Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

 
Heard last night from Kevin Goldstein over theprospectreport.com and would just like to restate what a terrific site that is. His top 10 prospects in each system are a valuable resource both for the knowledgable veteran in the world of prospects and the casual fan who just wants to know who's coming up in his/her favorite team's system. As another piece of business, I know Dan's been away for a few days now, but he's in good health and should return on Wednesday. In the meantime, I'll do what I can to cover the load by myself. I think there's only one really big piece of news that I missed covering in yesterday's entry, which was:

Alfonzo to the Giants for $26 million over 4 years
As is being noted (because it's extremely obvious) all over the baseball world, the Giants are assembling quite a lineup around Barry Bonds. In acquiring both Alfonzo and Ray Durham to go along with Rich Aurilia, the Giants now boast a few guys who are capable of holding down a place in the top few spots in the order and able to get on base consistently for Bonds. While it'd be nice to imagine them retaining Jeff Kent as well to give them further protection, it sounds like the signing of Alfonzo really does spell the end of Kent's tenure in San Francisco. It's hard for me to believe that, even in the current buyer's market, there's not a team willing to pony up for the services of a player on the level of Jeff Kent. He'll sure get less than he would have a few years ago wherever he ends up, but he's going to be a rich(er) man. That said, if he's interested in being part of the best offense in the National League next year, all he has to do is accept arbitration. I don't know why there's any confusion about how the team would be oriented, should Kent return. You'd have Alfonzo at third for sure. You'd have Durham playing mostly center and occasionally second base when Kent is playing first. And that's it. Sure when Snow's contract expires you can move Kent to first base permanently and you worry about filling your choice of voids (third base, center field or second base) then. Back to Alfonzo for a moment...why couldn't the Mets put this kind of offer together? Alfonzo was clearly (in the papers, anyway) upset about having to leave New York, so there's an implication there he might have accepted even less to return. How the Mets couldn't come up with $6 million for an excellent offensive player like Alfonzo, as bad as they are, is beyond me. Great signing by the Giants, who have really improved this offseason.

Stanton to the Mets for 3 years, $9 million
This is an embarrassment for the Yankees. While going to the Red Sox would be worse, this is the next worst thing and really gives me cause for concern. I know Mike Stanton isn't the best reliever in baseball and perhaps his contributions to the Yankee teams he's been a part of have even been overplayed to some degree. But the guy can pitch high-leverage innings effectively and quite simply, is worth $3 million a year to a team like the Yankees. I really see no justification for signing Chris Hammond instead of retaining Stanton when the difference ultimately turned out to be less than a million dollars and an extra year. Is there any evidence that Stanton's getting too old? That he can't pitch effectively anymore? I don't see any, as the last two seasons were among the best of his career. He's got a terrific track record. And Chris Hammond? He's got no track record. Mike Stanton is a far more reliable investment and he's the guy that I as a Yankee fan wanted to see as the top lefty out of the bullpen for a few more years. As teams around baseball get smarter and the luxury tax starts banging even harder on the Yankees' door, there's going to be a real need to spend money as effectively as possible. This is a poor choice by the Yankees' brass, one I hope is not indicative of the decisions going forward in this offseason.
posted by VZW Watcher at 4:22 AM -