2012 Hot Stove Thread (Mets, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers)

[bostonceltz]

Originally Posted by aardvarks

thanks for the memories Tim Wakefield. class act, good luck in what ever you choose to do.

Amen. Should never have to pay for a drink in Boston again. As much as I love him though, I think it was time for him and Varitek to go. Francona too.

[Ridgerunner]

It's interesting how a difference of one or two wins can cause such a radical change in fans' perception of an organization. If the Red Sox had won 92 games instead of 90, we would not be having this conversation.

[aardvarks]

we would still be saying goodbye to Wakefield and Varitek IMO, perhaps Theo stays but with the Cub opening who knows. and I'm as big of a Francona fan as there is out there, and I hated to see him go but he might have called it quits anyway albeit on his own terms.

the only obvious difference is the Sox would have made the playoffs

I laughed when I heard the ESPN talking heads discussing the over reaction by the Red Sox with banning booze in the clubhouse, as if they are the 1st team in the history of the sport to do so.

The part they fail to mention is that booze is also banned in many other clubhouses and Bobby Valentine bans booze everywhere he manages.

I guess that would have hurt the shock value

[jtur88]

It seems odd to me that there hasn't been a trade with established major leaguers going both ways since the Scutaro-Mortenson trade on January 21, 39 days ago.

[filihok]

Huge contracts for:

Matt Cain: 5 years and $100 million plus a $21 million option

and

Joey Votto: 12 years and $251 million

I'm not a huge fan of either deal.

I don't think that Matt Cain is as good as he appears to be. He gives up a lot of fly balls and few of them go for home runs. I don't know what kind of voodoo he has going on but most pitchers can't continually do that. If the home runs start coming, then Cain won't look nearly as good.

Votto is one of the best hitters in the game. He just signed the biggest contract in league history. The Reds aren't the richest team in baseball and now have a huge amount tied up in one player. If something goes wrong with Votto it will be hard for them to overcome it.

[Upton]

Originally Posted by filihok

Huge contracts for:

Matt Cain: 5 years and $100 million plus a $21 million option

and

Joey Votto: 12 years and $251 million

I'm not a huge fan of either deal.

I don't think that Matt Cain is as good as he appears to be. He gives up a lot of fly balls and few of them go for home runs. I don't know what kind of voodoo he has going on but most pitchers can't continually do that. If the home runs start coming, then Cain won't look nearly as good.

Votto is one of the best hitters in the game. He just signed the biggest contract in league history. The Reds aren't the richest team in baseball and now have a huge amount tied up in one player. If something goes wrong with Votto it will be hard for them to overcome it.

Matt Cain has gone for 200 IP 5 consecutive years and he's still only 27. He has the 5th best ERA among all active pitchers. He has a better career HR/FB ratio than Roy Halladay, CC Sabbathia and Cliff Lee just to name a few..something that's not likely to change considering where he'll be pitching during the duration of this contract..

Some good stuff in Fangraphs giving the deal a thumbs up..

Giants Ink Cain To Lucrative Five-Year Extension | FanGraphs Baseball

[Mr.Triny33]

Originally Posted by Mr.Triny33

New York Yankees deal Jesus Montero for Seattle Mariners' Michael Pineda, source says - ESPN New York


Not sure how I feel about this trade; I think Montero will be a star in this league, and didn't want to trade him unless Yanks were getting back King Felix. Pineda is a big kid with great stuff however; may turn out to be a trade that helps both teams.. I hope

Yankees RHP Pineda out for season - Yahoo! Sports


I wasn't crazy about this trade when it happened,now this. Would rather have heard it was torn ligament, and required Tommy John surgery. I've never heard of a pitcher coming back to pitch successfully after surgery for a torn labrum. Could become one of the worst trades in Yankee history if Montero becomes a stud...

[filihok]

Red Sox sign Mark Prior.

Brewers lose Mat Gamel to the DL for the rest of the season (most likely). I'd urge them to sign Derek Lee. The NL Central is still winnable.

[filihok]

Dodgers extend Andre Ethier for 5 years and $87.5 million (5 years $85 million plus a $17.5 million option and $2.5 million buyout)

With the Dodgers contending this year, there was little chance the team would have moved him at the deadline, so this extension doesn't come as a surprise but I'm not a huge fan of the deal.

Dre can hit, but he loses a lot of value due to his defense. Ethier is about a 3 win player. If we give him 2 years at 3 wins and a .5 win decrease each of the next 3 years we get him providing 12 total wins. The value of those wins is debatable but it'd have to average $7 million a win for the deal to break even. That seems high.

The bigger reason I'm not a fan of this deal. Doesn't look like the new ownership is any more in tune with knowing what a good deal is than the old ownership was.


Up next will be a decision on James Loney. Loney is terrible, and any extension will likely be a mistake.

I'd much prefer to move Ethier to 1st where his defense (and decline) will be somewhat hidden. That'd allow the team to move Kemp to RF where he'd likely be a plus defender instead of a poor defender.

We also need to lock up Kershaw long-term

And find decent players for the other 5 positions on the field

[filihok]

While I don't think the Dodgers are for real (they certainly aren't the best team in baseball), their hot start is making the playoffs more of a reality.

They do need some help though. With Matt Kemp hurting, and not really being a centerfielder, it'd make since for LA to consider getting a center fielder and moving Kemp to RF and Ethier to LF.

While I shudder every time I think of Ned making a trade there are a few CFers who could be on the market. Denard Spahn and Ben Revere of the Twins would both make some sense as would Peter Bourjous of the Angels.

Ned could also go big and shoot for BJ Upton or Shane Victorino but I'm horrified at what he'd give up to land one of those two players.