The 2004-2005 Baseball Hot Stove Thread because I get to start one now

[popacrobat]

yes, i get to start a thread in here


im over the pain of the world series finally, it was extra bitter since i had tickets to game 5 too and was all set to fly out to st louis.


but now the mvp and all the other awards are behind us and free agents can sign... vizquel and brocail already signed (big whoop), but the signing period is upon us...

george has met face to face with pedro and said that it went well...wonder what boston would think of pedro after he brings them a ring and goes to new york?

where will randy johnson end up? will oakland deal any of mulder, hudson, zito? beltran goes where? renteria? what do the cardinals do with the money theyll have free of tinos contract (yes, they were paying for him in tampa bay), morris, woody williams, renteria if they dont resign him and matheny? they really need a big pitcher that can dominate...and probably another fresh arm in the pen.

the new washington whatchamacallits nabbed guzman and castilla...bowden already signing guys there...

should be an interesting offseason, at least for me, i expect to post to my self in this thread a lot much like headache in his nba thread.

 

[popacrobat]

annnnnnnnnd anaheim loses their closer and now their best setup man too because he has to become the closer...



DETROIT -- The Tigers closed the deal on another closer Wednesday, signing Troy Percival to a two-year contract worth $12 million.
Percival, 35, comes to Detroit after spending the entirety of his 10-year career with the Angels, with whom he racked up 316 saves -- 12th-most of all time -- and became one of the more popular players in franchise history. He converted 33 saves last season to go with a 2-3 record and a 2.90 ERA.

The agreement came just a day after Percival visited Detroit to meet with team officials about a contract. He also drew interest from the Cubs and Indians, two teams in definite need of a closer, and was expected to visit those cities. But the Tigers' offer of a multi-year contract, something Percival was supposedly seeking, ended his Midwestern tour.





For the Tigers, signing a closer was viewed more like an addition rather than a requirement. They signed Ugueth Urbina near the end of Spring Training and watched him convert 24 of 27 save opportunities before returning home to Venezuela for the final month of the season in the wake of his mother's kidnapping. The Tigers picked up his $4 million option for next season after Urbina told the team through his agent that he would be back to pitch next spring. However, Detroit went on the hunt for another closer from the outset of the offseason.

They quickly found their man in Percival, who hit the market when the Angels handed their closer's job over to young fireballer Francisco Rodriguez. Percival insisted he wanted to remain a closer.

His signing may put Urbina back on the market, only this time as trade bait. Though he has worked as a setup man as recently as 2003 with the Florida Marlins, it's expected the Tigers will try to trade him. They came close to a deal near the July 31 trade deadline before deciding to keep him.

 

[Hewson]

How did Pedro find time to meet with Steinbrenner when he is "Lost" on that island after the plane crash and was being tortured by that french woman last night.

 

[Mr. BAW]

The Dodgers are now trying to court Adrian Beltre into their corner; admittedly, the media has said that if they don't get him, Troy Glaus has "essentially committed" to staying in So. CA....yet, Percival has been working Glaus to get him to Detroit...

Did you see Percy's media photo; he's either in shock over what he just signed or he's kicking himself in the ass! I think its a good move; the Angels new owner is now wreaking havoc on the OC cause he wants to change the name to Los Angeles Angels...

yes, at one time, during my "childhood", they were the LA Angels but that's cause they and the Dodgers shared the same field...when the Dodgers played, it was Dodger Stadium; when the Angels took the field, it was Chavez Ravine...

As far as Carlos Beltran, he can write his own check anywhere!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

the mets are officialy trying to sign and trade for everybody... unfortunatly everybody has turned them down, so they will have to settle for dave kingman.

 

[U2ME3]

the mets are officialy trying to sign and trade for everybody... unfortunatly everybody has turned them down, so they will have to settle for dave kingman.

or maybe gorman thomas? better yet, bring back rusty staub.

 

[Hewson]

Jon Matlack could shore up their pitching nicely.

 

[Mr. BAW]

Jose Guillen happy over trade from Angels to Washington Nationals..."I berry, berry hoppy!"

Angels get Juan Rivera in return, plan on moving G/Anderson back to left...still looking for a center fielder.....

more to follow...by the way, still Anaheim Angels.!!!

 

[Theedge555]

the mets are officialy trying to sign and trade for everybody... unfortunatly everybody has turned them down, so they will have to settle for dave kingman.

At least they didn't sign Jose Guillen - i would have liked him here in NY to lay the smackdown on John Franco........

