MLB Offseason 2012

[Timby]

In news that no one saw coming, the Mets and Jason Bay have agreed to a termination of his contract two years early; the Mets are still going to cover the entirety of the money owed to him, but it will be deferred across a number of seasons.

I can understand why this move was made, in that it gives the Mets at least a hair of financial breathing room (even though it's not like this gives them the cash to make an Upton deal), but I can see the team really regretting it by 2014 or so, given that their owners are, you know, still broke.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Yeah we're paying a million dollars a year to Bobby Bonilla for the next 25 years. So this should be the same, I bet in 15 years Bobby will open the envelope and not be sure who this million dollars came from.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Reports say the Mets are gauging interest in Dickey.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Fuck.

Here's hoping they don't go through with it.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

His value is super high now, if they could get a few really good pieces back. I would do it, sure it would hurt to see him go. Only Mets game I went to this year was at the end of the season to see if he would win his 20th game, (he did not that night.)

 

[Kirby]

The Rockies announced last night at 10pm that their new manager is Walt Weiss. They must be very proud of that signing what with sending out a press release at 10 o'clock on a Wednesday night. This just solidifies the fact that the Monforts are a bunch of classless losers; you have a shitty team, at least treat your Manager, and former fan favorite with a little respect and announce his signing properly.

 

[Timby]

His value is super high now, if they could get a few really good pieces back. I would do it, sure it would hurt to see him go. Only Mets game I went to this year was at the end of the season to see if he would win his 20th game, (he did not that night.)

No one is going to give up a top prospect or a genuinely good player for a 38-year-old knuckleballer with a funky arm right now when there's Zach Greinke on the market. Trading him is a horrible idea; they'd be better off holding him for prospects at the deadline or tendering him after the season.

 

[Starbreaker]

I was still hoping that the Braves picking up Jordan Schafer was some kind of joke... and then I found out it was real. The Astros didn't even want this dirtbag so we just took him back. Ugh.

Michael Bourn has declined the Braves qualifying offer and will take his speed and strikeouts elsewhere.

 

[SmoothieX]

His value is super high now, if they could get a few really good pieces back. I would do it, sure it would hurt to see him go. Only Mets game I went to this year was at the end of the season to see if he would win his 20th game, (he did not that night.)

No one is going to give up a top prospect or a genuinely good player for a 38-year-old knuckleballer with a funky arm right now when there's Zach Greinke on the market. Trading him is a horrible idea; they'd be better off holding him for prospects at the deadline or tendering him after the season.

I agree you'd get more for him if he's having another good season next year and another team that is an arm short needs to rent him for a playoff run.

I'd be leery of signing him long term. He's getting up there in age, his arm is missing a ligament, he's only had one really good year and it took him until 37 to do so, and knuckleballers are maddeningly inconsistent. If it's on, the opposing hitters will be baffled. If it's not, you're basically throwing BP.

A team will be more likely to overpay if they are one pitcher away from a legit chance at a title run than in November.

Still, I'd hate to see him go. It was a nice story this year.

 

[Danny99]

The Jays sign Maicer Izturis to a three year deal with an option for a fourth.

I'll admit to knowing little about it, but the consensus is that he is a stop gap measure to give Hechavarria a little bit more time to develop or Escobar is on his way out the door (which I fully support).

There is also a lot of fan support to bring in Jason Bay on a lesser contract to shore up the outfield. If you can get him cheaply, why not?

Still need pitching and they are interested in....Annibal Sanchez? God help us.

 

[Timby]

The Jays sign Maicer Izturis to a three year deal with an option for a fourth.

I'll admit to knowing little about it, but the consensus is that he is a stop gap measure to give Hechavarria a little bit more time to develop or Escobar is on his way out the door (which I fully support).

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the contract. It doesn't make any sense to drop three years on a 32-year-old, declining, random utility guy early in free agency (with the possibility of actually starting him).

AA confuses me. He's made some good moves, but every so often he pulls something out of fucking nowhere (like his never-ending quest to acquire all the relievers, ever) that I just sit here and go

.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The Cubs reportedly win the rights to negotiate with Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-Jin.

Story

I realize it's a new regime in Chicago, but the Cubs haven't had good luck with Korean players.

Hee Sop Choi & Jae Kuk Ryu (Korea's version of Randy Johnson if I recall), spring to mind.

 

[Timby]

Still waiting to see how the dust clears on this. Heyman has been saying Cubs, but other MLB reporters have been saying Dodgers.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ What do you make of the Cubs' issues with Korean players? They were usually highly touted, but then went nowhere (except out of town).

To my knowledge, they never really took off anywhere else either.

Poor scouting? They had Derek Lee's father as an agent for Asian players, at least in the past.

 

[Green Shirt]

If I was scoring at home, I wouldn't be posting here at 2:30 in the morning.

I do it all the time. Go upstairs for a couple of minutes, then back to the keyboard.

 

[Starbreaker]

Braves let David Ross go to the Red Sox in free agency. We're so !@#^ing cheap.

 

[Timby]

^ What do you make of the Cubs' issues with Korean players? They were usually highly touted, but then went nowhere (except out of town).

To my knowledge, they never really took off anywhere else either.

Poor scouting? They had Derek Lee's father as an agent for Asian players, at least in the past.

Multitude of factors, not the least of which is adapting to American pitching and batting. Korea's baseball system isn't nearly as competitive and filled with elite talent as, say, Cuba's or Puerto Rico's or Japan's, and there's a huge talent gap between Japan and the USA, too. Baseball hasn't reached the point in Korea where it's a game that kids grow up playing in rudimentary form, generally.

I don't think it's necessarily been bad scouting (everyone in the world wanted Hee Seop Choi, for example); when you look at the Cubs' general inability to develop prospects (internationally or not), it's not evaluation but rather poor talent development.

Jim Hendry wasn't a terrible judge of raw talent (though it definitely fell by the wayside as his job status became more threatened and ownership started telling him to win now), but a lot of the coaches and training staff throughout the organizations were lifers who had been there as far back as the mid-'90s. A sane organization wouldn't have rushed Corey Patterson to the majors, but rather would have kept him at AAA until he learned how to take a fucking walk. Choi's bat speed never caught up to even AAAA-level pitching. Sean Marshall was a schizophrenic motherfucker. No one seemed to realize that Carlos Marmol was a headcase until Epstein and Hoyer came in. Felix Pie only just now started reaching being league-average at, well, anything. And the list goes on, all the way back to Brooks motherfucking Kieschnick.

 

[Starbreaker]

Braves just nixed a proposal by the Rangers to trade Mike Olt for Andrelton Simmons so they could then turn around and trade Simmons to the DBacks for Justin Upton.

Edit: Josh Johnson is going to the Jays.

 

[Starbreaker]

@KenRosenthal

Inclusion of Reyes unconfirmed. What we know: Buerhle and Josh Johnson to #BlueJays. Escobar, Hechavarria to #Marlins. And more both ways.

@JCRMarlinsbeat

Can confirm...JJ, Bonifacio, Buck, Reyes and Buehrle all headed to Toronto

 

[Timby]

"WE'RE THE MARLINS AND WE'RE GOING ALL-IN NOW THAT WE HAVE OUR NEW STADIUM" *hosts immediate fire sale*