smg58

Insanity. Pure, unadulterated insanity. Better them than us. How much of a discount do they think they're going to get? Or do they just not care?

The Valentin deal is now official: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2659977

I'd heard that Lee's defense has gotten steadily better since he came up with the White Sox. Lee's a proven RBI guy, and I wouldn't be against getting him. There would have to be a pretty big market difference between Lee and Soriano before I made a priority out of him, though, and I still think I'd deal with starting pitching first.

Craig Wilson. He's a better (or at least more proven when allowed to play full time) version of Xavier Nady, and a monster against lefties. At the very least we need an extra righty bat to go with Milledge because I don't really want Shawn Green starting against lefties, but anybody on that list would apply.

If they have to pay Matsuzaka market value beyond this year, they'll be overpaying ludicrously for a guy who's never pitched an inning in MLB. For it to possibly be worth the Sox' while, they'd have to get him to commit long-term at a steady price, and then hope that he's as good as billed and doesn't get hurt. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

My calendar has been marked.

I'm not believing anything until it's official, but I have no problem bringing Valentin back as long as we also add somebody who can hit left-handed pitching.

Wood is a moot point. We never had an opportunity to negotiate with him. I didn't think the offer was out of line with his worth, given the injuries and the fact that he's resigned to being a reliever at this point. $3M would be a lot to guarantee to an injury-prone setup guy.

I'm back in. That was fun.

I wonder what the market rate on Marcus Thames is at this point. He has 30-HR potential and might come very cheaply.

Hardly a shock. The ball, predictably, is in Minaya's court.

I thought Selig could reject a bid he didn't consider to be in good faith. If Matsuzaka is a free agent next year, whoever signs him would only get one year at a discount. That should severely limit what people are willing to bid on him, but nobody seems to be talking like that. Strange.

Maybe Chris Burke is available, since the Astros seem determined not to make room for him.

He'd be a good draw for the Ducks.

Drew and Boras are assuming it's a players' market. He's a high-OBP guy who just (finally) put a 100-RBI season under his belt. I bet he beats $11M per year. I'm not sure I'd want to be the team that makes that offer, though.

So the initial rumor was wrong? That's so unusual. I still think biting the bullet for this year and picking up the option will be cheaper in the long run. Pelfrey could spend a full year in AAA and fill that spot very cheaply next year. Otherwise we'd have to acquire two top starters, which could be difficult unless we overspend. We still have control of Glavine; I see no reason to make the offseason more stressful than it needs to be.

Hernandez needs another year at AAA before I could consider him again. He'd have to prove at least that he could hit decently over a full season there. I think Milledge has more upside than Barfield, but sure I'd have liked to have known Barfield was available. Then again, the Padres seemed determined to find a third baseman, and we only have one and he's not going anywhere. Something tells me 5 years and $75M won't be enough to get Soriano. Nomar at second? I'm not sure the rewards outweigh the risks. He only had two more HR's than Valentin last year. You might wind up overpaying for the name. How good is Durham with the glove at this point? Nothing wrong with his bat, but age, health, and defense would make me balk at three years. Two years and I'm interested, though.

RealityChuck wrote: Confirmation: Yes, it's true, and Gablinger's was a major disaster for the company. A beer ahead of its time. Opinion: Beer is the most vile-tasting alcoholic beverage sold regularly in the US. Fact: The Mets were alerted to Nolan Ryan by a Shea Stadium concession vendor. Opinion: They should have consulted with said vendor before dealing Ryan for Jim Fregosi. Fact Since Rick Peterson left Oakland, none of the big 3 of Hudson, Mulder, and Zito has been as good.

Durham is clearly the best hitter of the bunch. His issues are his glove and staying healthy. You'd need a contingency plan to go with him. Loretta still has a solid glove, but his power has vanished the past two years. The nosediving OPS looks like a red flag to me. Kennedy doesn't look good enough. I just get a bad feeling about Lugo, I can't place it. His speed could make up some for his OPS. I don't know how well he plays second, either. DeRosa has basically had one good year. I'd be worried about overcommitting to somebody like that, but he could repeat what he did last year. Valentin did reinvent himself a bit last year, abandoning the all-or-nothing swing that had stopped working for him and cutting down his strikeouts without a big effect on his power. I can't see him as more than a platoon player, though, so you'd still need to find a righty bat. I like the way Aurilia hits lefties; the Mets could use somebody like that to balance the line-up. And he can play all four infield spots. 500+ AB might be beyond him at this point, though. I think the best options are Durham or a Valentin/Aurilia platoon, depending on who wants what for how many years.

He was actually very good this past year, especially against lefties (1.086 OPS, .867 over last three years). He was way over his head in 01 and bad in 04, but otherwise he's been fairly consistent. Beyond Soriano, I just don't see anybody worth committing mutliple years to. I wonder if a Valentin/Aurillia platoon would be cost-effective.

I'm glad to see Feliciano is still under control. It's one less thing to worry about. You can't take a good pen for granted and think you can afford to let a few guys go; ask this year's Indians how that worked. What about Roberto Hernandez?

The Phillies need a lot more pitching than they have for them to even start scaring me. I don't know if my yes vote is all that meaningful, because I think you should talk to every free agent at this point, and then decide who the right guys in the right price ranges are. I still think starting pitching is the #1 priority, but if the price on Soriano turns out to be more reasonable than the price of any of the top starters, my priorities could change pretty quickly.

The Yankees would take Burrell for Sheffield, I'm sure. Keep in mind that first base was always Burrell's natural position. Not to sound dumb or anything, but maybe the Phillies should try to get a competent pitcher? Assuming they ever want to win, that is.

Not sure he's young enough for two years at that price. The Mets would only save $1.5M this year, to bring him back at $12.5M next year when he might not still be better in April 2008 than some of the young guys the Mets have in the system. I'm still going to argue that picking up the full option for this year would be cheaper in the long run.

I don't have a problem with simply picking up Glavine's option and keeping Pelfrey in AAA for a year. Glavine's buyout would be for $3M, so for the Mets to bring him back for $11M total would mean Glavine couldn't get $8M on the open market (or at least from the Braves). That's a gamble I wouldn't make. It could easily make things more expensive (i.e., if they have to scramble to get a comparable replacement) in the long run. The Mets have an abundance of young starters (Bannister, Pelfrey, Humber, Soler, even Williams, plus Maine and Perez). You could deal one or two of them, especially if you re-sign Hernandez or they're in a package for somebody like Garcia. I don't understand why every sportswriter immediately mentions Milledge and Heilman. I wouldn't quickly part with either.