Stay, Go, or Call it Quits: 2007-2008 Offseason

[Valadius]

Omar Vizquel re-ups with the Giants for one more year. That seemingly ends the possibility that A-Rod ends up in San Francisco, with Feliz and Vizquel on the left side of the infield.

[seawolf17]

Feliz is a .250 hitter who's not signed yet. I'm sure they can find room for A-Rod in there.

[Valadius]

J.C. Romero re-signs with the Phillies for three years, $12 million.

[Fman99]

Valadius wrote: J.C. Romero re-signs with the Phillies for three years, $12 million.

He's rich, I tell ya. Schoewenweis rich!

These three year, 8-figure deals for relievers never cease to amaze me. Don't 2/3 of these guys regress from one year to the next?

[smg58]

Plus his peripherals actually sucked. ERA is very misleading for one-out relievers. They can have him for that price.

[Valadius]

Todd Jones re-signed with the Tigers on a one-year, $7 million deal.

[smg58]

Jones was probably on his way out the door before Zumaya's injury. Funny how things work sometimes.

I tell you what though, if Troy Percival asks for that price I'd give it to him.

[Valadius]

Craig Monroe traded from the Cubs to the Twins for a PTBNL.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Cubs are hemmoraging salary to load up for A-Rod, I tells you.

[Valadius]

We're close to re-signing Ramon Castro to a 2-year deal.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AorDRLqjHF41CR6mejx0pJYRvLYF?slug=ap-mets-castro&prov=ap&type=lgns

[nymr83]

information about Fukudome and 5 other japanese free agents
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2007/11/14/six_japanese_free_agents_to_watch/

[Valadius]

The very first free agent to sign with a new team is...

Randy Choate. With the Brewers.

[Valadius]

From the Daily News:

]Mets eye David Eckstein BY ADAM RUBIN DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Saturday, November 17th 2007, 4:00 AM Mets officials dined with free-agent infielder David Eckstein in Greenwich, Conn., this week in the hopes he'll fill the second base vacancy in Flushing. By employing the same kind of treatment that wooed Billy Wagner and Tom Glavine during previous offseasons, Mets officials are illustrating how serious they are about signing the sparkplug to play second. Eckstein, the 2006 World Series MVP at shortstop, apparently is looking for a contract comparable to the four-year, $36 million deal Julio Lugo signed with the Red Sox last December, which might prove a stumbling block. That's a larger price tag than fellow free agent Luis Castillo is expected to command. Castillo has several other suitors, including the Astros. How serious the 32-year-old Eckstein is about playing second base isn't clear, but he was interested enough about getting the Mets involved in the bidding to dine with Omar Minaya, Willie Randolph and other team executives in chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon's neighborhood. The 5-7, 177-pound Eckstein did have career lows with 117 games played and 434 at-bats in '07. He missed 23 games from June 14-July 13 with lower-back trouble, but still hit .309 with three homers, 31 RBI and 10 steals for the Cardinals. Aside from signing Eckstein or Castillo, the Mets could pursue a trade for Orlando Hudson, Arizona's second baseman and a three-time Gold Glove winner, who is a year away from free agency. But signing a free agent would allow the Mets to preserve their top prospects for a run at a front-line starting pitcher. Regarding Eckstein, new Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the eve of open free-agent bidding: "We're going into it looking for a shortstop, and given the fact that David is out there, obviously we have him in mind. One of the things we're doing internally is trying to get a feel for the supply and the demand of shortstops in this market. David probably is doing the same, and right now there doesn't appear to be a lot of teams looking for shortstops."

[nymr83]

why would the Mets even be interested in converting a SS to 2B when he is a worse hitter than any of Castillo, Easley, Gotay or Valentin?

[smg58]

Eckstein and Castillo are more or less equivalent. I wouldn't opt for the more expensive player.

Castillo's zone rating at second for the Mets (.759) was actually lower than Gotay's (.774), and way lower than Easley's (.863). Are we sure he's an upgrade?

After looking at the D-Backs further, I think Callaspo's weak showing in the majors and some off-field issues (an assault charge) make it unlikely they'd trust him enough this year to deal Hudson, plus they'd want major league pitching if they do. (I have no doubt they'd take Maine, but I don't think there are enough good pitching options out there to make dealing Maine a luxury we can afford.) I think there's a fair chance they'll let Hudson hit the market next year, but I'll wager that they'd have to fall out of the pennant race to deal him.

