hot stove 2011-2012

thought it would be good to have a thread to discuss this winters trades and free agency

first big moves of the off-season haven't involved players tho with theo epstein moving to the cubs and cherington taking over as GM in boston

couple of interesting articles on mlb.com about what their priorities for the off-season were likely to be , one thing that jumped out at me as a yankee fan about boston's needs is that they will mainly be looking for starting pitching and maybe a right fielder which is probably the same thing the yankees are. good news for the players who will be in the frame as a bidding war between the redsox and yankees will push their paychecks up

biggest names in the frame for free agency are pujols and fielder, pujols will probably re-sign with the cards i think even if they dont go on to win the world series, they have showed themselves to be a pretty good outfit in the second half and will have wainwright back in the rotation next year.

rich,
And the Red Sox have to replace Lachey who's going to be lost for the year, as well as deal with the rest of their beer-swilling, fried chicken-eating rotation.
Yanks did well sitting on their chequebooks at the summer's trade deadline, something they'll do well to repeat this winter. Hopefully we'll have a fully fit Hughes plus get Joba and Feliciano back close to their best early in the season. Yanks have done a nice job in shedding journeyman pitchers, Laffey, Marte, Proctor and another equally ineffective reliever, forget his name(1!). Perhaps add CJ Wilson and fill the rest of the needs from within, unless we can lease out ARod of course.
Any word on Andy Pettitte returning?

cant really see pettitte coming back now

if he was going to play it would have been last year when the yankees really needed him after lee knocked them back

CJ wilson is probably the most attractive starting pitcher who is gonna be a free agent but you gotta worry a little at how he has done this post season. the yankees will probably make a move for him tho , if only to stop him going to the redsox. i still think we will go after a big trade deal and dangle one of the catching prospects we have

we might be overpaying arod but if he can stay healthy he does guarantee 30+ HRs and 100+ RBIs as well as a solid 3rd base

Interesting to see club options being declined on some big ticket pitchers, Oswalt, Lidge and Nathan to name but three.
Oswalt, for one, will attract a lot of attention.
Trust the Yanks will secure Sabbathia's option/contract . . . . .

As for A-Rod, rich, BIG IF!

was reading that boras is making noises that he wants the yankees to make a decision now on giving cano a new long term contract instead of picking up the club options they have on him for the next two years

there were also a few interesting comments that altho epstein might want to go for pujols or fielder given the cubs have an obvious gap at first base that the timing of such a move might not be right as the cubs need more than one big marquee signing and it might be a wasted investment at this point in time and spreading the cash around a bit more on other areas might make the team better

Dempster picked up his $14M option with the Cubs.
Bet Theo Epstein's thrilled about that.

yanks pick up the options on cano and swisher

i still think right field is a place where we can improve , the rest of the lineup seems fairly set in stone, altho we shold get more production from DH next year, posada finished the season ok but was dire for the majority

I just saw that rich, hope they're negotiating Robbie's contract extension even as we write!

Agree about Swisher but pleased to see the off-season begin with key positions filled, nice to have that degree of certainty.

cleveland supposedly declining their option on grady sizemore

real pity that a guy with so much talent has been so injury prone

St.Louis need a new manager I see.
Wonder if that will influence Pujols's destiny?

Derek Lowe from the Braves to the Indians; staying Native American then.

kwinigolfer wrote:St.Louis need a new manager I see.
Wonder if that will influence Pujols's destiny?

just saw this

not what i expected and it must affect pujols i would imagine , altho i do still expect him to stay

not a bad move by the indians , they have got some good young pitchers there so slotting in someone like lowe who is still fairly reliable makes sense, they aint given up much for him and the braves are going to be paying part of his wages for 2012

AP reporting CC is staying put.
Pleased about that.
Now, if only the Yanks knew what they were going to get from Burnett and Phil Hughes in 2012, we'd be pretty much all set, just a few minor details to straighten out.
As it is, we MUST secure another starting pitcher - I'd throw $20M at Pettitte and am sure he'd go for it.
Otherwise, slim pickings. CJ Wilson perhaps, or a trade and there are not too many guys I'd be prepared to give up.

yeah hes signed a 2 year extension i believe at $25M per year so hes tied up, options depending, until 2017 now

glad its been sorted so quickly , allows cashman to focus on what additions he wants to make and not have any issues with exisiting players lingering for most of the off-season

another strong starter is a must imo , i think the lack of support CC had for most of the year put alot of pressure on him and it was like he had to go 8 innings every time he pitched to give the bullpen a rest after the other starters not performing and he ran out of steam towards the end of the year

C-M Wang has re-signed with the Nationals.
I'm just a little bit surprised the Yankees didn't make a run at him.

Lots of puzzling names being bandied about for the vacant manager positions in Boston, Chicago and St.Louis. Where will it all end?
Haven't heard a single name that sounds like a good fit. Except perhaps Francona to the Buschies.

i am assuming boston are looking at maddux because of the issues they have had with their rotation for the last couple of years and being pitching coach on a team that made it to consecutive WS must look good on a CV

there aren't that many experienced managers out there looking for work atm so i guess that teams are having to look at coaching staffs for the vacancies, must be worth taking a chance on someone like maddux or alomar rather than giving a bobby valentin another chance

Melky from the Royals to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez.

i always liked melky

good clutch hitter and solid defence without being flashy

I agree Rich, the Yanks missed him this past year, no ego, just did his job the very best he could. And sometimes it was pretty darn good.

