Vinny Castilla.

BTW, I found an article on CBS.com about the RB signing that had this little roffle in the last paragraph:

"The Nationals also announced that director of player development Andy Dunn resigned. Assistant general manager Bob Boone and other members of the baseball operations staff will take over Dunn's duties for the time being."

1. Trade Rocco Baldelli and Tim Corcoran to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis
2. Trade Jorge Cantu for Chuck James
3. Trade BJ Upton for Derrick Turnbow
4. Sign Ron Belliard
5. Move the team to San Antonio and name them the San Antonio Saints.

You mean like the entire heart of the Cardinals line-up during the 2004 World Series OH SNAP!

To be fair, he was hitting the snot out of the ball in the AL prior to the trade. Guess the switch to the NL effed up his mojo.

Astros clean front-office house

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/11/28/2591729/ed-wade-tal-smith-fired-houston-astros

Apparently Mitch Moreland went to Walmart here Thursday night after T'giving dinner and got press-ganged into autographing stuff for an hour or two.

A's hitting coach: Chili Davis!

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/51441/valentine_disguise.jpg
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/51441/valentine_disguise.jpg
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/51441/valentine_disguise.jpg
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/51441/valentine_disguise.jpg

This is a final invitation for participants in Cubaball's 10th annual tour of Cuba. Tour dates are January 17 to 26 with the itinerary including games involving more than half the teams in the 17-league Natioanl Series. We will visit stadium in Havana, Artemsia, Matanzas, Cienfuegos and Pinar del Rio and will have the opportunity to meet with some of the greatest stars in the history of post-revolutionary Cuban baseball, including Omar Linares, Orestes Kindelan, Enriquez Diaz and Pedro Luis Lazo. We will again meet wiith 100-year old Conrado "Connie" Marrero, the oldest living majore leaguer who annual regales Cubaballistas with his prodiguous memory and good humor. For more information and registration nformation visit www.cubaballtours.com. There are 8 spaces remaining on the tour.

-Kit Krieger

some good stuff in here

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/18777/so-what-kind-of-manager-is-bobby-v

http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2011/11/28/banned-players-settle-with-gay-softball-group

buddy cole could not be reached for comment

When I briefly wrote for a Toronto baseball publication called *Innings* in the mid-'80s, Bobby Valentine was the only manager (or player) I ever interviewed. Got about three minutes with him on the field at old Exhibition Stadium. I don't remember the wording, but one question went something like this: "Seeing as you were someone who spent a lot of your playing career never quite breaking into the everyday lineup, do you think you have special empathy as a manager for those kinds of players?" (I don't remember the relevance...Texas may have had a few journeymen at the time.) It's pretty funny to think about it now--I think I actually thought he'd respond well to such a question. ("That's a really good point...") What I got was a hateful glare and about a three-word answer.

He did get 400+ PAs twice, both before and after the gruesome leg injury.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/valenbo02.shtml

I do think that the 2000 Mets using 10 different leadoff hitters is a nifty factoid.

cubs signed dejesus to a two year deal -- he'll be better than fukudome at least

now if only soriano injures himself tragically...

What I got was a hateful glare and about a three-word answer.

"Go fuck yourself"...?

My current guess for Bobby V's return to ESPN: June 2013.

I'll try to dig it up tonight--I think it was a very terse "No, not true," or something like that.

Angels get catcher who can reach base:

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/11/30/2601640/rockies-trade-chris-iannetta-angels-ramon-hernandez

chatwood is gonna get BOMBED in coors

i mean he's not good to begin with, but

how did the Nation react to Bobby V's presser?

who cares

the marlins are giving heath bell $27m

wonder if theyll include a clause ensuring hes not closing under an assumed name

i would enjoy the heath bell era much more if he assumed a different name every time he pitched

the little i saw of heath bell last year... he did not look good. lots of 94 mph fastballs up in the zone.

Capuano takes his amazing calves to Dodger Stadium, 2 yr/$10M

how did the Nation react to Bobby V's presser?

― Dr Morbius, Friday, December 2, 2011 12:56 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink

resigned kool-aid drinking save a minority of cynical holdouts.

