Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

Grimsley to Baltimore
 
Baltimore Orioles get: Jason Grimsley.
Kansas City Royals get: Denny Bautista.

Grimsley's going to be a welcome addition to the Oriole bullpen. He's an experienced righty reliever who is having a decent season (3.38 ERA in 26.2 innings over 32 appearances and allowing 24 hits (1 homer) and 15 walks while striking out 18). He'll bring some stability to a bullpen that has been inconsistent, crappy and young thus far. He's not making ridiculous money ($1 million for the season, and considerably from this point forward), so that doesn't appear to be much of an issue. Grimsley supposedly signed a one-year extension with Baltimore upon being dealt, though it's unclear how much that's for - though it seems unlikely that it'd be far off this year's salary.

The question then is whether or not a year and a half of Grimsley is worth as promising a young arm as Denny Bautista. Young pitchers, of course, are fraught with an awful lot of risk - there's no guarantee that Bautista is ever going to be a succesful major league pitcher. In spite of his inauspicious debut (allowing 8 earned runs in two innings to start his major league career), Bautista's a highly thought of prospect who won't be 24 until the end of August. He hasn't exactly torn it up at AA Bowie (going 3-5 with a 4.74 ERA over 62.2 innings, allowing 58 hits (5 homers), walking 33 and striking out 72), but he's a young pitcher with promise. While the Orioles are dealing from a position of strength (as they're not without other promising young arms), this is a move that could easily look bad in the near future.

The question then is whether or not having Grimsley is going to make a significant difference for the Orioles. Looking at the AL East, it seems highly unlikely that Baltimore is going to be in position for a division title or wild card berth in either of the next two seasons (which is how long Grimsley's going to be around for). I can see a contending team making a move like this, adding a veteran for a young player or players down the stretch (Bautista was dealt last year from the Marlins to the Orioles last year in such a move - it allowed the eventual champions to reacquire Jeff Conine). I'm not sure I understand it from a team in the Orioles' position.
posted by VZW Watcher at 2:44 PM -

Kerry Wood's missing his next start
 
I'm going to refrain from getting too excited about this news, but any time a pitcher with Kerry Wood's injury history is held out due to arm problems, there's reason to be at least a little bit concerned.

The linked article from ESPN.com says the MRI Wood underwent Wednesday showed "inflammation underneath the muscle and mild tendinitis in his elbow." What that means precisely in terms of how long he's likely to be out I have no idea - the current word from the Cubs is that it'll just be one start.

Also from the article: "I don't think it's going to be really much more than one start," Cubs trainer Dave Groeschner said. "We'll just rest him, skip him a start and then get him back throwing and maybe push him back to the end of the rotation."

"But it's too early to tell on that right now. Obviously, he has to be pain-free. He's going to have to calm it down over the next few days. Kerry was kind of relieved to see the (test) results. Everything looked good, structurally. There are no muscle tears or tendon tears."

Wood's been excellent this year, and losing him for any length of time would be a major blow to the Cubs' staff, particularly with Mark Prior still on the shelf. Carlos Zambrano and Matt Clement (particularly before tonight's outing) have been phenomenal thus far, but the team's got to be concerned about the number of injuries it's accumulating.
posted by VZW Watcher at 2:00 AM -

Baldwin up and starting, Yates down
 
James Baldwin is scheduled to start tonight for the Mets, having been called up yesterday with the demotion of Tyler Yates. I haven't watched much Met baseball yet this season as I just arrived in New York, but the one start of Yates's I saw (April 9th against the Expos) was pretty good - he gave up just five hits over six innings, allowing no runs or walks and striking out four in his first major league appearance. Of course the Expos have been a brutal offensive team all year, which makes the performance look a lot less impressive in retrospect than it did at the time.

Yates earned his demotion with three crappy outings (4/14 vs. ATL, 4/30 vs. SD, 5/8 vs. MIL) in his first six. Having only started one game in his first five years playing professional ball, Yates started 23 times at three different levels last year but only lasted a total of 107.1 innings (that's including three relief appearances in the Florida State League). I don't have the breakdown of his numbers at A-level St. Lucie, but he averaged five innings or less a start at both AA Binghamton and AAA Norfolk. Expecting him to be able to thrive as a starter (able to pitch effectively deep into ballgames) was kind of unrealistic, and really didn't make much sense given that Jae Seo, who was a reliable, adequate starter in 2003, didn't even make the team out of spring training.

Of course, the Mets knew their pitching staff wasn't deep, as even their intended top three (Al Leiter, Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel) were question marks either due to age and/or recent performance (Trachsel was probably the surest bet). So they went out and signed several guys off the scrap heap like Scott Erickson, one-time Yankee Randy Keisler and James Baldwin. Erickson, as you probably know, made the rotation out of spring training but got hurt (again) just before his first start on April 8th vs. the Braves. Keisler's pitching at Norfolk, where he was a teammate of Baldwin's until yesterday. Baldwin's been decent at AAA (a 3-2 record with a 2.90 ERA over five starts and 31 innings), but nowhere near as good as Matt Ginter's been (a 1.30 ERA over five starts and 27.2 innings, including a sparkling 24/3 strikeout-to-walk ratio).

Baldwin's apparently got an out in his contract that he can exercise at the end of May, so maybe it behooves the Mets to take a look at what they've got. But this is a guy who has started 200 games and pitched over 1200 innings at the major league level - there's not a whole lot of question about what kind of a pitcher Baldwin is. He's a 32-year old, back-of-the-rotation guy who allows way too many baserunners and doesn't appear to be showing any improvement as he ages. So why waste time with him at all? If he wants to leave at the end of the month, wish him well. I don't mean to suggest that someone like Matt Ginter is the answer (Aaron Heilman, who pitched very well this spring might be a better one), but the chances of Baldwin being a contributor to this Mets team are pretty slim.
posted by VZW Watcher at 3:22 PM -

In Queens and writing again
 
As I'm in Queens for the summer, I'm going to try to come through with daily postings so I feel like I'm doing something mildly productive. It's been awhile since either of us has written anything to this blog (Dan's The Target Demographic has been graced with some content), and we've obviously missed a lot. We're now nearly a month and a half into the 2004 season, and it seems silly to attempt to cover what we've missed - so I'm going to pick it up from here.
posted by VZW Watcher at 3:16 PM -

An evening with the Fisher Cats
 
I attended my first minor league baseball game in Monday night in Manchester, New Hampshire, and was thoroughly impressed. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are playing their first season in their new home, having moved from New Haven (where they were the Ravens). The facility they're currently playing in is called Gill Stadium, which is about as large (in terms of seats for spectators) as some of the Little League parks I played in as a youth - I'm not sure quite what the capacity is, but I'd be surprised if it's over 5,000. My girlfriend's father informed me that the city of Manchester is in the process of building the Fisher Cats a new stadium, which will comply with with Eastern League regulations (all the league's teams need to accomodate a prescribed number of spectators - allowing the team to play at Gill Stadium this year is an exception). If you're interested in Manchester's project (the new facility will be called Riverfront Stadium), take a look here.

As it stands, watching a professional game in such an informal environment was an odd experience. While I had never seen a minor league game before, I've been to other facilities (like Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George on Staten Island, P & C Stadium in Syracuse and Legends Field in Tampa), and this was completely different. Gill Stadium feels more like a bandshell - with the seats providing the shell - than any professional ballpark I'd been in. There are no tiers of seating, just fifteen or twenty rows up from the field, with bleacher areas down the foul lines. The view, sitting in the front row as I was, was phenomenal.

The game itself was enjoyable, and particularly interesting for me because several players I'd heard of were playing, guys like John-Ford Griffin, Aaron Hill, Dominic Rich (who had a huge day), Carlos Valderrama (I explained to an usher that he's not the Colombian soccer player), Justin Knoedler and Tyrell Godwin all played. I unfortunately missed seeing Dustin McGowan by a day, but it's very possible I'll have a chance to get back up there for a start of his, as the trip up from Cambridge was fairly quick.
posted by VZW Watcher at 6:30 PM -

Notes on Melvin Mora and a stupid commercial
 
A few notes on the first couple days of real baseball:

- Melvin Mora looks terrible. I've watched most of the first two Orioles-Red Sox games (the whole game Sunday night, and what I've been able to today), and while it's impossible to make any kind of concrete judgment off of two games, he's made three errors and looked completely lost at the plate, striking out four times in nine plate appearances (a lot of these were against Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, but even so).

- There is a ridiculous Ford commercial (for the F-150) airing here featuring newly-minted Boston television star Curt Schilling (he's in a Dunkin' Donuts ad here too - also terrible). For those of you who haven't seen it - I'm sure it's not on the air in other markets - I'll give you a taste. Schilling is standing in the desert (presumably a ways from civilization, we can't see anything but desert), conveniently next to a sign that says something like "You are leaving Arizona". He's either traveled on foot to this point (though there's no noticeable wear in his clothes or appearance) or been dropped off by someone who was either unwilling or unable to leave the state. He's apparently on his way to Boston (we don't find this out immediately, but he does have a single duffel bag with him that says "Boston Red Sox" on it), and is attempting to solicit a ride from a passing driver. This is illegal in Arizona, but never mind that.

