Thread: 2009-10 Hot Stove Baseball

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Still waiting for the Tigers to sign someone too....



They looked like they had a bright future a few short years ago, now they don't keep what the brought up and haven't signed anyone of value to get the fans thinking positive for the new season.

Same here bro, same here.

DeRosa signs with the San Francisco Giants for a 2-year, $12-million contract.

I like DeRo and all, but $6 mill a year for a utility player?! Damn that's a lot of money! Either that or I have no idea what the going rate for a decent player is these days...


Mark DeRosa signs with San Francisco Giants for two years, million - ESPN

Originally Posted by BillD1984

...I'd ...try to upgrade 1B or 3B.

Trade Buchholz (hate to do it, but with Lester/Beckett/Lackey/Dice K/Wakefield, the starting rotation is strong) plus a prospect (Casey Kelly???) for Adrian Gonzalez, and move Youk to 3B.

Is Lowell even under ontract for 2010. I thought he had signed a two year contract for 2008-2009.

Update: it looks like Lowell had signed a 3 year, 37.5 million contract so the Red Sox are on the hook for one more year at $12.5 million.

Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reported that Lowell will be undergoing thumb surgery today and, "will miss six to eight weeks". That is a peculiar and ambiguous was to describe a recovery period when the league is out-of-season. Does that mean he can't begin rehab for 6-8 weeks, or that he will miss April and half or all of May?

As a die hard Mets fan, all I have to say about the Bay signing is . . . whoopie doo! This signing does nothing for several reasons:

1. He is a band aid on a much larger problem within the organization (no bench team, no farm system from single A to Triple A, and some can argue that we do not have a proven managerial team)

2. We need to rebuild; yes a term no one is comfortable with in New York, but we must if we plan on playing and hanging around with the big boys . . . that means, we need to almost start over, take a deep breathe and possibly trade some of the bigger names (i.e. Beltran, Santana, etc.) before their stocks plummet

3. Kudos to Minaya for not breaking the bank on Bay and making the contract incentive-based; however, something tells me that there is a direct correlation between his signing and the Mets' season ticket holder deadline extension to December 31st . . . sorry Wilpon, your sad team makes us realize how much money we waste going to watch a team lose

4. Last but not least . . . the supporters we'll say look at our new lineup: Reyes, Castillo (how do we still keep this guy), Beltran, Bay, Francouer (let's see if 2009 2nd half Francouer shows up), Wright, Molina (he'll sign within the week), Murphy . . . great lineup??? Depends, if healthy and can hit, GREAT . . . but with our rotation and bullpen, 7 run leads are not safe!!!!!!!

5. I predict a 4th place finish, yet again, but I will give them 10 more victories for an 80-82 record



By the way, if the Mets are reading this, to attract fans next year why not consider the following incentives:

1. Pitch an Inning Game . . . one lucky fan in Seat # will pitch 1 inning against the visiting team; what do you got to lose with your rotation and bullpen?

2. Meet Mr. Met Day . . . the only Met who makes children smile!

3. Sunday, Parents run the bases with your Children Day . . . this year, Met players will be on the field asking questions and taking pointers on running and stealing bases from fans of all ages!

Originally Posted by cjwct

As a die hard Mets fan, all I have to say about the Bay signing is . . . whoopie doo! This signing does nothing for several reasons:

1. He is a band aid on a much larger problem within the organization (no bench team, no farm system from single A to Triple A, and some can argue that we do not have a proven managerial team)

2. We need to rebuild; yes a term no one is comfortable with in New York, but we must if we plan on playing and hanging around with the big boys . . . that means, we need to almost start over, take a deep breathe and possibly trade some of the bigger names (i.e. Beltran, Santana, etc.) before their stocks plummet

3. Kudos to Minaya for not breaking the bank on Bay and making the contract incentive-based; however, something tells me that there is a direct correlation between his signing and the Mets' season ticket holder deadline extension to December 31st . . . sorry Wilpon, your sad team makes us realize how much money we waste going to watch a team lose

4. Last but not least . . . the supporters we'll say look at our new lineup: Reyes, Castillo (how do we still keep this guy), Beltran, Bay, Francouer (let's see if 2009 2nd half Francouer shows up), Wright, Molina (he'll sign within the week), Murphy . . . great lineup??? Depends, if healthy and can hit, GREAT . . . but with our rotation and bullpen, 7 run leads are not safe!!!!!!!

