Frayed Knot

Yeah, although in his defense, the high-A California League is the biggest hitter-happy circuit in the minors and High Desert specifically (because it's in like the high desert) is maybe the king among pitchers graveyards in that league.

Minor deal involving 2B Brendan Ryan going from the Cards to Seattle where he'll probably take the starting job and move Chone Figgins back to 3B - and I only bring it up because the price was pitcher Maikel Cleto, the now 21 y/o RHP who was a NYM prospect (supposedly the diamond in the rough) who went in the big 3-way deal for JJ Putz et al. Cleto, 21, was added to the Mariners' 40-man roster on Nov. 19 to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. The right-hander went 4-9 with a 6.16 ERA in 23 games for Class A High Desert last season and was 2-1 with a 7.91 ERA in six starts for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League.

It's more like he's trying to claim that Crawford is simply a bad fit for Fenway, something the (selected) stats seem to bear out. I tend to not like to over-rely on those situational stats although, for an in-division player with most of nine seasons in the bigs and over 300 ABs in Boston, the sample size is decently large to where there probably is at least some truth to it particularly since the 'vs BoSox' stats are very different in Boston as opposed to in St Pete.

Scott Downs - 35 y/o reliever gets a 3-year deal from the Angels. Nice couple of years recently but ...

No, not that one. That was 145 years ago and probably had more far-reaching effect than the one that's coming up will have - although you'd never know it from the coverage and anticipation. Rumor has it that it might all be completed before the weekend is out. Either that or it won't be. And, of course, everyone believes that it's down to two teams ... unless it's someone else. Anyway, Kevin Goldstein over at Baseball Prospectus tries making the case that the winning team will be the one who finishes 2nd in this particular sweepstakes - and I'm sure he's not the only one with that view. The Yanx, on the other hand, have to look at this with an eye towards the short-term seeing as how they're getting old and catcher (DH), SS, 3B, and closer. Plus, if Pettitte retires, their rotation suddenly looks like Sabathia, Burnett, Hughes and ... ummmm?? Probably why they tacked a 7th year onto their offer about 20 minutes after making their "best offer". Oh yeah, and there's a little talked-about clause in Sabathia's deal where he can pull an ARod and opt out after 2011. Tough to think that he could expect more than his current $23mil/yr on the open market, but yaneverknow.

The only real problem with Pedro was that he is, for the first time in his career, in position to call the shots and therefore is likely to command a multi-year deal - or at least two years anyway. I would have had no problem with sticking with him if it could have been done for one year at a time.

Miss Rheingold. She's packing. I didn't realize that Sarah Palin was a Miss Rheingold model early in her career.

6 infielders. Two backups (which ones are benched depends on who's in at second/taking a blow elsewhere). Same as it ever was.

And finally, prospect guru John Sickels, says about the Rule 5 picks: Mets: Bradley Emaus, 2B, from Blue Jays: 24 years old, hit .290/.397/.476 between Double-A and Triple-A. So-so tools, but draws walks and has some power, could stick as a useful bench option with a solid bat. Mets: Pedro Beato, RHP, from Orioles: 24 years old, former hot prospect had a good season after converting to relief, 2.11 ERA with 50/19 K/BB in 60 innings in Double-A, 16 saves. I can see him sticking in the Mets pen. Sounds like both guys have a better than average shot at sticking with the club as most Rule 5 guys get returned before the next season ever starts. Also: Nationals: Elvin Ramirez, RHP, from Mets: 23 years old, posted 4.16 ERA with 72/49 K/BB in 80 innings between St. Lucie and Binghamton. Drafted for his 95-99 MPH fastball, not his command. Might stick in the bullpen.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: It's pretty clear that the Mets are looking to fill two roster spots (if it works out) at the minimum price. Eamus can easily provide everything that Alex Cora, for example, did but at a much lower price. Except that Eamus (from what I've read) is a 3B/2B - and maybe even a corner OF in a pinch - but is decidedly NOT a SS. Say what you will about Cora, and his age, and his price, and the stupidity of his (thankfully avoided) vesting option, but teams need a real SS to back-up and fill-in and most of them are going to hit pretty much the way Alex Cora did. Where I think they're going here is to hope someone from the Eamus/Adams/Turner group can hit well enough to man 2B on at least a semi-regular basis which in turn let them mix in, without having to rely on, Murphy and thus get rid of Castillo before the season ever starts - either via a dump trade or just plain release. A back-up SS might still have to be a separate body.

The one good thing about Crawford going to the Sox is that he was supposedly the back-up plan for the Yanx if they fail to land Lee. The idea is that they'd sign Crawford and then package Brett Gardner up with C/DH Jesus Montero or maybe one of their other minor league catchers and go trolling for pitchers through the trade route: Grienke, Garza, etc.

