2011/2012 MLB Off-season Thread

[d_phaneuf]

they need to win now, they can't afford to re-sign Votto when the time comes

Alonso and Grandal are blocked by Votto/Mesoraco as well

and like Girly said, the division is wide open, Latos road numbers are great as well so I don't think he is a product of petco

[troutman]

Latos is a stud. As a Giant fan, I'm happy to see him out of the division. Him and Kershaw are killers.

[CofR]

The Red Sox added a potential closer candidate to their roster on Wednesday, dealing the oft-injured Jed Lowrie and pitching prospect Kyle Weiland to the Astros for right-hander Mark Melancon.

boston.redsox.mlb.com

[bluejays]

Jed Lowrie dealt? Wow. I thought they were pretty high on the guy being their future SS? I thought he was basically the second coming of Scutaro, but Sox fans seemed to be high on him. Don't know much about Melancon. Reports?

[dustyanddaflames]

Threw pretty well the last season, and took over the closer role around mid-season I think (might have been earlier/later, can't remember). I wonder if Iglesias has shown enough to make Lowrie expendable? Must be, as he is the only product in their system, from what I recall, that is near MLB ready.

EDIT - 8-4, 2.78 ERA with 20 saves in 2011.

[Gozer]

Gio Gonzalez to Nats for Cole, Norris, Peacock, and Milone - huge package for Oakland.

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2011/1...ez/#more-31024

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Gozer

Gio Gonzalez to Nats for Cole, Norris, Peacock, and Milone - huge package for Oakland.

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2011/1...ez/#more-31024

And with that kind of return for a pitcher like him, there is zero point in trading for pitching any more. That's nearly what the jays got for Halladay.

[Flickered Flame]

And I'm led to believe the A's might not be finished. Andrew Bailey could still be on the move. But what a great trade for the A's. 3 of the Nationals top 10 prospects.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

And I'm led to believe the A's might not be finished. Andrew Bailey could still be on the move. But what a great trade for the A's. 3 of the Nationals top 10 prospects.

Definitely a great trade for the A's.

Honestly if that's the kind of return a team could get for a player of that caliber, maybe the jays should trade off Johnson, Escobar, Bautista, Morrow, Romero, Lind, and any other veteran players that we have. Seriously good return for the A's

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Beltran goes to the Cards.

[moon]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Beltran goes to the Cards.

I like the signing decent money, great term but wonder how he fits in with Berkman, Craig and Holiday.

My guess is a rotation with them and Beltran playing CF every now and again gets them all enough ABs.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by moon

I like the signing decent money, great term but wonder how he fits in with Berkman, Craig and Holiday.

My guess is a rotation with them and Beltran playing CF every now and again gets them all enough ABs.

Pretty sure Berkman goes to 1B so Beltran will have to be fulltime. Lineup looks pretty decent for the World Champions.

S: Furcal
CF: Beltran
LF: Holliday
1B: Berkman
RF: Craig
3B: Freese
C: Molina
2B: Schumaker/Descalso/A piece of poop
P: Wainwright/Carpenter/Garcia/Lohse/Westbrook

Granted, this assumes Beltran can play a semi-coherent CF and Furcal stays healthy

[moon]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Pretty sure Berkman goes to 1B so Beltran will have to be fulltime. Lineup looks pretty decent for the World Champions.

S: Furcal
CF: Beltran
LF: Holliday
1B: Berkman
RF: Craig
3B: Freese
C: Molina
2B: Schumaker/Descalso/A piece of poop
P: Wainwright/Carpenter/Garcia/Lohse/Westbrook

Granted, this assumes Beltran can play a semi-coherent CF and Furcal stays healthy

I think Jay is going to be CF but that may be based on LaRussa and his defense over hitting mentality.

[Drake]

What's going to happen to Yorvit Torrealba for striking these umpire in the face in the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional?

[bluejays]

^ on a side note, sometimes I wish the players could do that to MLB umps. Those guys routinely blow calls and get aggressively defensive. Some needs to be kicked in the groin.

[calculoso]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/M.../19169216.html

Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba has been suspended 66 games by the Venezuelan League after hitting an umpire in the facemask.

[CofR]

There is finally a resolution to the Red Sox's closing vacancy. On Wednesday, the team acquired closer Andrew Bailey from the Athletics in exchange for outfielder Josh Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantera, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. The Red Sox also received outfielder Ryan Sweeney in the deal.

http://www.nesn.com/2011/12/report-r...reddick-p.html

[Papi34]

Originally Posted by CofR

http://www.nesn.com/2011/12/report-r...reddick-p.html

Excellent trade for the Sox

[CofR]

I suppose this means Kalish will be starting in RF... Or at least when he gets healthy.

[Flickered Flame]

A's are completely gutting the team and hope to have a contending team once they get in their new ball park, if they get their new park. They could easily lose 100 games this year.