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devilsrule33

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Rangers win bidding for Yu Darvish for a figure north of $51M: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-passan_rangers_yu_darvish_winning_bid_121911

Assuming they pay him a contract of at least $50M, that's going to be $100M+ total to an unproven Major League pitcher. Hey, I think Darvish looks fantastic, but that's a pretty big gamble. Dave Cameron (of Fangraphs) put it well on Twitter: if the Rangers end up paying something like $125M total ($50M posting fee plus a 5/75 or so contract), Darvish would be on the hook to produce about a 23 WAR for the deal to be just fair value.... only 9 pitchers have been worth that much over the last 5 seasons. That's basically on the level of pitchers like Zack Greinke and Josh Beckett.

Who knows, maybe he'll be on that Beckett/Greinke level, and the Rangers DO have a lot more incentive to pay a premium on wins right now than, say, the Mets, but it's still a big gamble... not one that I would probably make.

But assuming a contract is worked out, this should be fun. I'm eager to see what he can do in MLB and the AL West battle between the Angels and Rangers should be awesome to follow this summer.

Edited by nmigliore
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Great trade for the A's: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/nationals-to-acquire-gio-gonzalez.html

I'm not sold on Peacock as a starter yet, he's basically a 2-pitch pitcher who pitches up in the zone, but he at least profiles as a late-game bullpen arm. Cole is the real prize; he was great in his pro debut and comes with front-of-the-rotation upside. Norris gets underrated because of his low batting averages; he does need to keep the whiffs in check as he moves up to AAA and the Majors but he has a great throwing arm and fantastic patience and power that should make him an above average regular behind the dish. Milone doesn't throw very hard but he put up excellent numbers in AAA last year and his skillset is perfect for Oakland's park.

Gio Gonzalez is pretty good, but his low-3's mirage of an ERA over the last couple of seasons makes him look a lot better than he actually is. Edwin Jackson, a current free agent getting very little attention (or so it seems), is quite literally just as good once you look past the deceiving ERA.

Edited by nmigliore
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  • 4 weeks later...

Prince Fielder reportedly signing with Detroit, 9 years/$214M:

The Tigers have agreed to sign Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214MM contract Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. The 27-year-old first baseman will join Miguel Cabrera in the middle of the Tigers' order to create more than enough offense to make up for the loss of Victor Martinez.

Though the market for Fielder seemed far from robust at times this offseason agent Scott Boras has found an unexpected suitor once again. Yahoo's Tim Brown first reported that the sides were close to a deal.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/01/tigers-to-sign-prince-fielder.html

Wow, I really didn't see that coming. I figured he'd get, at MOST, 5 or 6 guaranteed years. Scott Boras is amazing. This contract looks like a future disaster but hey, I guess the Tigers won't be missing V-Mart next season now, at least.

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Prince Fielder reportedly signing with Detroit, 9 years/$214M:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/01/tigers-to-sign-prince-fielder.html

Wow, I really didn't see that coming. I figured he'd get, at MOST, 5 or 6 guaranteed years. Scott Boras is amazing. This contract looks like a future disaster but hey, I guess the Tigers won't be missing V-Mart next season now, at least.

Wow... bigmoves

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I have no idea how all three of these bats will fit in their lineup when V-Mart is healthy. And defensively, where do they put these guys...V-Mart when healthy is primary DH/secondary catcher, while Cabrera is their current 1B. I would imagine Cabrera/Fielder will platoon, or a trade/free agency is coming next year to get one of these guys out of town.

EDIT: Just say that Cabrera will play 3rd...this is going to be a hell of hitting team but not much for defense methinks.

Edited by Hi, I'm VALUE!
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No way would they platoon any of them - they are all very much starting-caliber players. My guess is Fielder at 1B, Cabrera at DH, and V-Mart pawned off somewhere next season (don't forget he's more than likely out for all of 2012, so it shouldn't be an issue this upcoming season). They could also say "screw the defense!" and stick Miggy back at 3B with V-Mart at DH and Fielder at 1B.

Detroit is going to be legitimate contenders for the next 3-4 years with Fielder, Verlander, and Miggy all under contract through their primes. After that, it may be ugly; Fielder's deal will probably begin to form into an albatross at that point and Verlander and Miggy could hit free agency.

Edited by nmigliore
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No way would they platoon any of them - they are all very much starting-caliber players. My guess is Fielder at 1B, Cabrera at DH, and V-Mart pawned off somewhere next season (don't forget he's more than likely out for all of 2012, so it shouldn't be an issue this upcoming season). They could also say "screw the defense!" and stick Miggy back at 3B with V-Mart at DH and Fielder at 1B.

Detroit is going to be legitimate contenders for the next 3-4 years with Fielder, Verlander, and Miggy all under contract through their primes. After that, it may be ugly; Fielder's deal will probably begin to form into an albatross at that point and Verlander and Miggy could hit free agency.

I have no idea what V-Mart's contract looks like, but the fact that insurance companies are picking up the tab for 2012 might make him look very palatable to a team in money-hell that has an asset the Tigers want. My initial thoughts were the Mets and Dodgers, both teams that are not seemingly in a position to compete in 2012 and looking to save money, but I'm not sure what either team could send to Detroit at the major league level that would make sense, I don't know how much longer V-Mart is under contract, and IIRC the Mets have a young 1B in Ike Davis and a young C in Thole...displacing either (and trading ML assets to do it) might not be a very solid move. IIRC Loney is the Dodgers 1B right now and he could easily be displaced by V-Mart. Also an AL team might look to make that move if they can, but again, I have no idea what the Tigers need/want at this point.

