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davell

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Everything posted by davell

  1. davell
    Toonster started a thread over on minorleagueball asking guys who were left unprotected from their teams. Right now, I'd say probably half the teams have answered. The biggest names I've heard mentioned so far are Nick Barnese from Tampa, Jordan Danks from the WS, David Bromberg and Angel Morales from the Twins, Trevor Reckling from Anaheim, David Pham from the Cards, Jonathan Galvez from the Pads, Andrew Lambo from Pittsburgh, and Denny Almonte and Greg Halman Jr from Seattle. Out of these guys, I really, really hope we take a flyer on Barnese. On another note, last year there were 19 picks made, but while I thought there was a limit as to how many guys a team can lose, evidently there is not. One year the Yanks lost 4 guys.
  2. davell
    This isn't just about 2012. If our offseason consists of adding Cespedes and Darvish, along with some one year contract guys, I'm going to be OK with that. Because they'll obviously have seen quite a bit from those 2 to have signed them, first and foremost and we'll have quite a bit more cash to work with the following offseason. We need 2 middle of the order hitters and 2 frontline pitchers. If they see Cespedes and Darvish as 2 of those guys, then I'm going to trust them.
  3. davell
    Last year they spent 20 mill on the draft and IFA. Which is a bigtime amount, but if they really wanted to move quickly on the farm and the new CBA allows it, that number could still increase a little. And then, if a guy like Darvish is signed, there's a chance the posting fee gets counted towards this number as well.
  4. davell
    The minimum salary for major leaguers will go from 414,000 to 480,000 next year and 500,000 in future years. Small market teams probably won't be liking that either.
  5. davell
    In order for me to condone trading Garza, I'd want a future ace type starter and a potential middle of the order bat as well. Nothing less than that. Otherwise, lock him up for 4 years and 50ish mill. Maybe even 5 and 65, if it comes down to it.
  6. davell
    No more Elias rankings after this year. Relievers with Type A status will NOT cost a team a draft pick THIS year, excluding Papelbon, who was signed beforehand. Draft picks will be given out in the future to teams who extend a qualifying offer of at least 12 mill to a player. That sucks if we don't keep Marshall, we won't receive anything for him after the season. Maybe it makes it more likely he's dealt? Byrd won't ever net us a pick either. Dempster and Zambrano conceivably could, but both would really need to pitch well, for them to decide against taking an arb offer from us.
  7. davell
    I think it has everything to do with who it is that's getting dealt. If you're trading Garza, you'd better be getting a TON in return. To where you can "sell" it to your huge fanbase that most won't understand why you just moved your best pitcher for players they've never heard of. Because the fact is, it could hurt revenue if the fans don't see a product on the field worth going out to see. Especially with what we're charging for ticket prices at this point. If this can't be done with the return, then personally, I'm not doing it, because the risk of fan backlash means too much. Basically, in Garza's case, for what you're asking, I guess the return would conceivably have to be 2 top 25 prospects that have yet to see AA. The thing is though, I find it nearly impossible for one team to be able to make an offer like that, when there aren't any other offers remotely close that involve players close to the majors.
  8. davell
    Wouldn't the team he's played for have the best knowledge of his medical records? And wouldn't the fact that team is a small market team and doesn't have much cash to burn also alude to the fact they're very confident he's going to be healthy? I sure think so.
  9. davell
    I doubt there is anyone on the site that wants a repeat of the 2006 offseason, where we saddle ourselves with contracts of players that become untradeable and aren't good enough 3 years later to make the playoffs. But, as a major market team, we certainly can't have a Tampa Bay offseason, trade away everyone on our roster and build for 2015. To me and probably everyone else here, we want to build for the future. But, that doesn't preclude us from fielding a team capable of surprising and winning in 2012 either. If it comes down to it and we get offers for Marshall, Marmol, Soto, and Garza and the most enticing ones on each of them are for players who won't contribute in 2012, then my hope would be we'd maybe take the very best ONE of those offers, if it's too good to pass up. And I'd continue to shop the other guys, but for more major league ready talent. Because we can add a big piece, some stopgaps, and maybe a solid guy or two as well this offseason, not hurt ourselves longterm, and possibly contend.
  10. davell
    Sounds like Cleveland is going to keep Sizemore. I guess this means we have Cespedes higher on our priority list than Grady, or else we could certainly make an offer as good or better than Cleveland's rumored deal that looks to be in the realm of 9 mill AFTER incentives.
  11. davell
    Here's the best reason to go after Fielder, as far as I'm concerned. The following is a list of the BEST FA hitters for 2013 and their ages as well: Andre Ethier 31, Nick Swisher 32, Carlos Quentin 30, BJ Upton 28, Shane Victorino 32, Josh Hamilton 32, Howie Kendrick 29, Brandon Phillips 32, and Mike Napoli 31. Meanwhile, the pitching is excellent for that class. So, if we have needs in both areas but can only afford ONE big ticket guy this offseason, then hitting is definitely the way to go.
