[Tournament] 2007 MLB Discussion Thread

Um.

Half the teams are going to go after pitching - Yankees and Red Sox being on top of that.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

The Boston Red Sox reportedly have the highest bid sent to the Seibu Lions in order to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Now I'm excited. But the Sox are reportedly bidding $35-40M to just win the rights to negotiate a contract with him. They would still have to sign him after that.

If the Red Sox get him, what's their lineup going to look like?

Matsuzaka, Beckett, Shilling, Wakefield and possibly Papelbon, right?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Matsuzaka was MVP of the World Baseball Classic, which is probably where all his hype stems from. 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA is pretty good.


Anyways, Gary Sheffield was trade to Detroit for three pitching prospects. Most people figured this would happen after the Yanks trade for Abreu.

Article here.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yankees are in the mood to give this offseason, trading Jaret Wright to the Orioles for Chris Britton. The Yankees pitching consists of Chien-Ming Wang, a Randy Johnson coming from back surgery, and a Carl Pavano who had so many injuries it's way past ridiculous.

Mike Mussina is probably going to come back as they need him, but the Yankees are definitely looking for pitching throughout the off-season.

Article Here.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

Considering he's rumored to have pitched in more strenuous situations, I'd only take that bet as an irony bet.

I remember reading that he pitched a 250 pitch game or something - which I still find hard to believe, but even so that would be horrid on an arm and shoulder.


And I like the new D-Backs uniform (as well as their color-swapped logo). The red from the pale blue makes it seem better in my mind...

And it even matches the Arizona Cardinals in terms of general color (though hopefully they won't do as bad once the season starts).

I was speaking idiomatically.

Well Frank Thomas was picked up by the Blue Jays to be their DH - good pick up in my mind, they needed another big back to complement Vernon Wells.

Athletics might sign Barry Bonds as they're in need of a DH (since Thomas is now with the Jays) - I'm not so sure about this one.

Double Post:
Cubs signed Alfonso Soriano to an 8 year, 136 million dollar contract.

Article here.


Cubs are looking for a playoff berth this year as they resigned both Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood, while adding Mark DeRosa from the Rangers. Adding Soriano will help lots as he had an outstanding season last year.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Fiddlegoof

I've been busy recently, so I haven't been up to date with the latest trades, rumours and whatnot. I know about the Frank Thomas deal to the Jays, but has there been any word about Vernon Wells returning? Has he signed with another team? Or is a deal still in the making?

Uh...Vernon Wells isn't a free agent according to Yahoo. However:

Originally Posted by Yahoo.com

Dec 4 The Chicago Tribune reports the Chicago White Sox have shown interest in trading for Toronto Blue Jays OF Vernon Wells, who will be a free agent following the 2007 season.

What I'm interested in is all the stuff surrounding Manny, and the possibility of a three team deal.

FELIPE NO

A lot of pitcher-related transactions recently:

Lilly to the Cubs, Schmidt to the Dodgers, Garcia traded to the Phillies, Maddux to the Padres, and Padilla resigned by the Rangers.

Not too many left, I don't think - Yankees and Red Soxs have their Japanese pitchers they need to get deals done with, Zito is still hanging around, and Pettite is looking to come back for the 2007 season.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

10 years ago, people were in an uproar at Albert Belle getting $55 million over 5 years. Today, when one of the most below-average starting pitchers on the market gets that same exact deal...It's just sad. I know KC has trouble attracting any talent worth a damn, but come on: Gil Meche isn't worth a damn. Or at least he's not an $11 million per year player.

I don't want to see what Zito goes for now...

Meche's 11 Million per year is ridiculous.


This is actually really bad for the Red Sox. They're trying to get a deal done with Matsuzaka, with Matsuzaka's agent looking around 15 million per year and the Red Soxs hoping for around 7-8 million per year (this was news from a while ago).

With Meche, who isn't worth 55 million over 5 years, getting as much money as he is, Matsuzaka's agent (Scott Boras, I believe) will be looking to reap in the dough. Matsuzaka WAS the MVP of the WBC, while also being 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA and 200 SOs. Meche was what, 11-8 with an ERA over 4.

