duan

You have to think that if the Mets are going to get Zito he's going to command a 8 figure contract over 6ish years. I'm not sure I want to do that, but we do have the money to. I think Zito's a good be to be an 'above average starter' for the duration of that deal; he's also a pretty good bet as pitchers go to be healthy for most of it. I also think, with Glavine coming off the books this year or next he won't stop us pursuing Johan Santana et al when they come up for free agency. He's the best pitcher on the market, it's an expensive market, but it's not like he's Gil Meche who's as likely to break down or not be very good as he is be decent and is the same age. [side issue; whatever about the effect of Peterson (and I wouldn't discount that) the effect of Shea and the NL will give Zito a lift too]

Elster88 wrote: I'd really like to have Giles on the team. But he's going to San Diego to play with his brother and bang hot Cali girls. whatever about playing with Brian; but my memories of NYC had NO shortage of lovely looking ladies.

Nymr83 wrote: Hopefully this will all get cleaned up. The problem is that from Boston's point of view they paid for exclusive rights, which means they shouldn't have to pay the guy like a free agent, because he isn't a free agent. Boras seems to think he's entitled to free agent money, Seibu got $51 million out this, shouldn't he get something too? This system benefits Japanese teams at the expense of both Japanese players looking to come to America (who have no bargaining power) AND American teams who, at least in this case, could end up paying more in posting fee + contract than they would have with a regular free agent deal. Well I think it's more like Boras is saying "the guy is a free agent in 2 years time, at that point, he can get a deal for (lets say going by today's market) $ 20 million per year. You (the boston red sox) are paying 51 million FOR the right to sign him NOW, the right to be the only people to negotiate, and the right to lock him up. Whereas, the red sox are thinking "well, our total cost of this acquisition should be (about) $85 million over 5 years (or Barry Zito money). That means that we can only pay him $35 million over 5 years." The big issue for the Red Sox is that with the size of the posting fee, it takes too many years to bring the cost of acquisition down to a level where they can pay the player (broadly) for his worth. Don't forget, Matsuka's already been a top level baseball player for 7 years, why should he have to wait ANOTHER 5 years to get paid 'fair market value'. That's probably about 75% of TOP level player's career. (Moderate players' major league careers are A LOT shorter). It has to be proven to Matsuka, that he's better off signing with the RedSox now, then with someone else in 2 years time. When the difference in salaries could possibly be made up in less then ONE YEAR it's hard to see how the ballparks the redsox are talking make sense. [eg Matsuka makes 3 million in 2007 & 2008 (totalling 6 million) red sox offer is 8 million/5 (making total cost 90 million over 5 years), yet in the difference by end of '08 is only 10 million. If he signs a contract paying $18 million per year in 09, he's already earned as much by end of 09 as with the former, and by the end of 11 he's earned and extra $20 million. If I'm Matsuka; I'm saying to the red sox if you want me cheap you only get me for 2-3 years. Otherwise you pay 15-18

here's the thing; there was an argument SOMEWHERE that Boras could try to buy Matsuka out of his contract for $XX million if this negotiation fails and then argue that he's a free agent and go from there. the whole process is a mess; I think as much because of the sealed bid/contract element being separate.

I'd be MUCH happier with Floyd as a hitter then Shawn Green.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Giants sign Benji Molina for 3 years seriously that's SUCH a bad idea it's unreal.

smg58 wrote: That's a good price for Carpenter. I'd have no problems making that offer to Zito, and Carpenter is a better (if older) pitcher. except that the cards already had him undercontract for the next two years at about $7 million per. So in effect they've signed him for the years 2009, 2010, 2011 for $50 million. That's a lot to be on the hook for with a guy who's had a bunch of shoulder surgeries. Of course if he stays "as good as he is now" it may be a relative bargain, but I can't help think it's a bed bet.

I have NO idea. That article may be wrong.

for concepcion, see pagan, angel.

according to this http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=234&p=2&c=597256 Abreu's been left exposed to the Rule V draft. You gotta think someone's got room on their 40 man to see if he's worth giving a whirl as a ph/dh/1b fill in, even if he is 31 rather then 27.

it looks like kc forgot to renew the domain name!

metirish wrote: Free agent pitcher Adam Eaton has reached preliminary agreement on a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies worth more than $24 million, a baseball source told ESPN.com. I'd have bitten on that in a heartbeat.

="Edgy DC"]I'm sorry. Are you saying that Manny has a contract clause which supercedes his 5-and-10 rights, and he cannot veto a trade? The article says otherwise. no he's got 10 & 5 rights NOW, but in the afterglow of the world series as they were negotitating with Varitek they couldn't give him a no trade clause, as it would have triggered a no trade clause in 4 other red sox (one of whom was Ramirez). So they came up with this "rewarding loyalty" clause; couched it carefully and hoped that it would stand up legally should it come to that.

interestingly Manny would have got a no trade clause the moment anyone else got one, which was why the Varitek contract had this 'cute' little solution. "Varitek will get no-trade rights once he has spent eight continuous years with the team". presumably the sox saying that this was not a 'no-trade' clause of the standard variety and only players who had 'eight continuous years with the team' would get the benefit.

well a 2 seam fastball is a different pitch. It's what's often called a sinker; it's gripped differently & movers more. Hence the difference in speed.

may sign for the Dodgershttp://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6210860, without knowing the terms it's impossible to get a read on it, but he's a guy I'd have love to have got for 1 year plus team option. At 30 and fully recovered from Tommy John, he's a good bet to return to his form of 3-4 seasons ago.

from wally.

aha.

Edgy DC wrote: Frayed Knot is the former LF who is the former Left Field. Benvenidos. I don't know why, but I thought Frayed Knot was Norrin Rad.

i'm sad to say good bye to cliff; he's like Moises Alou a little light though.

hey smg! believe it or not I started my reply a few hours ago, left it and came back to it. Sorry if it seems i'm just parroting yours! snap!

thing is; Milledge could do a very good job and get plenty of abs as a RH platoon partner for Shawn Green and a rest partner for Moises Alou. You don't have to deal him but at least you can if you want to. The other thing is, if this is genuinely another high water mark in free agent deals (a la A-Rod & Manny year) sticking to 1/2 year deals is the way to do it. Especially when the talent is so mediocre. A 2 year spin on Moises Alou is risky, due to his injury history, but it's a lot better then going 5/6 years on Carlos Lee (as someone might) or paying 136 million to Alfonso Soriano for 8 years as it looks like the cubs will.

Nymr83 wrote: soccer should either be called "soccer" or "futbol" to stop confusing people. Leaving aside that 'real football' came way earlier, If there's one game that's played primarily with the feet and one primarily with the hands, which do you think should be called football.

Edgy DC wrote: So, isn't it somewhat bizarre that teams are willing to pay more to another corporation for the rights to negotiate with a player than they'd ever pay to that player himself? to some degree this happens in football all the time. Now, it's a bit different in that what happens there is the 'buying' team is essentially buying a player out of a contract that they've signed. So, for example a couple of seasons ago Rio Ferdinand was under contract to Leeds Utd for another 3/4 years. Manchester Utd desperately wanted him and so they paid �30 million TO LEEDS for the right to negotiate with Ferdinand.

JD Drew declared himself a free agent yesterday, walking away for $33 million for 3 years at the dodgers. Anyone fancy a whirl?