The 2010/2011 MLB Offseason Thread

That is a sad, sad group of relievers in the free agent market.

"GreenMonster wrote:

That is a sad, sad group of relievers in the free agent market.

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.

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.

"HardKoreXXX wrote:

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.

larry beinfeist was given his payroll outline for 2011....and he has "more money" to spend this offseason.....supposedly.

We will see.

Should be a busy off-season for the Marlins...I'm praying they can nab Uggla for 4 years...NOT 5.

And I suspect Gaby will be on the market.

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.

"Mainge wrote:

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.

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?

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.

"BigDogsHunt wrote:

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.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

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?

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.

"Mainge wrote:

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.

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.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

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.

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.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

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.

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:

"BigDogsHunt wrote:

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.

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!!!

"BigDogsHunt wrote:

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!!!

Yeah very sad news. It seemed to come out of nowhere. RIP.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

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.

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.

"padre31 wrote:

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.

I don't see why the Padres will trade AG. It makes no sense. They have to lock him up.

"Ashraf wrote:

I don't see why the Padres will trade AG. It makes no sense. They have to lock him up.

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.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

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.

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.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

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.

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.