By the grace of God, two cars drive by almost immediately that are willing to offer him a ride. The people in Arizona (or those who leave Arizona) seem like humanitarians. He takes a look at each of them (a Dodge and a Chevy), and declines. He's apparently waiting for something specific - of course, it's the Ford F-150. He can't bring himself to be a passenger in anything else, even though he's stranded in the desert, thousands of miles from his eventual destination. Thanks to an incredible stroke of good fortune, a Ford F-150 actually does pass by! The driver kindly offers Schilling a lift, and he accepts (climbing aboard without so much as a "thank you"). The driver asks Schilling where he's headed, and we finally have our suspicions confirmed - he's heading for Boston. Just up the road - sure enough - there's a sign indicating the exact number of miles (2697) to Fenway Park. I know I was wondering how Schilling physically got from Arizona to Boston (a man who's made more than $50 million in career certainly wouldn't be flying or have his own car)...now we know at least part of the story. I trust Ford won't leave us hanging, and we'll see many more true-to-life, captivating chapters of Schilling's cross country journey.
posted by VZW Watcher at 6:36 PM -

Predictions (part III: Matt)
 
In keeping with the format (and aware that we're getting later every day the season progresses), the Barnard pick for NL Cy Young is Jake Peavy. While certainly not as wild a pick as Jeff Weaver, I haven't seen Peavy listed as a probable Cy Young candidate anywhere yet. I'm of the belief that the Padres are going to be pretty good this year (and win the weak NL West), and while they've got considerably more offense to start the year than they've had in the recent past, at least some of the improvement is going to have to be picked up by the pitching staff. The addition of David Wells at the top of the rotation is nice, but the Padres' most talented pitcher is certainly Peavy. He's got terrific stuff and is really a joy to watch - if tonight's duel with Odalis Perez in Los Angeles is available on television wherever you are, eat it up.
posted by VZW Watcher at 5:49 PM -

Bradley to Los Angeles
 
Los Angeles Dodgers get: Milton Bradley.
Cleveland Indians get: Franklin Gutierrez and a player to be named.

Probably a good move for both teams. I like the potential of Gutierrez an awful lot; everything I've seen calls for him to be a hell of a player. Spring training stats mean very little (more for young players than veterans), but Gutierrez didn't overwhelm anyone offensively this March in 16 games and isn't likely to make a major league impact for at least another year. He'll open up at AA, and I guess from the Dodgers' perspective, that was far off enough to make him expendable in the right trade. In the weak NL West, it might make sense for the Dodgers to do what they can to maximize their chances right now, as it's certainly not out of the realm of possibilities that they could steal the division this year. The offense was already improved before the acquisition of Bradley, who will probably play center and hit somewhere in the top half of the order. If it were me, I think I'd lead him off (his .421 OBP last year would be welcome from the top spot), but he'll be an asset anywhere they want to put him.

So while the Dodgers are giving up a real good looking prospect, they're getting back a solid major league contributor. Bradley has obviously had some clubhouse and legal problems (his spat with manager Eric Wedge forced this trade), but I guess Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta and manager Jim Tracy feel they can handle those in light of Bradley's on-field abilities. The Indians had to make a move (I don't know precisely how or why they came to that decision, but they'd decided that Bradley wasn't coming back), and looked at from that perspective, they did a nice job here bringing in a grade A prospect. My concern is that the team already pretty deep in young outfielders, and while Gutierrez probably jumps to the head of that group, he may not see the light of day at the major league level quite as soon as he would in Los Angeles. Not that this is a real problem, other than for those of us that want to see him play. The Indians have a pretty deep minor league system, and Gutierrez only adds to those riches. We'll have to see who the player to be named ends up being, but it looks like this could be a positive move for both parties.
posted by VZW Watcher at 8:28 PM -

Predictions (Parts I & II: Matt)
 
Dan's been better about writing lately, and since we want to run our season predictions in some reasonable order, I think I'll piggyback him through the process. It's awfully difficult to make a good appraisal of what rookies will spend a lot of time in the major leagues before a season, let alone who will perform well enough to be considered for Rookie of the Year. You don't need me to throw out names for you, but few of us could have imagined the impacts that the likes of Scott Podsednik, Miguel Cabrera, Brandon Webb and the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year, Dontrelle Willis would make last season. In making my judgments, I'm going to limit myself to guys who look like they'll open the season on the major league roster, for the sake of sanity and copping out (so I'm not considering Zack Greinke, Jeremy Reed or David DeJesus, for example, though it seems likely that we'll see them at some point).

In the American League, I'm going with Bobby Crosby of the A's. He's got a starting job from Opening Day, he can hit and plays a valuable defensive position. As impressive as many think Joe Mauer is going to be in the future (and I apologize for being stating the obvious here, I know you've heard it before), he hasn't shown any power to date. If he sticks in the majors all season, that'll be impressive...I don't expect him to hit enough to compete with Crosby for AL Rookie of the Year.

The field of rookies (at this point) should be deeper in the National League. As Dan mentions, the odds-on candidate is Kazuo Matsui. However, given that Hideki Matsui didn't win the AL Rookie of the Year last year because of the prejudices of a couple writers who excluded him from their ballots - not that he deserved to win, but he was certainly among the top three in the AL last year - I'm going to assume that some writers will do the same with the other Matsui, blatantly defying the rules so they can not vote for a Japanese player who happens to play in New York. (This assumes that the younger Matsui's play will make him deserving of the award...I think he'll probably have a nice season.) While it looks like Khalil Greene and Adam LaRoche will be regulars on Opening Day, my pick for NL Rookie of the Year is Ryan Wagner. I don't believe that Danny Graves is going to be effective enough as the Reds' closer to save his job - if that's the case, Wagner is probably next in line. He should be a real nice pitcher, and given the voter's love of counting stats like saves, he should be a prime candidate.
posted by VZW Watcher at 4:53 PM -

Ol' Chuck LaMar extended
 
As you may well be aware by now, Chuck LaMar's contract with the Devil Rays has been extended through 2006. His contract would have expired at the end of the 2004 season, and the organization would have finally been free of LaMar, without any financial entanglements that would've come with firing him, for the first time in the history of the franchise.

There's simply no explanation for this. Take a look at any of the articles announcing the extension (here's one from espn.com)...there's no coherent reasoning from anyone involved. What has LaMar's career as a general manager brought every single season? Failure. Wild, spectacular failure. The team has never won as many as 70 games in a season. Did LaMar save owner Vince Naimoli's life at some point? There's no reason he shouldn't have been fired years ago. For those of you who own Baseball Prospectus 2004, go back and reread the Devil Rays chapter essay, if it's not still fresh in your mind. I was cracking up through much of it, because it lays out just what the franchise has been since its founding - an incredibly unsuccessful (and often hilarious) joke.

I feel terrible for Tampa fans, as they clearly don't deserve this kind of treatment. Is Naimoli intentionally sabotaging the franchise? Logically, I would think there's no chance of that - he's got a lot of money invested - but what other conclusion could one possibly reach by looking at this move? The Devil Rays talk about getting better, and they may be marginally so this year. They've got some intriguing young players coming through their system to join the talented youngsters already at the major league level. But the franchise is going into its seventh year and has not yet reached seventy wins, let alone a .500 record. Making matters worse is how misguided many of the moves LaMar have looked even as he's made them - there's just no reason to believe that he's a good GM or is ever going to somehow blossom into one. Extending his contract is insanity.
posted by VZW Watcher at 4:16 PM -

Catching up on a few things
 
There have been quite a few trades in the last couple of days, and I've got about half an hour before the beginning of Georgia Tech - Kansas, so I'll try to get to a few of them.

New York Mets get: Ricky Gutierrez.
Cleveland Indians get: a player to be named later.

This is just off the wire, I'm not seeing it up everywhere just yet. As most of you probably know, Gutierrez has been hurt and making a ton of money, thanks to a three year, $11.5 million contract he signed in December of 2001. He was certainly never worth quite that much money, but if he hits like he did during his two years in Chicago with the Cubs, he's a useful player to have on the roster, given that he can handle the middle infield. The Mets hope they're not going to need much backup at second or short (with Jose Reyes and Kazuo Matsui there), but you need someone...and the Mets were going with Joe McEwing. I don't know what they can reasonably expect to get out of Gutierrez, but he's apparently healthy and having a good spring, so assuming they're not giving up anything of note here, it's fine. The Indians are paying a large part of the remaining money on the contract, though I've yet to see a precise figure.

New York Mets get: Matt Ginter.
Chicago White Sox get: Timo Perez.

The Mets' outfield is pretty much set, with Cliff Floyd in left, Mike Cameron in center and a Karim Garcia/Shane Spencer platoon in right. Roger Cedeno is currently slated to be the fifth outfielder, and his contract probably means he's going to keep that job regardless of his production. So there wasn't room for Timo Perez.

That being said, the Mets are getting back very little here. Ginter's hasn't been good in any of his major league trials (2002 was as close as he's gotten to an asset, and even then he was nothing special). I guess it's possible that he'll make the Mets, operating out of the back end of a pretty weak bullpen. The Mets may well know something that's not obvious from looking at his numbers, but it looks to me like they're just giving Timo Perez a chance to play somewhere, since it wasn't likely to happen at Shea. He'll be a decent backup outfielder in Chicago.
posted by VZW Watcher at 2:16 PM -

Tony is free!
 
It's been awhile, and my GM winter-to-date project is all but dead. It's a fair amount of work to do each of them - it'd be one thing if I'd been keeping up all along, and perhaps that's a project for next year - and with virtually no response, it hardly seems worthwhile. Dan's been regaling us all with some tales of his exploits down in Florida, and I trust he'll have more for all of us when he gets back to Buffalo (which I believe will happen later today). We're getting down to the end of Spring Training now, and are just a week and part of a day away from baseball...which is pretty great. Also pretty great is the news today that my boy of boys, Tony Womack has been freed from the godless, soul-sucking prison that is the Boston Red Sox organization.

St. Louis Cardinals get: Tony Womack.
Boston Red Sox get: Matt Duff.

Realistically, this probably means more to Matt Barnard sitting at his computer in Cambridge, Massachusetts than it does to just about anybody else (save the Womack and Duff families and close friends) - Womack wasn't likely to have a significant role on the Red Sox this year, though it's possible he might have won a job as a backup infielder to open the season with Nomar Garciaparra likely out. As much as I love watching Tony and it pains me to say it, his lack of job security is well deserved, as he's been a pretty atrocious player over the last couple of years. That said, it's not like the Cardinals have a bunch of world beaters at second base in Marlon Anderson and Bo Hart, so Tony may yet get a shot at some playing time and at bats in St. Louis, which is probably more than you could've said for him in Boston. Tony LaRussa is already saying he'll use Womack at second, third, short and in the outfield, so it looks like the team's weaknesses will be Tony's potential gain. And he'll be in a far more palatable shade of red. Of course, he'll need to be healthy to realize any of this, and he's being evaluated in Jupiter at the team's Spring Training facility today. He's apparently way ahead of schedule recovering from offseason Tommy John surgery, and could be back before the original expected date (sometime in May).

