NY Daily News: Sox make Abreu 1-Year Offer

[Kyyle23]

He doesn't work for the Sun-Times, he covers girls' high school sports for a small paper in Butte-Fuch, Idaho.

 

Is that near Butte-Pluge, Idaho?

[GreatScott82]

Well according to both Chicago radio shows, if the Sox were to sign Abreu, a Dye trade would have to happen first. I just dont see this happening... I also don't see the Angels dealing Figgins. Who would there leadoff hitter be then?

 

If these 2 options exist, you would have to pull the trigger. Figgins/Abreu outwieghs Dye's production IMO. We already have pleanty of power... Figgins/Abreu would add a little bit of OBP and SB productivity to our lineup.

[Kalapse]

Well according to both Chicago radio shows, if the Sox were to sign Abreu, a Dye trade would have to happen first. I just dont see this happening... I also don't see the Angels dealing Figgins. Who would there leadoff hitter be then?

 

If these 2 options exist, you would have to pull the trigger. Figgins/Abreu outwieghs Dye's production IMO. We already have pleanty of power... Figgins/Abreu would add a little bit of OBP and SB productivity to our lineup.

Unless of course Abreu steals bases like he did last year then he's more of a detriment than an asset.

[Steve9347]

Unless of course Abreu steals bases like he did last year then he's more of a detriment than an asset.

Wait, 66% is bad?

[Disco72]

Unless of course Abreu steals bases like he did last year then he's more of a detriment than an asset.

 

Buzzkill!

[SoxAce]

Buzzkill!

 

Eh.. just look at Abreu's stats compared to Dye's and you'd get more... say... giddy.

[ThunderBolt]

Yeah, you're right. Station-to-station baseball is the way to go. It works wonders against good pitching in the playoffs!

I want you to look at every World Champion of the last decade, and tell me that power doesn't have more to do with those wins then speed. I would also like proof that drawing walks, and letting your players try to hit the ball and drive people in is ever a bad thing.

[BaseballNick]

I want you to look at every World Champion of the last decade, and tell me that power doesn't have more to do with those wins then speed. I would also like proof that drawing walks, and letting your players try to hit the ball and drive people in is ever a bad thing.

 

2003 Florida Marlins come to mind. They didn't have a slugger in their line-up, but more well rounded players than anything else (and great starting pitching). Pierre and Castillo were really fun to watch that season.

[Steve9347]

2003 Florida Marlins come to mind. They didn't have a slugger in their line-up, but more well rounded players than anything else (and great starting pitching). Pierre and Castillo were really fun to watch that season.

Derrek Lee and Mike Lowell both jacked 30+ homers that year...

[NorthSideSox72]

Speed is underrated, not because stolen bases are cool, but because so many people think that stolen bases are the only impact of speed. There are so many other things that speed buys you.

 

Power hitting is still more important, more of the time. But speed can be a serious value-add for any team.

 

[WCSox]

I want you to look at every World Champion of the last decade, and tell me that power doesn't have more to do with those wins then speed. I would also like proof that drawing walks, and letting your players try to hit the ball and drive people in is ever a bad thing.

 

Sure, power is great. OBP is great as well. But an overweight slugger doesn't score from second on a single. And some sluggers (like Paulie), are double-play liabilities. It's nice to have a base runner steal second every once in a while to avoid the double play.

 

I'd strongly prefer a balanced lineup to our current collection of station-to-station sluggers. Even a .340 OBP slap hitter with 30-steal ability would be helpful.

 

[RockRaines]

I want you to look at every World Champion of the last decade, and tell me that power doesn't have more to do with those wins then speed. I would also like proof that drawing walks, and letting your players try to hit the ball and drive people in is ever a bad thing.

Of course it has more to do with it, but name me one World Series winner since its inception that hasnt had speed on its roster. Our lineup as currently constructed is not as balanced as it could be.

[sircaffey]

Of course it has more to do with it, but name me one World Series winner since its inception that hasnt had speed on its roster. Our lineup as currently constructed is not as balanced as it could be.

