Baseball

[dauls]

Signing Victorino is good news, he gets better every season. Blanton has also signed, and hopefully the next one to sign will be Carlos Ruiz.

And then there's the possibility of adding Jose Contreras to the bullpen. That's got to be better than Gagne.

[Talvenada]

Originally Posted by dauls

Signing Victorino is good news, he gets better every season. Blanton has also signed, and hopefully the next one to sign will be Carlos Ruiz.

And then there's the possibility of adding Jose Contreras to the bullpen. That's got to be better than Gagne.

DAULS:

Chooch is suppose to sign a 3-year deal within the next 4-5 days.


TAL

[shadows]

Originally Posted by Talvenada

DAULS:

Chooch is suppose to sign a 3-year deal within the next 4-5 days.


TAL

Chooch? Who is that?

[smc]

How about this? I read that the Twins are hoping to sign Jim Thome and make him the DH. This coming season, the Twins start playing in their new ballpark, Target Field, which has the same dimensions as the Metrodome (or the "Homerdome"). Imagine a Twins lineup with Thome, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, and Michael Cuddyer -- all in that small park. Holy shit!

[shadows]

Originally Posted by smc

How about this? I read that the Twins are hoping to sign Jim Thome and make him the DH. This coming season, the Twins start playing in their new ballpark, Target Field, which has the same dimensions as the Metrodome (or the "Homerdome"). Imagine a Twins lineup with Thome, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, and Michael Cuddyer -- all in that small park. Holy shit!

It depends on what they sign him for. Thome is nowhere near the player he was a few years ago, and he has had some injuries creeping up on him recently. If the contract is not too high and perhaps an incentive-laden one, I could see this as a good signing. If they overpay, they could end up like the Blue Jays did when they signed Frank Thomas(man, if only we could have gotten him when he was not a shadow of his former self).

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

It depends on what they sign him for. Thome is nowhere near the player he was a few years ago, and he has had some injuries creeping up on him recently. If the contract is not too high and perhaps an incentive-laden one, I could see this as a good signing. If they overpay, they could end up like the Blue Jays did when they signed Frank Thomas(man, if only we could have gotten him when he was not a shadow of his former self).

That seems to be a common Jays problem. When they do get a good player at a reasonable salary they let him go. Sometimes the Jays are so frustrating with the way they do business.

Yes, shadows, I do support the Jays (the only Toronto team that I do support). I would like to see them be a lot more consistent than they are. They always get my hopes only to dash them again.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

That seems to be a common Jays problem. When they do get a good player at a reasonable salary they let him go. Sometimes the Jays are so frustrating with the way they do business.

Yes, shadows, I do support the Jays (the only Toronto team that I do support). I would like to see them be a lot more consistent than they are. They always get my hopes only to dash them again.

I think now that J.P. Retardi is no longer the GM things will be looking up. We may have been able to get Adam Dunn...or at least we could have before our Idiot Savant(without the Savant) of a GM decided to belittle him. And to top that all off, someone pretended to be Adam Dunn when they talked to him during his session on Jay's Radio. What a buffoon!

Frank Thomas: Bad contract.

B.J.Ryan: At the time of the signing it honestly looked good. Then he got injured and that was that. So neutral contract.

Vernon Wells: Horrible, horrible contract! That basically handcuffs the Jays for many years, as who the hell would pick up that contract in a trade? Not even the Yankees, as Wells has sucked eggs the past couple of seasons. I think it was more of a case of getting off the juice than being "injured" all the time. I think his production dropping around the time of the Mitchell Reports being announced is more than just a coincidence. Perhaps I am just being a jaded Jays fan...perhaps not. HORRIBLE CONTRACT!

Alex Rios: Another bad contract. Thankfully we were able to pawn him off to another team who picked up his contract via the waiver wire! Thank you Chicago Whitesox, THANK YOU!!!! That kid had so much potential, but he just couldn't reach it. I just don't think he has the mental(and by this, I don't mean intelligence)capability to do it now. He will be an okay player, but will never reach his full potential. Bad contract...that we were lucky to get rid of.

Is it a telling sign that we were not able to sign any of our draft picks this year? I think MLB needs to change the way they have the draft and make it something like the NHL has. If a team picks you, you play for them or you get sanctioned until you do(or the team that picked you gets a bonus pick(s) in the next draft and the player still doesn't get to play for a year or two). Scott Boras is an agent of a lot of these young punks(and I say it because they are obviously in it for money only, and are being greedy since they have not proven themselves on a professional level), and he is a cancer/parasite that MLB needs to get rid of. Look at the list of MLB players that he is an agent of, and you will see that he is the agent of the ones that have "issues", either with their code of conduct, their maturity, or their attitude.

A mini-rant there at the end, but I had to get it off my chest.

[Talvenada]

Originally Posted by shadows

Chooch? Who is that?

SHADOW:


It's Phillies' Catcher Carlos Ruiz.


TAL

[Talvenada]

Originally Posted by Talvenada

SHADOW:


It's Phillies' Catcher Carlos Ruiz.


TAL

Chooch is signed for (surprise) 3 years.

[dauls]

Originally Posted by Talvenada

Chooch is signed for (surprise) 3 years.

That's good. Now all the arbitration-eligible players have been signed.

Where else will the Phillies look to strengthen the roster?

What are the chances of Jayson Werth remaining with the Phillies when he becomes a free agent after the 2010 season? Another season like 2009 and the Phillies would be looking at a $10+ a year deal to keep him.

If the Phillies payroll keeps rising as fast as it has in the last 2 or 3 years, they'll pass the Mets' payroll soon.

[Talvenada]

Originally Posted by dauls

That's good. Now all the arbitration-eligible players have been signed.

Where else will the Phillies look to strengthen the roster?

What are the chances of Jayson Werth remaining with the Phillies when he becomes a free agent after the 2010 season? Another season like 2009 and the Phillies would be looking at a $10+ a year deal to keep him.

If the Phillies payroll keeps rising as fast as it has in the last 2 or 3 years, they'll pass the Mets' payroll soon.

DUALS:

Everybody wants to keep Werth, who will be a $15M to $20M signing, if he has a good to super year with good being at '09 numbers.

We want J-Dub to have a super year, because no one will want him to have an off year.

However, if I read my Rubes correctly, The Phillies will dole out big money $15M to $20M (tops) to Halladay (or Lee), Rynosaur, Utley and Hamels.

We want Cole to come up big, and when he does he'll be 1 of 4 guys with big tickets: 2 starters and 2 position players.


4 guys @ $60M to $80M seems to be the ceiling, if I read my Rubes right.

Everything else is a dream. Keep in mind there is only 1 big ticket left to buy: Cole Hamels OR a starting stud hurler.


TAL