Offseason Moves

[LorfTVP]

So, before we're suffocated by billions of Hot Stove rumors and offseason predictions, let's take a stab at what's going to happen.

 

 

* Players are able to file for Free Agency up to Nov. 13.

Starting Pitchers

Tony Armas 29 Pittsburgh

Matt Clement 33 Boston

Bartolo Colon 34 LA Angels

Elmer Dessens 36 Colorado

Freddy Garcia 31 Philadelphia

Tom Glavine 41 NY Mets

Livan Hernandez 32 Arizona

Jason Jennings 29 Houston

Joe Kennedy 28 Toronto

Byung-Hyun Kim 28 Florida

Jon Lieber 37 Philadelphia

Kyle Lohse 29 Philadelphia

Rodrigo Lopez 31 Colorado

Eric Milton 32 Cincinnati

Russ Ortiz 33 San Francisco

Odalis Perez 30 Kansas City

Kenny Rogers 42 Detroit

Curt Schilling 40 Boston

Carlos Silva 28 Minnesota

Steve Trachsel 37 Baltimore

Jeff Weaver 31 Seattle

David Wells 44 LA Dodgers

Kip Wells 30 St. Louis

 

Relief Pitchers

Jeremy Affeldt 28 Colorado

Antonio Alfonseca 35 Philadelphia

Armando Benitez 34 Florida

Doug Brocail 40 San Diego

Shawn Chacon 29 Pittsburgh

Francisco Cordero 32 Milwaukee

Eric Gagne 31 Boston

Todd Jones 39 Detroit

Jorge Julio 28 Colorado

Ray King 33 Milwaukee

Scott Linebrink 31 Milwaukee

Ron Mahay 36 Atlanta

Jose Mesa 41 Philadelphia

Trever Miller 34 Houston

Brian Moehler 35 Houston

Mike Myers 38 Chicago Sox

Troy Percival 38 St. Louis

Arthur Rhodes 38 Seattle

David Riske 31 Kansas City

Mariano Rivera 37 NY Yankees

J.C. Romero 31 Philadelphia

Rudy Seanez 39 LA Dodgers

Aaron Sele 37 NY Mets

Ron Villone 37 NY Yankees

Luis Vizcaino 33 NY Yankees

Bob Wickman 38 Arizona

Kerry Wood 30 Chicago Cubs

 

Catchers

Sandy Alomar Jr. 41 NY Mets

Paul Bako 35 Baltimore

Rod Barajas 32 Philadelphia

Michael Barrett 31 San Diego

Kevin Cash 30 Boston

Ramon Castro 31 NY Mets

Mike DiFelice 38 NY Mets

Sal Fasano 36 Toronto

Jason Kendall 33 Chicago Cubs

Jason LaRue 33 Kansas City

Mike Lieberthal 35 LA Dodgers

Paul Lo Duca 35 NY Mets

Damian Miller 38 Milwaukee

Jose Molina 32 NY Yankees

Josh Paul 32 Tampa Bay

Jorge Posada 36 NY Yankees

Yorvit Torrealba 29 Colorado

Doug Mirabelli 37 Boston

 

First Basemen

Player Age Status Old Team New Team Years Dollars Rank

Tony Batista 33 Washington

Aaron Boone 34 Florida

Miguel Cairo 33 St. Louis

Sean Casey 33 Detroit

Tony Clark 35 Arizona

Robert Fick 33 Washington

Julio Franco 49 Atlanta

Eric Hinske 30 Boston

Doug Mientkiewicz 33 NY Yankees

Mark Sweeney 38 LA Dodgers

Brad Wilkerson 30 Texas

 

Second Basemen

Geoff Blum 34 San Diego

Luis Castillo 32 NY Mets

Tony Graffanino 35 Milwaukee

D'Angelo Jimenez 29 Washington

Ramon Martinez 35 LA Dodgers

 

Shortstops

David Eckstein 32 St. Louis

Mark Loretta 36 Houston

Neifi Perez 34 Detroit

 

Third Basemen

Russell Branyan 31 St. Louis

Jeff Cirillo 38 Arizona

Pedro Feliz 32 San Francisco

Chris Gomez 36 Cleveland

Corey Koskie 34 Milwaukee

Mike Lamb 32 Houston

Abraham Nunez 31 Philadelphia

Alex Rodriguez 32 NY Yankees

Chris Woodward 31 Atlanta

 

Left Fielders

Marlon Anderson 33 NY Mets

Barry Bonds 43 San Francisco

Milton Bradley 29 San Diego

Luis Gonzalez 40 LA Dodgers

Geoff Jenkins 33 Milwaukee

Orlando Palmeiro 38 Houston

Matt Stairs 39 Toronto

Shannon Stewart 33 Oakland

Rondell White 35 Minnesota

 

