Baseball Talk

[notesee]

I think they had bumped him up to bench coach this season...

Nah, Mattingly left with Torre. The only position he would accept was manager, and since he didn't get it .. well I don't know what he's doing, but pretty sure he's not going to be with NY next season.

[eastcoastrider27]

Nah, Mattingly left with Torre. The only position he would accept was manager, and since he didn't get it .. well I don't know what he's doing, but pretty sure he's not going to be with NY next season.

Hawkeye was saying that Mattingly was the bench coach this past season, not the hitting coach as you had said.

You are correct in that Mattingly will not be with the Yankees next season. That's what he has said at least.

[hawkeye]

And...I'm glad A-Rod will be gone. He didn't do anything to help us.

Wait, did you just miss this past season??? He pretty much single handedly got the Yankees into the wildcard! I admit he choked bad in the postseason, but without him, Seattle or Detroit would have been playing Cleveland. He got them there and poor managing, poor pitching and hitting was what didnt help in the end.

[hawkeye]

Hawkeye was saying that Mattingly was the bench coach this past season, not the hitting coach as you had said.

You are correct in that Mattingly will not be with the Yankees next season. That's what he has said at least.

That's what I meant.

I think Mattingly goes to the Dodgers with Torre.

[its swanny]

Wait, did you just miss this past season??? He pretty much single handedly got the Yankees into the wildcard! I admit he choked bad in the postseason, but without him, Seattle or Detroit would have been playing Cleveland. He got them there and poor managing, poor pitching and hitting was what didnt help in the end.

Playoffs are where it matters. This guy was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle.

Fail.

[Double D]

And...I'm glad A-Rod will be gone. He didn't do anything to help us.

Eh?

Pretty much any team under the sun would have been helped by Rodriguez's batting stats this season...

[eastcoastrider27]

He pretty much single handedly got the Yankees into the wildcard! I admit he choked bad in the postseason.

Even though ARod didn't play particularly well in the playoffs, he wasn't nearly as bad a Jeter or Posada who were pitiful.

[Francis Begbie]

And...I'm glad A-Rod will be gone. He didn't do anything to help us.

I'm no fan of A-Rod, but this is an incredibly stupid thing to say.

[notesee]

Even though ARod didn't play particularly well in the playoffs, he wasn't nearly as bad a Jeter or Posada who were pitiful.

Yeah .. the press gave Jeter a free pass during this post season. But he really fucking sucked too.

I haven't had the chance to check Posada's stats, I don't remember him doing as poorly as the others .. but in general the Yankees offense just could not produce the runs that they needed. Which is ironic because it was the pitching and the depth of the bullpen that everyone was worried about.

[eastcoastrider27]

I haven't had the chance to check Posada's stats, I don't remember him doing as poorly as the others.

Posada was 2 for 15, and grounded into 2 double plays in key spots.

Jeter was 3 for 17 (all singles) and grounded into 3 double plays (1 of which was a huge momentum killer).

[eastcoastrider27]

Schilling resigns with Red Sox.

Is Mike Lowell next?

[hawkeye]

Youk gets a Gold Glove! Well deserved.

[eastcoastrider27]

I bet my friend $10 that Coco would get a Gold Glove. Damn!

[lovinthee47s]

brad lidge to philly

maybe a sign of things to come this offseason...

[Chicken]

I'm VERY VERY VERY happy that the Yankees got Girardi.

Would have worked better if he had gone to the Cubs last year and Lou came to the Yankees, but it still works out.

And...I'm glad A-Rod will be gone. He didn't do anything to help us.

belated, but i completely agree. i would've loved to see lou spank complacent, overpaid veterans. but girardi was the best person available this year for the yanks.

not to dismiss who joe is and what he have accomplished. but i really feel like the team needs new blood.

[hawkeye]

Devil Rays are now The Rays!!!

Finally they got rid of that terrible green, blue is much better, wish I could say the same for the name...

[eastcoastrider27]

Kind of reminds me of the Mariners scheme a bit.

Did they drop the "Devil" because of the religious implications?

Also, reports say that the Red Sox offered Mike Lowell a 3 year/36 million dollar deal.

That's almost insultingly low considering what the Red Sox payroll is, how well he has played for the Sox, and the money that A-Rod is likely to make.

It seems as though Lowell has rejected the deal. Hope the Sox bump up their offer instead of giving up on him.

[hawkeye]

[Chicken]

Did they drop the "Devil" because of the religious implications?

i would've dropped "rays" instead, personally.

[hawkeye]

Also, reports say that the Red Sox offered Mike Lowell a 3 year/36 million dollar deal.

That's almost insultingly low considering what the Red Sox payroll is, how well he has played for the Sox, and the money that A-Rod is likely to make.

It seems as though Lowell has rejected the deal. Hope the Sox bump up their offer instead of giving up on him.

Looks like Lowell will hold out a bit longer and talk to some other teams, his agents think they can get 4yrs/$56M on the open market, if that's true, the Sox might be back in the Arod talks, especially with the lukewarm interest he seems to be getting. It'd be really disappointing if they let Lowell get away. If he's not signed by midnight I'd be surprised if hes back with the Sox in 08...

[eastcoastrider27]

Well deserved Pedroia!

I think the only other player that could have come close to catching Pedroia in the ROTY race was Delmon Young, but the fact that Pedroia was a integral component of a WS winning team probably put him over the top.

