MLB 2008-2009 Offseason Thread
 

<font color=goldenrod>Quickest offseason thread creation of all time. :shifty: Best to let this season in the past.</font> :(

Phillie Blunts

<font color=goldenrod>First trade of the offseason

Royals get: 1B Mike Jacobs
Marlins get: RHP Leo Nunez</font>

Heads are going to start rolling in the Bronx

I doubt it. If Cashman can do what he did at mid-season this year....

Anywho, Ken Macha gets the job as Brewers skipper.

I hate this period. fuckin sucks without baseball.

Resign Manny

Mets sign Fernando Tatis to a 1-year deal.

Word going around is that A.J. Burnett is gonna make a decision on opting out of his contract with the Blue Jays before GM meetings start on Monday. The general vibe is that he will.

Jason Varitek is going to sign with the Tigers.

Brenly in the Cubs booth next year :love:

Didn't bother me much before that Burnett was gonna leave my Jays until we lost Shawn Marcum for the 2009. That's two big holes to fill. We get McGowen back but he's inconsistent. Cecil is gonna have to come up from the minors of Janssen is gonna come up from the bullpen.

The Blue Jays blow out more arms than anybody I've seen.

In the past two years we've lost B.J Ryan, Casey Janseen, Shawn Marcum and Dustin McGowen.

This should be stickied by now. :shifty:

GM meetings get going today. And some teams made some moves, signings, and announcements.

Ruben Amaro Jr. is the new Phillies GM.

Brewers pick up Mike Cameron's option.

Jake Peavy might be going to Atlanta by week's end. Unless something pops.

Marlins claim pitcher Dan Meyer off waivers from the A's.

Yankees sign Sergio Mitre. But he won't be ready to go until midseason since he had Tommy John surgery.

Rays decline the options of Cliff Floyd and Trever Miller

The Rockies won't be re-signing closer Brian Fuentes

I'd love to see the Jays somehow unload B.J, promote League to closer and sign Fuentes. Ain't gonna happen but one can dream can't he?

<font color=goldenrod>Whoever gets Fuentes is gonna have to act quickly...as word has it he wants to sign with someone quickly and his agent will be meeting with Mets management at the meetings.

Even though my initial thought was that I wanted K-Rod, the fact is he's not worth the kind of money he's gonna want and even if he was, he WILL drag out contract offers to get every last cent. So if the Mets went after him they'd pretty much be allowing Fuentes to go elsewhere.</font>

Tonight's news.

According to his agent, AJ Burnett will opt out of his contract with the Blue Jays.

Jake Peavy has added the Angels and Yankees to his list of teams he'll agree to a trade wtih. The others being the Cubs, Astros, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Braves.

Yankees decline the options on Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano. :yes:

I swear, if one more person tries to tell me about how Manny would save the Yankees, Im going to punch them in the face. The guy is a jerkoff. Lazy, unkempt, and surly. Come on, he physically assaulted a senior citizen for cryin out loud. They're fine with the corner outfielders they have as it is. Now Xavier Nady, there's a haircut you can set your watch too.

You are correct, sir.

We do not need him. What we need are arms. Followed by a 1B if we got some cash left over.

lol I love how A.J says re-signing with the Jays is a possibility. There's about as much chance of that happening as a black man being named president of the United States.............oh wait.

Dodgers decline Penny's option WOOOOO

There is a report that Manny was offered 2 years a little over 50 mil. This is an insane offer. And Boras turned it down. He said that Manny needs 5 years before they even start talking

NL Gold Gloves

<table class="left" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>P</td> <td>Greg Maddux, Dodgers</td> </tr> <tr class="io-evenRow"> <td>C</td> <td>Yadier Molina, Cardinals</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1B</td> <td>Adrian Gonzalez, Padres</td> </tr> <tr class="io-evenRow"> <td>2B</td> <td>Brandon Phillips, Reds</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3B</td> <td>David Wright, Mets</td> </tr> <tr class="io-evenRow"> <td>SS</td> <td>Jimmy Rollins, Phillies</td> </tr> <tr> <td>OF</td> <td>Nate McLouth, Pirates;
Carlos Beltran, Mets;
Shane Victorino, Phillie</td></tr></tbody></table>

WOOO BRANDON

<font color=goldenrod>I'm expecting Johan Santana to start being the perennial NL Gold Glove winning pitcher if Maddux retires.