  12. davell
    I'm actually a fan of a Marshall for Swisher type of deal. But Hughes isn't a throw in. They think way too much of him to put him in a deal like that.
  13. davell
    All I'm saying is IF Theo doesn't like Fielder or Pujols for whatever reason, he could go a different route at 1B and get 1B production from a more unconventional position. No idea who and I don't expect it to happen either, but it is a possibility, if we don't land one of the 1B this offseason. Like I said, I expect one big ticket signing and Prince seems like the best fit to me.
  14. davell
    He doesn't. But there IS a chance anyway that he's not sold on Pujols or Fielder. There's not a bigtime 1B FA next offseason, but a team can be built without a huge bat at 1B. I'm just saying there's a chance he will wait and build in a different way. That said, if you held a gun to my head, I'd tell you I expect us to sign Fielder this offseason, especially after the hiring of Sveum.
  15. davell
    If anything, I could see Theo wanting to get a better grasp of his new organization before spending huge on a single player. Not saying this is going to happen, but I think it's understandable, if it happens. Spend a year building up the system and having even more money fall off next year. In the end though, I think we'll add ONE big ticket guy this offseason.
  16. davell
    We're talking about him a little in the IFA thread over in the minor league forums. No idea where he'd fall into the draft, but he played some games against a Bryce Harper led US squad when they were both 15 and they were evidently the 2 best players on the field by far. He' a big guy, good athlete, good looking swing, with lots of power potential. He's definitely the type of guy we need in the minors. One article I read said he'd probably need 800 at bats or so in the minors, before he's ready. Give him a major league deal, spread the money out some and hope we hit the jackpot. Hell, if we get both him and Cespedes, I'd be happy as hell.
  17. davell
    It's going to take us an entire offseason just to figure out which reporter, if any, has good contacts within the organization, with the new group.
  18. davell
    No clue where to put this, but Levine says we have a baseball budget of 200 mill or so for 2012. That includes major league payroll, employee salaries, running the minor leagues, amateur draft, and international free agents. So the question I have is how much does it cost to run the minors and how much do we think the employee salaries are?
  19. davell
    AZPhil brought up a really good point regarding anyone we left off today. Either Boston or the Pads could be wanting someone we left off. They just don't want them on their 40 man either, so it's a risk to see if they pass through and then they could wind up being compensation. He feels confident Gonzalez and Flaherty will be taken, for what it's worth.
  20. davell
    I could definitely see a team grabbibg Gonzalez too. In fact, he could be the guy teams take first from us. As a middle infielder, he's probably capable of sticking too. If I had to rank guys on their probabbility of getting taken, I'd say him first, then Jay Jackson because of what he'd shown previously, then Flaherty, Rhee, Antigua, and Burke.
  21. davell
    I'm starting to change my tune on Darvish some. I don't see the Yanks or Red Sox being big players here, so maybe you could get him around 30 or 35 mill as far as the posting fee goes. Not sure how they'll figure that towards payroll, but if you can then sign him for around 10 to 12 mill per, you've got a young frontline starter fairly cheaply just entering his prime. I'm thinking I like this idea more than Wilson and definitely much, much better than Buehrle obviously.
  22. davell
    I'm not worried about Hill. Especially after reading the thing about Varitek from Levine. Don't get me wrong, it'd still be a waste of money AND a roster spot as well, but I'd rather have Varitek for many reasons, including the fact he probably actually is a "solid veteran presence". I know that has no literal value, but if we're going to have an old backup catcher we're paying a mill or so to, my guess is it'll be him. In a perfect world, it'll be one of Castillo or Clevenger, but my honest guess is one of them is our starter and we trade Soto.
  23. davell
    There's 34 guys right now, with Hill likely to be gone soon. Kerry Wood replaces Hill and we're back to 34. Maybe they're saving a spot for Brett Jackson and/or Angel Guzman? That could be 36 right there. Leaving 4 spots to go to a !B, 3B, and a couple of pitchers.
  24. davell
    Bottom line is 3 of our top 20 prospects just got left unprotected. I think it's pretty certain we're going to lose 2 guys this year. I know if the Cubs added a guy from the Rule 5 like any of those 3, I'd be pretty psyched.
  25. davell
    Jay Jackson is another guy that could get taken in the Rule 5. He may even be the most likely to get taken. I guess there's a chance Burke could get taken as well, but a team would have to be really creative to keep him. My guess is the Cubs think he'll make it through and he'll be rostered next year if he continues to show this much progress.
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