Well now that the World Series is over thus officially ending the 2010 baseball season, the 2010/2011 MLB offseason is officially underway. So what a better way to kick it off by starting a thread to dicussion any free agent rumors/signings and trades.
Here's a look at the some important upcoming dates:
11/4- Deadline for teams/players to decide whether to accept/reject options
11/7- Exclusive negotiating rights ends at midnight, making free agents able to sign with any team
11/16 & 11/17- GM Meetings
11/17- Owners Meetings
11/23- Last day for teams to offer arbitration to free agents in order to get draft pick(s) if the free agent leaves for another team
11/30- Last day for players to accept arbitration salary offers
12/2- Last day for teams to tender contracts to players for the 2011 season
12/6-12/9 Winter Meetings
1/5-1/15- Salary arbitration filing periods
1/18- Arbitration figures exchanged
2/1-2/21- Arbitration hearings
2/13- Voluntary Spring Training report date for pitchers and catchers
2/18- Voluntary Spring Training report date for non-pitchers
3/1- Mandatory report date for all players
3/31- OPENING DAY
Here's a full list of the MLB calendar: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/important_dates.jsp?tcid=mm_mlb_schedule
Here are some links to refer to from mlbtradeumors.com which is a great site:
Free Agents: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/09/2011-mlb-free-agents.html
Free Agent Rankings (whether a player is Type A or Type B): http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/10/official-elias-rankings.html
Non-Tender Candidates: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/non-tender-candidates.html
Arbitration Eligible Players: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/10/arbitration-eligibles-series.html
So everyone is welcome to post and discuss what's going on. Whether it's rumors, news or predictions on who goes where. I'm sure like always it's going to be an interesting winter. So enjoy and let the countdown to the 2011 MLB season officially begin!
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That is a sad, sad group of relievers in the free agent market.
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Yet some of them will become very very rich since all 30 teams need pen help. I wish I was a LHRP, I'd have job security for the next 20 years if I could throw strikes.
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This is going to be a big offseason for the Rays. Sad to see Carl go, but we cant afford him and we have a young OF in Jennings to replace him. Carlos Pena is also a free agent, his bat is easily replaced, his glove isnt, but im not worried about 1B to much. We have a few things to figure out on offense, what to do at 1B? Give Dan Johnson a try?(hope not) Or go out and get a 1B? We need to go out and get a power hitting DH.
My biggest worry this off season is our entire bullpen is free agents this year, and as said above, we are going to have to over pay to keep them here. I would like to resign Balfour, pick up Wheelers option, and Benoit, using Benoit as the closer this upcoming season. Jake McGee looked good when called upon later in the season, and has been lights out since being moved to the pen.
That mean our BP would likely look like:
RHP Grant Balfour
RHP Dan Wheeler
LHP Jake McGee
RHP Winston Abreu
LHP JP Howell
RHP LR Andy Sonnanstine
RHP CL Joaquin Benoit
I foresee James Shields being dealt. For either a prospect, or a piece of a trade to get a 1B or DH in return. We will still have a good team, but unless the bullpen just comes out of no where to be really good, we will be an inconsistent team. If we make the necessary moves, I could see 83-79. If bullpen balls, we will fight for the division once again, pitching and defense is still to good. -
Old news, but the Braves picked up the options of Alex Gonzalez and Omar Infante, and let go Takashi Saito, Melky (MELKY!) Ankiel and Farnsworth.
I guess this means we'll see Nate McLouth get another shot in CF next year, as I doubt Jordan Schafer will make the club. Sad for such a once promising prospect. -
Yeah I can't see how the Braves would trust Schafer with the job since his last good year was in 2008 and he's missed his fair share of games between his PED suspension and various injuries. I'm sure the Braves will probably sign a journey man OFer or make some kind of trade since I'm not sure if they're even comfortable with McLouth in the line up who was nothing short of awful from Spring Training to the end of the year.
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larry beinfeist was given his payroll outline for 2011....and he has "more money" to spend this offseason.....supposedly.
We will see.Anonymous likes this. -
No way Gaby is on the market. Productive players who will make the minimum for another year (maybe two) are valued much too highly by the Marlins to trade them.
