caulfield12

He makes up for a lot of mistakes with his arm. Sometimes it almost seems like he dogs it on purpose to bait a runner into going for an extra base on him.

I would take Gordon at $72.5/4 over Cespedes at $125-135 and 6...just because it's hard to believe they would nearly double their biggest contract ever. If the Cespedes numbers are closer to $110 and Gordon to $85 million, then the pendulum shifts back in the other direction. That said, they were supposedly willing to do it for Tanaka, but Cespedes isn't 26 and isn't quite the equivalent of a frontline ace despite the way he performed for the Mets.

Just keep him out of CF on a regular basis, that's the key...and another reason he might not like SF, that's a huge patch of grass to cover and Pagan needs to be moved to a corner spot. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseba...ally-heating-up This idea of platooning Cabrera with Garcia and not LaRoche is nutty...especially playing him in the OF compared to limiting the damage at DH.

http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2015/12/29/106...-rangers-tigers Jesse Sanchez as source (someone needs to remind him both Martinezes can't DH in Motown). White Sox and Baltimore emerging as two favorites for Cespedes... Angels, Giants next, with Texas and the Tigers in the mix (Maybin, Gose, Aviles and Collins might not be enough, along with JD Martinez). https://mobile.twitter.com/EddieInTheYard/s...050454600069120 O's aren't likely to spend $100 million on Cespedes...fwiw http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/schmuck...1229-story.html Speculation that Alvarez is a more important add, along with retaining Chris Davis

China just invaded your country and destroyed it...unless you're already here...in which case we are simultaneously being wiped out by pollution.

If you're 100% satisfied with Jennings' performance...I guess.

http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/kids...654e57b745.html Some quotes (probably missed them earlier) from Gordon on his situation from the Harold Reynolds baseball camp there in Omaha...btw, Brian Duensing would be another name to throw in the mix for LHR/loogy.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 12:09 AM) Just FYI the article did not have an others section mentioning KC. That was a caulfield special. Well, it's pretty illogical to list the Mets as being in need of someone they don't have the ability to sign. SFG and LAA are questionable enough, coming up right against the luxury tax already if they were to add $20-25 million to payroll. That said, you're right, there's no way that the Royals have any intention to sign him. It was more my mental checklist of possible teams for all three guys: White Sox, Orioles (two teams most logically in play for any of the three) SFG, LAA, StL, Nationals, Detroit...pushing up against payroll concerns Could probably add the Red Sox as a real long-shot. KC...only Gordon on a 3 or 4 year deal

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-233047425.html Lists top five teams most in need of Cespedes... 1. SFG (Pagan would move to a corner) 2. CHW (replacing Garcia in LF makes no sense but okay) 3. Angels (Todd Cunningham slated to start now) 4. Mets (not happening) 5. Orioles (need to compensate for predicted loss of C.Davis) Others: KC, Detroit, StL, Nationals

Well, great win for Iowa. One of those NCAA resume wins, any time you beat the #1 team in the country and keep the margin at 10-15 for most of the game, that's a good thing. 3rd such victory in program history, and first since 1999 (remember Jacob Jaacks?) against UCONN when Alford was the coach and nothing was really expected of the team that rebuilding year. (Just saw in a story that 1993 against IND and 2005 against Illinois, so maybe there's a difference between AP-ranked and others, UPI, USA Today/CNN, etc.) Yes, Valentine didn't play, but that will be overlooked when looking at NCAA tourney teams 3 months from now. Uthoff had a pretty miserable shooting game (obviously Izzo focused the defense on him), 4/11 with 8 to's, but he did manage to block 6 shots. He's going to be the best NBA player from Iowa since Reggie Evans almost 15 years ago. Gesell and Jok also played well (Iowa seems to go up or down with their fortunes)....and Nicholas Baer (hometown shout out) is really emerging as a surprising force for the Hawks. After blowing a huge lead (yet again) vs. Iowa State, nice to finally hold a lead in a big game. Purdue on the road this weekend, the odds of winning that one are pretty miniscule...so very nice to start off 1-1 instead of 0-2. Finally, two Iowa teams (vs. MSU, and UNI against UNC without Marcus Paige) have beaten #1 rated teams already this year. Guess Iowa State has to knock off KU at home for a 3rd. I'd have to check the schedule to see if Iowa gets Maryland at home, that would be another shot potentially.

The Mets reasons are 100% financial crippling in the course of the next 2-3 seasons because of Wilpon/Madoff, payments in that case of $30 million per year in the settlement are liabilities and a huge loan ($880 million) with balloon payments due in two years (debt was kicked forward into future, 2018-19)...not to mention they sold off X percentage of the ballclub to raise additional funds but those new partial owners have the rights to turn around and resell them back to the ownership group for the same price +3% interest per year.