Then again, the Gold Glove award stopped meaning anything when Rafael Palmeiro won the Gold Glove one year despite having only played 28 games at first base.</font> :o

Your 2008 AL Gold Glove winners.

P Mike Mussina, Yankees
C Joe Mauer, Twins
1B Carlos Pena, Rays
2B Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
3B Adrian Beltre, Mariners
SS Michael Young, Rangers
OF Torii Hunter, Angels; Grady Sizemore, Indians; Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners

I thought for sure K-Rod or Cliff Lee would would be getting the pitching nod. But it seems they're the frontrunners for Cy Young with Mussina being the dark horse. But props to Mike Mussina. When Wang went down he stepped up, and as bad as the Yankees were this season, I enjoyed watching him.

CC to the Yanks 20 years, 59 billion

LOL That would be the most insane contract ever

Possible trade, Holliday for Ludwick, Schumaker, Boggs. I think the Cards would be getting a steal for Holliday. Just think Pujols 3 Holliday 4. Wow

Not a bad deal for Colorado IMO. Ludwick is nasty and Schumaker is pretty underrated. Not too high on Boggs but he's got time.

New Nationals jerseys

http://f3.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports...rMOSADZYZn.2i.

Road jerseys are sexy. Other 2 are meh.

The red alternate is pretty much an exact copy of the Reds'.

<font color=goldenrod>So they aren't going to have a home white uniform at all? That's a bit surprising.</font>

Eh the Nationals had the most boring jerseys of any team so whatever.

No silly, they're going to use the ones they already have.

Brewers sign Willie Randolph as bench coach.

Damn. Would have loved to see him in pinstripes again.

<font color=goldenrod>Matt Holliday to the A's</font>

Wonder how Billy Beane cooked this up.

Longoria and Soto are your rookies of the year to the surprise of no one.

Edinson Volquez finished 4th in the NL Rookie balloting despite the fact that he's not a rookie. And these votes came from paid professionals whose job it is to cover baseball. Gotta love it.

Greg Smith, Huston Street, and Carlos Gonzalez are the 3 going to Colorado in exchange for Holliday.

Another trade went down today.

Nationals trade away Emilio Bonifacio and two minor league players, pitcher P.J. Dean and shortstop Jake Smolinski to the Marlins for Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham.

Street is done. I don't know if I see him turning his career around. especially leaving a pitcher friendly park for a hitter friendly park.

well just gonna go ahead and kill myself

What I've heard is that they are going to flip Street to a 3rd team. So, we'll see.

FLIP THAT STREET!

I am going to Miss Giambi. I love him. I realize there really is no room for him anymore, but I hate to see him go, he has grown on me.

What is the status on Abreu? I want him gone.

Is Melky going to rebound? If not we are looking at a Matsui/Damon/Abreu outfield, that is shit. Then we let our DH walk.

I have faith in Cashman, but he has his work cut out for him.

Here's the state of the Yankees, Matt.

Abreu is going out. We don't need him anymore. With X-Man in RF, Damon/Matsui swapping between LF and DH. We are in the market for a CF. But it all depends on how much money we got left over. And no, Manny is not the answer

Top priority right now is to sign 2 big name starting pitchers. We're talking either Lowe, Sabathia, Peavy, Burnett. But we can't do jack until we hear from Mussina and Pettitte.

Second on the list is a 1B. Teixeira is the go-to guy, but it all depends on the money situation.

Hope that helps ya.

Padres have withdrawn their offer $4 million, to Hoffman.

Man, do the Nationals ever seem to go after players with disipline troubles. Getting Olsen is just the latest example.

They are trying to round up players with superior talent at cheap prices, and that comes by taking headcases. See Elijah Dukes.

