SoxFan562004

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 08:29 PM) I guess I'd agree with you more if he didnt just fire his representation. is his new agent have a reputation of any kind? He could have changed representation for many reasons, meaning maybe the new agent works better with big market teams or long term big money deals... also reverse could be true.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 08:11 PM) Look at what he's doing though...he's got a clause in his contract which implies he does not wish to be traded to half the League, then he gives the team an ultimatum to trade him. They're going to come back and say "Look, we'll honor your request, but not under these conditions. We need to do what's best for the Kansas City Royals going forward and this condition hinders that." My guess is he goes to a team on that list, ultimately. yes, I'm sure he will, it's why a lot of players put teams on that list, but I think he will go to one of those teams with an extension signed.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 08:03 PM) I certainly don't miss Rowand and I don't even really hate the Cubs that much but there's something about seeing ARow in a Cubs uni that would irk me a bit. eh, at this point it would just make me remember some of the horrific contracts Hendry passed out and how he can't get out from under them.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 08:00 PM) The Jays have some of the deepest collection of arms in the game right now. If you've read anything about him, Alex Aposopahdhd (I couldn't spell his last name to save my life) has totally committed and allocated most of their resources into the farm and player development. I seriously doubt they would alter that plan at this point. And it's not like they're just one player away. again, I'm not saying they are going to go gung-ho after the guy, but plans change, sometimes names pop up on the market and owners override baseball people and sometimes even if a prospect is highly regarded around baseball the internal scouts of a team have different views on guys. Would I make them the front-runner? No, I would guess Texas would be.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:49 PM) Besides greg? Rowand's slash line the last three years: .257/.318/.405/.723. Declining defense across the board. 2004/2005 was a long time ago. Nobody misses Rowand outside of nostalgia sentiment. oh J4L, I'm not saying it would be rational or I would agree with it, but there would still be squawking from corners of Sox fandom.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:57 PM) And although I don't know their system...I'd say that's exactly what they ought to be doing. I think there's a few players that become available that make teams rethink their plans a little. Greinke may be one of those for many teams... again, just brainstorming here and thought of the Jays because they're mentioned in the main article

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:52 PM) When you start demanding a trade, NTC's seem to become irrelevant. not really because you still have to waive it for certain teams. I could be wrong, but I didn't see where he said he would hold out if not traded. Guys put a NTC in for leverage. There's 15 teams on the list according to reports, he can limit it to a handful of teams and make the Royals pick from the reduced list, it's still a major factor. of course the Jays have 15 other teams not on the list they can ship him to, but may get less because he might make it clear he won't sign an extension with those teams.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:49 PM) The question for any team like that is...if you give up a major young piece for a $10 million a year pitcher under control for only 2 years, can you actually win anything to make it worth it? Even if Bautista repeats his year, I'm not sure the Jays can. boy, that's a tough call and one they would spend days looking at. Obviously I see your point, but to look at it from the positive perspective of the Jays, at this point or even with AP back, the NYY rotation isn't spectacular, Tampa's offensive took a hit with Crawford (I know they have a great prospect replacing him, but he's still young), and Baltimore is Baltimore. Obviously the Red Sox are the cream of the crop, so they'll have to look at AL central and west to see if they think they have a good chance at being a wild card... Also, some teams just roll the dice, baseball has been flat-lining in Toronto for a few years now, and if they think this might be the move to get some relevancy back, then they may pull the trigger.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:48 PM) If they give up that catcher Montero they probably have the ammo to get it done...but the issue is, they also want him in their lineup this year. So they'd wind up having to make themselves worse to do it at a different position, and Russell Martin isn't going to be an exciting option there right now. I'm not singling this particular prospect out, hell he could be the next V-Mart for all I know and every team in the league's scouts agree on that, but I take NYY prospect trumpeting with a grain of salt because they're the Yankees. Not saying the org hasn't produced some wonderful players but there's also Joba updates we had to endure only because he was on the NYY.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:43 PM) Dont know if this has been posted yet but the San Diego Padres signed Orlando Hudson to a 2 year deal. On a more important note the twins just keep losing players.....crain, guerrier, hudson, the list could still grow....if i was a twins fan I def would be a little worried. Do they really think their minor league can fill those voids? I mean i never say never because they are the twins but they are definately hurting this offseason They signed the Japanese player for 2b or SS (I might have been losing it, but I believe they traded Hardy last week during the flurry of activity around MLB and it got buried). Not saying he is going to step in and be an all-star, but for 2b or SS they'll be using him

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:43 PM) They're looking at a rotation right now of Sabathia, Burnett, Hughes, Nova and Mitre right now. Other than C.C., that's an extremely questionable staff. Nobody knows what Pettitte's plans are. Combine that with what the Red Sox have done and I guarantee you they'll make a huge play for ZG if he agrees to go there. they really have to, as you pointed out that rotation isn't very strong. Also, if they bring Pettite back, he has to be a front-line starter at this point, it's not like they can manage his innings and get him ready for the playoffs, they would need him to be strong to get into the playoffs as things stand now... if the Blue Jays can pull it off, it would be a major blow to the NYY

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:39 PM) jcrasnick The Giants and Cubs discussed a Rowand-for-Fukudome trade, said a BB source. A classic bad-contract, change-of-scenery deal. Oh man, I can hear some of the Sox fans complaining already.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:29 PM) Thing is, if you believe sites like BA or Baseball Prospectus, they probably have the pieces to trade for him. Which is absolutely insane. obviously would be completely insane, but depending on their cash flow, wouldn't they be better off getting some form of impact bat?