As for the other party in this trade, I don't know much about Matt Duff. He pitched 5.2 innings with the Cardinals in 2002 (walking 8), and that's it at the major league level. He'll be 29 this season and has been pitching in the minors since being signed by the Padres (as an undrafted free agent) out of the University of Mississippi in 1997, so he's got a pretty extensive track record. He looks like a right handed short relief pitcher who strikes out better than a man per 9 innings, with a higher walk rate than you'd like. I don't really see where there's a place for him in a bullpen as good as the Red Sox have, but he should be a nice fit in Pawtucket.
posted by VZW Watcher at 3:50 PM -

Minor delay/The Hardball Times
 
I'm swamped right now and Dan's off in sunny Florida, so the Dave Dombrowski (Tigers) winter review will be here tomorrow (Tuesday, 3/16) as opposed to today.

Our friend Joe Dimino of Baseball Primer and the Hall of Merit has informed us about a new site he's writing for called The Hardball Times. There are a number of fine writers there from many of the sites we frequent (including Aaron Gleeman, who helped us in getting this blog started), and we wish them the best of luck.
posted by VZW Watcher at 1:10 PM -

Brian Cashman's winter-to-date
 
The notable moves made by the New York Yankees under Brian Cashman since the end of the 2003 season. Please send any comments/omissions/questions/feedback here.

11/04/03 -
Declined option on David Wells ($6 million, $1 million buyout).

The intention was to bring Wells back at less money - he's not worth $6 million at this point - but it didn't work out, and he went home to San Diego. A lot's been made this offseason of how the Yankees go into 2004 with a very different rotation than 2003 because they have a lot of guys who left via free agency. While that's true, I have a tough time faulting any of them - including Clemens - since all any of them did was go home. I don't include free agents bolting in these analyses, so I'll say here that I'm very appreciative of all the fine work Pettitte, Clemens and Wells did for the Yankees while they were in pinstripes, and I wish them the best of luck in Houston and San Diego respectively.

12/01/03 -
Signed Aaron Boone to a one year, $5.75 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

With a clause prohibiting him from playing basketball, or something to that effect.

12/02/03 -
Signed Enrique Wilson to a one year, $700,000 contract.

I don't mind having Wilson around simply because of his crazy numbers against Pedro Martinez - it's nice seeing a player of Wilson's stature smack him around a little - but realistically, there's not a whole lot of reason to keep him around. At this point, Boone, Jeter, Soriano and Giambi/Johnson were going to be manning the infield again and getting the vast majority of time. Why spend $700,000 on a guy like Wilson who can't really hit or field? I know the money is effectively no object, but come on...it's not like the Yankee system is completely devoid of anyone who might at least be interesting to look at in a backup infielder role. Brian Myrow, anyone?

12/03/03 -
Signed Felix Heredia to a two year, $3.8 million contract with a club option for 2006.

The Yankee bullpen is going to be much better in 2004, in part due to having Heredia around for the full season (they'd made other significant acquisitions too, of course). A late-season waiver wire last year, Heredia pitched very well after joining the Yankees, and will presumably have a significant role in the bullpen again in 2004.

12/04/03 -
Acquired Javier Vazquez from the Montreal Expos. (for Randy Choate, Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera)
Traded Randy Choate to the Montreal Expos. (with Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera for Javier Vazquez)
Traded Nick Johnson to the Montreal Expos. (with Randy Choate and Juan Rivera for Javier Vazquez)
Traded Juan Rivera to the Montreal Expos. (with Randy Choate and Nick Johnson for Javier Vazquez)

As I said to anyone who would listen at the time, I hate seeing Nick Johnson go. He was one of the team's only above average defensive infielders (with Aaron Boone) and was quickly turning into a monster with the bat. The guy draws walks, hits for average and power...there's not much not to like. He's got the spectre of hand injuries over him all the time, which is a negative, but I have a tough time believing he's not going to be a flat-out stud for a long time in Montreal. At the same time, if I were going to trade him, I'd want it to be for someone just like Vazquez - a young (he'll be 27 this year) pitcher without an injury history to speak of who's had consistently excellent results and strikes a lot of guys out. Replacing Pettitte or Clemens or Wells with Vazquez is a significant upgrade. I expect Rivera and Choate to play some role and contribute over time in Montreal, but I don't think we'll miss them too much in New York.

12/07/03 -
Signed Ruben Sierra to a one year, $1 million contract.

Strictly a pinch hitter/occasional DH at this point, I don't know that he's worth anything approaching a million dollars for his age 38 season. There's no getting around the fact that he can still absolutely crush a pitch now and then, but there are an awful lot of guys who can do the same for a lot less money and can also contribute in some other area. I'd expect Torre to use him pretty much just as he did in 2003.

12/11/03 -
Acquired Kevin Brown from the Los Angeles Dodgers. (for Yhency Brazoban, Jeff Weaver, Brandon Weeden and $2.6 million)
Traded Yhency Brazoban to the Los Angeles Dodgers. (with Jeff Weaver, Brandon Weeden and $2.6 million for Kevin Brown)
Traded Jeff Weaver to the Los Angeles Dodgers. (with Yhency Brazoban, Brandon Weeden and $2.6 million for Kevin Brown)
Traded Brandon Weeden to the Los Angeles Dodgers. (with Yhency Brazoban, Jeff Weaver and $2.6 million for Kevin Brown)

It seems like many Yankee fans have some kind of vendetta against Jeff Weaver and wanted him gone at all costs - I'm certainly not in that camp. He didn't get the job done in pinstripes, that's pretty clear - but he goes into the 2004 season as a healthy 27-year old with a track record of major league success. Things didn't work out in New York, and it's a shame. I would've liked to see him in the rotation with Vazquez and take a wait-and-see approach...can you imagine two guys significantly under 30 in the Yankee rotation? In any case, he pitched himself out the team's plans, and it's hard to argue too hard against sending him on his merry way. Kevin Brown's got some things working against him - he's a groundball pitcher and the infield defense stinks, he's old and has had injury problems and he makes a ton of money. He also strikes a ton of guys out (precisely what the Yanks and their poor defense need) and has been and continues to be a borderline Hall-of-Fame pitcher when healthy. I'm more than a little worried about counting on him as much as the Yankees are though.

12/15/03 -
Signed John Flaherty to a one year, $775,000 contract.

Again, a little excessive. Flaherty's okay in a very limited role, which is all he serves with the Yankees. I'm reluctant to speak ill of him, because he is a New York boy (born in the city) and it's such a rare treat to have one playing in our beautiful town. I have to believe that someone like Michel Hernandez could've filled this role ably, but having Flaherty around won't kill them. Unless Posada gets hurt, in which case it would be terrible.

12/17/03 -
Signed Gary Sheffield to a three year, $39 million contract.

Having been talked about and nearly completed for awhile, the Sheffield contract finally got done. As I've read/heard in many places, Sheffield has such incredible bat speed that his age isn't likely to affect him as much as it might some other older players. I can buy that, and looking at his 2003 season in Atlanta (.330/.419/.604) I'd happily take a slightly reduced version of that over the next three years if I had to. The Yanks were sub-par in right last year and really not that great through the end of Paul O'Neill's career - Sheffield will be the best Yankee rightfielder I've ever seen. I loved Jesse Barfield too, but I'm just being real. He'll be a tremendous asset to the Yankee lineup, assuming he can play through the hand trouble he's currently experiencing.

12/18/03 -
Acquired Edwardo Sierra from the Oakland Athletics. (with J.T. Stotts for Chris Hammond)
Acquired J.T. Stotts from the Oakland Athletics. (with Edwardo Sierra for Chris Hammond)
Traded Chris Hammond to the Oakland Athletics. (for Edwardo Sierra and J.T. Stotts)

Hammond was going to be rendered useless on this team, and may yet be on the A's as well (they've got a lot of lefties over there). While he pitched well for the team during the season, the Yanks added Heredia and Gabe White late last season and had deals for Paul Quantrill and Tom Gordon in the works already by this point, so he was going to be gone one way or another. I don't know that we should expect much from either Sierra or Stotts, but I'll point out that Stotts was a third round draft pick of the A's in 2001 out of Cal State Northridge and wasn't a total bust in his initial exposure to AA last season. Sierra was converted to relief last season and pitched adequately in the Midwest league at age 21. Both guys are unlikely to ever make an impact on the Yankees, the upside realistically is for them to play well enough to turn into further trade bait.

12/19/03 -
Signed Miguel Cairo to a one year, $900,000 contract.

Wilson, Sierra and now this - about a million bucks a man filling out a pretty weak bench. Cairo's at least versatile, as he can play pretty much any position on the field and hit a little bit. I'm not thrilled about bringing him in, but he sure makes Wilson look like even more of a waste now that he's sitting alongside a similar but better player. Aside from the Pedro crushing.

12/20/03 -
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to David Dellucci.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Karim Garcia.

There are those who like David Dellucci as a player, but I'm not among them. I know he's been a bit disappointing given some of the work he did early in his career, but he did virtually nothing for the Yanks in 2003 and had no business being brought back. He'll be in Texas. Garcia, on the other hand, can actually hit and has demonstrated that ability both in New York and Cleveland. I wouldn't want him as my starting corner outfielder (though that's been taken care of), but as a bat off the bench, I probably like him better than Ruben Sierra. He'll be in Queens, where the Mets have really improved their outfield.

12/22/03 -
Signed Paul Quantrill to a two year, $6.8 million contract with a club option for 2006 ($3.6 million, $400K buyout).

A little excessive. The Yanks have other options (Scott Proctor is one) internally and don't need to invest this kind of guaranteed money in a pitcher of Quantrill's caliber. I don't expect him to bomb in the Bronx, but my expectations aren't all that high either.

12/23/03 -
Designated Michel Hernandez for assignment.
Signed Tom Gordon to a two year, $7.25 million contract.
Signed Kenny Lofton to a two year, $6.2 million contract.

