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With the end of the World Series yesterday, players under no contracts and teams with money to spend once more begin the courtship ritual known as "free agency." Players may sign with teams beginning Saturday, November 3 at 12:01 AM. As Ben Cherington gives a coquettish smile to a nervous, but excited, Josh Hamilton, we'll be following along here. Overall it's a pretty weak free agency class, especially compared to the madness that last year's offseason brought. There are a lot of quality starting pitchers to be had, though. HBT Free Agency tracker ESPN MLB Trades and Transactions News/Views Thread MiLB thread Free Agent Guessing Game Things I Find Interesting: -Two-time World Series Champ Ryan "The Riot" Theriot offers his dark magic to all takers -Speaking of postseason magic, Delmon Young could be avoiding walks and hating Jews anywhere next year. -Ichiro. Where will you go, old friend? -Kevin Youkilis' option will most likely not be picked up by the White Sox, making him a legitimate 3B option for a team willing to gamble on injuries. -The White Sox probably won't pick up Peavy's $22MM option either, and despite his injury history, he just had himself an excellent season. -On the subject of injuries, Brandon McCarthy, his hilarious tweets, his awesome wife, and his constant visits to the doctor are up for grabs. -Jose Valverde didn't do himself any favors in his contract year after sucking it up and losing his job in the postseason. -Other contract year follies: Melky Cabrera and the PEDs thing. Will teams gamble on him reproducing this abbreviated season? He cost himself millions of dollars by getting caught. Who's Buying? Here is a list of current payroll commitments for 2013, not including options that may get picked up. You have to figure the Red Sox will be big buyers, since they just dumped most of their salary onto the Dodgers, traded their shortstop in exchange for a manager, and have a ton of holes to fill. They've only got $45.6MM committed for next year after spending well over $150MM three years in a row. But who's going to want to play for them after seeing the way they treat players? People who want money, that's who. The Braves should likewise be pretty big buyers, having a low commitment for next year and a history of spending around $80-90MM. The Astros look to be huge buyers, since they only have $5.5MM committed for next year. They'll essentially be creating an entirely new team out of their farm system and FAs to match their league change. The FA class doesn't really allow for building a contender right away though, so they might hold pat, develop the farm some more, and throw together a quick and cheap roster that will get crushed next year in the hopes of contending in 2014 and beyond. The Padres might do a bit of spending, since their farm is starting to develop some quality starting players like Headley and Grandal and they are under new owners. The Dodgers are hopefully done spending, already committed to $193.8MM for 2013, but who knows. (in retrospect,  )Go! Xenophon fucked around with this message at Jan 29, 2013 around 23:36 |
| # ? Oct 29, 2012 18:01 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 07:13 |
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Solid OP, but it's Ryan Theriot, not Mike. You are combining the two talentless LSU MIF.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 18:08 |
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The Cubs-lete List: Catchers: Henry Blanco (41) - $1.24MM mutual option First Base: Carlos Pena (35) Second Base: Mike Fontenot (33) Ryan Theriot (33) Shortstop: Ronny Cedeno (30) Cesar Izturis (33) Third Base: Mark DeRosa (38) Left Field: Reed Johnson (36) Xavier Nady (34 Center Field: Angel Pagan (31) Right Field: Jeff Baker(32) Kosuke Fukudome (36) Starting Pitchers: Ryan Dempster (36) Rich Harden (31) Paul Maholm (31) - $6.5MM club option with a $500K buyout Jason Marquis (34) Carlos Zambrano (32) Closers: Right-Handed Relief Shawn Camp (37) Kyle Farnsworth (37) Kevin Gregg (35) LaTroy Hawkins (38) Randy Wells (30) Left-Handed Relief Will Ohman (35) You can build a whole team from ex-Cub FA chaff (basically, you need a 12th pen guy and backup catcher). That team would win 47 games.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 18:16 |
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I want that so badly.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 18:26 |
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factorialite posted:Solid OP, but it's Ryan Theriot, not Mike. You are combining the two talentless LSU MIF. Would that we could. Would that we could.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 18:32 |
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factorialite posted:Solid OP, but it's Ryan Theriot, not Mike. You are combining the two talentless LSU MIF. I also decided it should be a thread for the 2012-2012 offseason!