 

[U2democrat]

Stl, i guess i'm over the pain of the world series too. a friend of mine's brother and dad were ON THEIR WAY to st. louis, driving, listening to game 4 on the radio. they had game 5 tickets, and when it became obvious that st. louis was going to lose they turned around and came back. heartbreaking.


anyway i wonder if randy johnson will stay with arizona.

 

[Mr. BAW]

I wish Randy Johnson would be more vocal in what he wants to do (re: trade) or where he wants to play....all summer, the angels tried for a 3-team deal that would land him...RJ said the angels NEVER spoke with him or his agent... ??? ...he lives 20 minutes from the ballpark...

 

[popacrobat]

Stl, i guess i'm over the pain of the world series too. a friend of mine's brother and dad were ON THEIR WAY to st. louis, driving, listening to game 4 on the radio. they had game 5 tickets, and when it became obvious that st. louis was going to lose they turned around and came back. heartbreaking.


anyway i wonder if randy johnson will stay with arizona.

yes that sucks too.

i had my bags packed for the plane ride in the morning. didnt happen. this shall never be spoken of again till the end of time.


johnson wont stay with arizona, theyre going to trade him, and the cardinals are going to do their best to get him. despite being on his list of teams he'd go to midseason, the cardinals couldnt take him because of the salary issues. now with morris, woody's, mathenys, tino's (yes they were still paying him 7 million a year), and renterias contractu p, the cardinals have a lot of money to work with. kline also will be gone too. with all those salaries gone, it should leave st louis with roughly 30 million to work with this offseason.

morris made 12.5 million to suck, renteria was at 7.25, woody at 6. something, tino's 7 million, matheny at 4 million, kline at almost 2. a lot of the contracts are backloaded though so even though thats almost 40 million, carpenter, pujols, edmonds and i believe izzy are in for a pay raise, so i think somewhere a bit under or around 30 million is right to work with.

they need to sign a SS and a 2B (polanco has been rumored to come back). they need to either get renteria or cabrera, preferrably renteria back just to keep him away from the cubs. 2b should be last on the priority list. then they only need to get one starting pitcher, because both morris and woody can go. haren/ankiel will take a rotation spot, but the cardinals need to grab a big time ace pitcher, either pedro or randy johnson. i heard on a boston radio station earlier this week (i forget if it was weei or not sorry boston folk), that the cards were interested in pedro, but i highly doubt they'd get him. rj is a much more likely scenario, although they'd have to depart with probably marquis, calero and a good prospect or two, which i would deem worth it. johnson makes around 16 million a year which would cut the rest of the spending in half to sign renteria, an rp and possibly another sp if they do have to part with a marquis to get johnson. this is why getting cabrera is a bit more likely than renteria if they want to grab rj. i've also read that the cardinals and la russa have a huge interest in milton for whatever reason, i think the guy sucks he gave up 41 jacks last year i believe, but they do need the lefties. so if they traded marquis in order to get rj, theyd have to sign another pitcher on top of that and i suppose that would be milton, making a rotation of rj/carpenter/milton/suppan/haren. they'd also need to go out and grab a pen arm or two and sign a 2b like polanco or somebody.


pavano said that he wont sign until mid december which would automatically rule him out of the cardinals book for two reasons i'd think...first and foremost he said he wants to play in new york or boston because hes from connecticut, secondly the cardinals cant wait for him to sign somewhere else and get burnt and not get other free agents.

anyway now im just talking to myself so ill shut up.

 

[Mr. BAW]

Lotta possibilities,,,,,

 

[Mr. BAW]

I just read where the Mets signed Kris Benson 3-years at $22.5 million...isn't this guy just a .500 pitcher???

4-4 this year with the Mets and 12-12 with the Buc's.

I started thinking about my Little League, PONY League, high school and American Legion leagues; based on my combined record of 88-12, I think I'm worth say $50M for 4-years...at the city of my choice...pitch only once every two weeks and only go 4 innings...any takers...I still have my glove, my shoes and my lucky jock...

Why do average pitchers make above-average money???

 

[popacrobat]

I just read where the Mets signed Kris Benson 3-years at $22.5 million...isn't this guy just a .500 pitcher???

4-4 this year with the Mets and 12-12 with the Buc's.

I started thinking about my Little League, PONY League, high school and American Legion leagues; based on my combined record of 88-12, I think I'm worth say $50M for 4-years...at the city of my choice...pitch only once every two weeks and only go 4 innings...any takers...I still have my glove, my shoes and my lucky jock...