Source: 24 new Sox season ticket packages sold as a result of Twitter news regarding Cespedes and Gordon. Hahn: "KW and I took this information directly to JR and he signed off nearly instantaneously on an additional $15 million payroll increase for 2016."

Somebody will pay Cespedes a handsome fee, though, and will be better for it. According to FanGraphs' calculations, Cespedes was worth $53.9 million in 2015 alone. His Steamer projection has him being worth approximately $24.9 million in 2016, but 3.1 fWAR seems like it is a conservative projection considering his seven-win upside. Yet he sits on the sidelines watching others snatch up huge deals. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/12/2...yoenis-cespedes Why does nobody (seemingly) want Yoenis Cespedes?

Probably Upton doesn't want to leave the NL or prefers to stay near one of the coasts...

The Yankees missed on him and he grew up right across the water in NJ. Didn't Kirby Puckett spend much of his formative years in the high rise projects on the other side of the Dan Ryan (now torn down) from Old Comiskey? It happens. A lot of teams passed on Trout. Pretty sure he wasn't even considered at that spot by Sox scouts. Albert Pujols grew up in KC and played JC ball at Maple Woods...and yet the cross-state rivals unearthed that gem.

The #STLCards and the #Rockies discussing a trade that could send an OF to the #Cardinals, per @jonmorosi via @MLBNetwork http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ben...6e42fa2746.html Writer argues for CarGo over Dickerson/Blackmon.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 08:17 AM) you make a great point, but why not a series of 1 opt contract with the last one at 33. for both the player and the team. now this scenario would work with cesp b/c there the team will not loose a draft pick. who knows, maybe even upton, he is young enuf. but the lost of the pick would hurt. now the mid market statement. i hate to bring up another sport, but look at the hawks and the signing of hossa. like the hawks, maybe, just maybe the sox will need to over pay, maybe in the front end. this is just a guess or an opinion. Agent would never go for that. Too much risk of injury to risk losing a huge guaranteed amount.

It makes sense for Upton because of his age and ability to remain at or near peak three years from now...but not for Gordon and Cespedes is debatable. Part of the problem is the White Sox historically have never been known to break ground in the escalation of player salaries...and a deal similar to Heyward's would do just that. And I can hardly think of a time where they front-loaded a deal, let alone massively fron loading. If anything, they want to limit the payroll impact...you could imagine $15 million this year, $25-30 million in 2017, but that's still going to restrict financial flexibility to put together those 2-3 smaller ($5-10 million) signings to make the roster as competitive as possible going into the most important year of the current contention window.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 06:55 AM) This underlines the fact that baseball really does need a cap to have all teams remain competitive not just the most money wins. However there needs to be a floor as well to keep owners honest and not just grab for more profit at the expense of the team. Really, it's just a Loria cap, and he did spend the money on Stanton at least. Probably not Fernandez, too. Risky. Actually, Oakland, the Rays, Astros and DBacks were lower. And it's hard to really fault those two teams because of their stadium issues... Amazingly, the Pirates were 25th in their third consecutive year in the playoffs with that $85 million or so.

The problem is very simple...the White Sox don't want to go $30 million into red ink when they would prefer to spend $17.5 million. Neither Cespedes or Upton is worth that amount alone. Neither is quite a superstar. You're going to be devoting 20-22.5% of the payroll to a single player, and neither's as good as Chris Sale or maybe even Quintana. At least not to an organization with a middle class payroll and mid-market mentality. It was true in 2005, it's just as true today. Even having two of the best pitchers in the game like Kershaw and Greinke that would warrant such a deal...they weren't even able to get the Dodgers to the World Series.

Yeah, they're going to press for two year deals with options (club/mutual) for that third year in all likelihood. It might work for Parra, but Austin Jackson probably wants to rebuild his value with a one-year deal. That's their "cheap" route, you go with an outfield of Cain/Parra/Dyson and Orlando as the 4th. Then you take the rest of that money and put it into one more starting pitcher (probably a lefty unless Duffy stays in the rotation to go with Tim Collins coming back from surgery) and/or wait on Ian Desmond or Fowler to fall into your hands after the first month of the season. Then you can add pitching at the trade deadline again. Kazmir, Chen and Gallardo are that next tier of pitching available...in all likelihood too expensive.

