Deal or No Deal?

by Allen Chace on Jan 4, 2007 5:25 PM EST in News

The Houston Astros? Unless Biggio is planning on retiring at exactly 3,000 hits (should be sometime in early-mid July next season), this doesn't make a whole lot of sense for either party. It also means that Chris Burke should be prepared to play almost his entire season in the outfield. Good luck to Loretta, and I suppose he'll probably see more PT behind Biggio than he would've behind Brandon Phillips in Cincinatti or Ian Kinsler in Texas.
RJ deal is all but done. He and Clemens don't get along, so I suppose this makes it more likely that he ends up in NY than it was, say, a couple weeks ago. The Yanks aren't getting anyone on the level of Humberto Sanchez, but they all look like they could contribute, at least as throw-ins in another deal. This guy in particular will probably not see more than a cup of coffee in the Bronx. I think they already have a SS, and I hear Gonzalez has no cologne aspirations whatsoever. I'm still upset that the NYY are getting away without paying the D-Backs any money of significance. Source: MLB Trade Rumors
Unfortunately for us, this will make it much more likely that Giambi sees no PT defensively at 1B. Giambi's so good at turning singles or outs into much more. I'm kind of ambivalent about the signing. Sure Mientkiewicz was part of the WS team in 2004, but he certainly didn't do a lot to endear us to him after he left. College fund indeed.
Done and done. I'm going to miss Foulke. It'll be hard to root against him in an Indians uniform, unless he's pitching against us. Mark the 28-30 of May on your calendars folks. It'll be interesting to see what kind of reaction he gets from the crowd at Fenway. I'm sure this guy will have a strong opinion about it.

0 recs | Comment 13 comments

Comments

Brian Cashman.

The Yanks are capping off a spectacular offseason in which they dumped three undesirables with large to massive salaries, snagged numerous, valuable prospects and picked up almost none of the tab... unbelievable! It's so un-Yankee like and I have to say that I like it. A few more offseason's like this one and Cashman could actually build a relatively cheap, young, talented and likeable team by the end of the decade.

by ejruiz on Jan 4, 2007 6:59 PM EST 0 recs

Re: Brian Cashman.

I'll agree on the first three adjectives, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to connect the Yankees with the word likeable.

Still, a shrewd and disturbing observation ejruiz.

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it Melissa, I want an apology."-Jason Penopolis, Home Movies

by Allen Chace on Jan 4, 2007 7:03 PM EST up 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

Biggio isn't planning on retiring after the All Star Break, even though his playing time will be cut dramatically. But it does make perfect sense if the Astros are planning on trading Morgan Ensberg for a lefty starter...remember, they lost Pettitte...a potential #3 or #4 lefty, anyone besides Wandy Rodriguez is what the Astros are looking for, besides getting rid of an injury prone head case, that is...Burke is our starting CF'er for 2007 and will play 99.99 percent of his games there. The Stros did the same thing when Biggio moved to CF when the Stros signed Jeff Kent at 2nd base...

Life is good as an Astros fan--especially life without head case MoBerg manning 3rd base...

by RitaCaywood on Jan 4, 2007 9:12 PM EST 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

ESPN is reporting that Lorretta will see time at every position in the infield.

by RSNexile on Jan 4, 2007 11:18 PM EST up 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

I'm sure he's not planning on retiring, was a bit of hyperbole on my part.

Certainly possible that this signals a potential Ensberg move. Though I have to think Mike Lamb might have more value (obviously both to the Astros on his own or in a trade). I have a feeling he could turn into Hafner-lite as a DH in the AL. The best matchup for the Astros might be the Padres. I'm not sure Kouzmanoff is cut out to be an everyday player or an everyday 3B, but him platooning/backing up both Adrian Gonzalez and Ensberg might be an ideal situation for everyone, though it may end up with Branyan DFA'd or something.

If the Astros throw in someone else (any hot catching prospects?), Hensley might be able to be had from the Pads if they know they can sign Wells. Just thinking aloud poorly on that, perhaps.

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it Melissa, I want an apology."-Jason Penopolis, Home Movies

by Allen Chace on Jan 4, 2007 11:25 PM EST up 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

How is it that Gary Matthews Jr. gets a $50million contract and Mark Loretta gets a $2.5million contract?

how did houston get away with signing him for so little?

how come the sox didn't give him a 1 year, $4-5million contract to continue being an All-Star second baseball for another year- or maybe to give pedroia a little more time and and then make a deal at the deadline.

if Boras was his agent, Loretta would have a 3 year $33million contract by now in this market.

by Schulz on Jan 4, 2007 10:43 PM EST 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

*baseman, not baseball

by Schulz on Jan 4, 2007 10:43 PM EST up 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

Signing Loretta for that amount would've made sense if we hadn't already committed to Cora for two more seasons.

Agreed on the point re: Boras.

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it Melissa, I want an apology."-Jason Penopolis, Home Movies

by Allen Chace on Jan 4, 2007 11:19 PM EST up 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

I think it still would have made sense. We don't know if Pedroia is ready to play every day yet. If it turned out that he was ready to make significant contributions on the major league level, he could serve as the primary backup middle infielder and get 40 or so starts when either Loretta or Lugo got a night off. And since Loretta can also play other infield positions, Pedroia could also play when either Youk or Lowell had a night off.

With Pedroia getting enough time to improve without having the pressure of playing every day, Cora could be traded. And we'd be guaranteed (barring injury) to have a solid starting second baseman for relatively cheap.

by RSNexile on Jan 4, 2007 11:26 PM EST up 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

I don't see Cora getting traded. This organization loves him and he's extremely valuable as a backup. He has the ability to be a starter on quite a few teams and we're lucky enough to have him on our squad.

Speaking of this, I need an Alex Cora t-shirt...

OverTheMonster.com

by Randy Booth on Jan 4, 2007 11:53 PM EST up 0 recs

Re: Deal or No Deal?

I agree somewhat, though I'm not sure what market we'd have for Cora. I also am encouraged by some of the data I've seen about how unlucky Pedroia was on BABIP last season. This shows that it was by far the lowest of his career. It's not always the best measure, sometimes I think this is where our eyes are better than sabermetrics, but it's still significant. Loretta is a proven commodity, but I remain (or plant my flag) in the camp that Pedroia can be better than Loretta, on offense and defense. Sometimes you have to take the chance on improving a spot on the field and in the lineup.
Also, Tito has a significant man-crush on Alex Cora, so I'm guessing he might've tipped the scales for him being kept rather than the Sox trying to keep Loretta as starter/backup/mentor in the infield.

I think to some degree it was also like Dave Roberts in 2005. We traded him somewhat just for his sake. The FO knew that Pedroia was probably going to take over at some point, even if not at the beginning of the season. They elected to give Loretta a chance to find a starting job. Should they have signed Loretta as a backup/to push for the job? Maybe. Watching Pedroia though, I don't think he needs the extra incentive to work hard.

Another factor for Cora over Loretta could be that Cora can play SS, while Loretta is probably no better than the AL GG winner the last three years, especially in terms of range. Something else to consider: Even with potential rookie struggles, will Pedroia + Lugo probably be greater than Gonzalez + Loretta? I think so. All Pedroia has to do is outperform Gonzalez with the bat. Not exactly a tall order.

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it Melissa, I want an apology."-Jason Penopolis, Home Movies

by Allen Chace on Jan 4, 2007 11:57 PM EST up 0 recs