The Red Sox claimed Hernandez, who could be a credible backup catcher given the opportunity. Between talking Colter Bean in the Rule V Draft and Hernandez here, is it possible that Boston's trying to stick it to the Yankees, picking up a guy the Yanks have discarded and watching him go on to major league success? In any case, he's not going to displace Varitek in 2004 and is behind Kelly Shoppach on the organization depth chart in Boston. Gordon's exactly the kind of pitcher the Yanks need in the bullpen - a guy who collects a lot of strikeouts. His health problems are a few years behind him now, and it's going to be fun watching Flash set up the Hammer of God. The Lofton signing is probably the most bothersome move for me as a Yankee fan - there's just no discernable reason for it. He's not a significant upgrade over Bernie in center, and he's not a good DH. I know he would've been more money and required a longer commitment, but the Yanks should've been interested in Mike Cameron, who would've been a great aid to both the offense and defense. If they get Carlos Beltran after the season, Lofton's all the more extraneous...but all would be forgiven.

01/06/04 -
Signed Javier Vazquez to a four year, $45 millon contract.

If Vazquez isn't worth it, the Yankees have a right to be disappointed. He's been very good and durable in each of the last four years, and heading into his age 27-30 seasons, there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to sustain that success. Injuries are always a real risk when signing a long-term deal (especially for a pitcher), but Vazquez is a guy I feel pretty confident in.

01/09/04 -
Outrighted Erick Almonte to AAA Columbus.

Realistically, he's not going to have much of a role on this team. He failed in an extended trial in 2003, and isn't likely to see another such opportunity come around in pinstripes.

01/12/04 -
Designated Fernando Seguignol for assignment.
Signed Tony Clark to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

As you probably know, Seguignol absolutely destroyed AAA last year and didn't earn as much as a look from the Yankees at any point. It's reasonable to think that he could be a pretty decent hitter in the major leagues right now, but he's not going to get that opportunity with the Yankees. At the same time, they feel the need to go out and sign a backup first baseman (hey...Seguignol has been a better hitter for at least the last two years, and he's in house!) Whatever. Tony Clark's got major league success behind him, is really tall, and can contribute. It just seems silly that teams frequently won't give minor league veterans because they have limited major league experience - it's a self-perpetuating cycle. Anyhow, Clark's not likely to make the team now that Travis Lee (see 2/26/04) has been signed to a guaranteed contract.

01/20/04 -
Signed Alfonso Soriano to a one year, $5.4 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

A very reasonable price for a hitter of Soriano's caliber. As much as he's frustrating to watch, he's been enormously productive at second base. Of course, he wouldn't be around for long.

02/04/04 -
Acquired Mike Lamb from the Texas Rangers. (for Jose Garcia)
Traded Jose Garcia to the Texas Rangers. (for Mike Lamb)

It'd be nice to envision Mike Lamb winning a role on the Yankees. With Boone going down, he would've been a decent fill-in at third base, but with the acquisition of Alex Rodriguez (coming soon), he's rendered pretty much useless. He's really a pretty decent hitter and can play both the infield and outfield corners - I think he'd find a place on my bench if I were running the Yankees. Hard to imagine him doing so now though.

02/05/04 -
Released Drew Henson.
Signed Erick Almonte to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Darren Bragg to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Homer Bush to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Jeff Deardorff to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Felix Escalona to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Sal Fasano to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Omar Fuentes to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Joe Girardi to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Tyler Houston to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Jim Mann to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Dioner Navarro to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Donovan Osborne to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed John Rodriguez to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed David Shepard to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Jon Mark Sprowl to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Steve Torrealba to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

The Drew Henson experiment officially ends; best of luck to him in the NFL. The Yankees don't often have guys make the roster after starting off as NRIs, and there's no exception in this group. Navarro and Sprowl are catching prospects (with Navarro the younger and better of the two), and there's not much else. Osborne will probably hang around AAA Columbus in case a Yankee starter goes down, and Girardi will move to the YES network. Tyler Houston might've been an option, but he gave up after the A-Rod acquisition.

02/16/04 -
Acquired Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers. (with cash for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later)
Traded Alfonso Soriano to the Texas Rangers. (with a player to be named later for Alex Rodriguez and cash)
Traded a player to be named later to the Texas Rangers. (with Alfonso Soriano for Alex Rodriguez and cash)

I don't know what can be said that hasn't already been said. This is a wonderful deal for the Yankees. If I were starting a team right now (or any time for awhile now), my first selection would be Rodriguez...he can play short extremely well, he's been durable, he's still young and he can hit the crap out of the ball. And the Red Sox were close to acquiring him, which makes the trade even sweeter. He'll move to third for the beginning of the 2004 season - hopefully the Yanks think better of that before too long. The trade of trades.

02/17/04 -
Signed Gabe White to a one year, $2.15 million contract with a mutual option for 2005. (avoided arbitration)

White's been a very good reliever in the past and should be a lefty killer in the Yankee pen this year. If he can do what he's done in the past effectively, he's well worth $2.15 million to the Yankees.

02/24/04 -
Released Tyler Houston.

As I said, Houston gave up on making the team following the A-Rod trade. Good riddance.

02/26/04 -
Released Aaron Boone.
Signed Travis Lee to a one year, $2.25 million contract with a club option for 2005 ($3 million, $250K buyout).

Boone finally gets released - it's thought that the team may try to resign him to an incentive-laden deal for 2005, which would be fine with me. His injury ultimately paved the way for the A-Rod trade, so I guess it ends up being a positive thing. Not many Yankee fans were relishing the thought of seeing Boone out there for a full season, given what he did in pinstripes last year (of course, he'll always have a place in our hearts). The Travis Lee signing is a bit odd, just because of the money. I guess he probably had other options and could've gone and played more elsewhere, so the team had to come big to get him...I just don't see him getting all that many at bats with the team they've currently got. A great defensive first baseman, he'll be Giambi's caddy there - you just can't get him, Giambi, Bernie, Lofton and Matsui all into the lineup at once.

The 2004 Yankees are a very different looking team than the one that lost the 2003 World Series to the Marlins. For the most part, that's a good thing. There's no question that the team has lost starting pitching - but I have more questions about the back end of the rotation (Contreras and Lieber) than the top two replacements (Vazquez and Brown). In truth, the offense should be good enough to make up for a lot of pitching deficiences. Adding the likes of Sheffield and Rodriguez should make this one of the best offensive teams around, certainly the best Yankee team we've seen in recent years. Both the Yanks and Red Sox (and Blue Jays) have improved significantly since the end of the season - it's going to be fun, again.
posted by VZW Watcher at 12:50 PM -

Larry Beinfest's winter-to-date
 
The notable moves made by the Florida Marlins under Larry Beinfest since the end of the 2003 season. Please send any comments/omissions/questions/feedback here.

11/10/03 -
Outrighted Kevin Olsen to AAA Albuquerque.
Signed Ryan Christenson to a minor league contract.

There was a time when there were quite a few guys with names like "Christenson" floating around, but none have panned out so far. Ryan Christenson will be 30 this year and has not approached major league success of any kind since 2000, when he bordered on adequate in Oakland. So while he's not likely to get much of an opportunity, it's not as if the Marlins have a ton of outfield depth (after Juan Pierre, Jeff Conine and Miguel Cabrera, there's not much there). Probably not much here.

11/14/03 -
Signed Felipe Crespo to a minor league contract.
Signed Bryce Florie to a minor league contract.

11/24/03 -
Invited Ryan Christenson to spring training.
Invited Mike Fyhrie to spring training.
Invited Delvin James to spring training.
Invited David Manning to spring training.
Invited Aaron Small to spring training.
Signed Cedrick Bowers to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Marty McLeary to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Scott Sanders to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Matt Treanor to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Jason Wood to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

I'll be honest - I don't know a whole lot about most of these guys. Nice to see that Scott Sanders is still making a go of it - he pitched at AAA Albuquerque last year after last appearing in the major leagues with the Cubs in 1999. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that none of these guys make the team.

11/25/03 -
Acquired Hee Seop Choi from the Chicago Cubs. (with Mike Nannini for Derrek Lee)
Acquired Mike Nannini from the Chicago Cubs. (with Hee Seop Choi for Derrek Lee)
Traded Derrek Lee to the Chicago Cubs. (for Hee Seop Choi and Mike Nannini)

Lee's legitimately one of the best all-around first basemen in the game, but he was about to get expensive and is now gone. If you're going to trade a player of Lee's caliber, you'd do well to bring in a good young player like Choi, a guy with lots of promise who will be cheap for awhile. I fully expect both Lee and Choi to be successful in their new homes, with Choi and Wil Cordero (signed later in the offseason) forming a very effective platoon in Florida. Nannini's a former 1998 first rounder (selected by the Astros) who had a nice season last year at AA West Tennessee. He struck over a man per inning (158 Ks in 154 innings) and posted a 3.52 ERA at age 23, so he's not quite just a throw-in here.

12/02/03 -
Signed Mike Lowell to a four year, $32 million contract.

As you undoubtedly know, this is more than just a 4 year, $32 million contract - it's got an unprecedented (to my knowledge) clause that makes every year after the first contigent on the building of a new ballpark. It looks unlikely that a new stadium will be built in South Florida, so Lowell may well be a free agent again following the 2004 season - which wouldn't be the worst thing for the Marlins. As good as it looks like Miguel Cabrera is going to be, he'd have more value at third than he does in an outfield corner, and Lowell's getting to the point where he's likely to start declining soon. It's certainly a lot easier to find a good corner outfielder than a third baseman. Lowell should be worth the money this year.

12/04/03 -
Signed Mike Mordecai to a one year, $500,000 contract.

He can't really hit and is limited to playing a couple infield spots. He's now been a part of two World Series champs (Atlanta in 1995 and Florida last year), but has been legitimately crappy during his tenure with the Marlins (the last two years). You'd be better off filling this utility man spot with someone either younger and cheaper or someone competent...I don't see a whole lot of justification for spending half a million dollars and a roster spot on the likes of Mordecai.

12/05/03 -
Signed Lenny Harris to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

12/06/03 -
Signed Gerald Williams to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Good to have old Lenny and Ice back in camp. It goes without saying, but if either are on the roster at any point, it's a waste.

