RME JICO

He made $446,00 for 2005 and is due arbitration.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Nov 29, 2005 -> 07:37 PM) That's pretty much the market though for bullpen help. Wagner, Ryan, Eyre, Howry, etc... Marte now becomes more valuable?

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Nov 29, 2005 -> 07:42 PM) Latest off from LA Angels- 5 year/60 million Lets see if we can match that offer. That should be the highest outside offer he recieves. 12/year is less than the 13/year we offered. But if that 5th offers is the key to a deal- just give it to him! He's earned it. The annual salary won't necessarily be that high. The contracts will include the signing bonus, so the 5 yr @ $60 million can have a $5 million signing bonus and the salary usually increases over time. So the Sox could actually get Paulie for around $10 this year with annual increases that push it to $12 or $13 in the 4th or 5th year.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Nov 29, 2005 -> 06:52 PM) Marte had a 1.72 this past year... that = a .382 obp on the year. His year was far worse than his era indicates. Only time a relievers era should be looked at seriously is maybe a closers era. Most times closers come in to get out of jams ( not their runs) or to start and therefore finish the inning. Closers don't get pulled unless they are getting bombed. All that marte was good for last year is to see if our other relivers were good enough to get out of tough jams. I am probally marte's biggest fan here... as he was my favorite player before widger came around. I agree. Marte was bailed out a ton of times last year and his numbers would have been a lot worse if it wasn't for Politte, Cotts, Hermanson, and Jenks. I still think he can come around and put up better numbers, but if the Sox can fill a greater need, I say go for it.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 29, 2005 -> 05:27 PM) I agree with you. Overbay is overrated. I said the same thing a few posts back. I wouldn't say he is overrated, it is just people expected more out of him after 2004. For under a $1 million a year he is a steal for a guy with a lifetime BA of .285, OBP of .373, and averages of 15 HR and 75 RBI a year. He is also a Lefty which is a plus.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 28, 2005 -> 06:52 PM) ??? Do you know how to read these park factors? Oakland had 1.2% more runs scored than the average park, and had almost 9% more HRs than the average park. RFK had 14% fewer runs scored, and 22% fewer HRs than the average park. I would say anything +/- 5% is about the norm. So Oakland's is fairly close to the norm, but Washingtons is definitely a Pitcher's park. I know this is unrelated, but it is suprising to see Fenway with a 0.974 HR ratio. Also, San Diego's HR ratio is horrible 0.691.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 28, 2005 -> 06:17 PM) This is a truly horrible signing. Wagner is 34 years old right now. Does anyone think he will still have his 100 MPH fastball or not get injured by the time he is 38 and his contract is up? See Roger Clemens. Granted Wagner will not always have a 100 mph fastball, but even if he declines, I am sure he will still be throwing mid-90's in a couple of years. The last year will probably bite the Mets. I am sure this offer went up a couple of million after that horrible Ryan deal. Also, this is topic was also posted in the "Around the Horn" forum: http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43663

I still cannot see paying a guy who pitches 80 innings over $10 Million a year. So what is the better deal. I say neither, but if I had to pick one I guess you go with the guy who is proven. Wagner for 4yr / $43 or Ryan for 5yr / $47?

QUOTE(toasty @ Nov 28, 2005 -> 05:06 PM) This isnt a trade, how's come its over here on trade winds and my post on soxtalk main forum got nixed? Also in Around the Horn, should be merged there: http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43665 I posted in here mainly about the rumors about Zito moving on the E-LO deal. Where is Zito headed because there are definitely rumors that he will be gone now that the A's have a replacement for him.

Damn Kidneys!

Thats what I kinda figured. Zito was only due something like $8.25 Million for 2006. Now E-LO gets about $7 Mill per year. That is just under what the Sox are paying for Freddy and Mark (each @ $8 mill). I hope this is not the offseason of over paid players, but it sure looks like it.

I am just wondering if any of these deals will impact Paulie's impending deal. Ryan's deal was outrageous, now Loaiza gets $21 Million for 3 years, he will be 34 and only had one great year (with the Sox). Also, how will this impact Zito's siuation. Most say he will be dealt now that they have his replacement in the rotation. Hopefully he will go to the NL. BTW, sorry to double post the topic, didn't see it in the other forum. Admin can you merge?

Just FYI. Sounds like it could signal a Zito trade. Let's see how this move plays out. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPG00FV99A3.DTL http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_r...t=.jsp&c_id=oak

The Mets can keep him. He says he will actually stand with Mets during 'God Bless America'. Wow, thanks for supporting the country that is paying you millions to play a freakin game! This is not the type of guy that plays for the Sox: That is all we need, a player with some sort of political agenda. What next PETA and baseball mits? http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2239461

Yeah, who knows where the Sox would be if that deal went thru and they were paying $10 million extra for Jones. That might have meant no Pods, no Count, no Blum, etc.