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Is there any talk of moving Gaby to either 3B or OF and put Morrison on 1B or are the Marlins just going to leave LoMo in LF?
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I loves me some Hot Stove League action......moves will be made and names such as Lee, Crawford, Werth, Martinez, etc will all be rumored and bid upon.
Expect trades to be worked out for Gonzalez as well. Will be interesting as always. -
I actually don't think Gonzalez will be traded but I think he should be. I bet if you secretly got Jed Hoyer in a room he'd admit that the team missing out on the playoffs by 1 game did more harm than good and hurt his shot at dealing Gonzalez either last July or this offseason for a big return.
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There hasn't been any. LoMo is way more athletic for the OF and Gaby is supposedly a butcher at 3rd. If Uggla is resigned, Coghlan will most likely move to 3rd.Ray Finkle likes this.
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Oh ok thanks. I remember early in the season there was talking about moving Gaby to 3rd for LoMo before they switched LoMo to LF just wasn't sure if that was even being discussed again.
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Well dont know about BIG return, or your definition of such....but still think clearly BOS wants him badly.
The question is the package outbound and what including AG comes back. But Ellsbury outbound???? what else as part of that?? or to really wet the whistle what about Buckholz in a package??? The big question is who besides AG comes back?
I still think AG gets moved....the question is what defines big return vs. "A" return that simply makes sense for SD vs. getting nothing allowing him to exit via FA.
If not just BOS, would see TB potentially making play to muddy the waters...others as well getting into the sweepstakes or atleast SD alluding to that to keep pressure on BOS, etc. -
Shoot, you get job security for 20 years even if you cant throw strikes as a LHRP.
Mets picked up Jose Reyes' team option for 2011 for 11M.
Lets see what ya got Sandy! But making Oliver Perez report to the Winter league is the first step...as long as you keep him there. Permanently. :up: -
Well he's signed cheap at 5.5 million through next year, so that in itself should bring back something good. The Padres just aren't going to give him away because they're desperate to get rid of the salary. I think if they put Gonzalez out on the market they should be able to get back a package similar if not better than Seattle got back for Lee, since Texas only had Lee for half the year. Where they got one A prospect and 3 B-ish prospects.
I don't think Boston would trade Buchholz at all, but certainly they'd listen on Ellsbury. I would be shocked if the Sox gave up any big time prospects unless they could talk to Gonzalez beforehand and lock him up long term.
Tampa Bay certainly has the prospects to land Gonzalez but they'd probably have to part with Hellickson, Sean Rodriguez/Reid Brignac, and 2 more prospects. But I doubt the Rays would do that for just 1 year of Gonzalez since theres no way they'll sign him long term. The Sox would probably have to give up Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo/Lars Anderson, Ryan Kalish/Josh Reddick and possibly a catching prospect or Lowrie. Personally I not sure giving up the players would make sense when they have the best shot to simply sign him after the season. Sure it's risky since he might not ever reach the market but having young, good, and cheap players is important in baseball now. -
Sparky Anderson, manager of the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati, where he won two World Series titles, and later skipper of the Tigers, whom he lead to the 1984 championship, has died at age 76. A two-time AL Manager of the Year, Anderson ranks sixth on the all-time wins list as a skipper and managed five All-Star teams.
Career Highlights
- Made big league debut as Phillies second baseman in 1959, his lone season in Majors
- Began managerial career with Toronto Maple Leafs of International League in 1964
- Managed Reds from 1970-78, leading them to four NL pennants and World Series championships in 1975 and '76
- Managed Tigers from 1979-95, winning a World Series championship in Detroit in 1984
- Won AL Manager of the Year honors in 1984 and '87
- Managed five All-Star teams, four AL (1971, '73, '76, '77) and one NL ('85)
- First to manage World Series champions in both leagues
- Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by Veteran's Committee as a Manager in 2000
RIP!!!BlameItOnTheHenne likes this. -
Yeah very sad news. It seemed to come out of nowhere. RIP.