I thought Nadywas a Free Agent? I am cool with a Damon Matsui platoon DH/LF, will keep them fresh. Nady is a solid RF, we dont need Manny I agree.

I dont want to see Teixiara either. I guess it is inevitable though. The guy is good, but not as good as he will get paid.

I would be happy with signing Lowe regardless of of what Muss and Pettite do, he will be a solid back of the rotation starter. If we go Teixeira, I think we need to go cheaper on pitching, and maybe take Burnett rather than Sheets/Sabathia.

I just dont want to see them drop 500 million on Free Agents.

pitching pitching pitching. that's what the Yankees need.

Tim Lincecum wins the NL Cy Young. Best choice in my opinion.

Too abd the Jays didn't get him last year when they tried to trade Rios for him.

If the Yankees don't go after Teixeira they are insane. There hasn't been an elite 1B free agent since Thome in like 2002. New York just cleared $25 million in salary from Giambi alone. They're not going to sign Sabbathia and Burnett and Sheets are serious health risks.

If I am Cashman, I make a bid on Peavy, Sign Lowe, and Maybe Bring back Muss.

That gives a Peavy, Wang, Lowe, Muss, kennedy/Hughes Rotation.

I would Bring Melky back up as the 4th outfielder.

Looking at the market, there is not a single starting option other than Teix, so We have to sign him I guess.

I would arbitrate with Marte. I would sign Brian Shouse to a medium deal.

you're forgeting Joba is a starter now too. Hopefully Hughes/Kennedy get thier asses in gear and we can bring back Pettite. But still, we really need help from the young guys

Cashman already said Joba is coming out of the pen to start next year

a Peavy/Wang/Lowe/Muss/Kennedy (trade Hughes for peavy) rotation would be stellar, with a pen of Mo, Joba, Marte, Shouse.

Don't worry. He won't put up nearly as good of numbers in another park. Look at his away stats his entire stint with the Rockies. You can just get another slightly above average player and make him look good a mile above sea level

Carlos Gonzalez is going to hit put up 315 Average, 30 HR and 100 RBI I bet.

Yanks declined Marte's option last week. And we got Sergio Mitre buried in the minors in case of emergency.

Ian Kennedy's ship has sailed. If he hasn't figured out that he's trade fodder then something is wrong. Cashman wants to give Phil Hughes one last chance to prove himself. He's either gotta kick the big injuries or the stage fright if he wants to survive on this team.

Congrats to Tim Lincecum. Sole reason to go out to see the Giants this year. I thought Brandon Webb would get it.

Henry Owens (no big deal) a pitcher for the Marlins will be suspended 50 games to start next year because he tested positive for 'roids.

but I love Matt Holiday :(

If the rockies are packing it in on Holliday, they should trade Helton to the Yanks for some spare parts too.

THat way I dont have to root for Teix, who I hate, ifyou havent noticed already.

Joe Maddon and "Loopy" Lou Piniella are your '08 Managers of the Year.

Yankees re-sign Damasso Marte to a 3-year, $12 million deal.

Why sign the man to a new contract when we could have took the option and pay him 6 mil.? I got a feeling Hank and/or Hal had a hand in this.

6 million for 1 year and then a new deal or he walks.

Instead they get him for 3 years at a cheaper price and can always trade him for a return.

pretty good move IMHO

<font color=goldenrod>Marlins get: RHP Jose Ceda
Cubs get: RHP Kevin Gregg</font>

<font color=goldenrod>And in no surprise, Cliff Lee is the 2008 AL Cy Young Award Winner. Absolutely NOBODY could have predicted that going into the season, awesome job.</font>

Yanks get Nick Swisher for Wilson Betemit and two minor leaguers.

Not a bad move for them considering that he can be their 1B if they get another OF or an OF if they get a good 1B.

Nice Pickup by the yanks

What do I do?

I love Swish but I hate the Yanks :(

Smooth move by Cashman. We also got Texeira in that trade.............well ChiSox pitching prospect Kanekoa Texeira, that is.

Also, we're gonna shoot our proposal to CC Sabathia tomorrow. Can't wait to hear that one.

