3:59pm: David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the Braves have not made an offer to Damon, contrary to Heyman's suggestion below.
12:49pm: Jon Heyman's latest column for SI.com leads with thoughts on contract talks for two superstars, Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols. Heyman says Mauer has been slow to engage with the Twins only because he's giving them a chance to put the 2010 team together first. Heyman believes Mauer is "thinking about a contract for at least seven years and more than $20MM, though he isn't going to press the $30MM issue that could conceivably come into focus if he goes the free-agent route." On the other hand, Heyman says Pujols is "surely seeking" $30MM a year. On to Heyman's other rumors…
- Heyman believes the Braves and Giants made offers to Johnny Damon. It's not clear if the Giants' offer for Damon is still on the table given their Aubrey Huff agreement.
- Jarrod Washburn rejected a $5MM offer from the Twins; the Mets and Royals are other suitors.
- The Mariners have considered Ryan Garko. An outfielder would make more sense.
- The Rangers are looking for a "low-cost starting pitcher."
- The Orioles are "still in play" for first baseman Adam LaRoche. Currently it's difficult to name another LaRoche suitor.
Poor LaRoche.
They already traded for Kotchman to play first.
If pujols commands 30 mill the cards will have 50 a year wrapped up in 2 players. They better plan on upping the payroll a bit or the superstars are gonna be surrounded by some superlames.
Heyman also says in the article that the Cardinals revenues are close to the Phillies, whose payroll is $140 million. It seems likely that the Cardinals have been holding back somewhat in preparation for increasing payroll in the next few years.
Heyman doesn’t offer any reason to say that Pujols is “surely seeking $30 million” despite Pujols repeated comments that he is not interested in maxing out the dollars. I think Pujols has repeatedly shown the same attitude about his contract that Mauer has, so I don’t understand why Heyman thinks Mauer is likely to take a hometown discount while Pujols is not. Pujols lived in Missouri before being drafted by the Cardinals and is an entrenched member of the St. Louis community. He will be a Cardinal for the rest of his career.
I was confused as to Heyman’s statements as well, as he doesn’t provide much support in the rest of the article for his observations. Pujols has repeatedly said many things that would make the public think he’s not looking for top dollar, but rather a solid team built to win. I could go into this, but my real point is that Heyman doesn’t substantiate his claim in that particular article.
Could Pujols make 30 or even 40 million a year if he hits free agency? Of course. Should the Cards pay it if that’s what he wants? Of course. Would the Cardinals be able to field a better team if he’s not making 30% of the payroll? Of course.
Pujols is so integral to the franchise and the city, it would be a major blow to both if he were to snub the Cards and take his services elsewhere. It’s worth saying that it would also be a major blow if management decided to let him walk without offering top dollar.
Well it’s 100% true that the Twins have been holding back the past couple years, maybe for the same reason. Payroll went down a total 20 mil over the past two years while ticket prices, attendance and revenues both public and those we aren’t privy to went up. I don’t know what kind of deal STL got but the MN boys are definitely repaying their share of the new stadium costs, and that’s their prerogative.
Given that I can’t imagine a situation where they’d let the Mauer saga hang over the ballpark opening. They don’t have quite the brand the Cards do, but they should be able to operate in the 100-105 mil range quite comfortably.
What’s there to understand This guy didn’t vote for Blyleven because he didn’t have enough wins, but voted for Morris who had 40+ fewer (Blyleven also has Morris beat in just about any way you can measure pitching dominance). The man is an idiot and I wouldn’t take anything in any of his columns too seriously.
Although I am a Cardinal fan, I can honestly say I couldn’t see spending $50m on two players unless payroll goes up. If it’s not going to, I would honestly consider taking offers on him…
Sad to say my fellow Cards fans, but it is possible. Sure I want him to stay but imagine the possible return…
LaRoche lost his only chance at a multi-year deal when he turned down the offer from the Giants.
The Mess (that was intentional) might still be in play, but I would suspect that Omar’s probably going to use the rest of his funds to add another starter or two.
LaRoche might as well cut his losses, sign a cheap one year deal with the O’s and hope a big 2010 can get him a multi-year deal in 2011.
On Pujols and Mauer: I sure hope they sign with the Cards and Twins, respectively, as that would be really good for ball. The two best players in the game signing long term deals with a middle and small market team. I like that.
