2010-2011 MLB Offseason Thread

[dfreely]

Doumit would be hard to trade I'd think.. he doesn't hit well, he's not good defensively, and he's owned like $5m (I think?) next year. The Pirates would have to ask for little in return and probably pay a chunk of his salary.

...Kansas City might be stupid enough to take him though.

[packrat]

I had to look it up. It's $3,650,000 in 2010. And you are right. The last several years he's ranked in the top 10 in errors committed as a catcher. He's allowed 9 passed balls in 2008 & 2010, the most and second most in the MLB those years respectively. He's even worse in the outfield and first base. His average has been slipping. He has a hard time remaining injury free, but I suppose that could be expected for a catcher.

That's why I stated that I don't think they could trade him for a hot dog vendor. They might as well DFA him and hope he refuses to report to Indianapolis. Maybe someone will sign him to a minor league contract and take the Bucs off the hook for the rest of his 2011 salary. One could always hope.

Hmm... You wouldn't happen to know anyone in KC would you? I'll call them myself.

[dfreely]

KC's pretty bad with their roster moves, seems like if there's a team that would take Doumit, they'd be it. He'd be an upgrade over Kendall... sorta? Or an upgrade over Francoeur in right.. I guess?

[mets1313]

any other mets fan wondering why they havnt done nothin? obviosuly they cant win with what they got so why dont they go after someone?

[dfreely]

What's there to wonder? The market is incredibly bad, their budget is tight, and they're not planning to compete next year. Unlike the previous regime, they're not going to spend money for the sake of spending money.

[packrat]

Besides, the Mets have some guys coming up the pipeline who are ready, or nearly ready, to contribute.

[dfreely]

Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar were elected to the HOF today.

If you've been following the HOF voting lately, then you've probably heard of all the debates and controversy surrounding Jeff Bagwell.. he only picked up 42% of the votes. John Olerud, who I actually considered a bit of a dark horse, ended up with less than 1% of the votes.. even less than inferior 1B like Mattingly and Tino Martinez. Pays to be a Yankee.

[packrat]

Recently, the Pirates DFA'ed Joe Martinez and Wilfredo Ledezma to make room for some so called low-risk, high-reward starting pitchers they signed. They just traded Martinez to the Indians for cash or a PTBNL, and the Blue Jays claimed Ledezma off waivers yesterday or today. Rumor has it that the Indians might trade Josh Rodriguez, who the Pirates took in the Rule 5 draft. I can't help but to wonder if the Pirates are looking at the possiblity of moving Rodriguez to Triple-A, or at least putting themselves in the position to do so if they choose.

I'm also wondering what the Pirates will do with their "glut" of starters they will have competing for the 5th spot in the rotation. They will have Charlie Morton, Kevin Correia, and Scott Olson all competing for that spot, not to mention a few AAA guys like Daniel McCutchen et al. I'm pretty sure Morton is out of options this year. I sure hope the Pirates know what they are doing... And I hope Olson turns his attitude problems around, as well.

Oh, by the way, dfreely, I'm very happy about Alomar. I personally believe him to be the all-around second best 2b I have ever seen play. I would rank Joe Morgan number one. I'm a bit indiferent to Cryleven though. He won a world championship with the Pirates and then pestered the organization to trade him. Yes, he was a darned good pitcher but he is one of those guys who rubs me the wrong way.

[packrat]

Cubs and Rays have agreed on an eight-player trade that sends Matt Garza and two minor league players to the Cubs. The Rays get 5 minor league players in return. The trade is pending physicals from all eight guys. Gonna be some busy doctors in the next few days.

[dfreely]

I'm actually a bit indifferent towards Alomar myself.. he always seemed like such a diva from what I remember during his time with the Mets. And there's that spitting incident. He was a good hitter though - got on base and ran well, and he has 10 Gold Gloves - though interestingly enough, sabermetrics point out that he was a below average defender. I probably the same way towards him that you feel towards Blyleven I guess.

And I didn't think that the Cubs were actually planning to compete.. with the Cardinals, Reds and an improving Brewers team in their division, they're really going to try?