 

1927 Yankees.

[ThunderBolt]

Speed is underrated, not because stolen bases are cool, but because so many people think that stolen bases are the only impact of speed. There are so many other things that speed buys you.

 

Power hitting is still more important, more of the time. But speed can be a serious value-add for any team.

+1, while i continue my crusade against the "awesomeness" of the stolen base, i can't discount that having some baserunning abilty (as well, as speed in the field) is an asset. I also find it interesting that KW did a neither confirm nor deny type response on this rumour rather then a denial

Edited February 3, 2009 by Thunderbolt

[BigSqwert]

1927 Yankees.

Yeah but before 1938 baseball fields were comprised of a mixture of sand and pebbles. Speed was irrelevant in the make up of a team.

[RockRaines]

1927 Yankees.

Dont know your history very well do you. Either that or you were throwing s*** against the wall hoping it would stick. People talk about that team because back then they had alot of power basically spread across 2 players, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig who combined for 107 HR's with Lazzeri adding the only other double digit total with 18. That team had a good amount of high avg line drive hitters. Of course if you knew about the 27 Yanks then you knew that one of the most important players on that team and for 11 years of Yankee terror was Earle Combs who led off and played CF. He also is a HOF'er in case you were wondering. For his career he had an OBP of .397 and hit .325. He also had good speed which helped him avg 17 triples a season (he ranks 48th all time). He was also a plus defender in the era of giant outfields.

 

So in short, wrong.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

THE rumor just got a mention on PTI.

[Dick Allen]

Of course it has more to do with it, but name me one World Series winner since its inception that hasnt had speed on its roster. Our lineup as currently constructed is not as balanced as it could be.

The 1961 Yankees had Mantle who could fly, but he was a home run guy. He stole 12 bases, the rest of the team, 16. Bobby Richardson was 9-16 in stolen base attempts, no other Yankee had more than 1 steal. Of course they had 2 guys who combined for 115 homers and a bunch more with 20+. A little more talent than the current White Sox.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Dick Allen

[BaseballNick]

Derrek Lee and Mike Lowell both jacked 30+ homers that year...

 

Of the top 22 HR hitters in baseball, they had zero. Of the top 90, they had two.

Edited February 3, 2009 by BaseballNick

[sircaffey]

Dont know your history very well do you. Either that or you were throwing s*** against the wall hoping it would stick. People talk about that team because back then they had alot of power basically spread across 2 players, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig who combined for 107 HR's with Lazzeri adding the only other double digit total with 18. That team had a good amount of high avg line drive hitters. Of course if you knew about the 27 Yanks then you knew that one of the most important players on that team and for 11 years of Yankee terror was Earle Combs who led off and played CF. He also is a HOF'er in case you were wondering. For his career he had an OBP of .397 and hit .325. He also had good speed which helped him avg 17 triples a season (he ranks 48th all time). He was also a plus defender in the era of giant outfields.

 

So in short, wrong.

 

I was pretty much just joking. Thanks for the history lesson, you probably saw each game that year.

[Bubba Philips]

last I heard the sox were at 100 million what is another 8 million and whoever questioned why the Yankees didn't offer Abreu arbitration the replier stated that his salary would be 15 million after arb. That has to be the biggest story when have the Yanks ever gone the austerity route. I look at the Yankees having an endless supply of cash. What is 15 million to Bronx Bombers.. Something very fishy about how the yanks are just letting him go. I think the sox can just sign him Bobby can play centerfield for the sox. The old theory of strong up the middle doesn't mean much to Ozzie and KW and feel very strongly that Abreu can play center as well as Carl Everett, Mackowiak, Swisher, Griffey and Owens.

[MO2005]

Speed is underrated, not because stolen bases are cool, but because so many people think that stolen bases are the only impact of speed. There are so many other things that speed buys you.

 

Power hitting is still more important, more of the time. But speed can be a serious value-add for any team.