“The Braves and Giants are believed to have made offers for Damon, though he hasn’t snapped up either one immediately, leading some to wonder whether the Yankees might get involved again. The Yankees have yet to replace Melky Cabrera and would go with Granderson in left field and Brett Gardner in center if they don’t sign anyone to play left.”I would like to see the source that told Heyman that Brett Gardner will be in CF and Granderson in LF, now I remember why this guy is a blathering twit. I love this line “the Yankees have yet to replace Melky Cabrera”, wowsers batman, you would think we had Manny Ramirez, Jason Bay or Matt Holliday out there in Melky Cabrera. Sheesh. Heyman is truly a Boras mouthpiece for planting his lines about offers to try and get higher prices in the market, then he shows up claiming he has the scoop. All this dude Heyman does is ballwash Boras for “inside” info that he claims is exclusive.
30 million a year? Wow, just wow.
he puts up better numbers than A-Rod year in and year out…and if it wernt for Barroid winning 4 in a row he would have had at least 2 more MVP’s i think.
LaRoche/Valverde are this years Hudson/Wolf. I see Pujols getting 10 years/$250M, Mauer 8 years/$160M.
isnt pujols a little too old to give him 10 years? i am not saying he is old but that will take him up to like 40. his bdy might break down when he is around 35, and you can’t DH him in the NL
I I agree completely, but the Cards are clearly willing to overpay to keep their guys.
Yeah, ten years might be a lot, but just wait till he’s 36 and declining, the giants have a nose for old expensive players and will eat the remaining 100 mill of his contract while giving the cardinals 2 top prospects for him. š
The Cards will sign Pujols in a contract-for-life scenario. 10 years, 8 years…whatever it is we’ll give it to him, and expect Pujols to defer major money — well more than Holliday. The Cards and we fans have always been very appreciative of long-term and homegrown service (Kissell, Schoendienst & Musial, as examples) and the ownership won’t risk being run out of town over Pujols’ next (final) deal.
Affirmative. I think the Pujols-Musial comparisons are strikingly accurate on most accounts, despite Albert’s dislike for them. Pujols will be with the Cards from his good years to his bad years and StL fans I think are glad to see that kind of loyalty. Even if he’s reduced to an overpaid bench/role player (a la Griffey Jr. in Seattle). He’s a name you want on your team (playing and someday coaching) til he’s ready to leave baseball entirely.
Kotchman plays for the Mariner’s now, not the oriols
Pujols is “surely” seeking 30 million? Cant Heyman find anything better to write about, maybe something with a factual base? I have never seen anything at all that suggests Albert will seek a $30 million a year contract. On the contrary, I have repeatedly heard him say that he wants to 1) retire a Cardinal and 2) play for a competitor. Seems to me that if he really is dedicated to playing in STL he wouldnt seek almost a third of their payroll.
Heyman is just stirring the pot. Mauer and Pujols are both guys that like playing in the cities they are in and neither are represented by Scott Boras.
“Mauer and Pujols are both guys that like playing in the cities they are in and neither are represented by Scott Boras.”Thank goodness for that, at least we won’t have to hear one of Heyman’s senseless tweets about what Boras says when those guys are Free Agents. Notice how Heyman is making these claims about a Boras client in Damon having an offer from the Braves and Giants, but no one knows the numbers, guess who must have told him about these offters, Scott Boras himself. Heyman is a first rate tosser.
Much like when Heyman reported a “mystery team” was putting together a serious bid for Matt Holliday. Glad Im not the only one out there that thinks that Heyman is a loser.
Who coincidentally was another Boras client. This is what Heyman does when it comes to Boras he operates as a propaganda piece for Boras to plant false info to try and drive up the price of the client when there is no validity to it. Mystery team a serious bidder for Holliday, LOL. Heyman has no shame in his craft as a writer.
I believe Mauer is represented by the firm that kept Ripken in Baltimore.
And he’s the same agent that kept Kirby in MN.
I’d be surprised if the Cardinals went that high. They’ll probably top out around $26-27 million per, if that, probably with money deferred. The question is whether Pujols will take the discount. I think for that kind of money, he will.
In a perfect world Pujols signs for 8/200 and Mauer for 7/160 or so.