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 18:49 |
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Kind of odd thought process here, but I wonder if the A's are going to show any interest in Jason Bartlett as a second basemann. I mean, dude has only played like 3 games at the position, but do you think he could handle it there? I'll be honest: I don't know much about the guy and at a glance he doesn't appear to handle SS well, but crazier things have happened, right? And he looks like the exact type of "buy" the A's would do. 2009 feels like so long ago  Xenophon posted:-On the subject of injuries, Brandon McCarthy, his hilarious tweets, his awesome wife, and his constant visits to the doctor are up for grabs. Nope 
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 19:07 |
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Wish the Yankees could bring back Swisher but he's gonna get a stupid contract from another team, possibly Boston.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 19:23 |
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zakharov posted:Wish the Yankees could bring back Swisher but he's gonna get a stupid contract from another team, possibly Boston. He does so much. Too bad he can't hit good pitching. Then again most people can't. I'd like to see if almonte is ready. I know his bat is.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 19:54 |
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I want to see the Mariners go after two of these three: Nick Swisher Melky Cabrera Josh Hamilton They'll have to overpay for either Swisher and Hamilton, but I feel like the Melkman would be a good gamble. A high AAV with fewer years for Hamilton seems possible since he fell off a cliff last season. I'm just sick of 4th OFers in our lineup every single day
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 19:59 |
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Senf posted:Kind of odd thought process here, but I wonder if the A's are going to show any interest in Jason Bartlett as a second basemann. I mean, dude has only played like 3 games at the position, but do you think he could handle it there? I'll be honest: I don't know much about the guy and at a glance he doesn't appear to handle SS well, but crazier things have happened, right? And he looks like the exact type of "buy" the A's would do. I thought Sizemore and Weeks were the 2B's there next year?
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:00 |
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seiferguy posted:I want to see the Mariners go after two of these three: Ichiro is a free agent!
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:01 |
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zakharov posted:Wish the Yankees could bring back Swisher but he's gonna get a stupid contract from another team, possibly Boston. Going to the Phillies after RAJ fails to sign Bourn for too much
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:07 |
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MassaShowtime posted:I thought Sizemore and Weeks were the 2B's there next year? Weeks scares the poo poo out of me and while I do like Sizemore, he's coming back from a pretty serious surgery and nobody really knows how well he'll get going with the move back to second. I'm also used to half of the team breaking in some way, but I suppose I'm probably overthinking things a little bit. It's the first day off the offseason and I want changes, drat it  !
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:08 |
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ZenVulgarity posted:He does so much. Next caller.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:10 |
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I love Zoilo Almonte but  at you if you think he will hit like Swisher in MLB.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:11 |
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Wonder who the Mike Ilitch Money Cannon is gonna get pointed at this year.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:15 |
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VJeff posted:Wonder who the Mike Ilitch Money Cannon is gonna get pointed at this year. 7 year deal for Hamilton
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:15 |
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zakharov posted:7 year deal for Hamilton Hahaha this is gonna happen and I have no clue how to feel about it. 
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:16 |
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Additionally Almonte is not the kind of prospect who should jump from AA to MLB without facing that fringe MLB pitching first.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:18 |
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seiferguy posted:I want to see the Mariners go after two of these three: I'm going to take a guess that Cabrera isn't going to go to Seattle for his make good, and if Hamilton's forced to take one I doubt he's going there too.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:18 |
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Melky is the type of weirdo with off field issues that AA seems to like and the Jays need a LF. Mostly though I just want the Jays to sign a starter who isn't a swingman or 22 years old.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:25 |
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seiferguy posted:I want to see the Mariners go after two of these three: I'd rather they do Free Agency Via Trade and try to get someone to buy Hultzen before he goes Full Blass. Mauer, Craig, Upton, heck I'd even see what the Cubs are willing to eat to get rid of Soriano.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:26 |
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I've been wondering what happens with AJ Pierzynski. He's 36, which is old for a catcher, has a noodle for an arm when it comes to throwing out runners (26.2%!), and nobody likes him. But he's also coming off a fantastic offensive year: .278/.326/.501, 27 HR (never hit more than 18, hit 8 last year), and his second-highest fWAR (3.4; 3.6 in 2003). He's even nominated for a golden glove (lol). The White Sox are probably going to start Tyler Flowers, even though his average is low and he strikes out a lot. So who out there needs an old, slugging, defensive liability at catcher?