Feds open SEC probe into Miami Marlins stadium deal

occupy jeffrey loria tbh

Trying to think of a good reason to continue being a Padres fan and not coming up with anything.

they can always keep passing their shitty relievers onto the marlins?

nice of the SEC to take notice right before the marlins broke ground. they can really save the taxpayers some money before things get out of hand.

padres getting joe wieland and robbie erlin for mike adams was more than solid tbh

Glad we got some new pitchers to help us keep losing 1-0.

the pads do have one of the best systems in baseball right now tho. granted, the guy responsible for that is now the general manager of the cubs, but oh well.

well yeah, but getting two solid starting prospects for a reliever in his 30s is good.

also i'm from pittsburgh so shut it xp

(btw casey kelly sux)

Pedro officially retiring.

welcome to miami

Ken_Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal
Sources: #Marlins, Reyes in agreement on six-year, $106M deal, pending physical. #MLB

the "miami" marlins have actually signed a free agent. for $100 million dollars. everything i believed in was a lie.

clarkspencer clarkspencer
Confirmed: "Done deal" -- #Marlins and SS Jose Reyes have agreed to terms on six-year deal, pending physical.

SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman
#marlins, reyes have a deal.

i'm just gonna keep posting this, out of shock

holy hell i just saw this

going to cautiously say that the money is reasonable

if he stays healthy, it has a chance to be

if if if if if if if

JCRMarlinsbeat Juan C. Rodriguez
Confirmed: #Marlins and Jose Reyes have agreed to a six-year, $106 million contract pending physical

whoops!

SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman
mets get only a third round pick plus a sandwich pick. (miami's 2nd rounder went to SD for bell). timing is everything.

this is the only time in my life that i've ever felt any positive feelings for jeffrey loria

seriously you guys, someone is going to have to put me into a straitjacket

jaysonst Jayson Stark
Even after signing Reyes, #Marlins now plan to make aggressive push to sign Pujols, sources say. More to come at ESPN.com

this is so funny

sorry i don't want to play into miami stereotypes but it's just so

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--a5KNFBGs6w/TdS14tTC5zI/AAAAAAAAAOo/xKMaYh5MBrQ/s1600/scarface.jpg

no it's okay, it's incredibly, incredibly hilarious

i seriously think jeffrey loria got kidnapped

have you seen me?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_images/owners/jeffrey-loria.jpg

Now that they've checked Reyes off their to-do list, the Miami Marlins have an even bigger name on their radar screen -- Albert Pujols.

Sources told ESPN.com on Sunday night that the Marlins plan to make an aggressive run at Pujols over the next two days.

A source also told ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com that Miami has emerged as the most likely destination for Pujols if the slugger decides to leave the St. Louis Cardinals, the only team he has played for in his 11-year career.

man. this team.

so they get maybe Buehrle, maybe Pujols. do they beat Philly? do we watch another Crawford/Lackey disaster unfold? when was the last time a team went this free agent crazy? the diamondbacks?

buehrle is better than lackey and the marlins new stadium is big, so i think his stuff would play there

reyes... has also been a better player with crawford, but he's fraught with risk. if crash landed like crawford next year i'd be shocked. hopefully reyes actually wants to come to miami and isn't solely running to the money, which i think was part of crawford's prob next year.

er, last year

the phillies will be good, i think they're on shaky ground if anything else goes wrong for them, they're gonna have a hard time scoring runs, and if any of their pitchers gets hurt...

the marlins could win the wild card if they pick up a few more guys if they stay healthy. the problem is that they have no depth, which is why they turned into one of the absolute worst teams in baseball last year when guys started getting hurt. so, things would have to break right, but it certainly would be in play

man. this team. should get plague.

According to ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes, the agent for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is telling interested teams that his client wants a $60 million contract.

sick of hearing about this fool.. sounds like willy mo pena 2.0.

i don't know -- if carl crawford and jayson werth are getting $120m contracts, yeonis cespedes probably will be worth half that

plus he can leg-lift two friends and catch a ball behind his back

dodgers get capuano and harang. y'all jealous.

=\

quite the one-two punch there!

look out NL west!

'jimmy rollins is just a winner'

heyman sez: Dodgers in talks on possible 2-yr deal with jerry hairston. Not done yet

why in the sweet name of fuck are we trying to sign all the terrible backup infielders and 5th starters on the market if we allegedly have no money

they are putting together a really absurd team

colletti is a fucking joke. this team is terrible and 81 wins is looking optimistic.

you look at these off-season moves and its like WHAT IS THE FUCKING PLAN? I guess with no owner and hopefully no future there is no plan..

so, discussion topic for the day:

if albert pujols inexplicably signs w/ the marlins, does he become "worse" than lebron james, and who is more hated/feels more betrayed by their ex-fan base

also, cardinals/marlins play on opening day

i guess to clarify the last part, obv i mean which fanbase feels more betrayed

10 years... they're saying.

cards just won the world series, have several other well-paid players, etc. pujols is not from the greater st. louis area and seems unlikely to broadcast his decision in the reality television show format.

it'll be a long time before any fanbase feels more betrayed than cavs fans imo

also: http://mlbfancave.mlb.com/fancave/application.jsp

seems like v-shasty already watches every game, so maybe this would be a decent career move

hah when those ads were running during the ws i was picturing morbs doing it

morbs couldn't bear all the yankees and phillies games

I don't even have TV right now.