WOW

The Cubs have decided not to offer to Kerry Wood. Instead they trade for Florida Pitcher Kelly Gregg.

Did not see that coming.

Where you think he goes?

I could see Wood closing in Arizona next year.

Swisher is gonna look weird without the long hair and facial hair. I hope he grows a mustache like Thurman Munson.

who's Thurman Munson :wtf:

I swear to god, you had better be kidding, or I will come to your house and burn any Yankees gear you have!

<font color=goldenrod>Yanks' opening offer for Sabathia was said to be 6 years, $140 million. That would be $2.5 million more than Johan's deal from last year and thus, the largest contract ever given to a pitcher if accepted.

More than likely going to be 3 straight years in which the biggest contract ever for a pitcher record is broken. Zito, Santana, Sabathia.</font>

yanks confirmed the offer to Sabathia, and said they are about to make offers to Lowe and Burnett.

I think this confirms they will NOT be making an offer on Teix. Swisher will play first and Nady will play right. Maybe they will bring in a bench player to take come games there, but no big names.

If they land all 3 pitchers, OMG!

CC, Wang, Lowe, Burnett, Hughes, kennedy, Joba etc!

Maybe they could package kennedy and prospects for a 1st baseman/OF so that they can rotate Damon/matsui in left and DH, have Damon/Swisher in Center, Swisher/Nady in right, and Swisher/??? at first, to keep everyone fresh.

So matsui/damon/nady/Swisher/??? could play the 3 OF spots, DH and 1b. if nady can play first, then they can just bring up melky as the 5th guy in that spot.

CC
Wang
Burnett
Joba
Hughes/Moose if he comes back

Thats a fucking rotation

I could see Burnett being another Pavano. I can definately see Lowe fitting the system. CC is CC. Would of loved Tex, but yea, I figured when they signed Swisher, he would play first a lot. you can tell they have lost a lot of hope in thier young pitchers, minus Joba, though.

I'm sure Pettite will resign too.

<font color=goldenrod>I'm hoping the Mets bring in Lowe...but the problem is, like all starters on the market not named CC, the starting price is like 4 years, $50 million and Lowe is already 35 years old. But then again Johan is their only total sure thing next year because it's no guarantee that Pelfrey will pitch this well next year or if Maine will be fully effective.

Also, supposedly K-Rod really likes New York and wants to be a Met. Problem is the Mets aren't big on the idea of giving him the 5 years, $75 million he's seeking. Hoping they can settle on 4 years with an option.

Mets have roughly $25 million to spend this offseason and they need to somehow get a closer, 2 starters (at least one needs to be really solid, the other can be a low risk guy), and for fuck's sake, fix the bullpen. I get the sense their bullpen help (outside of closer) will be with trades and some addition by subtraction.</font>

Closers should make no more than 8 million a year. MAX. Seriously, spending 15 million a year on a guy that pitches 60 innings a year is retarded.

Nah, positive he said Joba will be in the rotation all year. He'll be the 5th starter so they can skip his turn in the rotation every now and then.

That Swisher trade is nice, they gave up a bunch of garbage to get him.

I think the best thing the Yankees could do is to trade Damon or Nady. Both only have one year left. Nady could probably bring back a solid pitcher or prospects.

The only thing that sucks is that getting Swisher probably means they don't go after Tex. Thats why trading Nady would be ideal. Tired of first base for the Yankees being a landing spot for old guys that can't play anywhere else. The longer they leave that spot open, the more willing they are to keep so many DH types on their team.

Basically, sign Tex, trade Nady and put Swisher in right.

C - Posada
1B - Teixiera
2B - Cano
3B - A-Rod
SS - Jeter
LF - Damon
CF - Gardner
RF - Swisher
DH - Matsui

Also, Burnett is probably the worst possible idea for the Yankees. They need stability in their rotation and a guy that has pitched 200 innings only 3 times in his career doesn't cut it. Also, the fact that the first time he threw 200 innings he pitched 30 innings the next year. And the second time he pitched 130 innings the following year. I'd say coming off a career high in innings doesn't bode well for him next year.