If Paulie does bolt than there was more to it than just money. You can think of it 2 ways, that he was a big reason the Sox won the WS, which he was, but also the Sox and Ozzie put him in a position to produce those numbers. He would not have done that batting 3rd or 5th. Just a thought. He was floundering with LA and Cincy when the Sox picked him up and gave him a shot. He doesn't owe anyone anything and I know it is a business but hell, Chipper Jones just restructured his deal from $17 million to $11 million for 2006. He is putting his team in front of himself. The bottom line is if Paulie wants more money than the reported 4yr/$52 million then he is not the type of guy the Sox want on the team. I figure there is some flex room with the numbers, but I don't see the Sox going up in guaranteed years, maybe a 5th year team option with buyout. daa84, he is actually 29 going on 30 (born March 1976), but I don't think Paulie is going to get that bad that quick, he is only turning 30, so there won't be a drop off until 33 or 34. He can also move to DH in a couple of years which will help out a lot. Playing half your games in The Cell will also help his numbers.

There are a ton of scenarios, so I will list a couple: If no more acquisitions: 1. Platoon Thome (mainly DH) and Dye at first with Gload, add or bring up another OF. Not optimal. If acquiring another player: 1. Sign Giles for OF, with Dye, Thome, and Gload at first (mainly Thome - DH, Dye - 1B) 2. Make trade with Brewers for Overbay, since they only want a pitcher (Hernandez or Marte). They inquired about McGowan from Toronto? 3. Sign Olerud for 1B and spell him with Dye and Gload as needed. 4. Make Marte for Pierre trade and move Dye to 1B. 5. Sign Piazza or Durazo as DH, or just bring back Everett to get Carl numbers. Longshot: 1. If healthy, re-sign Frank as DH if Thome can play 1B about 75% of the time. There are very few scenarios that make the Sox better off without Paulie. I would say the Giles one would be the closest one for debate. Maybe the Overbay one as well when you consider we have Thome. If you project Thome to put up Paulie numbers (40/100), then the player acquired would have to put up at least Everett numbers which Giles does easily, and Overbay (19/72) is capable of. The concerns are can Thome play 1B for 120 games or so if the Sox don't acquire an everyday 1B. I would rather not have this discussion and just sign Paulie. When that happens the Sox are a Top 5 team offensively. Couple that with a Top 5 pitching team and they are going to be hard to beat.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Nov 27, 2005 -> 09:30 AM) While I'm not sure, I don't think the Vegas comment was meant to be disrespectful. The Marlins have hinted at wanting to move, after all. I just hope there's a way for them to stay in Florida, but it looks kind of bleak, since they can't get a baseball-only stadium built and the crowds just don't come out like they should. The Marlins have already won TWO World Series, for crying out loud! What keeps Florida fans away from the ballpark? Yeah, that is my question, the Marlins win 2 WS in 7 years and they can't get enough fans to fund a new stadium? I know the state can't fund it due to all the hurricanes and disaster relief, etc. I wish the Marlins and their fans the best and I hope they can keep that franchise in FL.

I think the Sox believe they are set in the OF with Pods, Dye, Anderson, Perez, Borchard, and they will probably have Owens or Young up as well. They will probably go after a 3B for some insurance on Crede's back or add a backup 1B that can DH in addition to Thome. Mueller or Olerud seem like viable options. Both are great OBP guys and Olerud has actually won a couple of GGs.

Sosa, Palmiero, Rogers, and Urbina. Sosa has NEVER, I repeat NEVER taken steroids, and he will be back to normal next year. Palmiero has NEVER, I repeat NEVER taken steroids unless it was in a B-12 shot administered to him by Tejada. He will be back to normal next year. Rogers will NEVER, I repeat NEVER hit another cameraman, as long as the cameraman doesn't actually point the camera DIRECTLY at him. Urbina should be able to get out of jail for fairly cheap and he will NEVER do that again.

I just can't wait to see the details on how much the Las Vegas Blue Jays will be eating in the 5th year of the Ryan deal when he is playing for the Pirates. I just thought of something that made me laugh. What if Ricciardi thought there was some type of Canadian conversion in dollars? He really thought it was a 5yr, 35 Million deal in US dollars. DOH!

Ok, I knew they were coming, so here is one of many more articles still to come on this deal that believe it was crazy: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5110978 Some great quotes: I like this one:

Some team needs to pick up Carl and Manny and put them both out there on the corners of the outfield. That would be hilarious, and maybe Sosa can player center, I heard he is available.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Nov 26, 2005 -> 04:23 PM) The last three years, he's averaging over 11 K's/9 IP, and has put up ERA's of 3.40, 2.28, and 2.43. This is one of the top five-ten relievers in all of baseball. Of course, I do agree with you that this is way too much money, but Ryan is one helluva pitcher. He definitely gets a lot of K's, but I would not characterize a 3.40 ERA and 1.37 WHIP (both in 2003) as a top five-ten reliever. Like I said, he had one decent year, but the others were nothing spectacular. His 2004 was similar to the same numbers that Politte had this year with a few more innings pitched and K's, but again nothing to warrant this type of deal. I definitely agree that this is going to inflate the other contracts, especially for pitchers, and this may open up some opportunities for the Sox to unload Marte, or even El Duque for some great bargain deals.

Most teams that stay put actually get worse because other teams around them get better (KC is the exception). Also, even the best teams in the league have weaknesses or areas they can improve on. The Sox won a ton of games by 2 runs or less, but I am sure for Ozzie's sake that KW wants to make some of those 3-4 run wins compared to the 1 run nail bitters of 2005.