Transmogrified Tiger

The Cavs are about to start, sports have meaning again.

FJM just did a number on this.

Define "cheap". He'll make around 7 mil this year in arbitration and have 2 more years of arbitration after that.

I think Eyre is going to be at 4.13 million. He's getting 2.7/3.5 with an option for '08. Considering that he got 333k of his 1M signing bonus in '06(3.033M total), and that normally they don't pro-rate signing bonus over option years, I think he'll get the last 666k this coming year in addition to his 3.5 mil. Jones made 4.033M this year(3M base), but how the 2.966M remaining of the signing bonus is distributed over '07-'08 is beyond me. Also, I think Howry should be at 4.5 mil this year. He got a 2.5/4/4 deal with a 1.5M signing bonus. He got 3M this past year, so I think he's getting that signing bonus distributed evenly, putting him at 4.5M for the next two years. Izturis signed a contract for 2.15/3.2/4.15 with a .3M signing bonus. USA Today says that he's gotten 100k of it each of the last two years, so I figure he'll be at 4.25M this year before his team option. According to USA Today Dempster's 1M signing bonus is evenly distributed over his 3 years, so he should be at 5.33M this year and 5.85M next year. Assuming Barrett will make 12M total on his 3 year deal, he should have 4.533M left, but who knows for sure. I don't know exactly how Hoops was handling the signing bonuses, but that's how I got to those numbers using Cot's and USA Today's figures.

Keon Lawrence has a stress fracture in his foot, and he's out 4-6 weeks. :cry:

I don't think that means he's been posted. It means it's going to happen, but I didn't read that to mean that they've already done it.

I hear he has great leaping ability. :) It's tremendous.

You know it's a quality source when it has the Cubs trading a player who they don't even have anymore.

Maddux definitely, but Ceda is more than garbage. EDIT: On a different note, Blanco is a Type C.

Link Of note: Walker - Type A Maddux - Type A Wood - None ARam - Type A Also, Barrett was the best NL catcher, and second best in baseball behind VMart, based on their rankings.

He made 30 starts and threw 211 innings in 2003. He was on the DL that year too. Which means he has never pitched in a full season without being hurt. Plenty of people who aren't hurt throw less than 30 starts or 211 IP. It's really nitpicking to say he didn't pitch a full season. He hasn't pitched in a full season without being hurt. IF he didnt get hurt in 03, then he would have pitched in a full season. He missed a month of baseball because of that injury. Of course by a month, you mean, 2 starts.

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He made 30 starts and threw 211 innings in 2003. He was on the DL that year too. Which means he has never pitched in a full season without being hurt. Plenty of people who aren't hurt throw less than 30 starts or 211 IP. It's really nitpicking to say he didn't pitch a full season. So he was drafted in 2001 and he's kind-of pitched one full big league season. I think that qualifies as a big-time bust. Especially since it looks like he yet AGAIN won't pitch a full season in 2007. I know I'm ready to cut the cord with the guy. Yes, we're aware you're willing to dump Prior. That's an unmistakably terrible idea, but it's not what I was addressing.

When mlbtraderumors.com says the rumor is unfounded, then it's pretty much what some guy heard from his dog.

He made 30 starts and threw 211 innings in 2003. He was on the DL that year too. Which means he has never pitched in a full season without being hurt. Plenty of people who aren't hurt throw less than 30 starts or 211 IP. It's really nitpicking to say he didn't pitch a full season.

Prior has never pitched a full season. He made 30 starts and threw 211 innings in 2003.

Wait, are we still talking about Young? Cause he's not worth anywhere near that much.

If Aramis stays, I think the best case scenario is Daisuke + Padilla/Lilly for the rotation, Durham/Iwamura for 2B, and trading for Drew in RF. A slightly different version is Schmidt + Kuroda for the rotation, Durham/Iwamura, and trading for Burrell. If Aramis leaves, going after A-Rod is a necessity, and going after Burrell(which is a less ideal situation than Drew because of OF defense) should be more of a target because he'll come cheaper than Drew or other RF targets. SP and 2B targets should remain the same. If he stays, best case scenario: Durham/Iwamura Murton Lee Drew/Ramirez Ramirez/Burrell Barrett Pie Izturis If he goes, best case scenario: Durham/Iwamura Murton A-Rod Lee Burrell Barrett Pie Izturis

Michael Young loves him some Ballpark at Arlington.