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:30 |
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I want the Yankees to replace Swisher with Melky, but Cashman thinks he is a 4th OFer 
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:33 |
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The Giants desperately need a corner outfielder (assuming they bring back Pence, if not they need two) but this group has me seriously uninspired. I can't see them getting Swisher without a severe overpay, Hamilton's risk factors kind of worry me, and Melky probably isn't happening for obvious reasons which is likely for the best since he'll almost certainly regress massively anyway. They almost certainly don't have the pieces to deal for Upton, but I wonder what it would take to get Willingham from Minnesota.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:37 |
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Grozz Nuy posted:The Giants desperately need a corner outfielder (assuming they bring back Pence, if not they need two) but this group has me seriously uninspired. I can't see them getting Swisher without a severe overpay, Hamilton's risk factors kind of worry me, and Melky probably isn't happening for obvious reasons which is likely for the best since he'll almost certainly regress massively anyway. They almost certainly don't have the pieces to deal for Upton, but I wonder what it would take to get Willingham from Minnesota. I wouldn't be surprised if Sabean just sticks with Gregor Blanco under the assumption that Gary Brown isn't far away.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:38 |
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My gut tells me that the Red Sox are going to go all in on Dan Haren.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:43 |
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Who will the AL champion Detroit Tigers sign?Xenophon posted:
You absolutely know this will happen, everyone.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 20:47 |
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I don't know what the Angels are going to do if they don't win the Greinke sweepstakes. Haren and Santana will both have their options bought-out, leaving a rotation of Weaver/Wilson/Richards. I don't know if there will be a separate offseason planning thread but I've been playing around with COTS and a spreadsheet of who I want on the Angels next year and I think the Angels have enough payroll for both Greinke at twenty something and Hunter at nine-ish to go along with money for a few relievers (need another lefty when Maronde starts in AA). Everyone is saying the payroll with be in the 145MM area, and based on my numbers the Angels are at like 140 (with Greinke and Hunter and Williams) with the need for 2 more relief pitchers.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:00 |
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AsInHowe posted:Who will the AL champion Detroit Tigers sign? Honestly I think the Tigers bullpen would be one of the few units that would benefit from just being left alone (aside from telling Valverde to gently caress off). Benoit/Dotel/Alburquerque/Villarreal/Rondon with some lefties like Coke or Downs or who the gently caress ever is not a bad group at all. With Joaquin and Octavio already having closing experience, there's no reason they need to bring in a high priced closer. But they will.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:02 |
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When I try to pick a few pitchers and a third baseman and center fielder the Cubs could target out of that list who would be a solid addition to the team and given everything JedCo has said about this off-season, my brain just ties in knots. It sounds like they really want 2 Maholms and a center and third base version DeJesus. They might even over-pay (for a free agent) someone who'd take a one or two year deal. I think 4 years or more would be out of the question. Also, as I understand it, Youk hates Wrigley so I don't see Hoyer convincing him to be a Cub next year.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:04 |
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Good Dog posted:I don't know what the Angels are going to do if they don't win the Greinke sweepstakes. Haren and Santana will both have their options bought-out, leaving a rotation of Weaver/Wilson/Richards. I don't know if there will be a separate offseason planning thread but I've been playing around with COTS and a spreadsheet of who I want on the Angels next year and I think the Angels have enough payroll for both Greinke at twenty something and Hunter at nine-ish to go along with money for a few relievers (need another lefty when Maronde starts in AA). Do you think the Angels will offer Trout a long-term deal over the off-season, too? It might be kind of smart if he can keep this kind of production up, yeah?
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:06 |
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The A's just declined Drew's option, so I have no clue who they are playing at Shortstop next year. Also I have this weird feeling that Ichiro ends up a Tiger for some odd loving reason.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:10 |
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jeffersonlives posted:I wouldn't be surprised if Sabean just sticks with Gregor Blanco under the assumption that Gary Brown isn't far away. I guess that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but I like Blanco a lot more as a fourth OF even though he's cheap.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:11 |
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Rand alPaul posted:Also I have this weird feeling that Ichiro ends up a Tiger for some odd loving reason. I've had this too. I can't really even explain it besides "Cool as Hell Japanese Dude On My Team Hell Yeah  "
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:13 |
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The A's declining Drew's option is kind of a no-brainer as it's for $10million and there is no way he gets that on the open market. Even if they sign him to something marginally big like 3/$24 that is a better deal for them.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:16 |
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Rand alPaul posted:The A's just declined Drew's option, so I have no clue who they are playing at Shortstop next year. Don't be surprised if this means they're going to announce a 3 year deal of sorts. edit: beaten but still
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:17 |
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ManifunkDestiny posted:I'd rather they do Free Agency Via Trade and try to get someone to buy Hultzen before he goes Full Blass. Mauer, Craig, Upton, heck I'd even see what the Cubs are willing to eat to get rid of Soriano. Trading Craig for Hultzen makes zero sense for the Cardinals.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:17 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 07:13 |
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Groucho Marxist posted:Trading Craig for Hultzen makes zero sense for the Cardinals. well not 1-for-1, but Hultzen/Nick Franklin for Craig and a much lesser prospect could be a good trade foundation. Gives the Cards a Shortstop Of The FutureTM
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| # ? Oct 29, 2012 21:20 |
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