Here's a point of discussion I was talking with my friends about. If you're the Yankees, would you deal AJ Burnett for Adam Dunn (assuming the extraneous pieces either way weren't critical to the franchise)?

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Definitely not a fit with the Mets. V-Mart is defensively-challenged, especially behind the plate. Maybe a team is willing to try him at 1B, but he really only makes sense for an AL team where the DH option is always available. He'll have 2/25 left on his deal which is probably fair value for him if you consider him a 2.5 to 3 win player in 2013 (though that might be a bit optimistic). Where he would go is anybody's guess at this point; there is still an entire 2012 season left to play and it seems like the Cabrera-to-3B thing might actually go down, frighteningly enough.

Edited by nmigliore
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http://www.metsblog.com/2012/01/26/espn-mets-monitoring-left-handed-hitters-market/

According to a tweet from ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, “The Mets are diligently monitoring the left-handed hitting outfield market,” which includes Johnny Damon, Kosuke Fukudome, Rick Ankiel, Raul Ibanez and Juan Pierre.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wouldn't mind Fukudome or Pierre...both quite adept at getting on base

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As a White Sox fan, be ready for Pierre to drive you nuts if he signs with the Mets, 7. He essentially single-handedly cost Matt Thornton the closer's role this past season when he had two seriously bone-headed fielding mistakes. When he gets hot, yes, he gets on base and can be a threat to steal. But when he's cold, you'll be screaming for him to be demoted to the minors.

Though the White Sox will potentially be slower on the base paths this year, I'm glad he's gone.

Not all speed is lost in Chicago. If Rios rebounds (not holding my breath) he's good for 20 steals. De Aza showed more speed than I expected, and Lillibridge, Morel, Beckham, and Ramirez are all capable of stealing bases... just not great at it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Figured I'd post this since it's kind of big news: Nats extend Ryan Zimmerman, 6/100 plus a club option for a 7th year: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/nationals-zimmerman-agree-to-extension.html

His current contract won't expire for 2 more years, so this won't kick in until 2014, his age 29 season. This still looks like a great bargain. Zimmerman is easily one of the game's best -- and most underrated -- players when healthy. From 2009-2011, his .374 wOBA is identical to Evan Longoria and Nelson Cruz, and better than Ryan Howard, Dustin Pedroia, and Matt Kemp. In that same time frame, his 17.1 fWAR ranks 12th best among position players, identical to Ryan Braun, and don't forget that includes a down, injury-shortened 2011 season. He's everything you want in a player; he's fairly young, he's a great hitter, he plays a position where offense isn't a big premium like 1B or LF/RF, and he's one of the best defenders at that position.

I don't think his health is a huge concern either; he missed time in 2008 and 2011 for different injuries, and while it hurt his play in both seasons, he still managed to accumulate at least 440 PA in both of those seasons and stay relatively healthy otherwise.

This is a great move by Washington. These are the kind of stars you spend your money on - it definitely beats throwing silly money and years at Prince Fielder who isn't even as good (once you look past just offense as a measure of value) and will age much worse.

This also means their top pick (and my favorite player from the 2011 draft) -- 3B Anthony Rendon -- might have move to 2B in pro ball at some point.

Edited by nmigliore
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Figured I'd post this since it's kind of big news: Nats extend Ryan Zimmerman, 6/100 plus a club option for a 7th year: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/nationals-zimmerman-agree-to-extension.html

His current contract won't expire for 2 more years, so this won't kick in until 2014, his age 29 season. This still looks like a great bargain. Zimmerman is easily one of the game's best -- and most underrated -- players when healthy. From 2009-2011, his .374 wOBA is identical to Evan Longoria and Nelson Cruz, and better than Ryan Howard, Dustin Pedroia, and Matt Kemp. In that same time frame, his 17.1 fWAR ranks 12th best among position players, identical to Ryan Braun, and don't forget that includes a down, injury-shortened 2011 season. He's everything you want in a player; he's fairly young, he's a great hitter, he plays a position where offense isn't a big premium like 1B or LF/RF, and he's one of the best defenders at that position.

I don't think his health is a huge concern either; he missed time in 2008 and 2011 for different injuries, and while it hurt his play in both seasons, he still managed to accumulate at least 440 PA in both of those seasons and stay relatively healthy otherwise.

This is a great move by Washington. These are the kind of stars you spend your money on - it definitely beats throwing silly money and years at Prince Fielder who isn't even as good (once you look past just offense as a measure of value) and will age much worse.

This also means their top pick (and my favorite player from the 2011 draft) -- 3B Anthony Rendon -- might have move to 2B in pro ball at some point.

Really? Everything I've read assumes that Washington will be moving Zimmerman to 1B.

Otherwise I agree with the sentiment, even if other GM's are taking shots at them for locking up Zimmerman.

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It would be pretty dumb to move Zimmerman to 1B; part of him being a great player is his fantastic glove at 3B. His glove would have to take a real turn for the worst (not likely) in the next year or so for that to even be a consideration.

Regardless of how Washington goes about it though, it's going to be a great problem to have.

Edited by nmigliore
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