Goldstein on Beato (14th on BP's Orioles prospect list): His power stuff flourished in bullpen role, and he could hit the big leagues by September Of course now to hang around in Queens he's going to have to hit the big leagues in six months before September and pitch well enough to stay there unless some kind of side arrangement can be made. Baseball America says about the same -- Former sandwich pick rejuvenated after moving to pen this year, works mostly off solid sinker. One way to look at this is that the Mets saved over $1mil 5 years ago when they didn't save him in the draft and now get him back for the low waiver wire price after Baltimore took all the trouble to train him.

Set out a plate of crab cakes for JJ Hardy & infielder Brendan Harris, just off the boat from Minnesota in exchange for "two pitching prospects". Hardy looked good his first few years with Milwaukee; an uber-athletic SS who could hit a bit and only 24 y/o. Then he seemed to hit a wall and now this is his third org in three years.

AA links to some good stuff from BP's Kevin Goldstein on Emaus: 2008, Blue Jays Top Prospects-- #7 (behind Travis Snyder and Brett Cecil, ahead of Ricky Romero and Marc Rzyepcynski-sp?):The Good: Emaus just plays the game right. He works the count well, has an excellent knack for contact displayed by more walks (60) than strikeouts (56) last year and gap power with the ability to pound mistakes. He makes the plays on any balls within reach and has a strong enough arm for third base, a position he played at times in the Hawaii Winter League. He's a baseball rat who gets the most from his somewhat limited tools, thanks to a maximum effort style and his passion for the game. The Bad: He'll never light up scouts with his tools, and his projection falls below star-level because of it. He's not especially quick, which costs him some range in the infield. Perfect World Projection: A solid everyday second baseman. Glass Half Empty: A utility type who can play anywhere in the infield except shortstop. Deeeecent-to-good TotalZone numbers on defense (for what THAT's worth), to boot. So... Eckstein with gap power? And multiple positions, too? Gimme. Y'know what that Goldstein report makes him sound like? ... a lower-ceiling-ed though older and therefore closer to MLB-ready Reese Havens.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yeah, I'm thinking it's "Bee AAH Toe" I always thought it was BEE-Toe but now I don't know whether I heard that or was merely assuming it. Either way, he was drafted by the Mets when 'Draft and Follow' was still in place, a deal where you could draft a HS kid and watch him for a year at a non-4-yr college and then sign him at anytime up to within a week of the next year's draft - something the new Aug 15th deadline makes obsolete. So, after going in something like the 17th round spending a year at St Petersburg College in Florida, the Mets liked him well enough to offer him 2nd round money. Problem was, he wanted 1st round money and so a signing which everyone expected to take place (hometown kid and all) didn't. This may have been an example where league pressure kept the Mets from offering more or maybe they just didn't like him at a million+ dollars. IIRC, he wanted close to $1.5mil while the Mets were offering 750K and neither side would budge enough so he wound up re-entering the draft and was plucked by Baltimore early in the supplemental round (pick #32) and signed about mid-way between those two figures.

Just a thought: If this was the deal Boston DID give Crawford, what kind of numbers were they hung up on that prevented them from reaching an agreement with Gonzalez? One report had it more over years (six vs eight) than money - but, aside from speed, AG is a much better offensive player and they're the same age.

No reason why, at his age (30 just after opening day), he should resign himself to being a backup - particularly not in December and to a player who has just 250 ML ABs.

So now a corner OF (even though a very good one) who never hit 20 HRs and sports a mediocre OBA (.337 career - peaked at .354) is now hauling in $20mil+/yr ? Nice player - and at least he's at a good age for the signing* - but geez!! * although so was Beltran

Was a fairly highly regarded prospect at one point. Also was part of one of the worst trades in recent MLB history: Bosner along with Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano to the Twins in exchange for AJ Pierzynski. And the guy who made that deal - Brian Sabean in SF - is busy polishing his WS trophy right now.

and lost Billy Wagner to retirement.

Also, what's the alternative? ... saving 800K by going with a min wage guy isn't exactly going to change the way you go about building the rest of the roster. Even if that $5mil number is accurate (and I don't believe it is) filling out the team on $3.75 as opposed to $4.6 is slightly more than a rounding error in modern-day MLB.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: If handshake agreements have gone out of style, I'm sure it's largely because too many people failed to honor them. Handshake agreements aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Ceetar wrote: D.J. to with R.A. and J.P. Riccardi...who else? That's it ... at least initially.

The 'Beltran to the Sox' rumors date back to at least the '07 World Series at this point back when some NYM fans started dreaming about how if only Boston could be tricked into a straight-up swap for Jacoby Ellsbury then all would be right with the world. Remember also that there is that pesky no-trade deal to contend with.

Valadius wrote: Judge rules for Jamie McCourt. Franchise follies to continue. Frank probably thinks this is a date which will live in infamy.