Center Fielders

Mike Cameron 34 San Diego

Jeff DaVanon 33 Oakland

Darin Erstad 33 Chicago Sox

Jerry Hairston Jr. 31 Texas

Torii Hunter 32 Minnesota

Andruw Jones 30 Atlanta

Kenny Lofton 40 Cleveland

Corey Patterson 28 Baltimore

Aaron Rowand 30 Philadelphia

 

Right Fielders

Cliff Floyd 34 Chicago Cubs

Shawn Green 34 NY Mets

Bobby Kielty 31 Boston

Trot Nixon 33 Cleveland

Reggie Sanders 39 Kansas City

 

Designated Hitters

Mike Piazza 39 Oakland

Sammy Sosa 38 Texas

Mike Sweeney 34 Kansas City

 

 

A couple of players have yet to file but that's pretty much your 2007 FA crop...minus Mike Lowell who will probably want to test the waters.

 

The Red Sox set their value on a player and stick to it, the most recent examples being Johnny Damon and Pedro Martinez. I'd hate to see him go, not only because of his bat, but because of his leadership which has got to outweigh the presence of Pedro or Damon. Other than that, these are my guesses:

Trade Crisp (1b, 3b, RP?) and put Ellsbury in center field

Ellsbury is a lot cheaper and can easily match Crisp's contribution. Crisp is a pretty good trading chip so we'll see if the Sox attempt to plug a hole at first or third (Youkils can play either but he was errorless at first this year) or get another RP or bench guy.

 

Let Schilling go and put Lester and Buchholz in the starting rotation

Considering the weak starting pitcher crop, it seems silly to overpay for anybody out there when you already have two young starters in the wings. The Sox could have a rotation of Beckett-Matsuzaka-Wakefield-Lester-Buchholz but they're likely to at least pursue a starting pitcher to say they tried.

 

Other than that there are only some cosmetic moves such as improving the bench by nixing Hinske and replacing Mirabelli with Cash and taking a flier on a real lefty specialist and maybe a long relief guy...but then again we have internal options like Corey or Hansack for the time being. Either way, the core of this team is safe for some time and this offseason shouldn't be too insane save for a Japanese player causing chaos again.

 

Edit: Cash filed for FA. So now expect the Sox to pursue a defensive minded catcher who won't suck up the joint when he's forced to hit. Tavarez's option is picked up so he'll most likely take the long relief role. He was absent most of September and on the playoff roster because he pitched significantly more innings than in 2006.

[Virginia Giant]

The Rangers will go after Rowand or Hunter.

 

Maybe go after a corner outfielder.

 

 

Probly try to trade for a first baseman. I just hope a trade doesn't include Blalock, because I don't have faith in Metcaff and Hank is my boy.

[Ditto]

The Yankees better get their butts moving and sign Jose Molina as back up catcher. He's an excellent defensive catcher, doesn't mind the back up role, he comes cheap, and he hits in the clutch.

[LorfTVP]

Hey, VG, since you don't have a Gold Glove center fielder anymore, want Crisp? He has salaries of $4.75 million in 2008 and $5.75 million in 2009. The deal contains an $8 million team option for 2010 with a $500,000 buyout and contains salary escalator provisions. I don't know about the price of Hunter or Rowand, but they'll both be more expensive, obviously. I wanted a Molina...but I doubt he can catch a knuckleball. I still see Cash being resigned just because he CAN catch it and is younger than Mirabelli.

[Virginia Giant]

Hey, VG, since you don't have a Gold Glove center fielder anymore, want Crisp? He has salaries of $4.75 million in 2008 and $5.75 million in 2009. The deal contains an $8 million team option for 2010 with a $500,000 buyout and contains salary escalator provisions. I don't know about the price of Hunter or Rowand, but they'll both be more expensive, obviously. I wanted a Molina...but I doubt he can catch a knuckleball. I still see Cash being resigned just because he CAN catch it and is younger than Mirabelli.

I really think Daniels has his heart set on Hunter, and he has expressed mutual interest. From a personal stand point, I'd like to have hunter as well, i just think he's a good fit with the guys we have now, a team player type. Not saying Crisp isn't, I don't know a lot about him.

 

 

As far as a trade would go though, with lowel a FA, Blalock would probly be in any package. And i think you know how i feel about that.

[LorfTVP]

I really think Daniels has his heart set on Hunter, and he has expressed mutual interest. From a personal stand point, I'd like to have hunter as well, i just think he's a good fit with the guys we have now, a team player type. Not saying Crisp isn't, I don't know a lot about him.

As far as a trade would go though, with lowel a FA, Blalock would probly be in any package. And i think you know how i feel about that.

 

Hmm, but Blalock would be a nice little addition if he performed up to those lofty expectations he set in his first couple of years. I'm also hearing that the Padres want Crisp to replace Cameron in CF in spacious Petco. Pretty much every single team looking for one of the billions of center fielders will take a good long look at Crisp and his cheap salary and weigh whether giving up a prospect is worth the money saved.

