Offseason Transactions 2010-11

[Guest Edgy DC]

You know, the best thing about Mariano is that they somehow escaped from the rigid defeatest thinking that ninth innings must be handled by name-brand closers, They had a perfectly good season from John Wetteland and said, fuck it, our setup guy was even better. Rather than fret over whether to use a new guy in the ninth unless they had to, they let Wetteland walk as a free agent and promoted Rivera and the rest is history.

Probably got a couple of juicy treats from the compensation picks for Wetteland also.

[TransMonk]

Ceetar wrote: in other news, apparantly Jeff Francis to the Royals.

I guess that makes Chris Young becoming a Met a little more likely.

[Ceetar]

TransMonk wrote: Ceetar wrote: in other news, apparantly Jeff Francis to the Royals. I guess that makes Chris Young becoming a Met a little more likely.

Or less depending on how you feel about the Mets finances. You wonder if his price will go up with more demand? Also, depending on w hat Francis got, which i haven't seen anywhere yet.

[metirish]

Jeff Francis took a low deal just to play with Francoeur.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The MFYs spent $43 million dollars on bullpen upgrades, and they'll be spending about $16 million this year alone! What dopes!

Why, they could buy a Perez and most of a Castillo with that money!

[smg58]

Was another offer for Soriano anywhere close?

Of course, the Yankees have loads of cash and didn't have anybody else to spend it on. And naturally, anything higher than the 1.73 ERA that Soriano gave the Rays last year will be proof that he can't hack it in New York.

Sure it's a big paper improvement for the only team who could shrug off $25M+ per year to two relievers, but since one is over 40 and the other is injury prone, there's potential entertainment value for the rest of us as well.

[metirish]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Heyman via twitter has proclaimed this the best bullpen in the majors.....in the middle of January no less..... I mean who here can't be reminded of the unstoppable-on-paper combination that was going to turn every game the Mets played into a 7 inning lockdown? What folly to even think it's possible. The best thing the MFYs did here was give themselves an experienced backup for a 40-something closer, but half the closers in the league theoretically come on the market every July. They're idiots,. and here's hoping they get exactly what they deserve. Soriano by the way was known to be a douchebag who didn't get along with Maddon.

had problems with Cox too right?

His career numbers leave a lot to be desired, this deal is nuts.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/soriara01.shtml

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Rays lose the guy, but win multiple other ways.

1) They get the Yankees first-round pick,
2) The Yankees lose their first-round pick,
3) They get a sammich pick,
4) They get that much more luxury tax $$ from the Yankees, and
5) They're not the ones paying the guy if and when the worm turns.

But the Yanks.. get the guy. And he's good.

[Ceetar]

Oh by the way, because of the luxury tax Soriano's $35M is really $49M.

[Ceetar]

Woah. http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/columns/story?columnist=matthews_wallace&id=6020636

Now, grain of salt because It's Matthews (and the column itself is gag worthy), but remember when certain Mets players were criticized for possibly getting involved in making decisions about prospects and personnel?

Just because it's Rivera doesn't make it better does it?

[metirish]

Mets sign catcher Raul Chavez.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yorkmets/post/_/id/13401/mets-ink-catcher-chavez

[ashie62]

metirish wrote: Mets sign catcher Raul Chavez. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yorkmets/post/_/id/13401/mets-ink-catcher-chavez

Well, if Hugo wasn't available........

[metirish]

Bruce Chen gets a $2 million one year deal from KC and could rise to $3.5.......Chen actually won 12 games for KC last season to lead the team....the last two seasons were minor league deals with KC....fair fucks to him.

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Soriano by the way was known to be a douchebag who didn't get along with Maddon.

According to Bill Madden -- The 31-year-old [soriano's] makeup is - and should be - of great concern. Despite his league-leading 45 saves and 1.73 ERA, Soriano was hated by almost everyone in Tampa Bay last year. His periodic hissy-fits over being brought into games in non-save situations, or being asked to pitch more than one inning wore thin on Rays manager Joe Maddon. The final straw was the last game of the season - Game 5 of the ALDS versus Texas - when Maddon asked Soriano to pitch the ninth inning with the Rays trailing, 3-1. After throwing a tantrum in the bullpen in front of all his fellow relievers, Soriano trudged into the game and promptly gave up a single to Nelson Cruz and a game-breaking homer to Ian Kinsler.

[Ceetar]

and Girardi has not exactly been known to manage a bullpen well.

[metirish]

Heyman had a tweet the other day saying that Cashman did not want Soriano but was overruled by Steinbrenner, " Cashman the team player went along". No link was provided.

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: Heyman had a tweet the other day saying that Cashman did not want Soriano but was overruled by Steinbrenner, " Cashman the team player went along". No link was provided.

I posted a link up above regarding some of that. Rivera had a 'big influence'.

[Valadius]

Well now, won't this be delicious? I can just imagine a backstabbing, tantrum-throwing Soriano moving to undercut Rivera and undermine Girardi all season long on some ego-driven quest to take the closer's job for himself.

[metirish]

Grozelanny to the Nationals, I guess Young probably won't be going there. This trade should be good news for the Mets such as that is.

[Guest attgig]

pending physical, Chris Young is finally a met...

[smg58]

The Cubs got three prospects for Gorzelanny, none rated higher than C+ by Sickels. A fair haul for a guy who isn't great but will likely outperform his salary.

Alderson appears to have chosen signing the guy with upside over dealing for safe mediocrity. And why not?

[Frayed Knot]

- Jon Rauch - the 6' 11" "Wookie" (according to Keith) - bucks the multi-year reliever trend and accepts a 1-year deal with Toronto

- Alex Cora hooks up with the Nationals on a minor league contract. He gets 900K + another possible 600K if he makes the squad. The deal doesn't appear to have any vesting options.

- Jason Giambi re-ups with the Rockies although on a minor league contract

[metirish]

Scott Hairston to the Mets on a minor league deal says Rubin.

[TransMonk]

Pelf avoids arbitration and signs 1 year $4M deal:

An organization source said the deal will pay Pelfrey $3.925 million during the upcoming season. He can earn $50,000 extra in performance bonuses.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yorkmets/post/_/id/13436/source-pelfrey-mets-settle

[smg58]

Gil Meche announces his retirement due to lingering shoulder issues, walking away from $12M in the process.

I like Hairston as a pickup. He'd be one injury or trade away from getting a call-up, and if last year was an aberration he'll have some value. After playing most of his home games at Petco, he won't be intimidated by Citi.

[Guest attgig]

Armando Galarraga DFA'ed by tigers...

could be a possibility for the Mets...no?

[metirish]

attgig wrote: Armando Galarraga DFA'ed by tigers... could be a possibility for the Mets...no?

The guy who threw the no -no-hitter?

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: attgig wrote: Armando Galarraga DFA'ed by tigers... could be a possibility for the Mets...no? The guy who threw the no -no-hitter?

yeah, that one. numbers aren't taht great otherwise.

He'd have to be paid the 2.3 million i believe...and perhaps traded for as well? (preseason waivers confuse me)

The idea here being that they'd rather him starting in AAA and are trying to get him off the 40man? Sorta like the Mets did with Igarashi?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Wow. They had a lot of surplus in the rotation with Penny coming aboard, but... wow. Iffy peripherals, though.

I would have liked Jon Rauch for a year. Guys who can strike out guys who bat from either side, and who don't walk a lot of guys? We can use those guys.

[Valadius]

I feel like we've had the Jon Rauch discussion every year the past five years running.

We did just get 6'10" Chris Young.