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2010-11 MLB Offseason Catch-All


witesoxfan

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QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 10:21 AM)
A's signed Brian Fuentes to a two-year deal. Don't know what they're paying him. I would imagine it wouldn't be much more than what they gave Balfour. Their bullpen is really deep now. Really, really underrated off-season for the A's. I'd say only the Red Sox and Brewers have had better ones.

 

Billy Beane's off-season has been awesome thus far.

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QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 10:43 AM)
Fuentes is getting 2 years and $10.5 million with an option for a 3rd.

 

A slight overpay, IMO, for a guy that won't be closing or really even setting up [i imagine Balfour will be the primary set-up guy]. But a nice move overall. The A's have the potential to be the '11 version of the Giants.

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Twins are paying Matt Capps $7 million. Just so you are all aware, that is more than half of what Jesse Crain will be paid for the duration of his contract. And it will be paid in 1 year, not 3. That is sweet (though it's not as if their team is going to be any worse because of it)

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Brewers ink Fielder to a 1-year, $15.5 million dollar deal. This basically should be a wrap for him as a Brewer. It's going to be very interesting next off-season when Pujols/Fielder [i'm assuming Pujols will] hit the FA market and the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Tigers, basically 4 of the top 6 or 7 teams payroll wise the last few years, won't be anywhere in the conversation.

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QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 03:24 PM)
Brewers ink Fielder to a 1-year, $15.5 million dollar deal. This basically should be a wrap for him as a Brewer. It's going to be very interesting next off-season when Pujols/Fielder [i'm assuming Pujols will] hit the FA market and the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Tigers, basically 4 of the top 6 or 7 teams payroll wise the last few years, won't be anywhere in the conversation.

 

No doubt in my mind the Cubs get either Pujols or Fielder next offseason.

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QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 02:56 PM)
No doubt in my mind the Cubs get either Pujols or Fielder next offseason.

 

I can't see Pujols selling out like that. Then again there's LeBron. I would love for the Cubs to get Fielder. Some team is going to SERIOUSLY regret signing that hippo for 8 years or whatever he's going to get. It'll be borderline Soriano regret.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 03:00 PM)
The Cubs spending that kind of cash? I'd be stunned.

 

Well, other than Soriano, they do have quite a bit of cash coming off the books over the next two years. Then, of course, they would have to adequately fill those spots. But outside of them or the Angels, who's going to pony up for Pujols? As great as he is, and he's been the best player in the sport for the last decade by far, there's just not going to be much of a market. I guess you can throw the Mets in there as well. Especially with Beltran's contract off the books for them after this year.

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QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 02:59 PM)
I can't see Pujols selling out like that. Then again there's LeBron. I would love for the Cubs to get Fielder. Some team is going to SERIOUSLY regret signing that hippo for 8 years or whatever he's going to get. It'll be borderline Soriano regret.

 

I agree with that. I think he realizes what the Cards/Cubs rivalry is, how much the Cards fans absolutely love him, and what it would mean if the went to the North Side. MAYBE if they offered him way more than anyone else did, but I don't think they have the money or means to. And it's not like they offer him a great chance to win the WS. And from what I've seen, he seems a tad bit more mature and smarter than Lebron.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 03:08 PM)
I don't see them having the money to spend like that. Ricketts hasn't shown any indications like that.

agreed. If somehow they find a major revenue stream that was untapped this year then it's a possibility. However right now he has a team worth 10% less than he paid, an extremely high yearly pay off on the money he used to buy the team, even with money coming off they still have a bad contract or two lingering, and I just don't see how he gets money from the state to help with Wrigley, meaning even just to keep the status quo there, money will have to come out of his pocket for upkeep. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Albert's agents are spreading some of this about the Cubs to force the Cardinals hands a little in renegotiating.

 

Don't forget, if Albert leaves St Louis it's going to be for the money, so it's not like the Cubs are going to get any sort of discount or generous concessions from Albert to make the signing easier, they are going to have to flat out pay more than at least St. Louis and the Angels, and likely another team or two will pop up. Fielder on the other hand is more likely, but as others have pointed out, they may get 2 good years out of him, but his body type doesn't lead me to believe a huge contract would be a good idea.

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QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 01:58 PM)
Twins are paying Matt Capps $7 million. Just so you are all aware, that is more than half of what Jesse Crain will be paid for the duration of his contract. And it will be paid in 1 year, not 3. That is sweet (though it's not as if their team is going to be any worse because of it)

In the wake of the Twins' quick exit from the playoffs last year, as I prepared myself for the offseason by looking through the team's financial particulars, I came to one clear conclusion: "The Twins would be insane to bring back Matt Capps."

 

In my blog post discussing the subject, I surmised that the Twins and arbitrators would overemphasize the value of Capps' saves, comparing him to other closers with similar totals. I concluded that "it's not hard to imagine Capps at least doubling his $3.5 million salary in 2011."

 

Of course, there was little doubt that the Twins would be bringing back Capps. They obviously overvalue the heck out of him, otherwise they wouldn't have traded away a top prospect to have him come in and close when they already had a guy who was adequately handling the job.

 

So I wasn't at all surprised when I heard that the Twins had tendered Capps a contract at the early-December deadline. The decision created a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that kept growing and growing until the inevitable news came through yesterday: the Twins and the arbitration-eligible Capps have agreed on a one-year, $7.15 million deal.

 

In justifying the move on ESPN 1500 yesterday afternoon, after Phil Mackey astutely pointed out that the team could have kept two of its other departed relievers by not tendering Capps a contract, general manager Bill Smith said that the Twins want a good closing option should Joe Nathan be unable to fill the role. As if Capps -- who was non-tendered by the Pirates following a terrible campaign just a year ago -- is all that different of a pitcher from Jesse Crain ($4M next year), or Jon Rauch ($3.5M).

 

The Twins are talking out of both sides of their mouths with regards to Nathan. On the one hand they claim that they're very optimistic about his recovery, to the point where they apparently won't carry any trustworthy setup men other than Capps and Mijares. On the other hand, they're spending over $7 million on insurance at the closer position, where they've already got $11.25 million invested in what has been illuminated as a mistake of a contract. (I was on board with that extension myself at the time, but let's face it, losing Nathan had virtually no effect on the team's outcome last year.)

 

Meanwhile they refuse to spend $5.8 million -- the amount in J.J. Hardy's new one-year deal with the Orioles -- on insurance at shortstop. Even if you don't think Hardy should start, he's a drastically better backup plan than anything they have and it seems at least as risky to count on the perpetually underachieving Alexi Casilla to be a competent starting shortstop as it does to count on Nathan to close.

 

In what world is closer a more valuable and irreplaceable position than starting shortstop? And how would the Twins not be more aware of this than anyone? They've cycled through bad shortstops faster than the Vikings go through quarterbacks over the past decade but they've had no trouble turning solid setup men like Eddie Guardado and Nathan into All-Star closers.

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