Heyman is WAY off on Pujols. Does he not pay attention to anything Albert says? What kind of person he is? That he’s not a Boras agent? Don’t be surprised if Pujols gives a large discount and takes $20-$21MM a year. Just a smidge over Holliday. Holliday is no Pujols but I think people are forgetting Holliday is an incredible hitter and has 3-4 years less playing experience than Pujols.
I was actually thinking that pujols would sign for something around 8/184. That gives him $23M per and makes him the highest paid first baseman in MLB. That would be if he goes the “hometown discount” route.
I don’t believe Pujols will sign for less than Teixeira is making. And I don’t believe the Cardinals will ask him to do so. But I do believe he will defer a chunk of whatever deal he gets, so the present cost of re-signing him will be less. I also believe the Cardinals have enough revenue to increase the payroll to stay competitive, if they choose. But they’d better hope their farm system can supply some pitchers soon, or they’ll be in trouble. They can’t pay Pujols and Holliday what they will command and afford to sign many top-notch free agent starters, too.
Lance Lynn is gonna be really good. Probably will replace lohse when his ridiculous 11MM AAV is off the books
Lance Lynn is an innings eater at best, Shelby Miller on the other hand will be very good maybe even an Ace
I just wondered how a 4 year, 41 million deal averaged out to 11 million a year?
I like Lance Lynn’s potential also. But if Lohse is healthy and pitches anything like 2008, his salary won’t seem ridiculous. He can be a solid third starter to Carpenter and Wainwright. But the one who could be a top of the rotation type is Shelby Miller, perhaps 2 or 3 years down the road. That would be just about the time Carpenter’s contract will be up, and we might have a tough decision to make, if Carpenter is still healthy and pitching well.
I like Lance Lynn’s potential also. But if Lohse is healthy and pitches anything like 2008, his salary won’t seem ridiculous. He can be a solid third starter to Carpenter and Wainwright. But the one who could be a top of the rotation type is Shelby Miller, perhaps 2 or 3 years down the road. That would be just about the time Carpenter’s contract will be up, and we might have a tough decision to make, if Carpenter is still healthy and pitching well.
I think Pujols will get an 8 year extension at 25ish a year with a rework of his remaining 2 years. That will give him well over 300 Million over his career.
Holliday is making closer to 16 a year with the deferred money btw.
That is correct, LTD. He also represented Kirby Puckett, who was at one point the highest paid player in the game (for a couple of months, if my memory is correct) and played his entire MLB career in Minnesota.
Pujols contract will probably have a lot of incentive based bonuses.
Great explanation by Heyman as to why he doesn’t consider Blyleven HoF-worthy.
More reason to never listen to a thing Heyman says.
I’m not sure where Washburn thinks he is going to get that 2 year deal he wants. He is probably thinking 2YR/16-18M, but the cold truth is that he will be lucky to get 1YR/6M. Teams will be to worried about his knees and how crash to earth with the Tigers after his trade in 09.
LOL, these guys still think its the days of wild contracts being given out, unless you are at the top of your game, i.e. the big fish you aren’t getting any foolhardy deals.
Teams are just not willing to risk having guys sitting in the trainers room collecting checks for doing nothing.
Reminds me of American Idle Carl Pavano with the Yankees, getting paid for years for not doing anything except pick lint from his crack.
All these guys like Washburn, Damon, LaRoche (who actually still has some good value at 30), but in this market these guys need a reality check. Wanting multi year deals past your mid 30’s is unrealistic.
I really dont see a situation where Pujols presses the Redbirds for more than 23-24 million. He has been playing his current contract at a huge discount and I know the front office in STL will do everything to keep him, so they wont cheap out by any means. I live in St. Louis and see more about the kind of person Albert is, through the local media, than those that live outside the STL area. I know it must be hard for someone like Heyman to understand a concept like loyalty.
I see Pujols signing an extension before his current deal is done and I do think that ownership will raise payroll to the 110 million range within the next few years. They have been operating at 100 million for several years now and will need to adjust to the current market.
I’m also in STL and I agree with you. Writers outside this area need to take a step back from just considering dollars when talking about players. If Jeter said I want “$xxx or I walk” wouldn’t you think the Yanks would find a way to re-sign him?
