Winter Signings of 2012-2013

[Frayed Knot]

Jochim Soria to Texas for two years
The former closer for the Royals didn't pitch at all in 2012 due to his second Tommy John surgery - yet is still only 28 y/o

[MFS62]

Ashie62 wrote: Napoli 3/39 Pagan 4/40

Wright's contract is starting to look like a bargain.

Later

[Zvon]

vtmet wrote: sharpie wrote: Angel Pagan re-upping with Giants. I can't believe that Pagan got 4 years and $40 Mil from the Giants...yes, he had a nice season, but this is a guy that has been extremely inconsistent so far in his career...

Ditto.

[Guest vtmet]

MFS62 wrote: Ashie62 wrote: Napoli 3/39 Pagan 4/40 Wright's contract is starting to look like a bargain. Later

other than the length of Wright's contract, I don't think it's really that bad...Jason Werth, Teixeira, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Reyes, and Carl Crawford are all getting paid more per season than Wright is in his new deal...

[Ceetar]

vtmet wrote: sharpie wrote: Angel Pagan re-upping with Giants. I can't believe that Pagan got 4 years and $40 Mil from the Giants...yes, he had a nice season, but this is a guy that has been extremely inconsistent so far in his career...

guy's probably better than B.J. Upton who got 5/75. Pagan might be a bit old at the end of it, but that's a pretty good contract for a guy like Pagan.

[smg58]

vtmet wrote: sharpie wrote: Angel Pagan re-upping with Giants. I can't believe that Pagan got 4 years and $40 Mil from the Giants...yes, he had a nice season, but this is a guy that has been extremely inconsistent so far in his career...

He's had three nice seasons out of his last four, and even the fourth would have looked good in the Mets' 2012 outfield. Plus, I can't fault a team that just won a World Series for placing an extra premium on the guys that helped them do it.

[smg58]

Ashie62 wrote: Napoli 3/39 Pagan 4/40

Makes you wonder why the Rangers didn't give Napoli a qualifying offer to get draft compensation. I'm also really not sure why teams would think that anybody capable of wearing catching gear is more valuable as a first baseman.

[Guest vtmet]

smg58 wrote: Napoli 3/39 Pagan 4/40 ... I'm also really not sure why teams would think that anybody capable of wearing catching gear is more valuable as a first baseman.

other than a rare exception like a Mike Piazza or a young Bryce Harper, I would agree...I really wondered why the A's took Scott Hatteberg, a relatively weak hitting catcher, and converted him into a very weak hitting first baseman...Hatteberg, possessed a .267 average; .414 slugging percentage and a .771 OPS as Boston's catcher; and then actually digressed power-wise as the A's 1st baseman: .269 average; .396 slugging percentage; .751 OPS...IMO, those numbers are ok for a catcher, but horrible for a first baseman...

But from what I understand, Napoli's career numbers at Fenway (and to a smaller sample size at new Yankee Stadium) have been pretty impressive to the Red Sox brass...

Limited sample size but, Napoli's Fenway/Yankee3 splits:
9 Homeruns, 4 doubles, 23 RBI combined in Fenway/Yankee Stadium in 105 at bats...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=napolmi01&year=Career&t=b#site

[Frayed Knot]

smg58 wrote: I'm also really not sure why teams would think that anybody capable of wearing catching gear is more valuable as a first baseman.

Because he's not considered a good catcher--that's why Scioscia got rid of him in the first place--and buying full-fledged 1st basemen on the open market is very expensive (Boston was supposedly in the market for LaRoche but backed off). Plus his RH power should play well in Fenway (it has in small samples) and with the occasional catching job and DH roles as fallbacks they should get plenty of use out of him.

I really wondered why the A's took Scott Hatteberg, a relatively weak hitting catcher, and converted him into a very weak hitting first baseman.

That, as all readers/watchers of 'Moneyball' know, had more to do with costs and the under-exploited value of OBP than anything else. Yes, you don't make Hatteberg your 1Bman if you've got better options but Oakland couldn't afford better options and therefore had to improvise. That he got on-base for the A's over 35% of the time and averaged about 40 XBHs/year indicates that they didn't do too badly for themselves with the move considering they got 4 years out of him for about half (<$9 mil total) of what the Yanx paid the guy they he was replacing (Giambi) for each season (~$17) and they won an average of 94.5 games/year while doing so.

[Farmer Ted]

Dan Haren to the Nats.

[Guest sharpie]

Jason Bay to the Mariners.

[Guest vtmet]

sharpie wrote: Jason Bay to the Mariners.

kind of makes sense for Bay, geographically...He's from British Columbia and went to college in Washington...

However, for a guy trying to regain his lost offense, is Safeco the best place? It is nice that he found a job before spring training & hopefully for him, it's not just a spring invite situation....Seems like a nice guy and it's a shame that the wheels fell off his bus...

Edited December 4, 2012 by Guest

[Frayed Knot]

Farmer Ted wrote: Dan Haren to the Nats.

That's a helluva 5th starter, even if he is coming off an off year.
1 year deal, $13 mils. Essentially replaces Edwin Jackson and sits behind Strasburg, Zimmermannnnn, Detwiler & Gonzalez even though he'll make more dough than all of them.

