Out of work and going, going, ... ?

[Frayed Knot]

With camps starting to open this week, a number of "name" players are still unattached to any team. Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse, as FAs who will net compensation as a result of them turning down $13 million offers from their previous team, are the ones most often in the news.

But also still unemployed are a number of veterans who conceivably have already played their last MLB game
Jim Thome
Carlos Lee
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Scott Rolen
Miguel Cairo
Bobby Abreu
Adam Kennedy
Matt Treanor
Carlos Zambrano
Francisco Rodriguez
Chris Young
Jose Contreras
Guillermo Mota
Brad Penny
Freddie Sanchez
Brian Wilson
CM Wang
along with, I'm sure, a number of smaller names.


Jason Giambi has at least temporarily off this list by inking a minor league deal with the Indians over the weekend

Edited February 10, 2013 by Guest

[Ceetar]

Freddy Sanchez is probably better than Brandon Hicks right..?

[nymr83]

Carlos Zambrano interests me a bit, but he likely thinks too much of himself to come to our camp without a gauranteed spot and i dont think he'd be one of our five best starters

[smg58]

Sanchez definitely interests me if he's healthy. K-Rod will sign somewhere. Wilson will sign somewhere when he's fully ready, which may be a few months.

[Lefty Specialist]

I'd like them to give Miguel Cairo a spring training invite do they can short-sheet his bed and humiliate him for a few weeks, then release him.

Have I mentioned that I don't like Miguel Cairo?

[metirish]

Dice-K signs with the Indians , says Heyman

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Lefty Specialist wrote: I'd like them to give Miguel Cairo a spring training invite do they can short-sheet his bed and humiliate him for a few weeks, then release him. Have I mentioned that I don't like Miguel Cairo?

I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Theoldmole]

I always wanted the Mets to get Scott Rolen, but that was a long time ago.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: Freddy Sanchez is probably better than Brandon Hicks right..?

Yes, but with shoulder-labrum and back-hernia surgery in 2011-12, he's maybe less healthy than Grady Sizemore (who's actually played more recently than has Freddy).

If we got Carlos Lee, we could hollow him out, and smuggle drugs through JFK; that should bump the budget a few million, no?

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Ceetar wrote: Freddy Sanchez is probably better than Brandon Hicks right..? Yes, but with shoulder-labrum and back-hernia surgery in 2011-12, he's maybe less healthy than Grady Sizemore (who's actually played more recently than has Freddy). If we got Carlos Lee, we could hollow him out, and smuggle drugs through JFK; that should bump the budget a few million, no?

yeah, and then I looked and realized Sanchez hasn't played SS since like 2007.

I still say they should've kept Cedeno.

[Edgy MD]

You didn't have much love for Ronny during the season though.

Remember, they brought back Omar Quintanilla, who was pretty much as good as Cede�o in the modest amount of PT he got.

I hate to see them waste money on veteran reserves who are more expensive, less fungible, and relatively lacking in the potential upside of their alleged AAAA brethren and sistren. I've cited going with Baxter over the likes of Willie Harris last year, but there's also the like of going with Eric Valent in 2004.

I don't know if going with Andrew Brown over Scott Hairston is the right move, but if it's wrong, ffft!, no biggie. The team moves him and tries somebody else. Hairston takes a commitment, and if he fails, becomes a minor millstone. On a team in transition, I don't like to invest in reserve spots, but rather to use them developmentally for veteran minor leaguers and young, coming, minor leaguers with options to fight over.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: You didn't have much love for Ronny during the season though. Remember, they brought back Omar Quintanilla, who was pretty much as good as Cede�o in the modest amount of PT he got.

I wasn't thrilled with him early, but then he played well and I like him. He had more than twice the PA as Omar though, and Omar himself seemed to be fading (although it's certainly worth noting that had Cedeno been healthy Omar wouldn't have been there. depth and all..)

Ronny, although never good, has had a long history of regularly playing time. He also seemed better defensively, for whatever the handful of chances they both got were. I can agree about not investing too much in some of these veteran types, but on the other hand, when the money's so little sometimes you're best served just grabbing the best guy you can. Cedeno's making a wee bit more than 2x the minimum. That's nothing, even to the Mets.

[Edgy MD]

I think if the money is tight the best guy you can grab may be a guy garnered with bonus money on an amateur signing or a Cuban dude.

It's a rare year where a team says, "We'd have made it if only we had an established veteran backup instead of a rookie or a veteran fringe guy we had confidence in.

Trust your scouts and analysts, not the other folks in the marketplace.

[Frayed Knot]

In a move that screams out; 'yeah, despite being one of the games highest paid players for nearly a decade, I managed to spend it even faster and therefore desperately need the dough', Manny Ramirez signs on to play in Taiwan.



And speaking of ex-BoSox dummies, Johnny Damon could scarcely wait until the cast was on Curtis Granderson's arm before he was publicly begging for a contract from the Yanx. No such luck it appears.

[Lefty Specialist]

In a move that screams out; 'yeah, despite being one of the games highest paid players for nearly a decade, I managed to spend it even faster and therefore desperately need the dough', Manny Ramirez signs on to play in Taiwan.

Just ?: ??: ?? being ?: ??: ??.

[ashie62]

The Taiwan leagues are rife with gambling and fixes..

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/taiwan/100212/taiwan-baseball-scandal

Good luck Manny!!!!

[Frayed Knot]

In a move that screams out; 'yeah, despite being one of the games highest paid players for nearly a decade, I managed to spend it even faster and therefore desperately need the dough', Manny Ramirez signs on to play in Taiwan. Just ?: ??: ?? being ?: ??: ??.

And this is why BoC awards should still exist.

[Edgy MD]

And you're perfectly welcome to convene the committee and review the entries, my friend.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Is Johnny Spitter still unattached?

If so, please, please sign him. I just want the jersey.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

You talking about Josh Browline?

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Aye.

[Frayed Knot]

Kyle Lohse, coming off a season where he went 16-3 / 2.86, finally finds a taker days before the new season starts as Milwaukee inks him to a three-year deal.

CM Wang finds hisself back with the Yanx in the form of a minor league deal.

[Frayed Knot]

Couple of recent updates concerning some guys on this list:

- Things didn't seem to work out for Manny Ramirez in Taiwan (now who could have seen THAT coming?) but he did just sign a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers.

- Jim Thome has taken some kind of front office job with the White Sox, so I guess that pretty much serves as a retirement announcement even if not a formal one.

- Carlos Lee on the other hand did just recently give official retirement notice