5. I predict a 4th place finish, yet again, but I will give them 10 more victories for an 80-82 record



By the way, if the Mets are reading this, to attract fans next year why not consider the following incentives:

1. Pitch an Inning Game . . . one lucky fan in Seat # will pitch 1 inning against the visiting team; what do you got to lose with your rotation and bullpen?

2. Meet Mr. Met Day . . . the only Met who makes children smile!

3. Sunday, Parents run the bases with your Children Day . . . this year, Met players will be on the field asking questions and taking pointers on running and stealing bases from fans of all ages!

Agree 100%.

Your team needs pitching and defense. Jason Bay contributes neither.

Originally Posted by BillD1984

...Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reported that Lowell will be undergoing thumb surgery today and, "will miss six to eight weeks". That is a peculiar and ambiguous was to describe a recovery period when the league is out-of-season. Does that mean he can't begin rehab for 6-8 weeks, or that he will miss April and half or all of May?

Clarified by the AP today:

BOSTON (AP) — Mike Lowell has undergone surgery on the injured thumb that derailed his trade from the Boston Red Sox to the Texas Rangers.

The third baseman is expected to need six to eight weeks to recover after Wednesday's surgery, putting him on track for Boston's first full spring training workout on Feb. 24...

The Red Sox had worked out a deal to send the 2007 World Series MVP to the Rangers for catcher Max Ramirez. The trade unraveled after Lowell saw a hand specialist in Arizona on Dec. 18 and Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister the next day.

So it looks like the Red Sox were already planning on moving Youk to third.

Adrian Beltre Agrees To Deal With Red Sox
By Tim Dierkes [January 4, 2010 at 10:12pm CST]

10:12pm: According to the Boston Herald's John Tomase, Beltre turned down both a three-year and four-year deal in order to sign with the Red Sox.

6:49pm: The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham says the deal is done. The second year is either a $5MM player option or a $1MM buyout.

6:28pm: And here comes Peter Gammons down the stretch with terms, tweeting that Beltre will sign a one-year deal for $9MM with a player option for $5MM.

6:20pm: A skeleton story from Jon Heyman is now up, still saying the deal is close, though Tim Brown of Yahoo tweets that Beltre "has reached an agreement" with the Red Sox. According to Heyman, "Terms aren't known, but the contract is believed to be for at least two years and include a player opt-out option that could make Beltre a free agent again next year if he chooses."

6:13pm: Buster Onley tweets some details of the Beltre deal. The Boston offer to Beltre is probably in the range of $10MM-$10.5MM annually, and the offer is expected to include an opt-out clause.

6:03pm: Jon Heyman tweets that Beltre is close to a deal with the Red Sox.

4:39pm: Edes says the Red Sox made an offer to Beltre. He thinks a heavily-backloaded two-year deal would make sense, since the Sox are up against the luxury tax. However, MLBTR reader Michael T. points out that for the purposes of the luxury tax, backloading the contract would not matter.

1:38pm: Conversely, SI's Jon Heyman tweets that the Red Sox are one of three finalists from which Beltre is choosing. ESPN's Gordon Edes sides with Heyman, that the Sox are "very much in the mix for Beltre." Edes names the A's, Orioles, and Angels as other possible suitors.

1:16pm: Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald tweets that the Red Sox are "not a front-runner and not currently in the mix at all" for Beltre.

12:01pm: Adrian Beltre is close to choosing a team, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown. Brown says the third baseman is looking at an option from each coast, and speculates on the A's and Red Sox.

Beltre would be a risky signing for the Red Sox if they don't have a deal for Mike Lowell lined up, but we know they maintain interest. As for the A's, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote on Wednesday that "talks have not progressed much beyond the initial stages."

The Cardinals, Mariners, Angels, Twins, and Orioles are five other clubs with potential third base openings, though the Cards and Twins don't fit the coast criteria. Today, SI's Jon Heyman added the Dodgers as a possibly-interested club, which seems strange given Casey Blake's presence and their tight budget. The question is whether Beltre, a Scott Boras client, can be had on a reasonable one or two-year deal.

Adrian Beltre? Man this sucks! Had one good year when he was juiced.

Originally Posted by Hart5150

Adrian Beltre? Man this sucks! Had one good year when he was juiced.

Didn't you hear in this forum? Juicing doesn't help!!!


Sandra