12/07/03 -
Signed Luis Castillo to a three year, $16 million contract with a vesting option for 2007 ($6 million).
Signed Chad Fox to a one year, $1.2 million contract.

Fox has been either very effective or pretty awful for most of his career, and the Marlins got the good Fox when they picked him up in midseason. It's a bit of a gamble to bank on him being able to be as good as he was in Florida in 2003 again, but for this price it's probably worth it. As he's shown, he has the ability to be a tremendous asset out of the bullpen. The Castillo deal is a little bit problematic, perhaps driven as much by public relations as anything else. While he's still a very good player, you're starting to see his speed go as he ages, and so much of his game is predicated on that. I can understand ownership wanting to look like it wants to keep the championship core together, but retaining Castillo and Lowell might not have been the best way to go. That being said, this is only three years guaranteed, and while Castillo might look overpaid by 2006, it's a short enough deal that they're unlikely to get too badly burned.

12/13/03 -
Acquired Travis Ezi from the Los Angeles Dodgers. (for Juan Encarnacion)
Traded Juan Encarnacion to the Los Angeles Dodgers. (for Travis Ezi)

I understand that the alternative for the Marlins was to non-tender him because he was about to get paid, but the outfield is going to be weaker without him around next year. Can you expect Juan Pierre and Jeff Conine to match their 2003 seasons in 2004? I don't know that you can. Either way, the team lacks a good fourth outfielder, and while he hasn't lived up to his early promise, Encarnacion was okay in 2003 (.270/.313/.446 in 601 at bats). He's not a good starting corner outfielder - but he's not worthless. Since they were going to get rid of him, kudos to Beinfest for getting something back.

12/16/03 -
Acquired Bill Murphy from the Oakland Athletics. (with Mike Neu for Mark Redman)
Acquired Mike Neu from the Oakland Athletics. (with Bill Murphy for Mark Redman)
Traded Mark Redman to the Oakland Athletics. (for Bill Murphy and Mike Neu)

Neu will be an asset out of the bullpen for years to come and Murphy is a young pitcher out of Cal State Northridge who did a decent young in the Texas League last year. However, Redman's a damn good pitcher and held the Marlin rotation together for parts of last season with Dontrelle Willis after A.J. Burnett went down. Again, he was about to make a lot of money and probably got overpaid in Oakland, but the drop from Redman to Darren Oliver (who will start the season as the #5 starter) is not insignificant.

12/20/03 -
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Armando Almanza.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Toby Borland.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Braden Looper.

Almanza was pretty bad last year (6.08 ERA in 50.1 innings), and the Marlins really have better options. Looper racked up a bunch of saves last season and was likely to be awarded more more in arbitration than he's really worth, so non-tendering him makes sense too. Borland pitched well (in just 9.2 innings) and was later brought back (12/22/03) on a minor league contract. He's in camp with the team.

12/21/03 -
Signed Armando Benitez to a one year, $3.5 million contract.
Signed A.J. Burnett to a one year, $2.5 million contract.
Signed Alex Gonzalez to a two year, $6.2 million contract.

Benitez will be the new closer in Florida, replacing the non-tendered Braden Looper and the still unsigned Ugueth Urbina. I've seen an awful lot of him here in New York, but I think we all know what we're getting by now. $3.5 million seems a little steep, but he'll solidify the back end of the bullpen. Burnett, as you know, is hurt, but he's supposedly on schedule to return before midseason. Alex Gonzalez will be at short again, which would concern me - he's had a couple good months his entire major league tenure, which is now over 600 games old. Obviously the team won a championship with him, but short is a position I'd want to look into upgrading.

12/22/03 -
Signed Toby Borland to a minor league contract.

01/07/04 -
Signed Damion Easley to a minor league contract.

I guess a great spring could get him a shot a backup role in the infield, but he's done nothing in the last...well...three years, to be charitable, to earn such an opportunity. He had a nice three year run in Detroit in 1997-1999, but there's plenty of evidence to show that he's finished now. He's limited to second base defensively and can't hit anymore, so he's really got no place on this or any team.

01/20/04 -
Signed Carl Pavano to a one year, $3.8 million contract. (avoided arbitration)
Signed Brad Penny to a one year, $3.725 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

Two important rotation cogs locked up for another year. After all the injury problems Pavano had after being acquired by the Expos in the Pedro Martinez deal, it was great to see him pitching effectively last year. He gave the Marlins 201 innings of solid work last year, won a World Series, pitched great in the playoffs, and according to Dan, is now dating Alyssa Milano. Hats off to you, Carl.

01/22/04 -
Invited Dennis Anderson to spring training.
Invited Trevor Hutchinson to spring training.
Invited Ryan Jorgenson to spring training.
Invited Mike Nannini to spring training.
Invited Eric Reed to spring training.
Invited Derek Wathan to spring training.
Signed Larry Sutton to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

01/29/04 -
Signed Darren Oliver to a one year, $750,000 contract.

One of the few transactions this offseason I actually covered on this site, you can check out my lengthier comments here. I would've expected little more than an NRI for Oliver, but he did pitch effectively last year in Colorado and supposedly will only be in the back of the rotation until A.J. Burnett returns (which the team hopes will be some time in May or June), at which point he'll move to the bullpen. Low risk, low reward.

02/03/04 -
Signed Wil Cordero to a one year, $600,000 contract.

There are many things Wil Cordero can't do, but the guy crushes left-handed pitching. Assuming he'll be used at first base and in the outfield pretty much exclusively against lefties, he'll be an asset. For this price, it's hard to argue.

02/05/04 -
Signed Nelson Cruz to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Armando Rios to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

The Marlins had some hard decisions to make coming off their second championship season - many reports came out following the World Series that the team's payroll would have to increase substantially in order to keep the team intact. Luis Castillo and Mike Lowell were free agents, and the team had to deal with escalating salaries of the likes of Juan Encarnacion, Derrek Lee and Mark Redman. To their credit, they didn't attempt to stand pat like the Angels did last winter, and have made moves looking towards the future, acquiring Hee Seop Choi and cutting the cord with guys who would've been clearly overpaid like Encarnacion. It'll be interesting to see how Beinfest and company go about tweaking this team through the season, as they go into the 2004 season a clear underdog in their own division (to the Phillies, with the Braves right there).

posted by VZW Watcher at 5:01 PM -

Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan's winter-to-date
 
The notable moves made by the Baltimore Orioles under Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan since the end of the 2003 season. Please send any comments/omissions/questions/feedback here.

10/03/03 -
Outrighted Robert Machado to AAA Ottawa.
Outrighted Carlos Mendez to AAA Ottawa. (Mendez refused and became a free agent.)
Outrighted Pedro Swann to AAA Ottawa.

10/14/03 -
Outrighted Felix Escalona to AAA Ottawa.
Outrighted Jose Leon to AAA Ottawa.
Outrighted Mike Paradis to AAA Ottawa.
Outrighted Willis Roberts to AAA Ottawa.

10/17/03 -
Signed Tim Corcoran to a minor league contract.
Signed Darwin Cubillan to a minor league contract.
Signed Cory Harris to a minor league contract.
Signed Chris Lemonis to a minor league contract.
Signed Luis Lopez to a minor league contract.
Signed Carlos Mendez to a minor league contract.
Signed Sean Spencer to a minor league contract.
Signed Pedro Swann to a minor league contract.

10/29/03 -
Declined option on Brook Fordyce ($4 million, $500K buyout).
Declined option on Pat Hentgen ($4 million, $300K buyout).

Hentgen had a nice second half last year, but I doubt the Orioles considered picking up his $4 million option too seriously. Given the young pitching coming up through the system, this probably makes sense, even if the Opening Day rotation isn't going to be anything to write home about. He's gone to Toronto where, if healthy, he should be a fine #4 starter. Not picking up Fordyce's option is an absolute no-brainer.

11/07/03 -
Named Lee Mazzilli manager.

Why Lee Mazzilli? He's coming from the Yankees and the Yankees have done a pretty good job winning lately. And I assume he interviewed well. But he's got no relevant experience for us to look at, so it's hard to have any good guess as to what kind of manager he'll be.

11/13/03 -
Declined option on Deivi Cruz ($1.5 million).
Declined option on Kerry Ligtenberg ($1.2 million).

Cruz was adequate for parts of last year, but he certainly isn't a guy you want to keep around at any significant expense. The Orioles found a slightly better replacement for him (12/14/03). He's gone to Tampa, where he really doesn't have a place to play given that Julio Lugo is the incumbent shortstop there and is coming off a decent 2003 season. Ligtenberg might've been worth keeping around at $1.2 million, but he's gone to Toronto.

11/20/03 -
Claimed Walter Young off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Unlikely to have an impact on the major league level. That said, Walter Young's been a productive minor league hitter, and by all accounts, he's a lot of fun to watch. Picking him up for nothing more than the cost of a waiver claim is a pretty nice move.

12/05/03 -
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Tony Batista.

Being replaced by Melvin Mora at third in Baltimore. Batista was pretty bad in 2003, finishing up with a .235/.270/.393 line in 161 games (631 at bats). He'll move to Montreal, where he should be something of an improvement on the likes of Jamey Carroll and Fernando Tatis, but he really hasn't shown much since 2000. Good for 25 home runs, but not a whole lot more.

12/14/03 -
Signed Miguel Tejada to a six year, $72 million contract.

A lot of money, but the Orioles wanted to make a statement (that they're willing to spend money), and they succeeded. While his OBP isn't quite as high as you'd like from a guy making this kind of scratch, there's little dispute that he's among the best shortstops in the game and a damn productive hitter. He's slugged at least .472 in each of the last four seasons, and at just 28, is a reasonable bet to continue to be productive over much of the life of this contract. This deal was initially thought to be for something like $54 million, which would've been significantly better - but Tejada's probably not going to be a burden over the next six years.

12/15/03 -
Selected Jose Bautista of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Rule V Draft (1st round, 6th overall).