[Guest vtmet]

Frayed Knot wrote: I really wondered why the A's took Scott Hatteberg, a relatively weak hitting catcher, and converted him into a very weak hitting first baseman. That, as all readers/watchers of 'Moneyball' know, had more to do with costs and the under-exploited value of OBP than anything else. Yes, you don't make Hatteberg your 1Bman if you've got better options but Oakland couldn't afford better options and therefore had to improvise. That he got on-base for the A's over 35% of the time and averaged about 40 XBHs/year indicates that they didn't do too badly for themselves with the move considering they got 4 years out of him for about half (<$9 mil total) of what the Yanx paid the guy they he was replacing (Giambi) for each season (~$17) and they won an average of 94.5 games/year while doing so.

I understand the "moneyball" OBP POV...I just don't agree that for a first baseman, a bunch of walks for a slow guy can equal/exceed "Total Bases" backed largely by extra-basehits...

I'm sure that if you compare the right "walker" with a worse-case "slugger" (say, Hatteberg's best season vs David Kingman's worst season) that a case can show value leaning towards the slow walker, but I want doubles/HRs/RBI from my first baseman not a guy that goes up to the plate with men in scoring position & first base open trying to draw a walk so that a guy like Josh Thole gets the chance for an RBI with guys on "1st & 2nd" (or worse, a guy takes a borderline 3rd strike in that situation ending a possible rally)...Obviously, a Jeff Franceour type is a bad choice, but there should be a balance between taking hittable pitches and swinging at bad pitches (and yes, I know Frenchy isn't a first baseman, just using his "I'm gonna swing no matter what" approach as an example)...

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: Farmer Ted wrote: Dan Haren to the Nats. That's a helluva 5th starter, even if he is coming off an off year. 1 year deal, $13 mils. Essentially replaces Edwin Jackson and sits behind Strasburg, Zimmermannnnn, Detwiler & Gonzalez even though he'll make more dough than all of them.

That's also a team that kept legit big-league starters John Lannan and Zach Duke cooling their heels in Syracuse all of last year. Zuke just re-upped with them yesterday only to see himself knocked back down the depth charts in under 24 hours.

[Frayed Knot]

I understand the "moneyball" OBP POV...I just don't agree that for a first baseman, a bunch of walks for a slow guy can equal/exceed "Total Bases" backed largely by extra-basehits...

Again, it was more a matter of what they could afford than identifying Hatteberg as the ideal choice.

To quote the movie (because it's fresher in my mind than the book):
Scout: We have to replace Giambi
Billy Beane: Is there another 1st baseman out there like Giambi?
Scout No
BB: And if there were could we afford him?

[Edgy MD]

"Scott, let's be honest. You've thrown your last ball from behind the plate." --- Brad Pitt version of Billy Beane

They didn't convert him to first to improve his value. They did it to salvage what value they could. He was through as a catcher.

[Guest vtmet]

Edgy MD wrote: "Scott, let's be honest. You've thrown your last ball from behind the plate." ---Brad Pitt version of Billy Beane They didn't convert him to first to improve his value. They did it to salvage what value they could. He was through as a catcher.

I'm a little vague on his defensive skills as a catcher...Did he blow out his throwing arm as a catcher? I see that he only nailed 9 % of potential base stealers in his last season as a catcher...I don't know if I believe the stats on baseball-reference because it's showing that he allowed 115 steals in only 72 games (581 innings behind the plate)...that kind of makes Mike Piazza look like Yadier Molina...

[Frayed Knot]

Hatteberg had nerve damage in his elbow IIRC, hence his ability to be a catcher was not only gone but it wasn't coming back.

[Guest vtmet]

Frayed Knot wrote: Hatteberg had nerve damage in his elbow IIRC, hence his ability to be a catcher was not only gone but it wasn't coming back.

I did not realize that...that would explain the move to 1st base...thanks...

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Eric Chavez leaves the Yankees with one less option to cover the gaping hole that is their third base situation. Arizona, 1 year, $3M.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

And in other 'people the Yankees were considering' news, Jeff Keppinger to the ChiSox, 3 years, $12 million.

[Edgy MD]

Ty Wigginton fans, time to get excited.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Edgy MD wrote: Ty Wigginton fans, time to get excited.

Should we expect a return of Bret Sabermetric?

[Frayed Knot]

Lefty reliever Sean Burnett leaves Washington for two-year deal in Anaheim.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Officer Joe Blanton signs with the Anaheims, 2 years, $15M.

And Nate Schierholtz is a Cubbie, 1 year, $2.25M. Might have been worth a shot in Flushing if he hit from the other side of the plate.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Blanton went from being completely mediocre to being really, really crappy, but still gets paid.

Most similar: Fresno Jones (973)
Most similar at the same age: Bobby J Jones again (983)

I talke Fresno and his pretty curveball and full, boring goatee over Blanton and his chin fuzz 10 times outta 10.

[Vic Sage]

Not official yet but, according to a tweet from Andy Martino/NY Daily News, the Mariners have reached an agreement to sign left fielder Jason Bay pending a physical.
It's a one-year deal worth $1M, with another $2M in incentives, according to Jon Heyman/CBS Sports.

Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/mariners-to-sign-jason-bay.html#24pF7ihQ7vm3RJjU.99

[Frayed Knot]

Michael Young goes to Philly in a deal for two minor league pitchers.

Young had spent his entire career with Texas where he was the franchise leader (Texas version anyway) in games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles and triples. A bit sad when that happens but he's seemed increasingly less happy there for a couple of years now.

I guess he's slated for 3B duty in Philly.
That'll give them a pretty good hitting infield although one that's old enough (36, 34, 34, 33) to scream 'Get off My Lawn' at any opposing batters who reach base.

[smg58]

Koji Uehara signs with Boston for a year and $4M.