Yes, it is the Majors Leagues versus the Japanese league, but nevertheless 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA is outstanding.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

Looks like the Sox are going to strike out on Daisuke.

That reallly sucks for the Sox in more than one way.

On the other side, Yankees signed Andy Pettite, which should excite Yankees fans (like me).

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Bah. I like Pettite...


Anyway, Red Sox are doing a final push toward Matsuzaka. Though I finally found out how much more the Red Sox spent than the Yankees. $51 million to the Yankees $36 million. Jesus.

Either way though, I think Matsuzaka will sign. He wants to play in the leagues, Boras just wants more commission, that's all.



Oh, and Gagne was signed by the Rangers. If I remember right, the Rangers had reliever issues. Though Gagne has had shoulder/arm issues, so we'll see where this goes.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Fiddlegoof

How much longer do you think Bonds will play? He's what? Forty something? He can hardly jump or run anymore, let alone hit home runs. Is he just going to stay in until he gets the home run record?

Probably. Unless he gets injured or his body shuts down (he weakens and can't hit homeruns). Supposedly this should be the last season he plays. He's suppose to get the home run record this year, barring injury. Either of which would probably end his career, since the satisfaction of getting the record would be enough or getting injured once again would stop him from getting on the field again.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

Red Sox apparently pull a Astros/Clemens "lol j/k" with Matsuzaka.

Boras had the Red Sox on his doorstep, meaning that he probably getting a better deal for Matsuzaka than Boston would like to give, but not as much as the 12 million per year he's expecting.

They're "close," apparently, but I'm betting Matsuzaka gets around $10-11 million per year.



They could have gone for Barry Zito...

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Fiddlegoof

Did he accept it? I haven't heard yet. What about Lilly?

He hasn't done anything with it yet.

And if you mean Ted Lilly, he signed with the Cubs a while ago.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by FreeHooker

It looks like Wells has accepted the 7-year/$126M contract to play for the Jays.

About Lilly, were the terms of his contract released before? TSN says today that it is 4-year/$40M. I find it odd that it'd be running across the ticker today, so I assumed that the terms of the contract had not been released as of yet.

I think it was finalized today. Like Lilly accepted it a while ago, but I assume things like a physical and such need to be done before everything is finalized.

FELIPE NO

Red Sox. They signed Daisuke Matsuzaka. Basically, he's a supposed Japanese baseball prodigy who has led teams he's been on to championships. He led his High School team, his Japanese team, and then the Japanese national team in the World Baseball Classic to championships. He was MVP of the WBC as well.

He's rumored to throw the "gyroball," which he already said he can't. If you've seen any Japanese baseball anime, you'd know what it is (well what it's suppose to do).


Wiki says his stats for the Seibu Lions (since 1999) are:

108 Wins, 60 Losses; 1402.2 innings pitched; 1355 Ks; an ERA of 2.95


Not too bad.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Well, the Yanks sign Igawa to a 5 years/$20 million deal.

On the other side of the US, the Giants signed Zito to a huge deal: 7 years/$126 million.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Fiddlegoof

Mark Mcguire all over again....

A little confused about what you mean on that one. When Mark McGuire broke the HR record, it was him and Sosa in a race that got America really into baseball.

Nothing happened with McGuire until the steroids hearing. Like people LIKED McGuire until steroids become associated to him, and there were no steroids issues when he was playing. So it isn't really Mark McGuire all over again.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

(P.S.: he's a free agent.)

Except he was resigned by the Giants back in December (Edit: Wait, they're still in the contract finalization phase...for the past month...)


And Jack The Ripper, you know what I mean. Baseball suddenly got more exciting, and grabbed the attention of more than just the average baseball fan.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Jack The Ripper

Doesn't anybody care about baseball?

Of course I care about baseball - though I guess I only care about the Yankees and a couple of players here and there.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

Thirty runs. Never thought I'd see the day.

Ridiculous.

I still can't believe it. I mean, I had to double-take when I saw the score of 30-3 on ESPN's Bottom Line. That's a lopsided score in the NFL, but just trying to comprehend it in baseball is just outrageous.

I was speaking idiomatically.