Once a very well thought of prospect, the Pirates couldn't find a way to get Bautista on their 40-man roster, so the Orioles snapped him up. Given that Melvin Mora is currently slated to play third everyday and that Bautista might be able to play a credible third (offensively and defensively) right now, it seems possible that he could stick and actually get some time in the majors in 2004.

12/19/03 -
Signed Napoleon Calzado to a minor league contract.
Signed Eddy Garabito to a minor league contract.
Signed Chad Mottola to a minor league contract.

12/20/03 -
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Jason Johnson.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Damian Moss.

With the pitching the Orioles have coming up through the system, it's hard to argue with either of these moves. Moss was brutal in Baltimore in 2003, kudos to the front office for not holding on to him just because he came over in the Ponson deal. He'll be in Tampa in 2004. Jason Johnson's an average innings eater, but likely would've been awarded more than he's worth had the team taken him to arbitration.

12/22/03 -
Signed Javy Lopez to a three year, $22.5 million contract.

A lot of money for a guy who's had one good season any time recently. Lopez will fill the team's void at catcher this year and potentially at first base in 2005 and 2006, but he'll need to prove that his 2003 wasn't a fluke before this contract looks like a smart investment. If he can continue to slug close to .700 over the next three years, this'll be a bargain. His 2003 performance was just so out of whack with the rest of his career that he's going to have to prove he's worth this kind of money.

12/30/03 -
Signed Mike DeJean to a one year, $1.5 million contract.

Do the Orioles really consider themselves contenders? If so, signing a guy like DeJean makes some sense...he's a good relief pitcher and could be a contributor in a contender's bullpen. But if not - and realistically, I don't know how they can in 2004 - what's the logic in signing a guy like DeJean to a one year contract? Sure, he improves this iteration of the Baltimore Orioles...but next year, in 2006, in 2007, when the team might actually have a chance to make a run at the division...what do they have to show for it? Mightn't it be an idea to allow your young pitchers to get some valuable experience in the bullpen, even in high leverage spots? I guess if they're going to turn around and ship DeJean out later in the season, I can buy this. Otherwise, I don't really understand it.

01/08/04 -
Invited Napoleon Calzado to spring training.
Invited Raul Casanova to spring training.
Invited Darwin Cubillan to spring training.
Invited Eddy Garabito to spring training.
Invited Luis Lopez to spring training.
Invited Carlos Mendez to spring training.
Invited Pedro Swann to spring training.
Signed Bill Haselman to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed B.J. Surhoff to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Probably nothing that impacts the team here. Surhoff is pretty much done, he apparently wants to come back, but there's not much room for him anymore. Pedro Swann's been mashing in the minor leagues for years now, and there's no reason to think he's about to break through. Calzado's been okay, advancing as far as AAA Ottawa in 2003, but with no power to speak of - there are much better players in place at the positions he can handle at the major league level. Carlos Mendez did smack around AAA pitching (.347/.375/.500) at Ottawa in 61 games last year, and might get a look, but only because Javy Lopez's backup is probably going to be Geronimo Gil. Not much here to be excited about.

01/10/04 -
Signed Rafael Palmeiro to a one year, $4 million contract.

Palmeiro is obviously getting old, but he's continued to be a very productive player. As long as the team doesn't have better options at first base and in the outfield corners (because Jay Gibbons could conceivably move to first if they had someone else to play right), this makes some sense. You certainly don't want David Segui or Jack Cust manning first base on a full-time basis, and this is only a one year commitment (with a club option I believe, but I couldn't find terms on it). I'm not sure how much impact signing a guy like Palmeiro for a year will ultimately be in a division that features three of the best teams in baseball, but at least it ought to excite the fans a little to bring in a Hall of Fame caliber player.

01/14/04 -
Signed Sidney Ponson to a three year, $22.5 million contract.

He's fat, but I really like Ponson. While he's been a health risk his entire career, he's coming off his best season and makes the trade that sent him to San Francisco look that much better now that he comes back to the Orioles. He'll be the #1 starter in what ought to be a good but inexperienced rotation.

01/16/04 -
Invited Mike Fontenot to spring training.
Invited John Maine to spring training.
Signed Keith Osik to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Both Fontenot and Maine have great shots to be major leaguers in some capacity in the not-too-distant future, but not yet. You know what Osik brings to the table, and it's not much.

01/20/04 -
Signed Jerry Hairston Jr. to a one year, $1.65 million contract. (avoided arbitration)
Signed Luis Matos to a one year, $975,000 contract. (avoided arbitration)

I'll be honest - I didn't realize how good Hairston was last year. He was hurt, but his numbers (even including those he accumulated after he returned, which were crappy) were easily the best of his career. If he can come close to replicating those, he's an asset to the team at second base and a bargain at this price. Matos also had a breakthrough season, and bringing him back at this price is a steal.

01/28/04 -
Signed Clay Bellinger to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Melvin Mora to a three year, $10.5 million contract.
Signed Rob Ramsay to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Mora's probably the Opening Day third baseman now that Tony Batista is gone to Montreal. Mora was terrific in 2003 (.317/.418/.503, easily the best season of his career), but his real value is probably in his versatility - he can play any infield or outfield spot and not embarrass himself offensively or defensively. He's already 32 though and unlikely to match his 2003 numbers, so the contract seems a little bit excessive. Neither Bellinger nor Ramsay are likely to have any impact with the major league team.

02/04/04 -
Signed Mark McLemore to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

A crappy, older version of Mora. Not long ago, McLemore was a valuable contributor in Seattle, but while he's got a decent shot at making this team, his offensive contributions from 2003 (.233/.318/.314) don't point to him being an asset. I don't know what McLemore brings to the team that they don't already have in Mora and Brian Roberts (a much younger player with more offensive skills who can also play a few positions).

02/11/04 -
Signed B.J. Ryan to a one year, $1.275 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

Eh. Ryan's been an average reliever over the past three seasons, though he took some steps forward in 2003 with an increased strikeout rate and decreased home run rate. There are a lot of relievers out there, but $1.275 million isn't really breaking the bank, particularly with the way the team threw around money this offseason.

02/12/04 -
Signed Jay Gibbons to a one year, $2.6 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

Not a guy I want to pay a whole lot more than this to, since he's not that young (he'll be 27 in 2004) and kind of limited in what he can do. That said, he can handle right field and hits for some power, so he's worth keeping around until they can find a viable alternative.

03/01/04 -
Invited Jeffrey Montani to spring training.
Invited Richard Stahl to spring training.

I'll be rooting for Montani, a product of the state university system of the great state of New York (he went to Binghamton). He's been a minor league closer to this point, racking up 38 saves over the past two seasons between rookie league Bluefield and A Delmarva. I'm sure he's just in camp so the organization can take a look at him. Stahl's a first rounder from 1999 who also finished at Delmarva.

It's a good thing that Orioles owner Peter Angelos wants to spend on his team again, and we're getting to a point now where it looks like we might have a division in the AL East where every team is competitive (I can't remember such a division in recent years) before too long. Tampa's not good yet, but there's a lot of young talent there. My hope is that what could be a down year in Baltimore in 2004 (with 19 games a piece against the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays) doesn't discourage them, as they should have some really good young pitching coming soon. It's a shame they missed out on Vladimir Guerrero, who they were close to signing, as he would've really set the tone for an excellent offensive team. As it is, the additions of Tejada and Palmeiro help, but I wonder if it'll be anywhere near enough to compete with the dynamite lineups the three divisional powers are likely to be sporting for the forseeable future.
posted by VZW Watcher at 5:34 PM -

Billy Beane's winter-to-date (Oakland Athletics)
 
The notable moves made by the Oakland Athletics under Billy Beane since the end of the 2003 season. Please send any comments/omissions/questions/feedback here.

10/09/03 -
Claimed Marco Scutaro off waivers from the New York Mets.
Claimed Matt Watson off waivers from the New York Mets.
Designated John Halama for assignment.
Designated Mark Johnson for assignment.

A couple of astute waiver wire pickups. Scutaro has been a major league ready player for awhile, and never got much of an opportunity in Queens, amassing just 111 at bats over two seasons. It's a shame, since the Mets continued to trot out the likes of Joe McEwing, who while a little more versatile defensively, is not the hitter Scutaro is. He should get a shot as the backup middle infielder in Oakland. Watson's a 25-year old minor league outfielder with a little pop, not a bad guy to have around just in case.

10/21/03 -
Declined option on Chris Singleton ($1.8 million for 2004, $200K buyout).

A pretty obvious move. While the team had yet to address its outfield deficiencies, Singleton clearly wasn't the answer. He since signed on with the Pirates for awhile and then was just recently released for not passing his physical. I still can't believe he's not Ken Singleton's son.

11/18/03 -
Acquired Bobby Kielty from the Toronto Blue Jays. (with a player to be named later or cash for Ted Lilly)
Acquired a player to be named later (or cash) from the Toronto Blue Jays. (with Bobby Kielty for Ted Lilly)
Signed Eric Cammack to a minor league contract.
Traded Ted Lilly to the Toronto Blue Jays. (for Bobby Kielty and a player to be named later or cash)

The first step in addressing the team's offensive woes and their getting worse with the impending departure of Miguel Tejada. Lilly's a real nice pitcher and a guy who is probably going to have pretty good success in Toronto behind Roy Halladay and bolstered by an excellent lineup. In Oakland however, he was clearly a back-of-the-rotation guy, and with the likes of Rich Harden, Justin Duchscherer and Joe Blanton coming along, very expendable. Kielty's the kind of guy the A's look for (good power, good eye) - we'll have to see just what he's able to accomplish in a full time role (his career high in at bats is 427). He'll be the team's starting left fielder. I don't think the player to be named (or cash) has been determined, but if I'm wrong on that, let me know.

11/19/03 -
Claimed Mario Ramos off waivers from the Texas Rangers.

Ramos did some more bouncing around after being claimed by the A's - ultimately settling at AAA Sacramento and, for the moment, in the A's camp - the comment on him is at 02/07/04.

11/26/03 -
Acquired Mark Kotsay from the San Diego Padres. (for Ramon Hernandez and Terrence Long)
Traded Ramon Hernandez to the San Diego Padres. (with Terrence Long for Mark Kotsay)
Traded Terrence Long to the San Diego Padres. (with Ramon Hernandez for Mark Kotsay).