Why do average pitchers make above-average money???

everyone thinks hes got a lot of potential...sooner or later everyone will realize that hes just an average pitcher with a hot wife.

 

[Mr. BAW]

Yeah; I mentioned everything but the wife but what the hell...

Its like when I drafted my little league teams...it didn't matter of the kid could play or not, I had a box marked "GLM"...stood for
Good Looking Mom!

 

[Hewson]

Mr. BAW...you should use the hot wife thing in negotiating your deal too. Instead of $50 mil, you can get $60 mil over 4 yrs.

 

[Mr. BAW]

Mr. BAW...you should use the hot wife thing in negotiating your deal too. Instead of $50 mil, you can get $60 mil over 4 yrs.

Well, I think I've just landed a sports agent!! thanks, H.

 

[Hewson]

And I only take 60% from my clients!

 

[popacrobat]

The St. Louis Cardinals could give the Yankees a run for their money in trying to acquire Diamondbacks ace Randy Johnson.

"Obviously, he's a guy we have a lot of interest in, because our top priority is to strengthen the top of our starting rotation," Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty said.

In the event of a trade, the Cardinals are prepared to offer Johnson a one- or two-year extension.

 

[Hewson]

So A-roid took Pedro to dinner to woo him to the Yanks...the question is did A-roid serve Pedro Hamburger Helper?

Pedro's house in the Dominican has been creating a disturbance in the neighborhood, Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" has been playing repeatedly at loud volumes.
Just a question of which NY team now.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

omar has offered richie sexson a deal
omar wants to sign pedro martinez

same old mets... bring in a first baseman comming off arm problems and an aging pitcher past his prime... i like the sexson deal because he's still young, but pedro... come on... ya can't... i mean... he molests collies.

 

[Hewson]

Just think, Nelson de la Rosa can ride on that apple thing you guys have in center field when it comes out of the hat after a home run, what great entertainment.

 

[Chizip]

omar has offered richie sexson a deal
omar wants to sign pedro martinez

same old mets... bring in a first baseman comming off arm problems and an aging pitcher past his prime... i like the sexson deal because he's still young, but pedro... come on... ya can't... i mean... he molests collies.

at least youll get sosa, a promising young player with superstar potential

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Just think, Nelson de la Rosa can ride on that apple thing you guys have in center field when it comes out of the hat after a home run, what great entertainment.

at least youll get sosa, a promising young player with superstar potential

 

[WinnieThePoo]

pedro should go with the yankees , it is his Dezzztiny

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

with the red sox officialy world champions, i believe i will be the first to stake the claim for the mets as officialy the hardest team to root for in all of baseball.

Fred Wilpon decided he didn't want to spend money, so A-Rod, who listed the Mets as his #1 option, "wasn't worth what he was asking for" so we passed up on him... results? A-Rod wins the AL MVP

then Uncle Freddie decided he wanted some big names and opened up the check book again, so we went and brought in mo vaughn, roberto alomar and tom glavine... results? break out your coppy of Triple Play 1997 and you'll win 100 games... unfortunatly we didn't even break .500.

then a savior is available and WANTS to go to the Mets... but unfortunatly the crappy old stars that we brought in ate up Fred's checkbook, so we decided Vlad isn't worth it because of his back issues... results? Vlad wins the AL MVP.

So now Mr. Wilpon has decided he wants to spend money again... so what's our response? make offers to pedro martinez and sammy sosa...

 

[popacrobat]

i think the point of offering pedro and sammy contracts and trade offer in sammy's case is to get fans in the seats by getting star power on the field every day and every 5th day knowing you've got a legit chance to win every 5th game.

that said, in two years, maybe even next year, both these guys won't be anything really, maybe pedro will have something left because he really wasnt as bad as his era this year, he got shelled in september, but sosa wont have much left at all.

still, it would be money poorly spent unless the mets somehow miraculously compete and get into the playoffs next year, which i dont see happening. but the only logic i can see behind this is to get more butts in the seats. the average met fan would be elated to have sammy sosa and pedro martinez on their team.

 

[Theedge555]

omar has offered richie sexson a deal
omar wants to sign pedro martinez

same old mets... bring in a first baseman comming off arm problems and an aging pitcher past his prime... i like the sexson deal because he's still young, but pedro... come on... ya can't... i mean... he molests collies.

At least now Stanton is now gone.

Bring in another Yankee "has been" - Felix Heredia

 

[Theedge555]

Bye bye AL.....

Enjoy playing before nobody at Joe Robbie....