I guess I’m not sure what Card fans are expecting.1. He has played out his current contract at a huge discount. What’s the alternative? He signed the deal so he has to play. Sure he could gripe and complain but that is hardly the norm. And while the Cards got a great deal with his current contract that shouldn’t be a sign that Pujols is willing to sign a team friendly deal the 2nd time around. Many young players trade off future FA dollars to have certainty around their arb years and first few years of FA.2. Of course Pujols says he wants to stay in St. Louis. Did you hear Matt Holliday clamoring about wanting to leave Colorado or CC Sabathia dying to get out of Cleveland. These guys are pros. For the record, here are a few commonly said things that mean absolutely nothing.A. I love playing for this town.B. I’m not out to get the most money possible.C. I’m in the best shape of my life.D. I just had “x” done (eye surgery, chiropractic work, etc) so I will be better next year.E. I’m feeling healthier than I have ever felt before.F. This was my best off-season ever. I’m in better shape than ever before.G. I just care about winning. Playing on a competitive team is my top priority.H. The fans here are the best.I. I want to retire as a member of this team.All of the above statements are just pat answers spoon-fed to the athlete by their agent or PR team. They mean nothing, even when coming from guys like Pujols or Mauer.
come on bj, you want me in your league. where do u play? we can settle this.
You have obviously never been to St. Louis. Albert is St. Louis. He has so much to do with the community and everything. His foundation his wife, kids, family! He WILL NOT leave St. Louis unless it’s from Kansas City. It just would not make sense for him. I hate to tell you, he is not Texiera, or Arod. He is the one and only Albert Pujols.
I think we’ll see that sure when/if he gets this extension. He hits the market, then clearly he’s not the guy you think he is. If not, he’s awesome! š
Ha ha ha ha ha! And it is comments like that which make it so easy to pick on Cardinal fans. They are blind and believe everything they read in the Post and what Larussa says to them. Do you know how many players have charities in cities where they played after they are traded. Hundreds. You start holding your breath and when Pujols signs for below market value, you can exhale.
How about you hold your breath until Pujols signs somewhere else? Fair deal?
Ha ha ha ha ha! And it is comments like that which make it so easy to pick on Cardinal fans. They are blind and believe everything they read in the Post and what Larussa says to them. Do you know how many players have charities in cities where they played after they are traded. Hundreds. You start holding your breath and when Pujols signs for below market value, you can exhale.
bj, you obviously know nothing about Albert Pujols as a person. He is a man of uncommon integrity. He does not say things that mean absolutely nothing. When he says he wants to play his entire career for the Cardinals, just like Stan Musial did, he means it. And when he signed his current contract, it was the largest ever for a player in his first season of eligibility for arbitration. It still is, I believe. It might seem like a bargain price now, but it was a huge commitment to him when the Cardinals made it, and it made him one of the highest-paid players in the game years before he would have been able to achieve that through free agency. He won’t forget that when it’s time to negotiate his next, and hopefully last, contract–with the Cardinals.
How often do you and Jesus, I mean Albert hang out? I mean you obviously know Pujols personally. Or you are just another blind fan that doesn’t understand that it is a business and players play for as much money as they can get. I love my job, but if someone offers me more money to do the same thing, I am pretty sure I would go to the new job.
Well, TAYSLACKER, everybody is not like you. There are some people who care about who their co-workers are, want to feel good about what they do to earn their living, and look at other factors besides money to decide where they will work and what they will do with their lives. No, I don’t “hang out” with Albert Pujols, but I know the kind of man he is by what he says and what he does in and for the community. I realize it’s useless trying to convince someone who has a different set of values that there is, in fact, more than one way of looking at life and decisions. It’s true nonetheless, whether or not you understand it.
I strongly agree with BJ here. Just cause Pujols signed a team friendly deal doesnt mean he is going to agree to another sweetheart deal and leave 70+ million on the table. I think some of you guys speaking in absolutes about Pujols are mearly typing what you want to happen and not what has the best chance of happening. I hope he is a life long Cardinal but if the best they offer is 8/184 I doubt he stays. This isnt an attack on the Cardinals as I have no rooting interest for or against them it just players hardly ever leave money like that on the tableAs for the people saying BJ doesnt know Pujols as a person, umm of course he doesnt but neither do you. You are making guessing about his future decisions based on a perceived public image. I feel i’m pretty safe in saying that none of us are good friends with the guy and do not know is going on in his head.I hope he stays but if you guys are expecting him to take 20-21 million i think thats wishful thinking
The problem with your logic is that you fail to address the fact that the Cardinals tried to approach Albert and sign him to an extension, which would have certainly paid him more in the years that replace his current deal, and he said go take care of Holliday first. He’s either waiting for free agency and has no desire to stay in St. Louis, which would go against everything he has said, literally, ever, or he was being honest about wanting the Cardinals to commit to winning before he committed to them. Which do you think it is?
