MLB Offseason '12 - Shut Up Nick

[nick]

Bob Nightengale ‏@BNightengale
Selig says the #marlins trade is under review

[VeniVediV1ci]

vetooooooooooooo

[nick]

theyre not gonna veto shit. Its taking long cause 12 players, 3 in south america, have to take physicals. And a lot of money is changing hands. 2 executies told Selig this is a good deal for the Marlins.

its a great long term deal for the team. Its just a slap in the face to the fans that paid for the stadium.

Henderson Alvarez - compared to Pedro Martinez
Yunel Escobar - easily top 10 SS in MLB
Hechevaria - Spent like $20 mil to sign as a kid, hes a gold glove defensive SS/2B no problem
Nicolino - One of the big 3 from Lansing. This kid is gonna be special down the road.
Jake Marsinick - Came outta nowhere last year. tailed off a bit this year but still solid.

and 2 other decent prospects.

We get josh Johnson who cant stay healthy. Mark Buehrle who is an innings eater. Jose Reyes who I can see being retraded, JOHN BUCK and Emilio Bonafacio..

chill outtt

[ajalves]

In a way I'm ok with loria doing this. They finished last place with these guys.

[ajalves]

Whoever compared 'Alvarez to Pedro Martinez' should be fired though

[DRiccio21]

In a way I'm ok with loria doing this. They finished last place with these guys.

so that means they all stink suddenly and should be dealt in one deal for mostly decent prospects (and not even the best prospect?)

if thats the vision they have, then thats even scarier than being criminal.

they backloaded every deal for a reason. they gave it a shot for 1 year to try to make it look like they were trying, saw that they were losing and nobody was coming to games even with those guys and he's a cheap fuck so he just said 'eff it, if we're losing i'm not paying guys' and he dumped them.

criminal, bullshit, there are all sorts of words for it.

[Cnasty]

In a way I'm ok with loria doing this. They finished last place with these guys.

You are a day late debate buddy

I got picked apart by the Lebby twins the other day without my back up.

[DRiccio21]

In a way I'm ok with loria doing this. They finished last place with these guys.

You are a day late debate buddy

I got picked apart by the Lebby twins the other day without my back up.

you're not fun to debate with.

Wins!!!

[DRiccio21]

and again... from a baseball standpoint, i don't disagree.

they can EASILY be better next year than they were this year with a shitty 30 mil payroll. i'm not saying otherwise.

i'm saying if your vision is to build a core thru free agency and then get the young guys to grow around them and you're timeframe is 1 year... you have big issues in your evaluation department.

you can keep Reyes or maybe Bonafacio or maybe Johnson... you really need to trade EVERYONE of them? they all suck? not one of them has value to your team anymore? i find that hard to believe. i also find it hard to believe the best trade available for the most value was for all of them to one team.

[ajalves]

Why keep a high priced guy ( say Reyes) if you aren't making the playoffs?

It's a business.

I was cool when the red six did it, so I'm 'ok' with this as well

[dakshdar]

Yunel Escobar is "easily a top 10 SS in MLB" in what category?

Yunel Escobar in 2012 vs all MLB SS:

14th in Runs Scored
12th in Hits
17th in Doubles
28th in Triples
12th in HRs
13th in RBIs
25th in SBs
11th in AVG
12th in OBP
16th in SLG
16th in OPS
11th in WAR
6th in DWAR
5th in Es
4th in FPCT

So, unless you're only talking fielding, Yunel isn't top 10 material in anything else useful.

[nick]

well shortstop is a defense first position...

[VeniVediV1ci]

Whoever compared 'Alvarez to Pedro Martinez' should be fired though

that and the bullshit Yunel Escobar being a top-10 SS (i think Nick was the one comparing with his Jays goggles on)

[nick]

in 2011 Yunel was easily a top 10 SS, and he had a bad year, but whos to say he dont go back to his 2011 ways in 13 now that hes in Miami?

Plus he was still a top 5 defensive SS last year, and defense is the #1/2/3 stat at SS.

It's the reason Texas would much rather trade Andrus than move him to another position. his value dies when hes moved because of the defense he provides.

[Cnasty]

In a way I'm ok with loria doing this. They finished last place with these guys.

You are a day late debate buddy

I got picked apart by the Lebby twins the other day without my back up.

you're not fun to debate with.

Wins!!!

You are right about that, Im not.

So glad to see AJ come in later though and agree completely with me. Thats chemistry right there.

[nick]

Cone: Blue Jays, not Yankees, team to beat in AL East

David Cone said he was so impressed with the haul the Blue Jays got from the Marlins, he thinks Toronto is the team to beat in the division.

“I would think they’d have to be the favorite, right now, in the American League East,” Cone said.

Though the Blue Jays have fooled people into thinking they could contend before, the addition of Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle in a trade that is being reviewed by MLB — coupled with the Yankees’ focus on reducing their payroll — makes them a force to be reckoned with, according to Cone.

“If [Andy] Pettitte says no and [Hiroki] Kuroda says no, that leaves some gaping holes in the rotation,” Cone said of the free agents. “Then [general manager Brian] Cashman’s got more work to do. He’s already got a tough job this winter.”

Cashman, at a fundraiser for Covenant House last night, wasn’t ready to concede the division.

“They’re certainly attempting to make a statement, no doubt about that,” Cashman said of the trade. “People feel that way, we want to convince them that we’re the team to beat.”

That convincing would be tougher to come by if Pettitte decides to retire and Kuroda opts to sign elsewhere.

“I think Andy wants to play,” said manager Joe Girardi, who has been in contact with the left-hander. “That’s my feeling from what I saw last year. But there are family decisions he has to make.”

Girardi and Cone were at Yankee Stadium yesterday, as the Yankees partnered with the USO to pack and send boxes to troops serving in Afghanistan.

Cone, who played in both The Bronx and Toronto, said he still is adjusting to the new landscape in which the Yankees are focused on reducing their payroll.

“It’s shaken up the free agent market,” Cone said. “Free agents do not need to apply here, as far as right now. ... Every other team is catching up. There’s a lot more money to be spent and the Yankees are in a position where they have to get down.”

Cone said he anticipates the Yankees’ approach to change after 2014, once they get below the $189 million payroll threshold.

“I think there’s a hunger to win, but it’s a different philosophy,” Cone said of the Yankees under owner Hal Steinbrenner as opposed to his father, George. “For a year or two they’re going to have to get creative.”

Cone, a YES analyst, said he also wants them to become less reliant on home runs.

“They were a little too one-dimensional, though Ichiro [Suzuki] did give them a spark at the end,” Cone said. “[Brett] Gardner may give it to them.”

For now, though, there are more questions than answers, including the fate of the pitching staff and Russell Martin.

“I’m sure other teams are interested in Russell, just like we are,” said Girardi, who thought some combination of Austin Romine, Chris Stewart and Francisco Cervelli could be used if Martin departs. “It’s something I think we’ll look at. I think those guys have the ability to do the job. Does a Romine have enough experience right now? I don’t know. But the other two have been big league catchers and performed well.”

It seems highly unlikely the Yankees would start the season with any of those as their starting backstop, regardless of future payroll restrictions- but it’s becoming increasingly apparent the days of a nearly limitless budget to provide quick fixes isn’t realistic, either.

[Cnasty]

Josh Hamilton would have been in pinstripes by now if George was still around.

I hope the sons ruin that franchise.

[nick]

Jays sign Melky Cabrera

[nick]

looks good in blue jay blue .. also feeling the gun with left hand

[Cnasty]

O/u on a pulled hamstring, quad, crybaby injury set at 20 games