who?

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story...boston-red-sox

Kind of weird he'd sign just to be hitting coach at Class A.

my post was directed at David Wadding but obviously I've muddled everything and ruined this thread beyond repair

I wasn't talking to you. I was just elaborating on the story.

You know...

I was talking to the general population too. But now I feel even worse because I've made you think I was attacking you personally.

I CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT

which makes me the perfect choice for the Cubs front office

BAM

saved it

LOL

Damn you, Austin...

Theo must be up to something. Cubs bullpen was already horrible. Now they trade there best reliever?? Gotta be something else working here.

I don't know, man. Theo trades Sean Marshall...re-signs Reed Johnson...signs David De Jesus...trades for Ian Stewart...doesn't go all-in for Albert Pujols, Mark Buehrle or CJ Wilson...let's Aramis Ramirez walk...we haven't heard anything concrete about Prince Fielder...

...IDK. I hope he's up to something.

Totally agree with resigning Reed Johnson. He's one of the best bench players in baseball. Love Reed Johnson.

1 less pitcher off the trade market. White Sox and John Danks agree toa 5-year, $65 mil. extension.

Talk about that and other things. I'll have the wrap up of other events later tonight.

<font color=goldenrod>Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals for 4 minor leaguers.</font>

The Nationals had been looking to either overpay for a free agent or trade for someone.

Had they not gotten Gio, they probably would've broken down and signed Edwin Jackson to a 6 year deal or something :shifty:

Bob McClure gets promoted as pitching coach for the Red Sox after being a scout last season and the Royals pitching coach before he got fired midseason.

The Peoria Chiefs, Cubs minor league team, could be close to shutting down due to massive yearly losses the last 5 years. Last 2 years alone lost over $1.6 million while another $1.4 million was lost between 2007 to 2009.

What kinda of minor league team are they? AAA, A, rookie?

A.

Wait, is that the same team with who Bill Buckner just signed on as hitting coach?

buckner's going to Idaho so I dont think so

Carlos Beltran signs a 2 year $26 Million contract with the St Louis Cardinals.

AND he has a full no-trade clause.

Know St. Louis has a great rep with older players finding themselves, but that's a butt ton of money.

Yeah, I was surprised at the amount.

<font color=goldenrod>Beltran was great last year, I think he's be a really nice fit in St. Louis. Seeing him in a Cards uniform is gonna be weird as shit though.</font>

At least Wainwright can't strike him out looking anymore, right Vito?

:(

<font color=goldenrod>Retroactively the worst loss in franchise history right there. Funny how when it happened it sucked, but it didn't feel like a crushing blow because the Mets had appeared to build a team that would contend for years.

Yeahhhhh, about that...</font>

Washington can have Gio Gonzlaez and his 90 walks a year.

I truthfully thought Prince Fielder would have at least been signed to a team before Carlos Beltran was. And that does seem like to much for Beltran.

Gio is going to be a beast in the NL.

The Nats are doing some good work the last few years.

He definitely could be. I think Washington paid more for Gio than I was willing to see the Red Sox give up for him. Then again his 200 innings, low ERA and high strikeout rate will outweigh his control problems if they don't bite him in the ass.

We'll see if he can pitch as well in Washington as he did in that ballpark in Oakland.

<font color=goldenrod>Also, the Giants deserve a hearty LOL for trading their best prospect for nothing. Couldn't pony up a similar deal when their lineup is perenially terrible.</font>

Heard Fogerty's Centerfield on the radio on way home from work today. God I miss baseball. :'(

On to the news:

Here we go again. It's Red Sox vs. Yankees. The contest: Hiroki Kuroda's services. Red Sox were pondering wether to go after Kuroda or trade up for Gio Gonzalez. But since the Nats already did that, they're going with the first option.

The next big news story of the offseason is looking like when Yoesis Cespedes goes up for grabs. As of now, he's trying to establish residency in the Dominican Republic and may not become an official free agent until January. Yanks and Marlins are rumored to be in on him, but both front offices are in a divide on kicking the tires on him.

Indeed. There is risk, but I thin kthe reward is amazing.

They are making moves, spending money, they will slowly get it going.

A Strasburg-Gonzalez 1-2 can be lethal. And they havesome major pitching prospects left.

Add in Harper as a potential star, and things look good.

They still pay too much to Worth, but hey, its that first step to getting big names. If they could land Fielder....Lookout.

The Marlins, Nationals and Reds seem to be going for it in the NL. It'll be interesting to see where they finish up.

It's been rather quiet these past few days, but here are a few notes.

Evening round-up (from mlbtraderumors.com):

Somebody let the cat out of the bag in Oakland. It came out that the A's are going to get the green light to move to San Jose and build their new stadium. But the official word won't come down until February. Billy Beane denies it, but sources in the MLB front offices told USA Today that the A's have recieved "private assurances" that's it's going to happen, but can say anything publicly. As some of you may know, the Giants got a good chunk of fans down in San Jose. A's are going to have to pay the Giants for turf rights. The amount is yet to be determined.

Sorta on topic with the A's. Any of you guys remember Hisashi Iwakuma? You know, the Japanese pitcher that got posted last offseason and the A's won the bidding. And it turned out that Iwakuma wanted a $100+ mil. contract and ended up going back to Japan because there was no way in hell that was going to happen? Well, he's a full free agent now, and 4 teams have been in talks with him. 2 of those clubs are the A's (ironic, eh?) and the Twins. O's might be in on him, too.

Padres and Cameron Maybin are going to restart extension talks in January.

And finally, this one goes out my Yankee brethren here on the boards. Jorge Posada still wants to play in 2012 and is drawing some interest. According to Posada's father, the Phillies, O's and Rays have checked in on him.

Venezuelan Baseball League slaps Yorvit Torrealba with a 66 game suspension for slapping an ump a few days ago. It covers the rest of this season and all of next season.

I wonder if the Rangers and/or MLB can/will discipline him in any way.

The new CBA done by the owners and players union for baseball does give Selig the power to punish players for non-MLB stuff similar to the NFL but I doubt it will be used for incidents involving other leagues.

Not sure if there are any clauses in the new CBA that would only give Selig the power starting next season which means Torrealba wouldn't be punished but him loosing winter ball in Venezuela for next season is already a harsh one.

He can always go play winter ball in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico.

Torrealba I think is a citizen of Venezuela. Don't think he can bouce to another country to play ball during the winter.

And Smelly is correct. Punishment during offseason winter ball has zero effect on your MLB play.