 

Ok I disagree with you 100 billion percent. Let's look at the leadoff hitter for the last 9 or 10 world series winners. Jimmy Rollins, Dustin Pedroia, David Eckstein, Scott Podsednik, Johny Damon, Juan Pierre, David Eckstein, Tony Womack, and Alfonso Soriano.

 

I'm assuming you are a whitesox fan and if you wouldn't mind explaining why those pesky twins beat us up all the time?? Let's see stolen bases because AJ can't throw anyone out, bunt singles, a runner scoring from 2nd on a hard hit to left field. How many times do you see our players stopping at third? Wouldn't you like to see them score more? So lets fix that with some speed

[santo=dorf]

The 1961 Yankees had Mantle who could fly, but he was a home run guy. He stole 12 bases, the rest of the team, 16. Bobby Richardson was 9-16 in stolen base attempts, no other Yankee had more than 1 steal. Of course they had 2 guys who combined for 115 homers and a bunch more with 20+. A little more talent than the current White Sox.

how about the 2004 Red Sox? They had 68 stolen bases, 1 ahead of KC, and were 22 stolen bases behind the AL average. They were 11th overall and their stolen base % was 69. They won due to the big bats and great pitching of Pedro, Schilling, and in the postseason, Derek Lowe.

 

I'll have to look at it later, but I heard Abreu's high CS% was due to Girardi getting all "NL" with the hit and runs.

[santo=dorf]

Ok I disagree with you 100 billion percent. Let's look at the leadoff hitter for the last 9 or 10 world series winners. Jimmy Rollins, Dustin Pedroia, David Eckstein, Scott Podsednik, Johny Damon, Juan Pierre, David Eckstein, Tony Womack, and Alfonso Soriano.

 

I'm assuming you are a whitesox fan and if you wouldn't mind explaining why those pesky twins beat us up all the time?? Let's see stolen bases because AJ can't throw anyone out, bunt singles, a runner scoring from 2nd on a hard hit to left field. How many times do you see our players stopping at third? Wouldn't you like to see them score more? So lets fix that with some speed

The bolded are the only players known for just stealing bases and their teams won the world series for other reasons. Pods is living off of minor league deals, Pierre is a huge asset and Womack is out of baseball. Rollins and Soriano would rather homer, just look at their slugging percentages. Damon's game is getting on base for the big boppers, and Eckstein is a slapper. He stole 21 bases with the 2002 Angels while getting caught 13 times, and with the 2006 Cardinals he stole a whopping 7 bases versus 6 caught stealings for the year.

[Kalapse]

last I heard the sox were at 100 million what is another 8 million and whoever questioned why the Yankees didn't offer Abreu arbitration the replier stated that his salary would be 15 million after arb. That has to be the biggest story when have the Yanks ever gone the austerity route. I look at the Yankees having an endless supply of cash. What is 15 million to Bronx Bombers.. Something very fishy about how the yanks are just letting him go. I think the sox can just sign him Bobby can play centerfield for the sox. The old theory of strong up the middle doesn't mean much to Ozzie and KW and feel very strongly that Abreu can play center as well as Carl Everett, Mackowiak, Swisher, Griffey and Owens.

No, not at all. Not even close.

 

Players on the Yankees roster as of December 1st (last day to offer arbitration to Type A/B free agents):

Johnny Damon (CF/DH/LF)

Xavier Nady (LF/RF)

Nick Swisher (LF/RF/1B/CF)

Melky Cabrera (CF)

Hideki Matsui (DH/LF)

 

Positions that Cashman knew would be open: DH, LF, CF, RF

 

Now add Bobby Abreu ($17M-$18M) to that clusterf*** and tell me where he fits. Sure the Yankees have a seemingly endless supply of money but they at least make an attempt to spend it on useful pieces, Abreu would have been redundant. As of now they're stuck with 1 too many players for 4 positions and are looking to move one of Swisher/Nady, imagine trying to trade a $16M Bobby Abreu in this current economic climate.

 

They came to the conclusion that the risk of having Abreu accept arbitration was not worth 2 draft picks. That's all there really is to it.