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AG should be peddled, the thing with SD is "we" are so loaded with pitching the normal package, say a young starting pitcher and two prospects (normally a catcher is in there) is not as attractive.
The other bad thing is, Ludwig bombed in San Diego, if he had played well they could move AG. -
Loaded with pitching? Besides Latos? Really? Who? A team can never have enough pitching. To say that getting a young starting pitcher (assuming he's a top prospect and not just some team's #4 or 5) is not as attractive is crazy. Even teams that are actually loaded with good starting pitcher would love to be able to get back a top young SP in a trade. Good young SPs aren't easy to find.
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They would lock him up if they could. He's going to get a deal similar to Mark Teixeira. The Padres can't afford it.Anonymous likes this.
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Chris Young was on the Dl, Richardson, Garland (though I think he was on a one yr deal) and Leblanc was rolling well until he had some health issues.
Their problem is middle infield and maybe finding some bullpen help as Heath Bell will also be on the market, his setup man was good enough to try to replace him, but that just creates another opening.
Eckstein and Tejada or both 35 or older, they will have to be replaced, and the outfield lacks punch, so a pitching prospect for AG does not make as much sense as ti would for some other teams.
I also think the Padres should make a comittment to be more of a speed oriented offense as long term, they will never be able to afford replacing power hitters. -
Damn, I didn't know that. Looks like another Miguel Cabrera situation all over again.
Well, I don't know what deals are out there for the Padres, but I guess trading AG isn't all that bad. I heard AG to Boston for your top 3 prospects, but I'm not sure that's so enticing. They should ask for Bucholz instead of Kelley and Rizzo instead of Anderson, IMO. -
Chris Young and John Garland are FAs. Leblanc and Richard had pretty ERAs, but you shouldn't be content with them as your starting pitchers as they both had high WHIPs and could easily decline next season. If the Padres are going to trade AG, they NEED to get SP back. A young arm to pair up with Latos.
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Not many teams could:
Yanks
Mets
Boston
St Louis
If he owner pried open their wallets:
Houston
DC
Yanks look set at first base, the Mets who knows, St Louis is set, Boston is the most likely, then the wildcard teams like the Cubs or White Sox will come out of nowhere and pony up the 180 million or so but the Cubs were just purchased and just peddled Derrick Lee why would they add more payroll? -
Both Chris Young (who hasn't been fully healthy since 2007) and Jon Garland's options were declined making them free agents. Check out Clayton Richard's home/road splits. Petco Park is a blessing for him. And Wade LeBlanc isn't good, he's another product of Petco Park.
Regardless you have Latos, Richard and LeBlanc in your rotation and you still don't think the Padres need pitching help? A trade for Gonzalez isn't just going to net them a pitcher, you have to assume they'd get a pitcher, most likely a 1st baseman and another couple of prospects whether they're INF, OF or another P.
But I agree they need help in the OF and middle infield and should base their team around defense and speed and play to the home ball park. The Giants proved you don't need 8 sluggers in the line up to win, although besides Gonzalez and Headley the Padres lack above average hitters. -
The Red Sox are most likely the team that will get Gonzalez. Phillies have Howard. Like you said the Yankees are set with Teixeira, the Mets seem to be set with Ike Davis (although the new GM might not think so), the Cardinals will most likely resign Pujols, the Dodgers are out of the running because of the divorce, the Angels never spend money. Detroit has Cabrera. The wild cards are the Cubs and White Sox but I'm not sure how much payroll they can add. Seattle might be a wild card too.
Don't forget that Prince Fielder will also be a FA the same time as Gonzalez. So teams have fall back options. -
Exactly. It is another Cabrera situation.
Nah if you're San Diego you ask for Kelly over Buchholz since they'd be able to cost and team control over Kelly longer. Buchholz is a year away from arbitration and will start to get expensive for them. San Diego is going through a rebuilding phrase so by the time the team is ready to make a run Buchholz might be gone already.
And yes Rizzo is a better prospect than Anderson so that would be the smart move.
Hoyer and MacLeod know the Sox farm system better than anyone, the Sox won't be able to pull a quick one on them. -
A GM would be a mad man to take Felder over AG.
