It pays to have smart people running your organization.
BOF - Dodgers got it going on this year in the Hot Stove. I like their moves as well as the Marlins, Blue Jays & Pirates. They are doing things below the radar to help their teams. Block buster deals are cool and newsworthy, but I really like their team moves.
Even my national league team....the Nationals have been quiet. There is so much to be done.
-Boston just got Porcello for Cepedes--I feel this was a good pickup by Boston as they have plenty of outfielders. Now the Dodgers just traded Kemp to San Diego. Kemp really hit the ball the second half of the year. This does clear up payroll for the Dodgers but I was hoping they would dump Ethier or perhaps Crawford on somebody.
I like it too Three Bagger. Apparently the Red Sox are close to signing Justin Masterson for $9,5M also (beat reporter tweeted). Not a bad risk for the money. But, there still is no ace for the Sox....YET.
I often wonder how teams justify these long-term deals in the post-steroid era, when players seem to be losing it by age 34 (like they used to in the old days with only rare exceptions).
But I would point out that, if the current rate of increase in salaries continues for the next 8-10 years, these deals make a ton of sense. A 37-year-old Lester would not be worth $25 million in 2015, but by 2021, that may be the going rate for a fifth starter!
To me, it's not suprising that a guy like Stanton commands $25m/year. What's surprising is that Nick Markakis commands $11m/year. I like Markakis, but ... at some point a team needs to just give a rookie a shot, save $10.5m/year, and take its chances.
RJM. I agree. They did well based on the position they put themselves in. I just think they could have done better with Lester prior to free agency....they missed the boat to better position themselves. They made some bad internal decisions with Lester. Some have even offered a conspiracy theory that the Red Sox didn't really want Lester, but wanted to make appearances they did to "the Nation", and make sure the Yankees didn't get him. Based on the Lester free-agent asking price I think this conspiracy theory has legs. The bottom line was the asking price and terms were too much (I agree), and someone in the Red Sox front office did a good job of Plan B. It just boils my peanuts they blew their shot at re-signing Lester for something reasonable before free agency.
The AL East will be realitively weak compared to other divisions, and someone who has competent starting pitching has a shot. I think the Red Sox are there. The Blue Jays are improved. Yankees status quo. Orioles, Rays. I like Vasquez and Marrero. I'm torn on Swihart because I know we're going to need another catcher as Lavarnway is gone. There isn't a big market for catchers, so I'm not sure we'd get value. We'd have to package him with another deal to trade for another more experienced catcher.
It is getting really interesting out here in Dodger land.
I have always been of the opinion that it is best to hire smart people in a business, which is what the Dodgers have done IMO. So as one columnist has pointed out the Dodgers addressed 4 issues in one night.
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/sp...ernight.html/?ref=YF
While I may not agree 100% I think they are setting themselves up for their next moves quite nicely.We will not really know until the season starts, but it seems like they have a plan
Then we have the LA Times columnist,(Bill PLaschke) who I think has the IQ or a Gerbil, and he just rips into Friedman for trading Kemp.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/...20141212-column.html
And then we have hardball times ripping into Paschke most of which I agree with.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports....-on-andrew-friedman/
Certainly interesting and a heck of a lot more fun than the Frank McCort era. (for us baseball fans, maybe not for the tabloid followers)
Fenway ... Done correctly the Sox could be where they are with Lester. As I said before he would have signed for 5/110M a year ago. As a member of the MLBPA he has an obligation to those who passed before him and future players to sign a deal that could become 7/175M. Scherzer must have dropped to his knees and said, "Oh God, thank you!" and wept in joy. Right behind him was a weeping David Price dreaming of next year.
Someone wrote the Sox only went to 6/135M because it became personal. Henry doesn't like Epstein. He didn't want to lose to him.
Given what did transpire I'm pleased with where the Sox are. If necessary, they could start the year with this rotation and trade for the stud pitcher before the in season deadline. I believe they will go as far as they can, within reason to obtain Hamels or Cueto.
I haven't seen any updates on the Dan Duquette/Orioles/Blue Jays situation. He's called his owner cheap (probably didn't insult Angelos in the least), but I haven't seen any fur fly since mid-December. Anyone with an update?
http://www.whynotgivehimthebus...owner-peter-angelos/
I haven't heard anything else on this topic but maybe Duquette feel's he'll either shame the owner into doing SOMETHING about getting some players or will be so angry he will fire Duquette and he can take the Toronto job. Of course the Oriole's owner knows no shame so I don't think that will work. I also hate it when an article such as this one refers to Showalter as a "coach" which shows a gross lack of knowledge of ML baseball as he is a "manager". This isn't college baseball or Little League.
I am not one of those who have a don't-let-the-door-hit-you-in-the-butt attitude about The Panda, or really any departing player who has given his all and produced for a former team, but I do love the report that Sandoval turned down an equal offer from SFG to go to Boston because he felt disrespected by the Giants. Was that because they wanted him to lose weight? Because they low-balled him before the 2014 season? Because they barely used him in the 2010 Postseason? No word on that. But if he felt disrespected in San Francisco, where he was absolutely adored through thick and thin, I can't wait to hear what he has to say after a season or two in Boston doesn't go his way. Should be interesting.....
I agree JCG. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Disrespected (in my opinion) is a code word for fragile ego. Some of these guys are paid a kings randsom to play a little boys game. He shouldn't have left under those circumstances. Maybe he got bad advice?
If he truly wanted a new challenge (as he said) with a clear path to being a future AL DH then that would make more sense to me.