[Virginia Giant]

Hmm, but Blalock would be a nice little addition if he performed up to those lofty expectations he set in his first couple of years. I'm also hearing that the Padres want Crisp to replace Cameron in CF in spacious Petco. Pretty much every single team looking for one of the billions of center fielders will take a good long look at Crisp and his cheap salary and weigh whether giving up a prospect is worth the money saved.

I think if Hank wouldn't have gotten hurt he'd have had a comeback year. Before and after his injury he was pounding the ball. I just hope and pray they don't trade him and expect Metcaf to be any more than a role player.

 

 

I think if the Sox and Rangers made a swap involving Crisp, we'd be sending Hank and a number of other players, maybe Laird or Cruz or who knows, and you'd be sending Youkalis (sp).

[LorfTVP]

I think if Hank wouldn't have gotten hurt he'd have had a comeback year. Before and after his injury he was pounding the ball. I just hope and pray they don't trade him and expect Metcaf to be any more than a role player.

I think if the Sox and Rangers made a swap involving Crisp, we'd be sending Hank and a number of other players, maybe Laird or Cruz or who knows, and you'd be sending Youkalis (sp).

 

That doesn't make any sense because then we'd have a hole at first that we'd need to trade to fill, especially with the weak first basemen on the market. But yah, we resigned Schilling for 8 million base with 2 million in weight clauses and 3 million in something else. This probably means that Buchholz will start in the minors or that Wakefield will pitch from the pen.

[Virginia Giant]

That doesn't make any sense because then we'd have a hole at first that we'd need to trade to fill, especially with the weak first basemen on the market. But yah, we resigned Schilling for 8 million base with 2 million in weight clauses and 3 million in something else. This probably means that Buchholz will start in the minors or that Wakefield will pitch from the pen.

Yeah, you're right. My problem is I always think about our needs, but never fully think about how a trade would work for another team.

[LorfTVP]

Yeah, you're right. My problem is I always think about our needs, but never fully think about how a trade would work for another team.

 

It's difficult with poor knowledge of other teams...that's why most sportswriters suck, because they try to talk about the MLB with no knowledge of all 30 teams and their needs. Hey, want Miguel Cabrera?

[Virginia Giant]

It's difficult with poor knowledge of other teams...that's why most sportswriters suck, because they try to talk about the MLB with no knowledge of all 30 teams and their needs. Hey, want Miguel Cabrera?

Cabrera? Kind of a random question. I'd love him to be a ranger, but he'd cost us an arm and a leg.

[LorfTVP]

Cabrera? Kind of a random question. I'd love him to be a ranger, but he'd cost us an arm and a leg.

 

That's only because he's being shopped around. Did you hear? 11 current free agents are going to be named in the probe. There are only a few big names out there...but I'd hate to be the GM to sign someone right before this news comes out. Haha, Bonds is a free agent.

[Virginia Giant]

That's only because he's being shopped around. Did you hear? 11 current free agents are going to be named in the probe. There are only a few big names out there...but I'd hate to be the GM to sign someone right before this news comes out. Haha, Bonds is a free agent.

Eh, oh well. Hopefully the "list" gets lost. I'm truely sick of hearing about steroids, especially from fans crying foul on the "purity of the game" argument. If people really cared about the purity of the game, they'd be demanding the DH rule be abolished. The DH rule has inflated numbers far more than steroids has. Want to slow down the number of people entering the 500 and 600 club? Do away with a position that allows 45 year old men play 4 times per game.

 

 

Steroids are a minor problem, a player asking for $350 million (which i don't have a problem with) and senior citizens inflating their stats via the DH rule are a much bigger injustice the the American Past time.

[LorfTVP]

Eh, oh well. Hopefully the "list" gets lost. I'm truely sick of hearing about steroids, especially from fans crying foul on the "purity of the game" argument. If people really cared about the purity of the game, they'd be demanding the DH rule be abolished. The DH rule has inflated numbers far more than steroids has. Want to slow down the number of people entering the 500 and 600 club? Do away with a position that allows 45 year old men play 4 times per game.

Steroids are a minor problem, a player asking for $350 million (which i don't have a problem with) and senior citizens inflating their stats via the DH rule are a much bigger injustice the the American Past time.

 

Oh, you're absolutely right! People were arguing that baseball players were overpaid ages decades ago and now we've entered an era where A-rod could get 30 million and Miguel Cabrera could get even more in two years if he loses some weight and shrugs off his reputation. That's without mentioning Johan fucking Santana who is only the best pitcher alive becoming a free agent after next season. I'm sure that we'll eventually enter an era where teams sign all their young talent and the free agent market just grows weaker until salaries go down. There's no way it's going any higher than now with 30 million, that's just insane. We'll see how this winter plays out.