Hot Stove League

[metirish]

Sure .

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2675502

[A Boy Named Seo]

I always dug Davis. He was pretty dern good in 04 and 05 but started walking everyone last year. Decent guy to take a chance on.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I dug Davis' creative facial hair.

[duan]

may sign for the Dodgershttp://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6210860, without knowing the terms it's impossible to get a read on it, but he's a guy I'd have love to have got for 1 year plus team option. At 30 and fully recovered from Tommy John, he's a good bet to return to his form of 3-4 seasons ago.

[metirish]

Manny trade rumors are on again......could be treaded by Saturday,Mets not mentioned in rumors which means he'll probably end up at Shea....

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2677627

[Frayed Knot]

The funny thing about dealing Manny now is that the money they'll save isn't nearly as substantial as it would have been in recent years.
When they first dared someone to grab him by putting him on irrevocable waivers they did so in order to get out from under the risk of his skills turning south with all that time remaining plus having that 5 x $20mil freed up to use on all kinds of players filling all kinds of holes.
Now, the risk is down to just 2 seasons left and, with the sudden and recent inflation, a mesely $40mil just doesn't go as far as it used to.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Manny can also veto a trade, which he couldn't do two years ago.

[duan]

interestingly Manny would have got a no trade clause the moment anyone else got one, which was why the Varitek contract had this 'cute' little solution.
"Varitek will get no-trade rights once he has spent eight continuous years with the team".

presumably the sox saying that this was not a 'no-trade' clause of the standard variety and only players who had 'eight continuous years with the team' would get the benefit.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm sorry. Are you saying that Manny has a contract clause which supercedes his 5-and-10 rights, and he cannot veto a trade?

The article says otherwise.

[duan]

="Edgy DC"]I'm sorry. Are you saying that Manny has a contract clause which supercedes his 5-and-10 rights, and he cannot veto a trade? The article says otherwise.

no he's got 10 & 5 rights NOW, but in the afterglow of the world series as they were negotitating with Varitek they couldn't give him a no trade clause, as it would have triggered a no trade clause in 4 other red sox (one of whom was Ramirez). So they came up with this "rewarding loyalty" clause; couched it carefully and hoped that it would stand up legally should it come to that.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Apparently Soriano used to be a Met!

[metirish]

Jayson Stark reports that both the Mets and Rangers made multi-year offers to Padilla today...a few hours later Jerry Crasnick is saying that Padilla is going to sign with the Rangers,also reports that Lilly to the Cubs...nothing official...it's a hot stove blog on ESPN..

[smg58]

I get the sense Padilla was a medium priority. The market being what it is, $34M over three years is reasonable for a 15-game winner (especially the three years). If Padilla was the guy Minaya really wanted, he could have beaten that offer.

[metirish]

The Dodgers, who lost three players to free agency on Tuesday, are close to reloading in a big way Wednesday.

Free-agent pitcher Jason Schmidt and the Los Angeles Dodgers are closing in on a three-year contract worth $47 million, a source told ESPN.com Wednesday.

golly

[Willets Point]

Scary thought: The way things are going Tom Glavine is going to be the Mets "ace" next season.

[metirish]

Omar will get an "ace" from the White Sox....

[Guest sharpie]

Or maybe from the A's...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/12/06/mets.athletics/index.html?cnn=yes

[metirish]

Are any of the guys been talked about in that link better options than Heilman?

[Guest sharpie]

If Harden can stay healthy then, yes, I think he is. Big if, however.

[Guest ABG]

A 25 year old pitcher who consistently throws in the high 90s, 8.28 k/9, .228 BAA, makes less than $2 million, etc? I like Heilman too, but lets not be ridiculous here.

[metirish]

Well,I should have added is Harden worth Heilman and Milledge...

[Guest attgig]

that's a lot of money for schmidt (3/47). i wonder what zeetoe's worth now...

[Guest ABG]

metirish wrote: Well,I should have added is Harden worth Heilman and Milledge...

Yes.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I like Rich Harden, but he does seem to go down with injuries very frequently.

I don't like Joe Blanton - he's inconsistent at best.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I wonder if the Devil Rays are still thinking of changing their name.

[Frayed Knot]

Ted Lilly apparently down to the Cubs and Yanx as Jays have dropped out.
Cubs have offered 4 yrs; Yanx will meet w/him to counter.

Kind of interesting in that supposedly the reason the Yanx bid on that other Japanese pitcher (Igawa?) is that his $25mil would NOT be subject to the LuxTax (now at 40% for all additions to NYY payroll) and they could pay him at less than market rates to be their #5-type starter.
Now, if they go through on Lilly, it's maybe a sign that they're not as sure on the Japanese guy as $30-some mil payout would indicate. Also a sign that they're not buying this notion about Pettitte maybe coming back.

[Elster88]

Never mind

[metirish]

The Gil Meche sweepstakes are nearly over, and the Kansas City Royals are looking like the winners.

ESPN's Steve Phillips reported Thursday that the Royals were closing in on a four-year deal with the right-hander worth a reported $45 million.

Meche, a six-year veteran, has a career record of 55-44 and a 4.65 earned-run average, all with the Seattle Mariners. He was 11-8 for the Mariners last season with a 4.48 ERA.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs were also in the running for Meche.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Got to be the biggest contract by far in Royals histroy, huh?

Seems like a poor way to blow your new revenue-sharing windfall.

[metirish]

Apparently the Cards want to talk to Bonds....