I think you may be right about the ego. But both things may be right. If you have 3 World Series rings you've got 3 more than most players ever get, and what more is there to prove in SF? I can see moving on just to have a fresh challenge. And at his age I could see myself making the move for either of those reasons, or just because I liked clam chowder better than Cioppino. (though I don't)
The perception of Panda is all based on the fact that he has performed great in three playoff runs. Having said that, he is one of the most overrated players in ML baseball. You would think the Giants just lost Mike Schmidt or George Brett the way people are talking about him. He had a .739 OPS this past season! A .324 OBP! He gets about $100 million for that! I looked at his overall playoff performances and while he has been outstanding in three World Series, he hasn't always shined, especially in the Division Series where he has a .261 BA with one HR in 46 ABs. Just because in a small sample of 47 AB's in the World Series he plays way above his head people think he is a $100 million dollar player. I would bet money in his next WS, if he ever reaches another, he regresses to the mean and hits .250 or less.
Many players have had two or even three above average WS and then had multiple ugly ones, even your Joe DiMaggio's, Mantles, and Ruth. But they were at least true superstars worthy of huge paychecks.
Another worry About Sandoval is that his type body does not age that well but at least he can DH when Big Papi is done.
Another worry About Sandoval is that his type body does not age that well but at least he can DH when Big Papi is done.
Understatement of the year. I am fearing Mo Vaughn 2.0.
Another worry About Sandoval is that his type body does not age that well but at least he can DH when Big Papi is done.
Understatement of the year. I am fearing Mo Vaughn 2.0.
The Red Sox squeezed whatever juice was in Vaughn...it was the Mets that ate the remains.
As for the Amazins if Cuddyer is there for a full year, Harvey comes back close to what he was before they are a shortstop away from possibly getting over .500 for the first time in forever.
Three big ifs though.
I'm skeptical about Sandoval for the duration of this contract. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Middlebrooks failed (or couldn't stay healthy). The Sox can't afford to have two bad years in a row from a fan and PR standpoint. While Cecchini is a highly regarded prospect the Sox don't have time to wait, especially after Bogaerts and Bradley in 2014. Nothing is guaranteed with rookies. They desperately needed another let handed bat. The 3B free agent pool was limited. Sandoval just happened to be standing there with his money bag open. Also moving to the AL where he can ultimately DH had to be part of his evaluation process.
Sandoval may be a bad financial deal in the long run. But I'll bet Sox management thought about the cost related to another bad season and moving forward. After the 2012 debacle the Sox stopped selling out for the first time in years early in 2013. Fans were skeptical about the off season acquisititions. Fortunately the Sox caught lightning in a bottle.
I agree with the Mo Vaughn perspective. Signing, big, overweight guys heading into their 30s concern me. Ortiz is a miracle. I thought he was done in 09 when he started slow and struggled against lefties.
Several years ago, I said the signing of Ryan Howard to a long term extension would be an absolute disaster and there were several posters who criticized me on that one. How has that turned out?
Sandoval has that same body type as Howard. If anything Howard was lankier than Pablo.I will give that Sandoval is a more consistant hitter than Howard but with far less power. When Pablo with his swing at anything approach loses even a little bat speed all that will be left is a.265 hitter with 10-15 HR power who doesn't draw walks. That's not even a GOOD DH. If he keeps his weight in check he may be productive for two to three years. I feel he might hit 20 or 22 HRs in Fenway. But like RJM said, Ortiz is a special case in the way he aged and remained highly productive. But as a hitter Sandoval is not even close to Ortiz.
One last thing. If he is not as advertised, the Fenway fans will eat him for lunch and he might crumble mentally.
3Bag, as a SFG fan I'm not as heartbroken as most that Pablo left town, because you may be right about his longevity, you may be right about him melting under pressure, and you are definitely right about him not having as much power as Howard. OTOH Pablo squares up on the ball consistently, unlike Howard, and doesn't strike out much at all for such a a free swinger. 176 hits / 76 SO per 182 game season for Pablo vs. 127 hits / 190 SO for Howard. I'd take Pablo any time just for that. What you don't take into account is the fact that Pablo is truly freakishly athletic. I'm sure you're aware that he's a lefty who taught himself to throw righty. Largely (pun intended) due to his weight issues, he's vastly underrated defensively. His reflexes are extraordinary. So I'm guessing that that his extremely high hand-eye coordination will not allow quite the kind of quick falloff that you and RJM project when he passes 30 and gains some weight. In fact, if I was the Bosox I'd ease up a bit on the weight issue and treat him like Fielder Sr. & Jr. I think Pablo actually plays better when he's not starving and nobody is bugging him about his weight. Maybe get him on a paleo diet and tell him to eat as much as he wants.
All that said, my AL team is the O's, so as much as I appreciate all that he did at AT&T, I hope Pablo and the BoSox finish next season and every season of his contract in 4th place, right above the Yankees.
JCG wrote... I hope Pablo and the BoSox finish next season and every season of his contract in 4th place, right above the Yankees....
Hilarious! What's wrong with a tie for fourth?
Well, if you have to ask you don't understand the role of the NYY in the baseball consciousness of east coast AL fans going back for many generations.
you don't have to be on the east coast to enjoy the yankees and red sox failing.
Gotcha. Maybe it just proves that I'm an old f@rt but my friends and family and I never worried too much about the Red Sox failing, as up until the early part of this century, they always found a way of taking care of that themselves. Unfortunately, that has changed. But at the end of the day, I'll take another trophy in Boston over another trophy in the Bronx any day.