Not sure about Lowe either, he's getting up there in age and he was pretty terrible in Boston his last two years.

Lowe isnt a superstar, but he can eat innings up and throw some gems. I would rather have Lowe than Mussina.

Nady isnt exactly old, he is like in his late 20s, only a few yers older than Teix, and much cheaper. There wont be much of a market for him anyway until deadline, and since when are the Yanks a Deadline seller?

THere is no way they can sign Teix.

DO you really think they will hand out 2 125+ million dollar contracts? Plus 50 million to Lowe and Burnett. Not in their plans.

nothing has even happened yet. so you can't really so "no way" to anything. Yea, I agree with everything Deagon said about Burnett. That's why I kind of compare him to a Pavano deal. I think Lowe will be great. The veterans always seem to shine with the Yankees for some reason. It's classic late 90's Yankees formula.

I think the 140 million offer to Sabathia and the confirmed offers for Lowe and Burnett, plus a trade for Swisher makes it 99 percent "No way" they sign Teix.

Did you figure out who Thurman Munson was yet? You were kidding, right?

and what I meant was yea they offered those guys deals, but you never know. Those deals could easily fall through or never come about and then they could make a play for Tex

True. But looking at the way they are approaching this offseason, Teix is not in their plans, and a 125 mIllion dollar man rarely is a fallback plan :)

I was pretty scared for a minute. Just making sure. How many pics you have on the walls? Is it lik a Yankees room? In my office I have A huge picture of Joe Dimaggio sliding into third, then a Framed picture of every captain in order around the room.

Also, didnt mean to call you out, but I have started a crusade to kill fake yankees fans for the last 10 years.

It all depends on how long Lowe wants. If its a two year deal I would love that. Maybe 3 years.

I know Nady isn't old, but he has one year left on his contract. I think they could get a solid return for him. I mean, whatever team that misses out on Manny and the other corner outfielders could definitely use him. I know it won't happen but it would be smart.

Money wise they could sign all 4 guys and that will bring them back to their payroll last year. Obviously they aren't getting all 4 though. They won't get all three of those pitchers anyway.

I just think Cashman will focus on all pitching this offseason and while pitching is the priority, the offense is a problem as well. There are so many question marks offensively next year it isn't even funny.

Posada coming back from surgery is a question. Swisher and Cano are question marks coming off the worst seasons of their career. Matsui is coming off knee surgery. Jeter has been declining a bit every year. Nobody knows if Gardner can hit ML pitching and Nady has had one good year, and he really trailed off towards the end of the year.

Teixeira would really solidify the lineup for a while along with A-Rod.

You could also say the offense was almost as much to blame as the pitching for our troubles last year. There were so many games where we lost by 1 or 2 runs.

<font color=goldenrod>Couldn't agree more, but unfortunately the market is going that way anyway.

I think K-Rod is hella overrated, but I still think he's the best option out there. Fuentes is cheaper but I dunno, something about him just worries me.</font>

Even if the Jays re-sign Burnett, next year they will be a big question mark. I could see them trading away their assets for prospects. I'm talking about everyone... including Halladay.

Wow. Now here's one out of the department of the completely unexpected.

Yankees sell Darrell Rasner to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles for $1 mil.

Kinda wondering if we're gonna get our heads back into Japan. Picking up Igawa a couple years ago really spooked us.

ha, not me. raised in the Bronx and Yonkers (NY) and lived in New Rochelle, NY forever. I've got just those two on the wall. I live in an apartment right now with the wife. That wall is just part of the dining room. I've got a lot more pictures and all my baseball memorabilia back in my old room at my parents house. Once we get a house, it'll all move into my "man land" :yes:

Nice beater you fag

WORLD CHAMPS

Gotta work on my Yankee/Giant pictures. Have Babe/Yogi shaking hands, Dimaggio, and Catch 42

<font color=goldenrod>Yeah once I'm out of school and have my own place I'm gonna definitely gonna decorate my office or sports room with Mets and Giants stuff.</font>