Conceivably a win-win for both sides. The A's continued here to try to rebuild the outfield, and Kotsay's a step up from the likes of Terrence Long who they had out there in 2003. He's also suffered some debilitating injuries, and while I don't know much about them specifically, it doesn't sound as if he's out of the water in terms of dealing with them in the future. Either way, he's a very good centerfielder right now and can get on base...the question is really whether a) he can stay in the lineup and b) whether his power will return (he slugged just .384 in 2003). While moving Long is a straight dump of a pretty worthless and overpaid player, losing Ramon Hernandez is significant, particularly now that we know who he's being replaced by.

12/08/03 -
Declined to offer arbitration to Jose Guillen.
Declined to offer arbitration to Steve Sparks.
Offered arbitration to Keith Foulke.
Offered arbitration to Ricardo Rincon.
Offered arbitration to Miguel Tejada.

Offering arbitration to Foulke (who they attempted to resign), Rincon (who they did) and Tejada (who left without much of a fight) was pretty straightforward. Guillen would almost certainly have made more than he's worth in arbitration, coming off what was easily the best season of his career thus far.

12/15/03 -
Acquired Michael Barrett from the Montreal Expos. (for a player to be named later)
Acquired Frank Brooks from the New York Mets. (for a player to be named later)
Traded Brett Price to the Montreal Expos. (for Michael Barrett)
Traded a player to be named later to the New York Mets. (for Frank Brooks)

Brooks is a Rule V pick out of the Pirates' organization, and will have to stick in the majors all season for him to stick. Since the A's pulled this trick with Mike Neu a year ago, it seems possible that they can keep him on the roster, spot him in low-leverage situations, and keep him around. Michael Barrett would be an Athletic for just one day, moving along to the Cubs for Damian Miller on the 16th. Price is a 24-year old reliever with a nice strikeout rate who has pitched in the California League the past two seasons.

12/16/03 -
Acquired Damian Miller from the Chicago Cubs. (with $800,000 for Michael Barrett and a player to be named later)
Acquired Mark Redman from the Florida Marlins. (for Bill Murphy and Mike Neu)
Signed Ricardo Rincon to a two year, $3.65 million contract. (avoided arbitration)
Traded Michael Barrett to the Chicago Cubs. (with a player to be named later for Damian Miller and $800,000)
Traded Bill Murphy to the Florida Marlins. (with Mike Neu for Mark Redman)
Traded Mike Neu to the Florida Marlins. (with Bill Murphy for Mark Redman)

So the catcher in Oakland won't be Ramon Hernandez, won't be Michael Barrett, it'll be...Damian Miller. At his peak, Miller was a passable starting catcher, but if his 2003 numbers (.233/.310/.369) are any indication, those days may have passed.

12/18/03 -
Acquired Chris Hammond from the New York Yankees. (with cash for Edwardo Sierra and J.T. Stotts)
Traded Edwardo Sierra to the New York Yankees. (with J.T. Stotts for Chris Hammond and cash)
Traded J.T. Stotts to the New York Yankees. (with Edwardo Sierra for Chris Hammond and cash)

At this point, Arthur Rhodes wasn't yet signed, and Ricardo Rincon was the only lefty in the bullpen. I read in more than a few places that if Foulke left, Beane would make Rincon the "closer", let him rack up some nice save totals, and move him along. Of course, with the addition of Rhodes, Hammond slides in as just a valuable member of a good bullpen - he was pretty much useless in New York with the additions of Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill.

12/20/03 -
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Jeremy Fikac.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Frank Menechino.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Mark Redman.
Signed Erubiel Durazo to a one year, $2.1 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

Very reasonable contract for a player like Durazo. Menechino and Redman would both be resigned.

12/21/03 -
Signed Billy McMillon to a one year contract.
Signed Mark Redman to a three year, $11 million contract.

I'm an unabashed Mark Redman lover, but this seems like a lot. Considering the way the A's have been able to churn out pitchers in recent years, you'd have to believe you'd be able to fill the #5 hole in the rotation (with Harden sliding up to #4) more cheaply than this without sacrificing much effectiveness. That said, Redman should be adequate rotation filler for the life of this contract, whether he's in Oakland or moved elsewhere. McMillon's a nice reserve and bat off the bench.

12/22/03 -
Signed Arthur Rhodes to a three year, $9.2 million contract.

He's getting up there in years (34 in 2004, 36 by the time this contract expires), but it seems short relievers don't have quite the same decline automatically associated with aging as some of their starting counterparts. Rhodes is coming off a down year, but he's been pretty reliable and effective over the last eight years or so, and especially in two of the last three. I wonder if he'll play all three years in Oakland. He's the nominal closer heading into the season.

01/06/04 -
Designated Jose Flores for assignment.
Invited Joe Blanton to spring training.
Invited Jose Flores to spring training.
Invited Mike Rose to spring training.
Invited Brian Sellier to spring training.
Invited Nick Swisher to spring training.
Outrighted Jose Flores to AAA Sacramento.
Signed Eric Cammack to a minor league contract.
Signed Ramon Castro to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Wayne Gomes to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Frank Menechino to a one year, $400,000 contract.

Blanton and Swisher are both relatively famous, prominent characters in Michael Lewis's Moneyball. None of these guys (with the exception of Menechino, who's got a guaranteed contract) has much of a shot of breaking camp with the team, but Blanton could conceivably be with the team before long. Wayne Gomes is a really nice guy.

01/08/04 -
Invited Brad Sullivan to spring training.
Signed Lou Pote to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Sullivan was a 2003 first round pick, a good looking pitcher out of the University of Houston. There are a few guys waiting for cracks at the rotation ahead of him, but it'll be fun to watch him in camp. Pote was out of the major leagues in 2003, but has had success over the course of his four year career. He'll compete for a spot in the bullpen.

01/12/04 -
Signed Britt Reames to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

That 2000 season in St. Louis seems like a long time ago. He'll be 31 later this season and has done nothing during his time in Montreal to convince anyone he's worth anything more than this. Not a good bet to see much time in Oakland.

02/02/04 -
Designated Mario Ramos for assignment.
Signed Eric Karros to a one year, $1.05 million contract with a club option for 2005 ($1.5 million, $500K buyout).

Karros at this price will help the A's, as his role will almost certainly be confined to crushing left-handed pitching, which he does awfully well. He'll fill the first base and DH spots with Scott Hatteberg and Erubiel Durazo in 2004. Graham Koonce will continue to sit around in the minors.

02/07/04 -
Invited Mario Ramos to spring training.
Outrighted Mario Ramos to AAA Sacramento.

Ramos's time may well have come and gone...there are younger pitchers on the horizon in the organization now with higher ceilings, so Oakland may not be the place for him to succeed. All he took to acquire was a waiver claim though, and there's nothing wrong (from an organizational standpoint) in stockpiling talent. Ramos could probably start some places around the majors, but certainly not in Oakland.

02/09/04 -
Signed Steve Woodard to a minor league contract.

At one time a pretty reasonable innings eater, it's hard to see Woodard doing much in this organization with the pitching depth on hand.

02/13/04 -
Signed Chad Bradford to a one year, $965,000 contract. (avoided arbitration)

A favorite of many due to his insane-looking, dirt-scraping motion, Bradford's a an absolute steal at under a million bucks. If he continues to pitch as effectively as he has - well, his entire career - he's going to make a lot more before too long.

02/20/04 -
Named David Forst assistant general manager.
Named Billy Owens director of player personnel.

Forst and Owens are the two guys who were promoted when assistant GM Paul DePodesta jumped ship to become GM with the Dodgers.

Beane and company (the entire front office was intact for most of the offseason) made some interesting moves and have changed the look of the team heading into 2004. Obviously, success or failure relies largely on the health and effectiveness of the awesome rotation, which now consists of Hudson, Zito, Mulder, Redman and Harden. While they don't have Miguel Tejada any more, the outfield should be improved, though a lot will rely on a return to form by both Mark Kotsay and Jermaine Dye. As with most teams these days, there are a number of committed and knowledgable A's-focused bloggers out there, including Elephants in Oakland and Athletics Nation. They know an awful lot more about the team than we do, and we encourage you to seek more information at their sites.
posted by VZW Watcher at 2:47 PM -

Bill Bavasi's winter-to-date (Seattle Mariners)
 
The notable moves made by the Seattle Mariners under Bill Bavasi since he was hired on 11/07/03. Please send any comments/omissions/questions/feedback here.

11/19/03 -
Signed Raul Ibanez to a three year, $13.25 million contract.

As the first move in his tenure as GM, Bavasi chose to sign Raul Ibanez to be his starting left fielder - effectively giving up on either Randy Winn (see 12/11/03) or Mike Cameron, who would sign with the Mets in December. Ibanez has been a pleasant surprise in Kansas City the last three years, but this contract keeps him in Seattle through his 32-34 year old seasons - his peak has likely passed. And he moves from an excellent hitting environment at Kauffman Stadium to a decidely tough environment in which to hit in Safeco Field, while also hurting the outfield defense as a whole by replacing Cameron with Ibanez and shifting Winn to center.

12/07/03 -
Offered salary arbitration to Pat Borders.
Signed Shigetoshi Hasegawa to a two year, $6.3 million contract.

Hasegawa's turning 36 in August, and age is bound to kick in eventually...but there's no getting around the fact that he was terrific in 2003 and has been real good since arriving in Seattle. $3 million plus per year over two years seems pretty reasonable, even if he regresses a bit and ends up somewhere between his 2002 and 2003 seasons. I really don't know what to say about Pat Borders. He's supposedly retiring (though, as you'll see, he's back at spring training this year)...so why offer arbitration? I have no idea.

12/09/03 -
Signed Eddie Guardado to a three year, $13 million contract. (club/player options for 2005 and 2006, $13 million guaranteed)

This is really a one year deal with both player and club options...either way, he's guaranteed $13 million and has incentives that could make it worth $17 million. Guardado's a nice pitcher, very durable and reasonably effective, but this is a lot of money for 65 innings a season, especially if the team isn't a contender.