I would consider doing it if they let me mute the sound all the time, esp Fox and MLBTV.

seems like v-shasty already watches every game, so maybe this would be a decent career move

― mookieproof, Tuesday, December 6, 2011 10:00 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Permalink

lol i watch every marlin game

according to the twitter, the marlins have offered pujols a 10 year deal and are currently trying to work thru a no trade for the first five years before his 10/5 rights kick in

the cardinals are supposedly willing to offer him a 10 year deal depending on the AAV, i guess ppl aren't sure what the marlins current offer is.

also apparently this should be concluded either way w/in the next 36 hours.

that confession made me consciously aware of who v-shasty is (ie ,Sandbox names suck) xp

just imagine how often you'll get to see that outfield sculpture thing with both pujols and stanton in the lineup

and since J0rdan has emigrated, he won't have to buy a ticket for that boondoggle ballpark too often!

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/12/3/2607409/miami-marlins-ballpark-sec-investigation

it is bizarre to see them blow the kind of money they are on FA signings, *while* being investigated like this.

based on how the united states government has decided in the past few years to prosecute rich and powerful men that raped the citizenry for its money, i don't have much optimism that jeffery loria is going to be fined into oblivion, let alone put in jail

i think i'm going to throw up

Juan C. Rodriguez
@JCRMarlinsbeat Juan C. Rodriguez
Loria, Samson, Beinfest, Hill heading upstairs for meeting. Pujols situation could crystallize soon. #marlins

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha this is one is for morbs

@Buster_ESPN Buster Olney
Friends of Loria with other teams say that he has always followed NYY and has wanted to emulate George Steinbrenner.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

(note that i am laughing WITH morbs in this situation)

ugh, offering pujols 10 years is a terrible mistake, no matter who does it

hopefully you'll have some fat retired Teamsters/mobsters in the bleachers next year

xp

might as well be the marlins then imo, i'm pretty cool with it despite having a horse in the nl east race already

I cant wait for marlins to sign all these dudes and still see empty seats in their new crystal palace

i think ppl will turn out this year as long as they're playing well. even the nats had an attendance bump with their new park in 08 when Christian Guzman was the best player on the 25-man for most of the summer

nah, people will show up. the stadium's in a better place, and miami loves nothing more than a front runner. plus there's so many economic factors different b/w the old stadium and new one that it's not like they'll have to draw 60k a night to make money exponentially more money than they did at the old park.

seriously i went to a game that summer and Paul Lo Duca was their starting first baseman

J's just traded a guy named Nestor for Sergio Santos.

the J's zoo of a message board had been slobbering all over Nestor for a while now - surprised they've not entered full-on melt-down mode (yet)

Keith Law:

With the deal that sends Chicago White Sox reliever Sergio Santos to Toronto for Blue Jays prospect Nestor Molina, the Jays trade maybe their sixth-best pitching prospect for a very effective short reliever.

under a quality contract too.

the jays have like 16 dudes with good grades from sickels.. I wouldnt be too stressed out.

this is the second straight pretty good SP prospect that the white sox have gotten from the jays in the past five months

but anthopolous knows his shit

clarkspencer clarkspencer
#Marlins make no comment after meeting with pujpls agent for 75 minutes

here's the full law

Blue Jays get value in Sergio Santos
December, 6, 2011
Dec 6
1:25
PM ET

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With the deal that sends Chicago White Sox reliever Sergio Santos to Toronto for Blue Jays prospect Nestor Molina, the Jays trade maybe their sixth-best pitching prospect for a very effective short reliever (whom they had previously when he was still a position player). This should take Toronto out of the market for free-agent closers, most of whom end up overpaid thanks to the winner's curse and the short peaks of most relievers' careers. The White Sox, on the other hand, get an extreme control right-hander without much of a breaking ball who could be a dominant two-pitch reliever, but is probably a year away from seriously contributing in the majors.