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:28 PM) I expect the Royals to absolutely gut somebody. Especially the Yankees after getting butt-f***ed by Cliff Lee. Yeah, but would have to see who is on and who is not on his NTC, could change a lot.

depending on what KC thinks of their prospects and who else with good prospects and not on his no trade list is bidding, I could see the Cubs trying hard for him... he's affordable for 2 years and a lot of those bad contracts are coming off the books as the years pass... now, mixing him with a big market and a lot of pressure and a nut-ball like Zambrano as a teammate might not be a spectacular idea, but possible.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 07:12 PM) Actually he really wasn't. Lot of bad luck, and most of his damage came in low-mid leverage situations. He was pretty nails in the clutch. he had a couple of crucial bad outings, we can toss all the numbers around we want to, but if you're the closer for a contending team the timing of blown saves or bad outings comes heavily into play as well.

Agents and pitchers put big market teams on their no trade list so they get more money to waive the clause, King Felix has the top 10 market teams on his no trade list. He has two years left on his deal and will probably ask for some sort of an extension to waive for teams, so it has to be a combination of teams with the money to extend and quality prospects to make the deal happen.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 01:39 PM) The EducationConnection.com commercial is definitely one of the worst commercials ever. good call on this one, it gives me the chills it's so bad...

QUOTE (T R U @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 02:56 AM) <!--quoteo(post=2301731:date=Dec 16, 2010 -> 11:54 PM:name=SoxFan562004)-->QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 11:54 PM) <!--quotec-->there are always a few floating out there, and this may be the one you're talking about, but there is a jewelry store that has a couple at a cabin and it's storming out, and the guy is just insanely creepy and weirds me out. yup, that's it! Hard to describe why, but creeps me out...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 04:19 PM) That hasn't really worked the last couple of years. The longer the non-big name guys waited, the smaller their offers got. hadn't really tracked that, surprised, guess you roll the dice if you wait because if a SP gets knicked the first week FG is a great short term replacement... wonder if teams are waiting to sign him to see how everything shakes out.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 02:56 PM) That's a good question. I haven't heard a thing about Freddy Garcia. It's like Joyce Dewitt post Threes Company. he's a veteran pitcher, likely he and his agent are in no rush to get him signed... he won't get crazy money, but the longer he waits, even it's on the eve or first week or two of ST, he'll have more interested teams likely.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 04:13 PM) They spent two minutes on last night's sportscenter explaining why Bobby Jenks is better than his numbers last year. It didn't take long for them to love Bobby. this isn't sour grapes because he isn't here anymore, but he was bad last year, and they can spin it anyway they want.

QUOTE (bschmaranz @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 01:06 AM) I find it amazing that Soriano is still owed over like $70 million. Yup, he and Dunn have 4 years on their deal with each team, Dunn will get about 14m less over the next for years... really one of if not the worst position player contract ever handed out, and if you believe reports, Cubs really bid against themselves, no other team was showing a ton of interest at that point, I believe the Phils had kicked the tires but that was about it at that point.

they had time to cover another team... the Russell Martin "Sports Century" must still be in the editing stage.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 09:47 AM) IMO, the ENTIRE problem is psychological, which explains why every year the Twins destroy us and make it into the playoffs they get destroyed by any team they play, even if it's NOT the Yankees. Their team pitching and hitting were marginally better than ours last year, but they somehow won just about every game they played against us in grand blowout fashion. Statistically, being that they are marginally better in every way, that should result in them being 1 or 2 games better in head to head play...but it never turns out that way, because every time the Sox play them (no matter how good the Sox are), it's like Superman playing a solid block of Kryptonite for who knows what reason. Though if I had to venture a guess, the reason is that Hawk (and many others, including Ozzie Guillen in the Sox organization) gush over s***ty players like Carlos Gomez and how great he is -- when he sucks in every way possible -- not to mention build up the Twins as an invincible enemy. They need to take a queue from the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Coach, Herb Brooks with the Twins. Rather than coming in and building the Russians up as an invincible team and telling them that in comparison they suck, he chipped away at the Russians, making fun of them in every way he could think of, belittling them just enough every day that their aura of invincibility was dimmed in the eyes of the players. In contrast, if you ask Hawk, Ozzie, or anyone else in the Sox organization, the Twins are better than the Sox -- in every way, every single year -- so there is no point in trying. This entire conversation infuriates me, and serves as a lesson in exactly how you DO NOT COACH your players into thinking their opponents are better than they are. great post, I agree 100%. I hate how KW and Ozzie slurp the Twins constantly. I would love to hear a report of KW and Ozzie telling the players to go out and kick their ass, enough of the praise for that team. Twins are obviously a strong org, but no need to browbeat the team and fans with it every year.