2011/2012 MLB Off-season Thread

[CofR]

Well, the boys of summer of gone for now, and it will be quite awhile until they're back... For fans of some teams the wait way seem longer then others.

2011 Gold Glove Winners:

American League
P - Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox
C - Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles
1B - Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox
2B - Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
SS - Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels
3B - Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers
LF - Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox
RF - Nick Markakis, Orioles

National League
P - Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
C - Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
1B - Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
2B - Brandon Phillips, Reds
SS - Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
3B - Placido Polanco, Philadelphia Phillies
LF - Gerardo Parra, Arizona Diamondbacks
CF - Matt Kemp, Dodgers
RF - Andre Ethier, Dodgers

[troutman]

SF Giants need to sign Carlos Beltran

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...SPOD1LPNRL.DTL

An offensive upgrade is essential beyond the returns of Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez, and Beltran showed his professionalism at the plate after a slow start following his July 28 trade and ensuing hand injury. As a Giant, he hit .323 with seven homers and 18 RBIs in 44 games (.378, six and 14 in 24 September games).

He's the fourth best hitter on the market behind Pujols, Prince Fielder and Jose Reyes and the only one who might be obtainable for $15 million per year or less. He enjoyed his time with the Giants - especially fond of the ballpark atmosphere - and has them on his short list of prospective employers.

Giants lefties Lopez, Affeldt will stay


BUSTER POSEY / A long road back As Giants' catcher recuperates from injury...

[troutman]

First impression: Giants did well in Jonathan Sanchez deal

http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2011/1...-sanchez-deal/

The Giants have formally announced their trade of Jonathan Sanchez and minor-league pitcher Ryan Verdugo to the Kansas City Royals for 27-year-old, switch-hitting outfielder Melky Cabrera.

We’ll learn what this means for the Carlos Beltran pursuit. Actually, this might mean more for Andres Torres, since Cabrera is a center fielder.

In fact, the Giants might have fulfilled Beltran’s demand that they find a leadoff hitter. Cabrera is not a true leadoff hitter. He rarely walks. But he can steal bases and he’s the best they have right now.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, this is a deal involving two players whose salaries both will spike in 2011 in their final arbitration years. Both teams are taking risks, but I think the Royals are taking the bigger gamble here because Sanchez is coming off a terrible season in which he could not maintain focus on the mound and was hurt. The Giants ‘ biggest risk is that Cabrera’s excellent 2011 season was an outlier. His .809 OPS is 52 points higher than his previous career high.

[Sylvanfan]

So if Pujols doesn't end up in St.Louis, where's he going to go? Which big spenders have the money to entice him?

Boston just committed a huge amount to Adrian Gonzalez, and I don't see him or Pujols willing to DH. The Yankees are still pretty committed to Texeira, they'd have to trade him to make room. So I don't see either of them being in on this.

IIRC the Mets are still on the brink of going into receivership. Granted spending some money on Pujols, would seem like it could produce a profitable return on investment. I don't think the Dodgers have solved their ownership woes yet to make a run at him. Maybe the Angels have enough money, but than you're looking at getting Pujols to switch leagues, which is something I would guess he'd rather not do. The Giants could use him maybe, but they seem committed to Brandon Belt.

Than you have the two Chicago teams, and I suppose the Cubs could be interested in trying to land him. Whitesox too, if they want to open up the vault, and convince him to switch leagues.

With all that, I think he might just remain in St.Louis. They can probably come close enough with the money, and I'd think they would win the intangibles.

[dustyanddaflames]

Ya I see Albert remaining in St Louis - and pure speculation on my behalf, winning the World Series may have tilted the deck in the Cardinals' favour. If he were to leave, I could see Epstein making a splash, bringing Pujols in to Chicago to kickstart his tenure. Money, attendance, and a lack of winning - all things the Cubs possess.

[Caged Great]

WTF, The Phillies just gave Ryan Madson 5-57 (4/44 with a 13 vesting option)

That is probably the worst contract for a reliever in all of baseball.