Santos was a shortstop (and not a good one) as recently as 2008, but converted to the mound in 2009 and raced to the majors even though he was mostly just an arm-strength guy at the time he switched roles. He's much more than that now, getting ahead with a mid-90s fastball but putting hitters away with a hard, extremely late-breaking slider that looks like it drops off a cliff at the last second. Santos threw 174 sliders in two-strike counts this year, according to Bloomberg Sports, and 57 percent of them resulted in strikeouts. The White Sox didn't use him much in number of games or within the games he pitched, with 80 percent of his outings comprised of one inning or less, so between that and his time as a position player, he's about as lightly used a reliever as you'll find in the big leagues. As long as Santos is healthy, he'll provide excellent value to the Blue Jays either on the field or in a trade a year or so from now, when he's a more "proven" closer.

Molina, also a converted infielder, has outstanding control, walking 16 batters in 130 innings in 2011 across two levels, most of it in high Class A. He has a solid-average fastball at 90-92 with a plus splitter, a pitch that made him more effective against left-handed batters than right-handed by more than 100 points of OPS this year. His breaking ball is a work in progress, to say the least, and he doesn't offer much projection, so there's still an open question of whether he can remain a starter with a midrotation ceiling or a late-game reliever. He should have a significant role in the 'pen even if he ends up exclusively a fastball/splitter guy. Molina is a good prospect, probably the best now in a fallow White Sox system, but the return seems a little light for a major league reliever signed to a very affordable three-year deal.

I can see Miami drawing pretty well now that there will be percent chance of zero for rainouts. If I'd lived in S. Fla. the past few years I'd still never have gone to a Marlins game -- the thought of getting into a dunk tank doesn't appeal to me.

It breaks my heart that Albert Pujols, Heath Bell, and Jose Reyes will have to wear those uniforms.

lol someone is squatting on jon heyman's old si account, or something

SI_JonHeyman:
hearing #Marlins boosted offer to pujols to 13 years.... they are obvs pushing hard... long and hard... [via Twitter]

mlb network baseball winter meetings™ coverage makes me want to puncture my eardrums

wheeeeeeee

RT @truebluela If Harang deal backloaded. Dodgers will pay Lilly/Harang/Capuano/Uribe/Ellis/Hairston/Guerrier ~$47.75m in 2013

JimBowdenESPNxmJIM BOWDEN

Mariners are now front=runners on Fielder with Milw,Cubs & Tor all wanting shorter term deals....stay tuned

SI_JonHeyman:
hearing #Marlins boosted offer to pujols to 13 years.... they are obvs pushing hard... long and hard... [via Twitter]

what the hell!!

that's a fake

heyman's new account is Jon_Heyman

i saw it in the yahoo tracker and freaked out slightly until i clicked on over

ok, whew -- I mean, I would love for that to be true, because I have my NL East hunt already, but

fielder to mariners has seemed like a foregone conclusion for like 2 years now

?

they have money to play with and their GM drafted prince while in MIL and lallygagged covets him

ah! thx.

RT @truebluela If Harang deal backloaded. Dodgers will pay Lilly/Harang/Capuano/Uribe/Ellis/Hairston/Guerrier ~$47.75m in 2013

ned and frank dont give a fuck. the new ownership should fire ned's stupid ass for fucking them before they even get a chance to start.

yeah its just they've got money and at this point could really use a guy like him to remind fans what a home run is or what a major league hitter is like

plus their gm is the brewers former scouting director etc etc

cards are apparently furiously trying to unload lohse or westbrook. wonder what that could be about...

tryna free payroll for poo-holes or burly

feel like the solution would've been not giving jake westbrook 40m in the first place but \(o_O)/

the sox are apparently in on some japanese shortstop and are playing hardball with david ortiz--gave him a low 2-year offer that seems to be designed to get him to accept arbitration.

Exec: white sox asking for 'ubaldo Jimenez package' for John Danks.

Uh

they might be able to get a package from ubaldo jiminez

joecapMARLINS joe capozzi

Growing buzz in lobby that #Marlins will emerge as winner Albert Pujols derby. Nothing final yet but fish r favorites, accd 2 lobby walkers

"the ubaldo jimenez package" sounds like some black market plastic surgery you can get or something

GordonEdes Gordon Edes
Red sox confirm they did not post on Japanese ss Nakajima

*wipes brow*

JeffPassan Jeff Passan
Cardinals owner. Whoa. RT @jonmorosi: More DeWitt on Pujols: "We're realistic about the fact that it may not happen."

It seems damn peculiar that the Marlins are going to sign free agents at two positions they really already have pretty decent players.