He turned down less money for his initial contract twice. He turned down an extension for less twice more before signing the current extension he is on. Let’s see, that totally seems like he doesn’t care about the money.
Why are the players put on pedestals, when they are just normal people trying to get all they can in a job where they are usually done before age 40? Watch, if Pujols leaves, Cards fans will talk about how much better off they are without him. Just like when Ankiel, Edmonds, Rolen, Eckstein, McGee, and Van Slyke left.
What do you mean the M’s should be looking at another OF instead of Garko? Garko can play left field! So what if the Venus De Milo could put up a better UZR?
Heyman might be one of the worst baseball writers around. He has no idea what he talking about whe it comes to Pujols. Albert was more concerned with the team re-signing Holliday than he is about money. Albert was the main reason they spent so much on Holliday in the first place. Albert basically told the front office to keep me re-sign him.
All Cardinal fans should just be happy that Pujols isn’t represented by Boras, because you would have to deal with 10 times what you have to with Holliday, about such and such mystery team bidding when Boras would give his planted stories to Heyman as scoops.
The best thing the Cardinals have going is that Boras is not associated with Pujols, not saying Albert won’t want to get paid but you won’t have all the sideshow stuff coming out of the Boras camp that surrounds his clients and jokers like Heyman twittering for them.
What day was that meeting you went to where you heard all this stuff go on?
What day was that meeting you went to where you heard all this stuff go on?
At the end of the day I see the Cardinals resigning Pujols even if it means future stock in the organization or whatever, you don’t let a talent like that get away. You are talking about a legendary player the likes of Dimaggio, Gehrig, Williams, Bonds – issues aside.
bj, you said you wished i was in your fantasy league. where do you play? put your money where your mouth is. come on bj, step up.
If either Pujols or Mauer hits FA they are going to the highest bidder period!
Yeah IF.. So keep dreaming
I wonder what the Braves offered Damon 1 year 5.5 or 6?
I’d say the braves aren’t going to overpay a guy who has almost no interest.
I doubt they would have offered more than one year, 6.5
Yeah I didn’t say 6.5 though, also Damon for under 6 would be a great. Under 5 would be a steal.
Nor did I say you did.I just expressed my opinion; that Damon will get no more than 6.5.Also, he will not get under 5 (with ATL); if he does, it will be with the Yankees.
True, also I didn’t mean to come of abrupt.
Nor did I say you did.I just expressed my opinion; that Damon will get no more than 6.5.Also, he will not get under 5 (with ATL); if he does, it will be with the Yankees.
8 mill and less would be my guess if the Braves were to sign Damon.They would have to pull money out of there a$$e$ to do so .
Braves have 10m(ish) to spend
How do you know ?
They stated that they will not decrease their budget from last year, which has around 97 millioncurrently, they are at 73.5 millionwith all of their arbitration cases, they will probably end up around 89, (I estimate; it could be from 86 to 91)so, they actually have closer to 7.5 or 8my bad.but they certainly have enough money to spend on damon, who will get 5 or 6…
How do you know ?
Braves have 10m(ish) to spend
Honestly, Mauer should be able to get more than Pujols, don’t get me wrong Pujols is the better player… but there are other options that are also fantastic at first base. Teix, Howard, Fielder, even guys like Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalaz. But at the catching poition, after Mauer there is almost nothing. Victor Mrtinez, Brian Mccan, Yadier and Posada. But those guys don’t compare to the value Mauer can bring, not to mention he handles the pitching staff unlike Pujols…
I don’t think Tex, Cabrera, Fielder or Howard are options as you say and neither are the catchers you mention. Pujols and Mauer are great players and both will make big money.
I disagree, obviously Pujols is better than any other first baseman, but what i’m saying is you can players at that position who can hit 35-45 homeruns, 120 rbi, obviously the average isn’t there, but compared to catcher, there is none like Mauer. Who can hit .350, hit 25 homeruns, and get you 100 rbi (which he would have with a full season)
One thing of a catcher like Mauer is his knees. If he sign a major contract with the Twins and I think he will, they might ship him to 1st base because the bending and squatting takes a toll off the knees.