Royals commiseration and the lack of guilt for making him a Cub fan

That's me explaining that giving Hendry an additional 2 weeks before starting to hand-wring. when he's had a month to get something done is silly. Why continue to be patient when the majority of the time has passed? Again, that's because there's no way Ramirez is going to get a good enough deal before he opts out. I don't have a problem with Hendry trying to get a good deal for Ramirez before he opted out. Now that he has, if Hendry doesn't up the ante he'll lose Ramirez and he'll be to blame. But just throwing up the number of days that he hasn't been able to ink Ramirez is pointless without context. And that context is that Ramirez has no reason to negotiate until he has leverage, and he gets that leverage once he opts out.

Admittedly, in previous offseasons I was all about not overpaying for FA's. However, I've changed my thinking a bit to the point where if a player is really good and he's got age on his side(pre-prime, entering prime), then he's worth overpaying for. To me, Soriano isn't that player, and there probably isn't a player like that on this FA market. There is no Beltran, no Vlad, all the top FA's are pushing 30 years old or more.

Or maybe he's just using the time alotted to get the best contract he can. Now that Ramirez has opted out, Hendry will in all likelihood be forced to up the offer to sign him, which if history is any indication, is what's probably going to happen. What history? I'd say it's far more likely that Hendry allows him to walk and signs someone completely lousy to play 3B than it is that Hendry actually pays a top 5 player at his position market value. The history I was just talking about. While each situation is different, Hendry has always locked up the players he wants to keep. He's in negotiations with Ramirez and Ramirez is opting out to improve his leverage. I'm not saying to blow it off and ignore the situation, but there's an excess of hand-wringing over it. If we're still in the same spot by next Friday, then it's time to really worry. Why Friday? He's had every day since the season ended to resolve this. No progress has been reported. Bruce can ever verify that they aren't anywhere close. Why be optimistic, or wait an arbitrary amount of days for pointing out that (once again) Hendry has screwed up and put our team in a terrible position? And again, there is no history for this situation. Hendry has never had a player as good as ARam be FA eligible. Because it takes two people to sign the contract. Before now, it's not in Ramirez's interest to sign because he hasn't opted out yet, and the chance he might not works in Hendry's favor. Now that he's opted out, Hendry has to up the offer, and he'll probably do so. The next friday comment is in response to the amount of time we have exclusive rights to negotiate with Ramirez. If they're still nowhere close to each other near the end of that, then go crazy. But until now it wasn't in Ramirez's interest to sign, and it wasn't in Hendry's interest to up his offer.

Or maybe he's just using the time alotted to get the best contract he can. Now that Ramirez has opted out, Hendry will in all likelihood be forced to up the offer to sign him, which if history is any indication, is what's probably going to happen. What history? I'd say it's far more likely that Hendry allows him to walk and signs someone completely lousy to play 3B than it is that Hendry actually pays a top 5 player at his position market value. The history I was just talking about. While each situation is different, Hendry has always locked up the players he wants to keep. He's in negotiations with Ramirez and Ramirez is opting out to improve his leverage. I'm not saying to blow it off and ignore the situation, but there's an excess of hand-wringing over it. If we're still in the same spot by next Friday, then it's time to really worry.

I'm surprised there has been only a few posts on this topic. I think it was dumb to start Verlander, for a couple reasons. First off, this game was a must win. Rogers had been unhittable all postseason. Verlander hadn't pitched too well. You absolutely have to go with the guy who gives you the best chance to win in an eliminateion game, and Rogers was clearly that guy. If Rogers won, then Verlander could've started game 6... at home. I imagine his nerves would've been calmer pitching in front of his home town, rather than pitching in a cold and rainy Busch Stadium. You can't think about how you have to win three games. You have to win one game before you can think about the next two. Who do you think was more likely to be rattled pitching in Busch stadium, Verlander, or the guy who got caught with pinetar on his hand? You live around St. Louis, you had to have heard every single fan and quasi-fan talking about it. Rogers pitching in Busch would have been a hellacious environment. Rogers would also benefit more from Comerica than Verlander, given their respective approaches and stuff.