[eastcoastrider27]

Looks like Lowell will hold out a bit longer and talk to some other teams, his agents think they can get 4yrs/$56M on the open market, if that's true, the Sox might be back in the Arod talks, especially with the lukewarm interest he seems to be getting. It'd be really disappointing if they let Lowell get away. If he's not signed by midnight I'd be surprised if hes back with the Sox in 08...

I agree with you that if the Sox don't sign him tonight, they won't sign him at all.

He can probably get a 4 yr/$56m deal elsewhere, but I doubt he'll put up the same numbers he did this past season for the length of that contract. Lowell is a great player, but he's getting older and the Green Monster really helped his stats.

I think a 3 yr/$45m deal with the Sox would be good for both Lowell and the club, but I think he's already turned that offer down.

I don't think that the Sox will go after A-Rod if they can't sign Lowell unless he lowers his price significantly (like 8 yr/$208 and that's a HUGE cut.)

[hawkeye]

You're right, Lowell's numbers drop without that wall, he knows it and so do the Sox.

It's gotta be a tough decission for a player, play longer with more $ or take a pay/time cut and possibly win another ring or two.

The Sox are ready for either outcome, and are in a pretty good spot.

• They made it known that they made it their top priority to resign Lowell, offered him a "strong" deal, if he flies they can always say how hard they tried.
  
• They know that they are one of the few that could pay up for ARod, and since they aren't in there going after him actively, no one really seems like they need to rush, if Lowell falls through they could probably scoop him up for less than what he wants. (at this point I dont think anyone is going to give him 10/$35 or anything close.)
  
• They could always put Youk at 3rd and go after a 1st baseman

[hawkeye]

Well deserved Pedroia!

I think the only other player that could have come close to catching Pedroia in the ROTY race was Delmon Young, but the fact that Pedroia was a integral component of a WS winning team probably put him over the top.

That and the fact that Young threatened to quit the team at the end of the season!

[eastcoastrider27]

[*]They could always put Youk at 3rd and go after a 1st baseman

There's talk of that in the event that the Sox can't resign Lowell. Youk to 3rd and Chris Carter (player Sox got for Wily Mo Pena) to 1st.

It seems a little unfair to ask a Gold Glover to move back to 3B after converting him to 1B. Also, Carter would be a rookie, and has poor defensive skills.

It would be awesome if the Sox could package players for a deal with the Twins' Morneau and Santana.

Perhaps Lester, Buchholz, Crisp for Morneau and Santana. That would certainly be a blockbuster deal, but has a lot of inherent problems.

Both Morneau and Santana have only 1 year left on their contracts, so the Sox would lose out on some serious prospects if they couldn't resign them to longer deals. Also, Lester and Buchholz could become two very good pitchers in the future, so who knows if the Sox would want to let them go. Although the Sox are stacked in starting pitching next year, and they have Masterson waiting in the wings.

Imagine a starting rotation of:

-Beckett

-Santana

-Schilling

-Matsuzaka

-Wakefield

Who knows. Maybe they'll resign Lowell and all this speculation will be for naught.

It's kind of funny that the Sox win the WS and only a couple weeks go by before we start getting into hot stove issues.

[hawkeye]

Channel 7 reported on its website last night that four teams - the Braves, Angels, Cardinals, and Yankees - have each offered Lowell a four-year contract worth between $55 million and $60 million, exceeding the Sox' three-year proposal.

-Boston.com

Doh! Ive also heard that the Yankees might be interested in Lowell as a 1st baseman so they can keep Arod at 3rd?!?

[eastcoastrider27]

Channel 7 reported on its website last night that four teams - the Braves, Angels, Cardinals, and Yankees - have each offered Lowell a four-year contract worth between $55 million and $60 million, exceeding the Sox' three-year proposal.

-Boston.com

Doh! Ive also heard that the Yankees might be interested in Lowell as a 1st baseman so they can keep Arod at 3rd?!?

I'm not buying Channel 7 as a reputable source for baseball news, especially since the Cards have denied offering Lowell a 4-yr deal (although they could just be trying to cover it up).

If the Yankees want to pay A-Rod $290 for 10-years AND have Lowell play 1st, I say let them. That's a bad move and will only hurt them in the long run.

Here's a very interesting blurb from the Boston Globe:

The Marlins are fielding offers for third baseman Miguel Cabrera. Sources indicate they've had discussions with the Red Sox, but Boston might be saving up its arsenal of young players for a run at Twins lefthander Johan Santana or Oakland righthander Dan Haren.

I'd rather have Santana, but I wouldn't complain about Haren. Although it would nice to have a rotation as stacked as it would be with either of those pitchers added to the mix, one of the Red Sox short-comings last season was a limp offense at times. We all know pitching wins championships, but when you take the team's leading RBI man out of the lineup, you need a replacement.

[hawkeye]

Whoa big day, Bonds will finnaly go to court, kinda suprised that this is finally happening. Should be interesting, the home run king could watch his record broken from prison.

Arod might stay with the Yanks, you never know, I think everything is just a ploy by Scott Boras to stir up interst from other teams. I wont believe it until he shows up at spring training.

[eastcoastrider27]

Looks like the Yankees and A-Rod have agreed to terms on a 10 yr/$275m contract with potential for more if he breaks the HR record.

I really thought he would end up somewhere else next year.

[eastcoastrider27]

It appears Lowell will remain with the Red Sox after all.

3 years/37.5 million. That's a bargain for the Sox.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2007/11/lowell_stays.html