Fielder is scheduled to hit free agency the same year as pujols, the tigers might start shopping cabrera because I think it’s becoming sort of obvious their either slipping into rebuild mode or wait until some of their bad contracts expire
Heyman ,you’re a joke.
I agree.
Probably boras feeding more crap to his minion ( heyman ) to stir the pot even more to up the price on Damon because he knows that no one is really interested
Its beyond pathetic, Boras was the one that whispered sweet nothings in Damon’s ears about what he could earn, despite being 36 with plummeting defense, a horrible arm and benefiting from being in a hitters park, surrounded by the best lineup in baseball and being paid 13 million per year to be a LF when he was originally signed as a CF by the Yankees and promptly began to stink defensively. He is not in LF by coincidence. I witnessed Damon and he is a good offensive player don’t get me wrong, but I saw his defense in glorious HD and it was abysmal at times, he dropped fly balls in Florida, Boston, a guy scored from second on a fly ball out in LF at Yankee Stadium, after he tried to give the ball away with 2 outs instead of 3 and by the time he got it back the runner challenged his arm and the relay throw was late. If Damon still had defensive value that was one thing but he simply doesn’t. The Yankees are a stacked offense that could afford his defense shortcomings because they led the league in scoring, middle of the road offenses aren’t willing to make that defensive sacrifice to their club, when they rely on pitching and defense, they can’t just give away outs and runs. Why would Atlanta a team with its patchy offense want to take a risk on someone like Damon in the field over a defensive player like Melky who will catch the balls hit to him, has a strong arm and is 25 years old. Atlanta is a pitchers park and the strength of the Braves is pitching. It makes little sense. If you are going to have a poor defensive player manning one of your positions he had better hit 35 HR and knock in 115 RBI’s or its just not worth it if you want to prevent runs. Heyman makes about as much sense as the deal Damon expected in this offseason, such as when Boras exclaimed to the Yankees come with multi year deals at the same salary or don’t bother. Seems like quite a few teams took that message. Now Boras has to resort to planting stories with Heyman as his mouthpiece.
“Why would Atlanta a team with its patchy offense want to take a risk on someone like Damon in the field over a defensive player like Melky who will catch the balls hit to him, has a strong arm and is 25 years old. Atlanta is a pitchers park and the strength of the Braves is pitching. It makes little sense. If you are going to have a poor defensive player manning one of your positions he had better hit 35 HR and knock in 115 RBI’s or its just not worth it if you want to prevent runs.” = The most sense I’ve read all day
“Why would Atlanta a team with its patchy offense want to take a risk on someone like Damon in the field over a defensive player like Melky who will catch the balls hit to him, has a strong arm and is 25 years old. Atlanta is a pitchers park and the strength of the Braves is pitching. It makes little sense. If you are going to have a poor defensive player manning one of your positions he had better hit 35 HR and knock in 115 RBI’s or its just not worth it if you want to prevent runs.” = The most sense I’ve read all day
That sound you hear is Adam LaRoche (and his contract demands) falling back to earth. Better late than never!
“If either Pujols or Mauer hits FA they are going to the highest bidder period!”
Totally agree….thats the nature of sports today. Its very rare when a player stays on board with their first team, like they did back in the day. I can see the NYY really going after Mauer specifically. I could care less where Pujois ends up…
I do not believe Mauer or Pujols want to leave to go to NYY because of the media there. I think Mauer, if not staying might go to another team like that, maybe somewhere like Detroit or Cleveland, where 1 mistake will not have fans boo at him.
Sorry, I disagree.
1.) Minnesota isn’t really considered a nasty media market, so why would he leave it?
2.) Based on their current spending habits, neither Detroit nor Cleveland would be able to afford him
I really don’t see why the Braves would even go after Damon at a reduced price. Sure his bat would be nice at the top of the order but how much of an improvement would he be over who we already have in LF?
Diaz is slotted there now (with Heyward in RF) and he is a:
– Above average defender where Damon is a well below averagd defender
– Hit .313/.390/.488/.878 and was on pace for 15HR/15SB over a full season.