[Valadius]

I know. It doesn't make much sense at all. Especially when he's looking for more money than Castillo is. Although I have heard rumors that Castillo may have been the bad influence on Reyes in the second half of the season.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

]Castillo's zone rating at second for the Mets (.759) was actually lower than Gotay's (.774), and way lower than Easley's (.863). Are we sure he's an upgrade?

That he turned the DP much better than either of them was plain to see, however.

I know they got metrics but when in doubt go with EDR: eyewitness defense rating. Castillo was better than either one.

I think that wine-and-dine in Greenwich indicates Eckstein is about a sure thing. It's almost as if the Mets are consciously trying to replace the scrappiness factor with LoDuca gone. I'm especially eh about Eckstein.

[nymr83]

doesn't scrapiness just mean "short white guy with no real skills we can point to so we call him 'scrappy'"?

[metirish]

Never heard about Castillo being a bad influence on Reyes, not saying it's not true though. If not Castillo then I hope they trade for Hudson, at the least he can play second base, the scrappiness factor for Eckstein is probably overrated .

[DocTee]

With Green and Newhan gone, Omar needed to appease the Jewish fans by bringing in a token.

[nymr83]

DocTee wrote: With Green and Newhan gone, Omar needed to appease the Jewish fans by bringing in a token.

he has appeased us already by removing newhan

[metirish]

Nymr83 wrote: ="DocTee"]With Green and Newhan gone, Omar needed to appease the Jewish fans by bringing in a token. he has appeased us already by removing newhan

Funny.

[smg58]

But isn't Eckstein Catholic?

[DocTee]

isn

]'t Eckstein Catholic?

Have you been spying on the locker room again?

[Valadius]

Yes, he is Catholic. Funny thing though - he was selected to the Jewish All-American team in college despite the fact that he's not Jewish.

In reading up on Eckstein, I found that he actually came up through the Red Sox farm system as a second baseman.

From ESPN.com, circa 2002:

http://espn.go.com/talent/danpatrick/s/2002/0828/1424027.html

[DocTee]

] Funny thing though - he was selected to the Jewish All-American team in college despite the fact that he's not Jewish

Didn't something similar happen to Marlins 1B-man Mike Jacobs (Gentile) at a promotional event (Jewish Heritage Day or somesuch)?

[nymr83]

if i remember correctly the Marlins gave out Jacobs bobbleheads on their Jewish Day.

[Valadius]

]Athletics trade IF Scutaro to Blue Jays November 18, 2007 OAKLAND, California (Ticker) - The Oakland Athletics on Sunday traded infielder Marco Scutaro to the Toronto Blue Jays for a pair of minor league pitchers. Scutaro batted .260 with seven home runs and 41 RBI in 104 games this past season. The six-year veteran started 86 games for the A's at five different positions, including 38 at shortstop and 33 at third base. In six seasons with Oakland and the New York Mets, Scutaro has a .259 career batting average with 31 homers and 174 RBI. In return, Oakland received righthanders Kristian Bell and Graham Godfrey from the Blue Jays. Bell, an 11th-round pick in 2004, posted a 3-7 record with a 5.33 ERA in 22 games, including 11 starts, for Class A Dunedin last season. The 23-year-old has a 18-17 record and a 4.18 ERA in 79 appearances, including 49 starts. Godfrey, 23, went 6-7 record with a 3.98 ERA in 21 starts for Class A Lansing last season. He was drafted in the 34th round in 2006.

[Fman99]

I think the ChiSox get the better end of this deal...

The White Sox and Angels completed a major trade Monday, with Chicago acquiring gold glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera in exchange for right-handed starting pitcher Jon Garland.

Cabrera, 33, enjoyed a career year in 2007 for the Angels, batting .301 with 35 doubles, 8 home runs and 86 RBIs. He also scored a career-best 101 runs in 155 games.

Cabrera earned his second Gold Glove award in 2007. He also had 20 stolen bases in 2007, his fifth year of 20 or more steals in his career.

The 28-year-old Garland was 10-13 last season with a 4.23 ERA in 208 1/3 innings pitched. He had two complete games in his 32 starts. He is 92-81 in his major league career.

[metirish]

That deal probably sets the bar for trading to get starting pitching, I guess Garland would be considered frontline material.