Official MLB Offseason Thread

While I don't disagree with this post I'm wondering why Papelbon is included on the list as he's been healthy for 2 years since he was shut down in 2006, also Ellsbury too, for him its more about him not producing.

I also think a big injury issue for the Yankees is Joba who has a history of injuries.

 

Well again I agree about pitchers and shoulders so you could probably put all pitchers on the 'injury watch list' because really they're all 1 pitch away from an injury but we're just nitpicking here.

Bottom line is every team has injury risks/concerns and even the healthiest guys in the world could get hurt like Jeter did in whatever year it was with the shoulder on the freak play. The only way to avoid the loss is by having a lot of depth on the bench or in the minors which is something the Sox do have, especially pitching wise as they have 9 guys who could start games that are at the very least average between the majors and minors.

I'm pretty happy with the way Theo has built this team so far. Yes there are question marks and big ones at that but people are overlooking the fact that the Sox were 1 game away (and really 4 innings away) from getting to the WS with numerous key injuries and a team that was nowhere near 100%. I also think people are also assuming teams like TB will be good just because they were in 2008. A lot happens during those 162 games.

EDIT: BigDog, did you mean Lowrie (instead of Ellsbury) and his wrist, because he had a broken bone in his wrist last year? Ellsbury did hurt his wrist diving for a ball in June and was out for awhile (and actually started to stink with the ball around that time too). Not sure if you were confused.

 

My hunch is that Redding is going to be a depth signing; spot starter/middle reliever type. He seems to pitch well vs the Phils as well for some reason that remains unknown.

Interesting that Redding pitched much better on the road than at home.

On the road - 87 innings 78 H 65 K 4.25 ERA
At Home: 94 innings 117 H 55 K 5.61 ERA

Maybe he didn't like pitching in front of a half empty stadium?

My guess is he ends up being a long man a la Darren Oliver in 2006 and the Mets still sign 2 from Lowe/Perez/Wolf. This signing is also leverage to make Wolf/Lowe/Perez think they are all competing for only 1 spot instead of two. When Omar says hes focusing on pitching Im guessing there is more coming then this because there usually is with him. I sincerely doubt Redding or Niese will be the 5th starter in a year when the Mets are opening the new stadium.

 

I don't know, seems to me that a broken bone is more serious than a jammed wrist. Again I think it bothered Ellsbury for awhile but I think he was fine with it as the season went along. I don't consider Ellsbury an injury risk, I consider him a possible offensive risk but not an injury risk.

 

I personally think Ellsbury's struggles had to do in part with his wrist and also pitchers making adjustments and him not, a combo of both. I think he'll be better this year and certain if he gets on base he's a game changer.

I also like Lowrie a lot and think it's unfair people are writing him off (much like they did with Pedroia in '06 and the beginning of '07). Not every rookie is going to come up like Ryan Braun or Longoria. People need to give these guys some time (and you could replace Lowrie's name with Buchholz or Hughes for that matter too).

 

Detroit has no pitching. They didn't have any last year and they hardly addressed the problem. Nice offense though. Edwin Jackson is there #3 starter. The bullpen consists of Zumaya and scrubs with Rodney closing. That is an awful pitching staff.

 

Sox just signed Saito former LAD closer on a 1 year deal for 2 million bucks (with an option) and he could earn another 5 million depending on how well he does or if he stays healthy. Another great low risk high reward signing. Again Saito is an injury risk but when he was healthy he was very good. Add him to the pen with Papelbon, Masterson, Okajima, Delcarmen, Lopez and Ramon Ramirez and that's a high quality pen right there. Again it's an injury risk but it's well worth it.

 

I like Cleveland and Minnesota personally. If Minnesota wasn't so cheap and tried to control Liriano's arbitration years they would have made the playoffs last year instead of the White Sox.

 

No Kidding huh. Awesome signing, I had no clue we were even in on the guy. With all of the Sox starters healthy our bullpen looks real nice with Masterson and Ramirez in it..

 

I will take Minnesota also, although I don't think Cleveland is that far behind. I trust the Twins more that they will be there at the end of the year. The White Sox are ok, but Kenny Williams wants to keep getting younger..

 

I really like the way Theo has been building this team, especially pitching wise. There's a lot of depth and flexibility involved. I really like how this pen could be dominate depending on who's in the rotation and if for some reason Smoltz doesn't have the stamina to be a starter, imagine him coming out of the pen in the 8th to set up Papelbon?

Again this could all blow up in our faces but its worth the risk/gamble. Also these guys all signed for peanuts and 1 year deals so if they get hurt or stink it's no big deal.

 

I don't mean to sound like a Yankee hater but seriously all those guys the Yanks signed pretty much suck. I mean Berrora is nice signing but he's a year out from being one of the worst players in the majors. Cash is a good defensive catcher but if the Yankees are counting on him for anything than they're in big trouble. Jason Johnson, see Cash, Kevin. The guy had a 6.00 ERA in the NL West last year. Plus none of those guys have any upside, again if they spend any time on the MLB roster this year the Yankees might be in big trouble.

 

No I agree. The Yankees have been very lucky getting a lot of production out of scrubs like Aaron Small, Shawn Chacon, Karim Garcia, Darrell Rasnar, Ponson etc throughout the years.

The only thing I disagree with is that depth is overrated. You never know when a guy is going to be injuried, traded or stinks. These things always work themselves out all the time, but I'd rather have too many guys. Case in point I thought Cashman did a terrible job last year in regards to the pitching staff and having insurance just in case some of the kids didn't pan out.

 

I think having depth means less starts from guys that should be starting. Take last years Sox for example JD Drew is hurt (shocker) and we have Manny in LF, Crisp in C, and Ellsbury in right. Now Manny's knee hurts. Sox call up Jonathan Van Every, an every day player from the PawSox. This year when Drew goes down and Baldelli is feeling ill, I will be comfortable with Kotsay filling in, instead of triple A guy...

 

Would've rather had him than Loretta. Shame though. He came here because it was his hometown team growing up. Thought he'd retire before he ever leaves though he batted pretty well for us in the playoffs.

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/01/dodgers-sign-es.html

Don't know much about him other than average pitcher.

 

Sox are bargain shopping and I like what they're doing tbh. Some of these pitchers they getting stay healthy they'll have a very strong staff/pen. If they dont, it cost them very little.

edit: just saw Ray beat me to it, oh well.

 

Carrying 13 pitchers is way too much, teams don't need 2 long relievers. Even 12 pitchers in my opinion is pushing it but every team nowadays carries 12.

 

Aardsma and Littleton probably won't make the team anyway. But again Smoltz won't be pitching until May/June and Buchholz probably will start the year in the minors. Masterson will be on the team.

Like I said this stuff has a way of working itself out as usually Wakefield lands on the DL and the Sox like to rest their pitchers a lot. I'm not worried and they won't have a 13 man staff no matter what as Francona has said many times he even hates 12 man pitching staffs but knows he has to use them.

 

Thats good news. I love Pedro but this is Willie Mays joining the Mets, the pitching version. Now the Mets get to shell him a few times a year instead of having to pull him after 4 and a 1/3rd of 5 ER/6 BB/4K ball. Hate to say it but it was true last year. And with the acquisition of Redding, I really cant see a spot for Pedro.

My guess is to expect a trade of some kind, probably for a bat. Thats too many MLB quality bodies and not enough roster spaces.

 

Oh gosh, what great irony if its Lastings Milledge. The guys the Coupon Family ownership was too much of a publicity problem back in NY for Yanks. Talk about the publicity problem the Mets were trying to avoid.

This is the first I am hearing of this though.....