– Much of that line was inflated by an insane .412/.464/.640/1.103 line against LHP (which for his career he has mauled as well) but his line vsRHP isn’t awful at .255/.349/.400/.749
– Diaz can be spelled against some tough righties which bring his slash-line down by Melky.
– Melky by virtue of being switch hitter can also spell McLouth against LHP who McLouth sometimes struggles against.
So a OF of
LF: Diaz (spelled sometimes against RHP by Melky)
CF: McLouth (spelled sometimes against LHP by Melky)
RF: Heyward (spelled by Melky just to keep him fresh)
This doesn’t even touch on Hinske who can hit RHP for power and play LF/RF if needed and if Schafer gets healthy in AAA we could have a super-packed OF without Damon.
Not a bad and cost effective way of going about things if you ask me. Damon just isn’t needed because the depth and talent we already have.
As much as I would LOVE to see Mauer go to the Sox (VMart DH, Mauer, Youk at first, third base open for…someone; ooh la la!), I think it would be better for baseball that he stays with the Twins. In fact I’d even be okay with that. It would be awesome IMO to have Mauer on the Sox, but 1. Yanks could easily overbid them anyway and 2. It’s a case of Yankee-esque buying the superstars to win, and I like to see Epstein get more creative than that. Besides, it might have an effect on some other players who may not have those kinds of values right now, and get them to realize that it’s worth it to be loyal. (I’m looking at you Papelbon!) It’s a great quality for baseball players to have, and it could come in handy with the recession as well; players need to eat their pride a bit and take more “reasonable” salaries; whooo 5mm a year instead of 10mm a year; so awful! They must suffer so much.
If there is one position the Yankees have depth it is the catching position, they have been working on that for years when Posada finally hangs it up to not be caught off guard. The Yankees have #1 catching prospect Jesus Montero – who will be in AAA Scranton as the starting catcher this upcoming season#2 catching prospect Austin Romine – who will be in AA Trenton as the starting catcher That is one position the Yankees have not messed around with, I think I speak for many fans of baseball when I say I hope Mauer stays in Minnesota with the new stadium they have opening up this coming season in Target Field.
Heyman’s article has been pulled from SI.com, not sure why. In case you are wondering why the link no longer works.
LOL saw that one coming.. The guy doesn’t deserve to write an editorial for an elemenatary school newsletter
Probably because he pulled the whole column out of his nether orifice, and one of the principals lodged a complaint to his editors. How can they publish something like that, with no credible source other than the fertile mind of the author, and without even making a pretense of actually talking to the players involved? It boggles the mind.
Probably because he pulled the whole column out of his nether orifice, and one of the principals lodged a complaint to his editors. How can they publish something like that, with no credible source other than the fertile mind of the author, and without even making a pretense of actually talking to the players involved? It boggles the mind.
When the Sox fan above said he wants to see Theo do things differently from the Yanks, does he mean spend 175 mill, then do something different?
How about this…Try a payroll of like 85 mill and lets see how creative Theo can be. Otherwise, the Sox are nothing more than the Yanks-lite….
Creative is the Twins, the A’s, the Rays…Team that have shown some success..At about 100mill less than Theo and 140 less than the Yanks…
That my friend is creative. But your aww shucks, Yanks spend attitude is funny/
Pujols is the best player in the game right now. A player that can carry a team by himself. He should get paid like the best. The guy deserves $30mil a year and I for one thinks he should get it.
Washburn turned down $5 million from the Twins? I say that’s a good thing….. for the Twins. Can’t see Washburn being a good bargain if he’s seeking a ton of money, doubtful he’s going to replicate his 2009 first half performance again. He is what he is.
Albert is going to look for $30 million a year? Why not, he’s the best player in the game, he might as well be paid like it. I don’t begrudge any player looking to maximize their salary and Albert needs to go out and get paid. He deserves it. It would also be fascinating to see the affect it would have on St. Louis’s payroll and how they’d handle it. With Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter and Wainwright taking up such a large portion of payroll (60% perhaps???) how would they fair filling out their roster with cheap players?
3:59 Update: Heyman was wrong about the Braves offering Damon a contract?? No way!! Who could have ever seen that coming ??
It seems a little less than fair that owners and front offices cant hold private meetings to try and judge a players market, yet writers and agents can underhandedly drive up the market on a player?