12/11/03 -
Signed Ryan Franklin to a two year, $4.1 million contract.
Signed Randy Winn to a three year, $11 million contract. (mutual option for 2006, $11 million total guaranteed)

Like the rest of the rotation, Franklin was quite good in 2003, pitching 212 very solid innings. He's coming off basically three solid years in the majors and is old enough (31 this season) that injuries really shouldn't be a big concern. $2 million per for the kind of work he's done thus far is a steal, he's not great, but almost every team could use a Ryan Franklin. Winn was resigned for significantly more money and effectively booted Mike Cameron out the door (he would sign a week later with the Mets). He's nowhere near the centerfielder that Cameron is (offensively or defensively), but his offensive contributions will look significantly better in center than they did in left (he hit .295/.346/.425 last year).

12/14/03 -
Signed Carlos Guillen to a one year, $2.5 million contract.

Just retained Guillen here, he was nearly traded to Cleveland for Omar Vizquel and finally was off to Detroit within a month.

12/15/03 -
Acquired Chris Buglovsky from the Colorado Rockies. (for Allan Simpson)
Acquired Quinton McCracken from the Arizona Diamondbacks. (for Greg Colbrunn)
Traded Greg Colbrunn to the Arizona Diamondbacks. (for Quinton McCracken)
Traded Allan Simpson to the Colorado Rockies. (for Chris Buglovsky)

Colbrunn is a lefty masher who can play first base - not a guy you'd want in there everyday, but certainly a productive player if he's spotted correctly. Trading him for Quinton McCracken, who will probably be the fourth outfielder on this team and flat out stunk in 2003, is simply idiotic. I know nothing of Buglovsky other than that he was a passable, 24-year old starter at AA Tulsa last year. Simpson's a 26-year old AAA reliever.

12/17/03 -
Signed Scott Spiezio to a three year, $9.15 million contract with a club option for 2007 ($3.25 million, $250K buyout).

Signed to be the new third baseman, filling the hole left by the spectacularly disappointing and already on his way out Jeff Cirillo. Spiezio's never impressed me - he's been a pretty average/lousy hitter for a first baseman, not providing near the power you'd like from that spot. As a third baseman, his offensive contributions are a little more valuable, and but you're going to have to live with .265/.330/.450 from him, and for $3 million a season, it's a waste of resources. Expecting any more than than a place holder until someone else is ready would be foolish.

12/18/03 -
Signed Ichiro Suzuki to a four year, $44 million contract extension.

I know Suzuki's been a very productive player, and I know he had the organization over a barrel, threatening to walk if he didn't have a new, long-term deal heading into the 2004 season. But this still seems a bit excessive. I'm sure he brings in a lot of money through merchandising and Japanese interest, but this is a lot of money and a lengthy commitment to a guy who relies so much on his speed and whose walk rate took such a precipitous decline last year (from 68 in 647 at bats in 2002 to 36 in 679 at bats in 2003). I think this might look bad in a few years.

12/20/03 -
Signed Freddy Garcia to a one year, $6.875 million contract.

The team supposedly looked into trading him, considered non-tendering him, and then decided to resign him to a one year contract for a pretty sizable sum. The team isn't relying on him as its ace, and has here a pitcher who was damn good as recently as two years ago and is still young enough (28) to turn it around. It's a lot of money (money that could've gone into pursuing guys like Vladimir Guerrero or retaining Mike Cameron), but the Mariners could do worse than taking one more shot with Garcia. Given that the trade market was so unappealing for him over the course of the offseason and that the Mariners don't have as good a team as they have the past few years, maybe he can increase his stock with some good work over the first couple months and the team can ship him elsewhere and move forward. We'll see.

01/05/04 -
Acquired Vince Faison from the San Diego Padres. (with Kevin Jarvis, Wiki Gonzalez and Dave Hansen for Jeff Cirillo, Brian Sweeney and $4.775 million)
Acquired Wiki Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres. (with Kevin Jarvis, Dave Hansen and Vince Faison for Jeff Cirillo, Brian Sweeney and $4.775 million)
Acquired Dave Hansen from the San Diego Padres. (with Kevin Jarvis, Wiki Gonzalez and Vince Faison for Jeff Cirillo, Brian Sweeney and $4.775 million)
Acquired Kevin Jarvis from the San Diego Padres. (with Wiki Gonzalez, Dave Hansen and Vince Faison for Jeff Cirillo, Brian Sweeney and $4.775 million)
Traded Jeff Cirillo to the San Diego Padres. (with Brian Sweeney and $4.775 million for Kevin Jarvis, Wiki Gonzalez, Dave Hansen and Vince Faison)
Traded Brian Sweeney to the San Diego Padres. (with Jeff Cirillo and $4.775 million for Kevin Jarvis, Wiki Gonzalez, Dave Hansen and Vince Faison)

They really wanted to get rid of Cirillo, and they did - unfortunately, I'm not sure they got much back they'll be able to use. The best player coming from San Diego in this trade is probably Dave Hansen, who can pinch hit, get on base and play first or third in a jam. Wiki Gonzalez is a passable backup catcher, but the team's already got two of those in Dan Wilson and Ben Davis. Kevin Jarvis is okay, but he's overpaid (due $4.25 million this year) and not likely to see a whole lot of meaningful work. Vince Faison is a former first rounder (in 1999) who hasn't done much in the San Diego system. Ultimately, this is a transparent dump of Cirillo (who deserves to be dumped, he's been terrible) and not much more.

01/08/04 -
Acquired Juan Gonzalez from the Detroit Tigers. (with Ramon Santiago for Carlos Guillen)
Acquired Ramon Santiago from the Detroit Tigers. (with Juan Gonzalez for Carlos Guillen)
Signed Rich Aurilia to a one year, $3.5 million contract.
Traded Carlos Guillen to the Detroit Tigers. (for Ramon Santiago and Juan Gonzalez)

With the signings of Spiezio to man third and now Aurilia, Guillen became expendable and was moved to Detroit for not much. If you remember, Guillen was nearly traded earlier in the offseason to Cleveland for Omar Vizquel, and I guess this is a little better than that would've been. Aurilia's reputation as a good hitter is based on one year (2001, when he hit .324/.369/.572)...the rest of his career has been pretty average. $3.5 million doesn't seem like a ton for average production from short, but all these contracts add up...ultimately, you'd think the money being spent on the likes of Aurilia, Garcia, Suzuki, etc. could've been spent bringing in a big free agent. But no. Santiago is still young, but he was terrible in regular duty last season in Detroit. I have no idea who this Juan Gonzalez, supposedly a shortstop, is.

01/09/04 -
Designated Ryan Anderson for assignment.

01/13/04 -
Outrighted Ryan Anderson to AAA Tacoma.

01/16/04 -
Invited Craig Anderson to spring training.
Invited Travis Blackley to spring training.
Invited Shin-Soo Choo to spring training.
Invited Adam Jones to spring training.
Invited Jose Lopez to spring training.
Invited Mickey Lopez to spring training.
Invited Luis Oliveros to spring training.
Invited Rene Rivera to spring training.
Invited Randy Williams to spring training.
Invited A.J. Zapp to spring training.
Signed Hiram Bocachica to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Pat Borders to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Bucky Jacobsen to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Mike Myers to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Jose Nunez to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed George Sherrill to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Several interesting players here. A few legitimate prospects in Blackley, Choo, Jose Lopez and Rene Rivera, some borderline guys in Adam Jones and George Sherrill and some who actually have a shot at making the big league roster out of camp in Bocachica and Mike Myers.

01/19/04 -
Signed Joel Pineiro to a three year, $14.5 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

Pineiro's a terrific pitcher and a joy to watch, so this seems awfully reasonable. He and Jamie Moyer should be 1-2 (in some order) in 2004.

01/20/04 -
Signed Gil Meche to a one year, $1.95 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

While nobody knows exactly what they're going to get with Meche (whether he'll fufill his once-great promise or not), he was effective and healthy last season, and $2 million is probably a reasonable gamble. If he can make 30 starts again (he made 32 last year, easily a career high), he's certainly worth it.

01/27/04 -
Released Kazuhiro Sasaki. (Sasaki returned to his native Japan.)

I don't know what options the Mariners had here...Sasaki wanted to go home, so that's it. He had a nice three year run.

01/29/04 -
Signed Yung-Chi Chen to a minor league contract.

02/09/04 -
Signed Mike Colangelo to a minor league contract.
Signed Ron Villone to a one year, $1 million contract.

As awesome as his name is, Colangelo's not likely to have much impact - after all, he's got the likes of Quinton McCracken, Hiram Bocachica and (if you look ahead to tomorrow) Eric Owens to contend with! Villone for a million bucks isn't terrible, he'll likely operate as a swingman, making spot starts and pitching in long relief.

02/10/04 -
Signed Terry Mulholland to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Eric Owens to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

While both these guys probably have a chance to stick, I'd take Owens over Mulholland if I had to pick, simply because Mulholland's role is filled a couple of times already and he's without a guaranteed contract. Having lefties around really isn't an issue...they've got Guardado, Mike Myers (if they choose to keep him around) and Ron Villone. Basically, Villone and Kevin Jarvis are guys I would imagine operating as long men/spot starters, and Mulholland would likely do the same. He's also already 41, so he's got something to prove in camp. Owens is a lousy fourth outfielder, but is likely to get a shot at getting on the roster as a reserve along with McCracken, just due to the lack of other options.

As you can hopefully see from these comments, I'm not terribly impressed with Bavasi's work in his first few months on the job, and I think this team will be considerably worse than it was last year (when they went 93-69). If you're a subscriber, Baseball Prospectus's Jonah Keri recently did a two part interview with Bavasi in which he explains the rationale behind some of his moves. It's a good read, so if you're a subscriber and for some reason haven't read it yet, take a look. Finally, there are many great devoted Mariners fans and writers out there that know way, way more about their team than we do, so we encourage you to check them out. U.S.S. Mariner is my favorite, but there are many more linked through their site.
posted by VZW Watcher at 8:26 PM -