And if baseball decides to bench him for 60 days, that could even work out better for the Yankees. Although it is unclear how many days of service time Chapman needs to qualify for free agency in 2017, it is pretty certain that losing 60 days would delay him from hitting the market for another year. In that case, the Yankees might get the better part of two seasons out of him at a relatively reasonable salary. Bottom line is, the Yankees got a great pitcher and they got him cheap. www.espn.com

Fans didn't love Todd Frazier because of his numbers, though his numbers were good enough. They loved him for his spirit. To fans, Frazier was not a line item on a balance sheet. He wasn't a clean set of digits all in a row, given meaning by odd acronyms such as WAR and OPS and the delightful-sounding BABIP. Fans here didn't quantify Frazier or study him like he was an equation or mine his statistics for undiscovered lodes of "value''. They just enjoyed him. On and off the field. He gave them a reason to smile. And go to the ballpark. ... Todd Frazier brought fans in, because they thought they knew him and they liked what they thought they knew. Ditto Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce. Frazier wasn't numbers. Frazier was family. http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/col...-fans/77627880/

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 12:43 AM) I definitely think that's part of it. With so many outfielders available its easy for teams to play the bluff game. Caulfield. I can see KC having genuinely interest in Bruce due to his power, salary and limited commitment of two years but I doubt KC would give Jocketty two of their three top prospects. Of course Jocketty is aiming high like he should but how big of a market is there for Bruce? Jocketty has to come down in price if he seriously wants to move Bruce. Bruce fits their time frame perfectly, the next two years...but so do CarGo, Ethier/Crawford, Dickerson or Blackmon, etc. It's a buyer's market right now, at least in terms of outfielders. If I'm KC, I am not even looking at it like a two year deal...it's one year for $12.5 million and the $1 million buyout...because Bruce has fluctuated up and down so much the last five years. I'm also not parting with one of my top five prospects, let alone 2-3 prospects unless they're all lower tier guys. The Reds basically have ZERO purpose or rationale to keep Bruce and Phillips at this point...the falloff in attendance already started happening with Cueto, Leake and Frazier, etc. And they do still have Votto, he's going to be the only homegrown star left, like Freeman in ATL. Otherwise, I'm just going to pay Span/Jackson/Parra and not lose a draft pick, preserving the remainders of the farm system (after the Cueto and Zobrist deals) for the rebuild beginning in 2018.

Well, on one hand, the Royals already have a relationship with Jocketty due to the Cueto trade...and obviously the Reds are familiar with the KC system. That said, KC isn't going to give up very much talent...if anything (the asking price was Zach Wheeler supposedly last summer)...this is going to be more of a clearing out the closets and starting over thing for the Reds, who have already parted ways with Frazier and Chapman and look to move Bruce and Phillips as well. Considering the buyout, you're talking $13.5 million for one season, or only $1 million more than they wasted on Alex Rios. Bruce has such weird career numbers, though. He's had two huge years, with 4.5 WAR in 2010 and 5.1 WAR in 2013. If you average the other 5-6 years of his career, you're getting a WAR of something like 0.7 or 0.8. Over the last 5 years, you're looking at 1.6, with a mode of 1.4. Optimistically, that has a value of around $10-11 million, so they would be asking for $2-3 million back from CINCY and Bruce to save them the $11 million or whatever for the remainder of his 2016 salary. Otherwise, you're going after A.Jackson and Parra and piecing two outfield platoons together...allowing you to alternate Dyson (LH), Parra (LH) and Jackson, who's STILL only 28 years old and carries a 729 OPS against lefties over the last three years. Parra gives you a 777 against righties and Dyson a 703 against righties. On the plus side, if Parra's numbers recently are anomalies, you might still have the best defensive outfield in baseball and even more versatility. For a higher price, Denard Span has been even more dangerous against RHP, an 800 OPS over the last three years...and no QO attached, thus no pick lost. But he's probably going to cost in that $12-15 million range like Dexter Fowler (who also has the pick attached), so unless his market drops, Jackson and Parra are the two most logical choices. They won't go after Fowler since they need to start rebuilding for 2018 and beyond. Of course, the argument is that you might end up spending $15 million on Jackson/Parra, so why not spend $17.5 million on Alex Gordon. That's where you get into the length of the contract arguments, and cost/benefit of having Parra/Jackson for 2-3 seasons instead of Gordon for 4-5. Plus both those guys are age 28, and Gordon's four years older. And both similarly fit the mode of "defense first-minded" players. So you have three choices, for example: Bruce for one year + buyout=$13.5 million (+ Dyson/Orlando platoon) Parra/Dyson/Austin Jackson platoon system for 2-3 years (let's say $37.5-40 million as an estimate) Alex Gordon for 4-5 years and $70-90 million (+ Dyson/Orlando platoon) Orlando has almost even splits, 719 vs LHP/705 vs. RHP