caulfield12

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 08:07 PM) Perhaps you have heard of Jose Abreu? Except the competition that time was limited to Colorado and Houston, from everything we know... It's a slightly different situation now since these three can be at 3-4 positions in the line-up rather than just 1b or DH.

A one year deal doesn't make sense for any one remaining FA at $23-27 million...well, Cespedes, maybe...because you wouldn't lose the draft pick with him. And you'd take away flexibility to add another key piece at mid-season barring some unexpected farm system developments in the first half. Upton or Desmond would definitely have to be minimum two years deals, though. That would be hard to commit to not knowing where Tim Anderson will be in July or August development-wise in the case of Desmond. Any one year deal forces you back into the market against more bidders for less offensive talent next offseason...

Boras wants $75-100 million for Chen. From where their rotation is situated, and having already paid Happ and Estrada, that makes little sense...because they would have just signed Chen instead of two guys in the first place but weren't comfortable with that price tag. What does make sense is dumping Dickey to create enough payroll flexibility for a better starting pitcher or hitter.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 04:06 PM) Long term contracts to pitchers are a different consideration, Danks being a case in point. Pitchers are so vulnerable to arm and shoulder injuries, and those injuries are usually career ending, or at least very damaging. Moreover, there is another side to the "double edged sword," which these multi contracts represent. Of course, the team is committed and obligated, but then they also have a good player locked up. There is an optimum number of years, and it certainly isn't advantageous to be committed to a player, beyond his prime. In the case of Cespedes, 4 years takes him through age 33, which seems ideal. Except without steroids, 25-28 or 29 is a player's prime and anyone past age 30 a warning sign.

No teams in the AL Central are even close to approaching $200 million except Detroit. The problem is a razor thin margin for error at $120-130 million compared to let's say $150-175 million even. Mistakes like Dunn, LaRoche and Danks...even Cabrera to a lesser extent, block that financial flexibility the bigger spending teams typically have.

Sure, there's injury and non-performance risk with every player. There's also situations like Swisher, Cabrera and Shark where guys just don't mesh well with teammates or the coaching staff or both. That goes back to KW's famous quote about due diligence. The White Sox typically had limited themselves to 3-4 year contracts under the JR regime, even with their own best guys like Buehrle and Konerko, for this very reason. That said, the free agent market is what it is...overpaying is always going to be a consequence of not having better and cheaper options in your farm system. Nobody forced KW to give Danks that deal...it wasn't even out of desperation, because we had dealt our closer right before that and seemingly looked to be rebuilding or retrenching or retooling or whatever the catch-phrase he preferred to use at that moment in time.

Greg, let me put this another way. Would Jesus build a giant wall to separate himself from either non-believers or sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes (let's just say they represent the "rapists" in Mexico)? Or would he welcome them and work even harder to accommodate/bring them into the fold? Would Jesus be afraid of, intimidated or threatened by the Jewish as well as Roman leaders? Or would he attempt to constructively engage with them rationally, intellectually and morally? Right now, Trump is much closer to Hitler in the 1930's or Joseph McCarthy in the 1950's than the being you get upset that fewer and fewer are turning out to worship every Sunday.

It reminds me of the feeling of reading Ayn Rand books growing up and detesting the capitalists for their dogmatism, but at least admiring the self-sufficiency side of it...this spirit today is more about racism, xenophobia and pandering to the base, and it's 100% destructive in terms of the moral fabric of our country. It's not even pretending to be a philosophical argument. 99.2% of Americans have descendants from other countries. It's shameful that the best of America is now essentially exemplified by Germany, a country with much less diversity but more open-mindedness. I feel like I'm rewatching the Borat scene where he's singing the satirical Kazahkstani national anthem to the "patriotic" and homophobic rodeo crowd in Alabama or South Carolina.

Robertson last year and Dunn in 2011...LaRoche undoubtedly, although both he and Melky were second tier. Albert Belle going back almost two decades now.

What does not really mean exactly? They checked in but were discouraged by the asking price? Sounds like hedging bets to cover if they do sign a bigger name.

No way you get K.Davis for less than Anderson/Fulmer though... The articles are all intimating the return would be higher in July because there's such a glut right now.

You can probably add Michael Taylor to the list, too...