[socalwingfan]

Amaro is crazy - they should have been able to sign Papelbon for that kind of cash. All the closers on the market are doing a happy dance tonight

[socalwingfan]

Washington National's catcher Wilson Ramos had reportedly been kidnapped in Venezuela. Crazy - I've heard of family members being targets but never the player themselves

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

WTF, The Phillies just gave Ryan Madson 5-57 (4/44 with a 13 vesting option)

That is probably the worst contract for a reliever in all of baseball.

That's insane. The guy has closed for 1 season.

[Caged Great]

Apparently the owners for the Phillies are not signing off on the contract, and it will be voided. One of the co-owners has a similar opinion as CaramonLS's and it will not be fulfilled.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Apparently the owners for the Phillies are not signing off on the contract, and it will be voided. One of the co-owners has a similar opinion as CaramonLS's and it will not be fulfilled.

Interesting. Right on ownership for making sure such stupid contracts don't hogtie them for years to come, but what does that say for their GM who gave out such a contract (presumably without permission before doing so)? Would such a move constitute a breach of trust with ownership? Embarrassing to the GM either way, but regardless, good on ownership for taking a stand on giving big bucks to a marginal player.

[dustyanddaflames]

I could see it if it was Baltimore/Kansas City/Pittsburgh - small market teams with very little success in recent history. But this is the Phillies and Ruber Amaro (sp?) Jr.... Guy has built "something special" in Philly - of all the GM's I would put my trust into, he'd be top three.

PS - for the record, I really like Madson - he will be one of the better closers next year. His changeup is pure filth. I remember when Lidge went down a couple years ago, and Madson took over closing - one of the Phillies announcers said something to the effect of, "the future has come a lot faster than we expected".

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

I could see it if it was Baltimore/Kansas City/Pittsburgh - small market teams with very little success in recent history. But this is the Phillies and Ruber Amaro (sp?) Jr.... Guy has built "something special" in Philly - of all the GM's I would put my trust into, he'd be top three

He has/is?

And Madson is not a closer. Good set up guy, but just can't get it done in the closer role.

[dustyanddaflames]

Since Amaro's take over from Gillick, all the Phillies have done is win 3 consecutive NL East titles, 1 World Series appearance, 2 NLCS appearances, and 3 NLDS appearances... As well, their wins totals from 2009 to 2011 are as follows - 93, 97, 102. I'd say that is pretty damn good IMO - as well he landed Doc, Lee (2x), Pence, Ibanez since beginning. They also have the #10 ranked farm system according to Baseball America, this is after using quite a few of their assets in trades to improve their big league club.

I'd take that any day if I were an owner of an MLB franchise.

Back to Madson - he will be a good option as a closer. Has good stuff, just needs to learn the closer role - which comes with experience. Everyone tags Daniel Bard as the next great thing in Beantown, yet he struggled when handed the closing duties for a short period of time. Doesn't mean he isn't a good closer - that role isn't something you are just born to be. Comes with time and experience.

[dustyanddaflames]

Originally Posted by RedHot25

He has/is?

And Madson is not a closer. Good set up guy, but just can't get it done in the closer role.

I decided to look up Madson's stats from this past season - 2.37 ERA, 32/34 in save opportunities... Just wondering why you think he "can't get it done in the closer role" ? Seems to me you either don't know enough about him, or just chose not to look up his statistics. He also had more saves than Papelbon and Soria (All-Star closers), and the only person who had more saves than him, with less blown saves - was Jose Valverde.

[Flickered Flame]

Papelbon signs with the Phillies.

Sounds like the Marlins are closing in on a deal with Jose Reyes and Pujols is expected to visit the Marlins as well.

[Papi34]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

Papelbon signs with the Phillies.

Sounds like the Marlins are closing in on a deal with Jose Reyes and Pujols is expected to visit the Marlins as well.

Where the hell is Hanley going to play? since when does florida spend money? wtf is going on?

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by Papi34

Where the hell is Hanley going to play? since when does florida spend money? wtf is going on?

Hanley might get traded.

[Caged Great]

Hanley will be their new 2B.

It's nice to have Papelbon out of the AL East. My least favourite player.

[Papi34]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

Hanley might get traded.

Back to Boston please.

As far as Papelbon, tough loss but i dont think hes worth that money never really liked him even when he was on the sox, i think hes overrated personally.