358 replies to this topic

[Hi, I'm VALUE!]

They're saying Michael Taylor of Philly is going to Toronto as well.

[thefiestygoat]

I haven't had a chance to look up anything on the prospects in the deal but I'd assume the Jays should be getting some quality. I got to give Seattle credit they are really going hard this offseason adding Figgins and now Lee for a great 1-2 punch with Hernandez. I wonder if they make another splash this offseason? Slight upgrade for Philly in the deal but it seems like they gave up a lot to get it.

I think the Red Sox signing Lackey is a solid move. Of course they had to overpay but I think it was a solid risk to take. Beckett, Lester, Lackey is a great 1-2-3. Will make the division much tougher next year. Now they are rumored to be in serious talks with Cameron. I hope they don't get him, he will be a great signing for whatever team inks him. If the Yankees can't get Cameron I'd like to see them just go for a slam dunk and go at Holliday, especially if his price comes down.

Matsui to the Angels on a 1 year deal for $6.5M. Thanks for everything Hideki! He gave me some my best memories as a Yankee fan this past WS. I'll always be grateful and I wish him the best.

[thefiestygoat]

Boston with another good signing getting Cameron at 2/15.5M I really wanted the Yankees to get him.

[devilsrule33]

Must be more than that...

The specifics of the trades took some twists and turns on Monday. The latest structure would send Phillies outfielder Michael Taylor, Phillies catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud and a Phils pitcher -- either Kyle Drabek or J.A. Happ -- to Toronto, sources said. And indications Monday night were that that pitcher was likely to be Drabek. Under that scenario, the Phillies would not have to include their top position-player prospect, Domonic Brown, and they would receive Seattle's top pitching prospect, Phillippe Aumont, who originally appeared ticketed for Toronto.

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=4742072

If this is true...

Seems like Seattle is giving up very little to get a pitcher of Cliff Lee's caliber.

The Jays get a package that is superior to anything they might have got at the deadline.

The Phillies give up a lot for the upgrade of Halladay over Lee. Although it seemed like Lee
wanted to test free agency, while Doc is willing to work out a deal now.

I don't think this is the final deal right now. It isn't actually a 3-way deal right now unless Seattle gives some prospects to the Jays. If this is the final deal, why wouldn't the Phillies just keep Lee?

Edited by devilsrule33, 15 December 2009 - 01:47 AM.

[Masked Fan]

Poor Tigers. Gettin tore apart here. Hopefully this freshens em up enough to gitrdun next year.

At least Inge and Verlander aint gone ..... yet.

[ghdi]

Gotta give Amaro some credit. I think Seattle won the trade hands down, espc with the moves they've made and are apparently still making, but with Lee wanting a gargantuan FA style contract extension and Roy willing to take the discount, its a great move. I think the Phillies are definitely paying the most as the players they gave to the Indians kinda count in this too, since Lee only played there for the shortened season and the playoffs.

The fact that Roy is out of the AL East is also nice.

If this is the final deal, why wouldn't the Phillies just keep Lee?

Lee wants monster money on his extension, but Roy will take a discount as he lives close to the Phillies spring training facility and wants to play there, whereas Lee wants the contract. I think its tic for tac talent wise. Its like replacing a Ferrari with a Lamborghini, but the Phillies definitely have given up a lot more. They got a pennant and Halladay for all those guys when its said and done.

The Mariners look great going into spring training.

[nmigliore]

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=4742072

If this is true...

Seems like Seattle is giving up very little to get a pitcher of Cliff Lee's caliber.

The Jays get a package that is superior to anything they might have got at the deadline.

The Phillies give up a lot for the upgrade of Halladay over Lee. Although it seemed like Lee
wanted to test free agency, while Doc is willing to work out a deal now.

Taylor, Drabek, and D'Arnaud is a real nice return for Toronto. That's also a great deal for the Mariners who needed rotation help and now have a real nice 'co-ace' to slot behind King Felix.

If this is the final deal, why wouldn't the Phillies just keep Lee?

Halladay was willing to sign an extension with Philly, Lee supposedly was looking for more money. So, they basically swapped Lee out for Halladay (which is about a 1-2 win improvement) and have their ace to lock up long-term. They did give up a lot to make this all happen - don't forget about the prospects they gave up for Lee, and now some of their top guys for Halladay. At least they're getting back a few Mariner prospects or else this deal would look pretty weird for them.

But like I said, I think it was all about the ease of locking up Halladay vs the ease of locking up Lee. I'm just happy its not Halladay-Lee in the same rotation.... that would be a nightmare.

Poor Angels fans... they witness the Mariners steal Figgins from them, the Red Sox steal Lackey from them, the Rangers improve with signing Rich Harden, the Mariners steal Cliff Lee from the Phillies.... and they sign Hideki Matsui. I wonder if they'll swap Juan Rivera for Derek Lowe (with the Braves eating part of his salary) -- that seems like the perfect deal -- Angels get a solid pitcher, Braves get a solid outfield bat; its what both teams are looking for.

Edited by nmigliore, 15 December 2009 - 10:28 AM.

[nmigliore]

Looks like the Jays are sending Taylor to Oakland for 3B/1B prospect Brett Wallace.