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 10:41 PM) Aren't they notorious for not giving long-term deals That's where Upton on a big one year deal to join that line-up and bash away makes sense. No way he couldn't put up huge numbers there. Less pressure on him. Bautista, Tulo. Encarnacion, Martin and Donaldson already have leadership roles, so expectations wouldn't be unrealistic. Alex Rios and Halladay and Vernon Wells? http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/201...rew-storen.html "In Revere, the Jays part with a speedy leadoff hitter, who was acquired at last year’s trade deadline from the Philadelphia Phillies for a pair of minor-league pitchers. The club will miss his speed, but with Michael Saunders and Dalton Pompey both in the mix as potential everyday left fielders, Revere became expendable. The deal also requires the Jays to send a player to be named later to the Nationals, while the Nationals will send an undisclosed amount of cash Toronto’s way (probably around the $2 million differential in salaries.) The team’s official release did not mention the latter’s inclusion in the deal." Now you have two teams with super-pens in TOR and NY and Boston has to improve as well in that area.... http://m.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article/161353214 http://m.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article/161...e-jays-rotation If you include Sanchez, who got hammered last year to an 878 tune against lefties, that's seven starters. Probably he combines with Storen, Osuna and Cecil to form that backend core of four super tough relievers. Pressure now shifts to Baltimore to counter.

Saunders was last a full time player in 2013 and he wasnt much over an 700 ops. I don't think many Jays fans perceive him as a regular starter...more of a platoon candidate at best. And, health issues.

Stroman Estrada Dickey Happ Hutchison Jesse Chavez Do they really need seven starters?

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 10:13 PM) Just my speculation but I wonder if Toronto is the mystery team? Salary commitments to 10 players = 99.6M Arbitration projections for 8 players= 26.5M Minimum salary for 6 players @500k= 3M+ Toronto's total payroll for 24 players not including Revere sits at about 129M so they have room for one of Cespedes/Upton and I'd venture to guess they could have the money since they were a playoff team and made a few extra bucks. Not signing Price opened up this possibility, fwiw. Imagine that line-up with one more power bat. Blocking Pompey won't stand in the way of a super team if they can make the numbers work. The brewery certainly wants to sustain the financial success and bandwagon that kicked off last July.

But you can add the Jays to the list of all-in teams...in a loaded division since the O's will probably add one of the big names. Pretty much every team in the AL is all-in but the Twins, and you can probably cross TB and Oakland off too but Beane is the one who shocked the world signing Cespedes in the first place.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 09:47 PM) You forgot Kevin Pillar who is a good CFer, but hits 9th in that lineup. Thank you. Even more. EDIT:Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN 3h3 hours ago Teams say agent Scott Boras has been pushing to create options for Chris Davis. Selling him hard as everyday RF/LF option, as well as 1Bman Oops. Right. The real question is how much rope does Pompey get after last season? Boras is just doing his job to open up his market to the NL, but it's as convincing as me selling Ian Desmond as the next Ben Zobrist/Chone Figgins.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 09:38 PM) Recap: Reported Outfielders available via FA or trade: Yoenis Cespedes Chris Davis Justin Upton Jay Bruce Carlos Gonzalez Corey Dickerson Charlie Blackmon Brett Gardner Jacoby Ellsbury Ender Inciarte Marcell Ozuna Gerardo Parra Austin Jackson Dexter Fowler Reported teams interested in outfielders: White Sox Cardinals Angels Tigers Orioles Indians? Astros? You can add Tucker,/Marisnick ,Braun, Crawford/Ethier/Van Slyke/Thompson, Markakis, Bourn Calling Davis an OF is a bit of a stretch...

Dan Jennings (the GM/manager not Sox LHP) to the Nats too, Anthopolous to Dodgers... Fwiw, Pompey, Saunders and Bautista seems a bit suspect. The Blue Jays just announced Revere was going to be their leadoff guy last week. Interesting. Where are the Blue Jays payroll-wise?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/justin...p;vkey=news_mlb Agent: Upton still seeks long term deal http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14531913...-larry-reynolds

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-must-hamm...-005253782.html Passan wants the Cards to be absolutely hammered by MLB...but argues ownership might be influential enough to protect the franchise.

And Parra...and Jackson. And a whole slew of possible trade candidates.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 09:21 PM) But Pedro Alvarez will not get a rebuilding Brewers team out from under 90M in salary commitments over the next five years. This based on the idea the Brewers would be interested in trading Braun in the first place which is what were talking about. Sure, if the Brewers, Reds, Rockies and Braves are in such desperate financial straits they starting selling off assets for 50 cents on the dollar....then it becomes interesting. Milwaukee is a strong revenue machine since the new stadium...even with disappointing teams.

Well, we know what happened with the White Sox, Padres and Red Sox last year... The question is which GM's aren't playing the market well? A lot will argue the Cards for overpaying Leake and "losing" Heyward, the Dodgers, maybe the Jays for overpaying on their starting pitching. Are the DBacks and Cubs early winners of the offseason or fools? For example, the Twins haven't been mentioned once. Or the Indians, who have been rumored to be dangling Carrasco, Salazar and perhaps Bauer on the market...are the Rockies being too patient not trading one of their outfielders? Are the Orioles going to end up with neither Davis nor Upton/Cespedes and really frustrate their fans?