Obviously they hope Hanley pouts but moves to third or perhaps the outfield, but where do they put Gaby Sanchez if for some reason this pyramid scheme actually does bring in Pujols?

hanley ramirez is not a good shortstop

he's a good hitter who plays shortstop, but those are two different things

gaby's gonna get traded for pitching

Mets are apparently rebuilding the J's 2011 bullpen. godspeed.

Torres for Pagan, how thrilling. Still, prepare ye SF:

Pagan's low baseball IQ, including consistently missing cutoff men and throwing to the wrong base, often agitated Mets officials.

Tim McCarver, who has been a national analyst on television networks for three decades and simultaneously shined as part of broadcast teams with four big league clubs, was named on Wednesday the 2012 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award.

*WHAM with a sock of shit*

Huston Street to SD

lol

Reyes’ contract

2012: 10
2013: 10
2014: 16
2015: 22
2016: 22
2017: 22
2018: 22/4 buyout

are players allowed to play shortstop in a wheelchair

now imagine what Pujols will look like.

the pirates have signed erik bedard!?

are players allowed to play shortstop in a wheelchair

Jeter (TM)

Ken_Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal
Buerhle to #Marlins: 4 yrs, $58M. #MLB

lawl

up until two months ago i thought Buerhle was overrated!

so do the fish have no choice but to trade HanRam now?

are they going to be selling crack at the new park to pay for this?

lawl again

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/818185/Pool1.gif.opt.gif

wtf is that?!

is that Chevy Chase?

marlins still looking in on wilson & prince

Miami out of Pujols hunt... Angels and Cubs still in?

it's angels.

RT @espn: Wow. RT @SportsCenter: Breaking News: Report: free agent 1B Albert Pujols agrees to 10-year contract with @Angels

WHAT

WHAT THE FUCK

ho

lee

shit

He probably won't be the highest-paid Angel in 2012.

i'm kind of relieved.

<3 pujols (performance on the field), but the thought of paying him $20 million plus when he's 38, 39, 40, 40+ years old is just ridiculous.

damn, they're giving him 250

well now!

or even 260? yeesh

lolbaseball

this + Wells = how can they afford to pay anybody else on their team?!

apparently they signed a new tv deal that may bring in as much as 150m a year

10/250. yikes.

he could perform at that level, but i wouldn't have given him that much

i'm sure he'll be worth it for maybe 5 years - but what is the best production MLB has seen from a 40 yr old?

Bonds I'm thinkin'

if they get CJ Wilson their payroll is in red sox territory.

best production at 40 is probably someone like hank aaron or barry?

Ted Williams: .328/.458/.584, 4.8 WAR (fell off a cliff at 41 tho)

i think it was a lose-lose for STL, maybe this is the best-case scenario out of the two difficult choices? i could see the dude falling off quicker than 5 years, tbh.

whoa

dodgers traded dana eveland to the orioles to get back some of that pr juice from the angels. suck it arte!

this contract isn't really about how bad he plays in his 40s, it's really about whether he's gonna be good enough in the next 4 or 5 years to offset that -- and that's still possible

everyone is saying that cj to the angels is a done deal

cj to the angels for 5/75

It was weird that SBN had the Cubs as the other rumored Pujols contender last night. Why would Theo go near such a contract?

The Angels are the new Marlins

(and by new I mean "today's")

man. this team stealing the Marlin's thunder.
just trying to figure out their finances is boggling my mind right now.

xpost - drive the price up for the Cards?

just for fun i looked up other well-known players 40 yr stats...

Hank Aaron: .268/.341/.491, 2.4 WAR
Bonds: .362*/.609*/.812*, 11.9 WAR!!!
Ty Cobb .339/.408/.511, 1.7 WAR
Willie Mays: .271/.425/.482, 6.4 WAR
Frank Robinson: .237/.385/.508, 1.0 WAR
Frank Thomas: .240/.349/.374, -0.1 WAR
Honus Wagner: .252/.317/.317, 4.2 WAR
Stan Musial: .275/.354/.486 1.9 WAR

my coworker is convinced Pujols is actually 34, btw. not a lot of guys playing at 44 to compare!

Thomas was pretty productive at 39, I think.

Passan has been bringing up A-Rod, like that is the one comparison to make.

and i agree that the contract isn't about how he'll play at 40-42... right now. but in 7/8 years it will be.

pujols is getting elite money when he could be entering his "very, very good but no longer all-time great" phase.