The Blue Jays will trade outfielder Michael Taylor to the A's for third base prospect Brett Wallace, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney and Jerry Crasnick (via e-mail).

[nmigliore]

Looks like the Cubs and Mariners will swap Bradley for Silva.

Um, yeah. Jack Zduriencik is a beast. Jim Hendry on the other hand... well, not so much.

Edited by nmigliore, 18 December 2009 - 01:09 PM.

[nmigliore]

Reds are getting Aroldis Chapman for $30M, according to Jon Heyman.

That's a lot of money for such a boom or bust prospect.

[nmigliore]

*Warning, self-praise coming*

I thought this was really cool - I'm a frequent reader of Beyond the Boxscore and Fangraphs (great sabermetric baseball sites). BtB is one of those SB Nation blogs, so it lets you contribute 'Fanposts', which don't appear on the website's front page of primary articles but they appear on the side under Fanposts, though the admins of the site could later post them on the front page if they feel they are are good reading material, or whatnot. I've only published a few since joining the site, and just today I contributed a post discussing Joe Nathan's possible replacement. I checked the website just 10 minutes ago and my Nathan post is on their front page! I've never had that happen before, so I thought that was pretty sweet. If you wanna check out the article: http://www.beyondthe...ans-replacement

Okay, sorry for the gloating, I just thought it was really cool.

Edited by nmigliore, 09 March 2010 - 10:35 PM.

[nmigliore]

Some great news for DR33's Blue Jays... Cuban SS Adeiny Hechevarria signs with Blue Jays for $10M.

A source confirmed that Hechevarria has agreed to a $10MM contract with Toronto, tweets Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated. The deal is for four years, a source tells Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via Twitter).

http://www.mlbtrader...-blue-jays.html

Really nice pickup for a team that appears to lack middle infield prospects. Say hello to your future SS.

Edited by nmigliore, 15 March 2010 - 09:47 AM.

[devilsrule33]

Some great news for DR33's Blue Jays... Cuban SS Adeiny Hechevarria signs with Blue Jays for $10M.



http://www.mlbtrader...-blue-jays.html

Really nice pickup for a team that appears to lack middle infield prospects. Say hello to your future SS.

Very happy about this. SS has been a major whole for the Jays for years. I must say, I love what AA is doing. It's going to be extremely tough in the AL East for years to come, but there is a lot to get excited about.

Just noticed your post about your article on the front page of BTB. Very good stuff.

[nmigliore]

Interesting day for the Twins, they lose Joe Nathan for the year due to TJ surgery but lock up Joe Mauer for 8 years, $184M. Good for Minnesota, and its good for baseball to see some of the small to mid-market teams keep their superstar talent instead of losing them to the big dogs of free agency.

Edited by nmigliore, 21 March 2010 - 04:57 PM.

[devilsrule33]

Interesting day for the Twins, they lose Joe Nathan for the year due to TJ surgery but lock up Joe Mauer for 8 years, $184M. Good for Minnesota, and its good for baseball to see some of the small to mid-market teams keep their superstar talent instead of losing them to the big dogs of free agency.

Nice that a mid-market team locked up a star player, but 8 years-$184 million is still ridiculous any way you slice it. It's also a ridiculous system when we applaud the Twins signing a giant superstar when another team can lock up 5-6 guys with large contracts (the Yankees with A-Rod, Jeter, C.C., A.J. and Mo).

[nmigliore]

Nice that a mid-market team locked up a star player, but 8 years-$184 million is still ridiculous any way you slice it.

I don't think its all that bad. The years seem okay - they have him locked up until hes 35, which is roughly around the age catchers start to fall off, and if they must, moving him to 1B some time down the road shouldn't be an issue since his bat would play fine there. I think you can easily make a case that hes being overpaid - I don't know how its broken down, but that's an average salary of $23M per year, which would mean he would need to be worth around +6.5 to +7 wins each year to live up to that salary, which is do-able for him right now, but who knows if he'll be still putting up those kind of win values in the latter years of the deal; the longer he sticks at catcher then the more do-able it should be since that's such a premium position, but a move to 1B would likely bring down his value enough to not be worth that kind of annual salary.

Edited by nmigliore, 21 March 2010 - 06:41 PM.

[devilsrule33]

I am strictly speaking in terms of the real world. In the baseball world...that is a perfectly fine deal. I don't know how for the Twins owner, 23 million makes sense from an economical point of view. Baseball needs a cap, but I don't think it ever happens.

[nmigliore]

With baseball season starting in less than a week, anyone wanna lay out division/wild card predictions? I'll go first....

American League
AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Seattle Mariners

AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox

National League
NL East: Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West: Colorado Rockies

NL Wild Card: Atlanta Braves


...I'm obviously hoping my NL East/NL Wild Card predictions are wrong but here's to a great year of baseball!

Edited by nmigliore, 30 March 2010 - 12:08 PM.

[nmigliore]

Alex A strikes again for the Jays: Lind signed for 4 years, $18M and 3 club options for 2014, 2015, and 2016. The guaranteed years essentially buy out all of his arbitration years for an average salary of only $4.5M per (!), and then 3 club options for his free agent years - this is an excellent deal for the Jays.

Edited by nmigliore, 03 April 2010 - 11:48 AM.