To me the real prize would be Heath Bell, granted 60 appearances vs a 150 games but a Closer adds so much to a team.
Browsing the padres roster it is surprising how old that team was at several position and back up positions, the GM (Hoyer) will pretty much have to clean house with some of those players and replace them with some youth. -
Well, the thing with Bucholz that would make him attractive is if you land him, you can use him as rent a pitcher, if you manage to contend, great, if not a Starting pitcher would bring back even more prospects midseason if a big market contending team needed one.
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But the whole point of trading a franchise player is to bring in future franchise players and build for the future, especially since in your previous post you mentioned just how old the Padre players are. Using Buchholz as a rental is bad for business. Plus who's to say you could get back a better package for Buchholz? It's possible that the Padres wouldn't even get close to getting a pitcher back as good as Kelly is. Of course what if Buchholz gets hurt or doesn't pitch as well? It kills his trade value. Way too risky.
Maybe Kalish or Reddick. Westmoreland is untradeable right now, he's just starting to hit live BP. No GM in their right mind would trade for him since his future is so uncertain. -
Ike played LF extensively in college and a bit in the minors as well. Ike could be moved to LF if Alderson felt Gonzalez was worth it but given the fact that Ike was one of the top 3 defensive first baseman in the league last year I doubt it will happen that way. Plus the Mets would have to figure out what to do with Bay at that point because he can only play LF.
The Tigers would be wise to get Prince or AG and maybe put Cabrera back in LF. Strengthens their lineup and the defense really doesnt change if its Prince and it gets better if its AG. Illitch can afford it.
The red sox can also afford it and I think thats ultimately where AG lands. Put Youkilis at 3rd, Papi at DH and AG at 1st. I think Prince whenever he gets dealt is going to a homer friendly park like Yankee Stadium. -
I can't see the Tigers playing two players big money like that though. I know Illitch has the money but I just don't see it. Cabrera would most likely DH instead of playing LF where he'd be a disaster in that big ball park. Plus I'm not sure Gonzalez would want to play in another big park like that.
I'm not sure the Mets would put Davis in the OF, because like you said where would Bay go? I could see the Mets possibly signing Gonzalez and then maybe shipping Davis out. That's more likely than moving guys all around.
I bet Prince ends up with the White Sox. Just a guess though, since a lot can happen in 1 calendar year. Full disclosure though, I wouldn't touch Fielder with that body type and signing him longer than 3 years would be a bigger mistake than his waist line. That contract situation is going to be very interesting with Boras heading it.
Bottom line is the Red Sox will be able to match any team's best deal since they will have a lot of money coming off the books next off season. If the Sox want Gonzalez bad enough they will end up getting him.Mainge likes this. -
Because if you are going to trade a Franchise player you need to get more back than a couple of prospects who history says, rarely pan out, if you land Bucholtz and manage to contend all the better, if not you have a nice chip in trade, either way he comes with additional prospects in tow.
If you don't manage to contend there is always a trade market for starting pitching and no more risk in trading for him than trading for some minor league player whose chances of making it in the league are as slim as anyone elses. -
I could see the Mets doing it if they proactively found a deal for Bay and then made the signing. Davis is not without mobility; he covers a lot of ground and covers it well. I doubt it happens since Davis played so well at 1st but it is something to keep an eye on though because the Mets have lacked power and Gonzalez is used to big parks.
As for the Tigers...if Ilitch is serious, nothing is off the table in my opinion. With Magglio coming off the books next year I believe then there is no reason not to. They need protection for Cabrera as that team fell off hard when Magglio got hurt last year :wink2: -
Elias’ free agent compensation rankings revealed early
Type A free agents means teams that sign them must forfeit their first-round pick as long as the selection isn’t in the top 15. If it is a top-15 pick, then the team would lose their second rounder instead.
Also worth noting is that in order to receive compensation of any kind, regardless of the player’s classification, a team must offer their departing free agent salary arbitration. Depending on the circumstances some teams decline to do so, forfeiting compensation because they don’t want to risk the player accepting arbitration and forcing them into a one-year commitment.Mainge likes this.
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