Now there's a rumor about a Bailey-Trumbo-others deal.

It was weird that SBN had the Cubs as the other rumored Pujols contender last night. Why would Theo go near such a contract?

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, December 8, 2011 10:10 AM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

yeah... i'm not sure if we'll ever find out if there was a third team in there or not. i don't think the cubs needed to be bidding the cardinals up considering what the marlins and angels were doing

I think the idea is that Pujols' market value was something like $40/$45 million in his *peak* years, and that Pujols has outperformed his past contracts more than any player ever.

Still, I cannot believe the A-Rod contract has 6 more years to go, it's already looking like one of the worst contracts in baseball, but coming from the team that willingly traded for Vernon Wells this is probably not much of a concern

i would like to see the Angels payroll projections for the next decade in chart form!

jered weaver did his team a serious fucking solid by taking a team friendly deal this season. what a bro.

Happy birthday, Vernon Wells.

marlins had highest bid in on pujols AND wilson, btw

i think pujols got permanently spooked by the marlins refusing to include a no-trade, and cj just wanted to play in LA and was willing to give up $20m to do so

i wonder when they're going to tell him that he'll be playing in anaheim.

he said on sportscenter he wanted to sign with the dodgers but we're cash strapped bitches so he went with anaheim.

marlins offered pujols 10/275

thank you based god that loria refused to give him a no-trade

:D

LoMoMarlins
The real winner is the gov. In the Pujols signing. Cali is taking 25m and Feds are taking 80m. We might be getting out of the deficit sooner

: D

hahah

I'd be bitter too if I was on the Marlins!

fwiw

LeBatardShowDan LeBatard Show

The Marlins didn't offer Pujols $275 million. That's total nonsense. Total. Feels leaked by Pujols people to make him seem less greedy

lol K-Rod accepted artibtration, that sucks for Milwaukee

so who's after Prince now, besides the Marlins I presume?

kinda surprised. basically he went money > role.

so who's after Prince now, besides the Marlins I presume?

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, December 8, 2011 2:28 PM (43 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

weird thing w/ this is that national writers have been saying that the marlins have been sniffing around prince, but local guys have been adamant that they have no interest in him

i think you're looking at the brewers, cubs, mariners and rangers, though i wouldn't rule the marlins out

Brewers definitely won't be able to afford him if they're going to pay K-Rod $13.5 million, and Cubs probably won't want that kind of contract - I would say Rangers, Jays, and Marlins are most likely

i think rangers make the most sense

brewers will likely make him an offer on the lower end -- could see the cubs offering him a shorter deal for more money tho, esp if the market is wide open

i will eat my hat if the J's make a move on him.

(as in, it is so not happening)

why not? he could singlehandedly make them a contender

Seattle makes some sense too though they're not "one piece away" from anything

he goes against everything AA looks for in a player.

overweight and zero positional flexibility. not to mention the price tag and years are both things AA said he will avoid (although i'm sure we've all heard that before).

plus the J's are ~ok~ at 1st for now. i'd imagine adding a starter is his priority now that the 2B and closer roles have been settled.

thats all true but if you can get him at the right price (and really, how many teams are there that will make a serious offer?), you kind of have to think, is AA going to settle for a 88-90 win club, or is he going to make a serious playoff run in the toughest division?

the problem is probably more the years than the price

i don't see the J's being a 88-90 win club even with Fielder! i think they're at least 3-4 years away from contention - when AA's draft picks are hitting the majors and maturing. why pay Prince to hang around until then - and then block a player who might be better suited for 1st than anywhere else (like they did with Lind).

Jon_Heyman
People ask, is albert pujols worth $254 million? And I say, is he 3 times better than aj burnett? Or twice as good as vernon wells? #bargain

This dude is dumb as rocks.

overweight and zero positional flexibility. not to mention the price tag and years are both things AA said he will avoid (although i'm sure we've all heard that before).

Nobody expects positional flexibility from their first baseman. As for his weight, health is a skill. Fielder has never been injured and plays 160 games every year. He looks like an exception to the rule, like Sabathia.

The Jays could do worse than signing Fielder, as long as they don't sign him for 20M per and then cap the team payroll at some ridiculously low number like they did when they extended Delgado.

"Nobody expects positional flexibility from their first baseman."

You do expect them to be able to play first base though, which Fielder is not great at and will only get worse.

the rays just signed matt moore to a 5 yr, 14m contract o________________________________________O

i didn't know he was a two-sport athlete!

wow. how do the Rays keep getting away with this

no idea