I see reports that the Nationals' catcher Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped in Venezuela, shades of Ugie Urbina's family!
Bet not many hot stovers have legislated for a kidnapping.

marlins certainly looking to get themselves some attention with the move into the new ballpark next year

first they have reyes down for talks and supposedly pujols is heading to miami this wekend as well to meet with the team officials. always had a bit of a soft spot for the marlins and they have a good young rotation imo with johnson, nolasco and sanchez

Meanwhile, rumours that Papelbon is meeting with the Phillies after snafus on Madson's projected deal.

I don't like the Phillies. Halladay, the Phanatic and Jamie Moyer yes, Phillies no.

Paplebon to the Phillies has just been confirmed by the local news station here. Wonder if the Phillies will let him run onto the field to Shipping Up To Boston?

Perhaps "Sailing to Philadelphia"?

the florida marlins are no more

welcome the miami marlins !

new stadium , new name and looking to bring in a big name free agent too

rich,
They wanted to be called the Miami Marlins when they were formed, but someone else had the name! Must be they've now disbanded, and the fish now have a Major League name! Plus Ozzie Guillen of course, tho only time will tell if that's a good thing.


Washington have found their catcher, Scott Boras presumably not involved.

they will be hoping ozzie will appeal to the big hispanic community in the miami area i assume

Cards have chosen Mike Matheny. Wonder if that will assist in the effort to retain Pujols?

kwinigolfer wrote:Cards have chosen Mike Matheny. Wonder if that will assist in the effort to retain Pujols?

saw an interesting stat today

there have only been 5 instances in baseball history where a defending world series team will have a first time manager at the helm and three of those 5 times have been the cardinals

Wonder how many of the Yankees World Series winning managers in the earlier Steinbrenner days saw out all the following season? I'm guessing something like 0 and 3.

Sounds like the Astros are taking off to the AL, to arrive 2013.

the dodgers get matt kemp tied up on a long term contract , another positive for potential new owners

I love LA.....

Seattle's Greg Halman murdered, apparently by his brother.
Bobby Valentine to Red Sox Nation? Good choice I'd say.

Joe Nathan to Texas? Clint Barmes to Pittsburgh??
Some cards are beginning to fall.

texas signing nathan suggests they are serious about moving feliz to the starting rotation , might also mean they dont think they will re-sign wilson

Reports that Freddy Garcia close to a new one-year deal with the Yanks. IF he can repeat last year's 12-8 record, that'll be good business.

yeah i am fairly happy with that as long as hes gonna be the 4th/5th guy in the rotation , he was fairly reliable last year

wondering where joba is gonna fit in when he comes back , robertson, soriano and rivera have tied up the end of the bullpen so unless joba fits in there as long relief then you would think they will be targetting him as a possible starter again. not sure exactly when he will be fit tho.

rich,
Lots of stories over here about Mariano Rivera perhaps requiring surgery to resolve a voice cord problem. Newspaper articles suggest he is unable to speak much above a whisper, and he says it seems to get worse every time he speaks.
Sounds as if Cashman and Girardi are confident Hughes will be back to his best, but whither Joba is a good question. Not sure about Feliciano either.

kwinigolfer wrote:rich,
Lots of stories over here about Mariano Rivera perhaps requiring surgery to resolve a voice cord problem. Newspaper articles suggest he is unable to speak much above a whisper, and he says it seems to get worse every time he speaks.

O dear Kwinigolfer, he's a soft spoken hispanic. I wouldnt really call that a "voice cord problem"! Well, that may depend on your politics! (cheap joke on a 'Ny yankee', the best kind)

On a serious note, I hope you and yours had a good Thanksgiving.
Just two points about Mo, 1. How serious an issue is this? and 2. He doesnt throw with his vocal cords, so whats the problem? Even if he misses a month or two at the start of the season he would be back for the run in. No. ?

Hi Healer,
No idea about Rivera; haven't seen much of this outside the New York press. Sooner or later though, if this perceived issue persists, Cashman is going to have to get it sorted. Been enough stories on vocal cord problems recently (Adele, Joe Buck etc) not to take it seriously.

Thanksgiving very snowy, thanks for asking. Hope your family had a good one! Foreplay for Christmas in full swing downtown!!

Breaking news on NESN just now that Bobby Valentine has accepted the Red Sox manager's position.

I just saw that, Jane. Good fit, at least for a couple of years, committed to New England, proverbial safe pair of hands and an arguably brilliant strategist.
Gene Lamont, whatever his fine qualities, would have been a step backwards.
Now it will be fascinating to see how Bobby V and the new GM put together their roster. Does Ortiz fit?

Rivera undergoing surgery - subsequent bulletins will be instructive about his chances of starting the season on time.

Heath Bell off to Miami.

Reyes to the Fish? That's $130M committed in the past week. Good luck!

kwinigolfer wrote:Reyes to the Fish? That's $130M committed in the past week. Good luck!

its an interesting move that one as hanley ramirez has said he is not keen on moving to 3rd base so alot of money to spend for a position you didn't really need and maybe making your "franchise" player unhappy

reports say they are still interested in pujols but i doubt they can afford him as well

should be an eventful week with the winter meetings kicking off today

marlins supposedly made a 10 year offer to pujols for $200M+

Florida rotation a bit more Buerhle, Huston Street relief for the Padres. Seems arms are moving faster than bats.

if johnson can stay fit and pitch like he was at the start of last season then thats a pretty good rotation they have in miami now

NL east could be pretty competitive next year with the phillies, braves and the new look marlins. washington have been fairly quiet this off-season so far, strasburg should be 100% for start of the season and harper might be in contention at spring training for them as well

I wonder if the Cards are pondering the old saw that some of the best deals are those you don't make?

Some franchise owners don't seem to get it with these mega-long contracts, especially for players demonstrably on the downside of their careers.
Having said that, at least Pujols can DH for the Angels which obviously raises his value to an AL Team as opposed to an NL outfit.

A fortune poorly invested in my eyes.