What does Washburn think he’s gonna get? Face it, you had one average year, you’re not allowed to ask $6-7 million.
Pujols is the best player in the game. He should be paid like it. He should look to get paid $30mil a year, theres no reason he shouldn’t make that much. He should get paid like the best player in the game.
Lance Lynn is an innings eater at best, Shelby Miller on the other hand will be very good maybe even an Ace
Funny, I see it the other way around. But drastically, lynn was pretty dominate in the minors. Not to say miller won’t be, but Lynn has proven himself ( at the minor leave level )
people who think matty “swing at anything” diaz is an everyday player must enjoy spending life in 3rd place every year…..atl needs damon…….
Really? Even though your funny little nickname for Diaz is very convincing, the stats don’t back it up.
He had over a 1.100 OPS vsLHP and had a .349 OBP against his weakness RHP which is still pretty decent.
Over a full season it would be a prett fair bet to say he could hit .305/.380/.480/.860 with 15 SB and 15 SB with slightly above average defense.
I know he doesn’t have elite power or speed from LF but he can flat out hit and takes walks and has some power and speed. So why the Diaz hate?
Not for nothin, and statistics aside for just a second, watchin the Braves this past season, if you hadn’t seen Diaz swinging at fastballs up around his head more than a few times, well, you just weren’t watching. I’m not saying I don’t like Matt, but for the type of hitter he is, the strike outs gotta come down
Not for nothin, and statistics aside for just a second, watchin the Braves this past season, if you hadn’t seen Diaz swinging at fastballs up around his head more than a few times, well, you just weren’t watching. I’m not saying I don’t like Matt, but for the type of hitter he is, the strike outs gotta come down
I just cant see Albert or Mauer staying without testing the market. It would be in their best interest as players to see whats out there.
Also, IMO, no way the Cards spend 50M on Holliday and Albert combined. They arent the Yankees and dont have those kind of funds(as far as Im aware, they are the only team to spend ~50M on 2 guys). Even if they had the money, Holliday isnt a franchise player, IMO. He is a good, not great hitter. That contract may really be a bad thing in a few years..
your right so some degree. the new busch stadium will be paid off at or around 2012 season, which means they COULD bump payrolls up by 20-30 more..which puts them around the range of the Phillies.
Yea, they could. I just think that they may try to sign him long term, but when he tests FA they say “We gave it our best shot.” Also, they said during the Holliday stuff that they see him as a franchise guy… they may use having Holliday as an excuse for not signing Albert. Of course, that would be extremely dumb to keep Holliday and that contract forces them not to sign Albert…
Just my two cents from the outside.
I will say this, if I had to put a pole on it, I would say Albert leaves before Mauer. The Twins seem to have everything built around having Mauer. And he understands this, it seems. The Cards have Holliday as well, and as I said, they see him as a franchise guy. Just seems like the Twins are set to go all out for Mauer, and the Cards seem to have lined up a backup plan…
Heyman doesn’t know anything about the Pujols situation. Not one thing. He knows as much about Pujols as he does about the Braves offering Damon a contract, which didn’t happen.
Funny, looks to me like everyone else’s dream will turn into your Nightmare!lol!
Saying that Pujols is “surely seeking $30 million” is surely a misuse of the word “surely.” Because he has said he wants to stay in STL, and he has to know he isn’t going to get $30 million per year there.
That makes no sense. If he was that concerned then he could have taken a back-loaded contract, or just tacked on years to his current deal. There is no reason for him to not sign an extension other than being unsure about wanting to stay in St. Louis.
Once again. Only Cards fans don’t believe that Pujols will ask for that much money. Why don’t you all understand that when a player says it is not about money and then refuses to talk about contract extensions, it is all about the money?
Once again. Only Cards fans don’t believe that Pujols will ask for that much money. Why don’t you all understand that when a player says it is not about money and then refuses to talk about contract extensions, it is all about the money?
My predictions for Mauer and Pujols is this. Mauer will only be playing for 2 possible teams…..the Twins or the Yankees. As for Pujols, he will either stay in St Louis or end up in either of these places….Red Sox, Dodgers, NYM, Cubbies (they would love to stick it to the Cards) or the Angels. The top three for Pujols will be St Louis, Red Sox or Dodgers. I wont guess on the money.
twins can’t let mauer leave