Links on a very rainy evening in the Bronx..
- Matt Stairs nearly retired this winter but now he tells Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter) that he wants to play for another year or two.
- The Diamondbacks will decide interim manager Kirk Gibson's fate soon, writes MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.
- Toronto could give their entire staff a makeover upon hiring a new manager, writes Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press.
- Stan Kasten told Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post that he's still not sure if he'll return to the Nats next season.
- The Mets may already have their 2011 second baseman in Daniel Murphy, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
- The Reds won't be auditioning Yonder Alonso for a potential deal as Joey Votto is set to return to action on Friday, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
- Mets GM Omar Minaya told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter) that he's not concerned about speculation over his job security.
- It's a good time for ex-Mariners managers, tweets Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
Could we please, please, PLEASE not have Daniel Murphy at 2B next season? Kelly Johnson, Aaron Hill, Rickie Weeks, and Orlando Hudson are all options, and better options at 2B than Daniel Murphy. Plus, Daniel Murphy would be a better utility man than a full time 2B.
Seriously. Guy hasn’t played in, what, 6 months? Isn’t he still injured?
Yeah, exactly. Has he proved or even deserved the 2B job next season? No. Come on!
I hope it’s Orlando Hudson even though his skills are declining.
And when that doesn’t work they’ll try him at catcher or as a relief pitcher
Maybe he’s the next GM
Agreed Span. The only place Murphy belongs is whether on the bench or as trade bait. Hell, I’d rather have Ruben Tejada be the starting 2nd baseman over Murph. For a 20-year old rookie, Tejada plays like a seasoned vet defensively. Eventually, his offensive numbers will get better. Of all the guys you mentioned Span, the only one I’d take is Aaron Hill. I’ve watched him for the last few years and despite that he’s been a bit off after the awesome year he had last year, I would love to see him as a Met. When’s the last time the Mets had a 2nd baseman with pop? Fonzie?Another option at 2nd I’d have would be Brian Roberts. Man is already a doubles machine. At Citi, he’d probably be a triples machine.
When’s the last time the Mets had a 2nd baseman with pop? Jose Valentin in 2006 with 20+ HR.
Ugh….Valentin. That’s right. I forgot about him. The only thing I remember about him is how he disappeared off the face of the earth during the playoffs.
hey he was the ONLY one that had a hit off of wainwright in the 9th inning of game 7!
Ugh….Valentin. That’s right. I forgot about him. The only thing I remember about him is how he disappeared off the face of the earth during the playoffs.
Much agreed. I’d rather have Tejada at 2B than Murphy.
tejada and reyes also have a good chemistry working together and tejada seems to be picking it up with the bat as of late. i mean he was rushed hella early ( at 20 ) and already is starting to hit better…
neither KJ/Aaron Hill/Weeks are on the trade market or free agents …the only options the mets have are …
1 keep castillo…have tejada ride the bench
2 bench castillo…replace with tejada…
3 dump castillo …start tejada…have murphy backup
4 dump castillo…start murphy…have tejada ride the bench…
5 sign orlando hudson to a 2 year deal. murphy rides the bench (tejada goes to AAA)
knowing the wilpons…they look at 2B as having to pay 11-12 mil cuz they will include castillo’s salary for that years budget…I’m thinking they go with option 3.
Yeah man agreed. I think I’d even take any 2B outside the organization. Really like the Roberts idea!
of course you would take any..then u would complain later if the choice didnt work out.
then god forbid the choice was a felipe, a carlos, a miguel…it would be so blatant that there was favoritism involved ( gasp in horror ).
You know what is funny, you are absolutley, completely, 100% right!
good to know u rejoice in being a 2nd guesser that doesnt even own up to his own pseudo-choices. I’ll keep that in mind next time ur bashing Omar ( or the next GM ) for not signing Sheets…or Zito…or Marquis….or Lackey…or …
What? I did own up to it! But come on you know me! What a I going to say!
Wonder if the Jays will have a looky looky on Alonso
Depends on the price.
I say, it would be nice to have Alonso in a Jays uniform, but they already have a ton of 1B/DH types on their team alread in Lind and Snider and they traded brett Wallace meanng, the Jays would rather have an athletic Dee Gordon type player or a pitcher than another one dimentional 1B.
Agreed, but Lind looks a little lost at times at 1B. I do realize its a small amount he has played at 1B. I also think JPA + prospect will be moved for an impact positional player. Maybe a 1B, OF perhaps
Why would they give up Arencibia and a prospect for that? They already have people within the organization, that can fill that role next year: Snider, Lind, Bautista, and I’d even look in to Cooper, Jacobs, or Bowman as long (and I mean long) shots. Impact players in premium positions should be the focus if any moves are made.
Lind can and will get better at first with regular playing time, just as Arenciba will be a better catcher with major league experience.
Bautista is far to athletic to play 1B. Snider is an outfielder and seriously you are talking about Cooper, Jacobs and Bowman. Come on now, they are NOT high ceiling players.
Arencibia is not the answer. Move him now, much like Wallace. We have plenty of catching prospects that have a better upside
My big concern about Bautista is whether or not the sabrmetrics are telling the truth about his defensive range. Snider is indeed an outfielder, but I don’t think that outright disqualifies him from playing first if he were required to. I would feel more comfortable if it were Lind instead of Snider moved down, though. I think Snider has the ability to play left field everyday.I was mentioning the other three because they’re all organizational depth I’d rather have come up and act as a band-aid for a time than trade someone with the talent JP Arencibia has in a premium position like catcher. 1B/DH guys are some of the easiest players to find on the open market. You don’t, and shouldn’t need to give up Arencibia for someone like that.Also, you’ve missed the bigger picture here with Arencibia. It’s debatable if Arencibia has greater or less upside than those in the system. However, Brian Jeroloman is at least a year away. Carlos Perez is two or more years away. Travis D’arnaud is a good 3-4 years away. There is nobody here right now to play there at the level he projects at and for his price tag. Why would AA think about giving that up when there isn’t anything behind him that’s ready?
I agree fully that Snider can be the LF now and of the future. 22 years old and only getting better.
For arguement sake, Jeroloman is 25 years old. Not sure what he has left to prove in the minors.
JP is BY far the better power bat, BUT
Brian’s career OBP is .385 and has an amazing walk to strikeout ratio and a solid defensive catcher
This is all a matter of offensive philosophy.
I say Jeroloman needs another year mostly because I want to see him play a full year of AAA. At the very least, I’d like him to stay down there until the All-Star break ends just to make sure he’s ready for more experienced pitching.
I’m against trading anyone away that’s as close as JP is without at least giving him some dedicated playing time, as well. I think he can only get better with each series he gets the majority of games in.
My big concern about Bautista is whether or not the sabrmetrics are telling the truth about his defensive range. Snider is indeed an outfielder, but I don’t think that outright disqualifies him from playing first if he were required to. I would feel more comfortable if it were Lind instead of Snider moved down, though. I think Snider has the ability to play left field everyday.I was mentioning the other three because they’re all organizational depth I’d rather have come up and act as a band-aid for a time than trade someone with the talent JP Arencibia has in a premium position like catcher. 1B/DH guys are some of the easiest players to find on the open market. You don’t, and shouldn’t need to give up Arencibia for someone like that.Also, you’ve missed the bigger picture here with Arencibia. It’s debatable if Arencibia has greater or less upside than those in the system. However, Brian Jeroloman is at least a year away. Carlos Perez is two or more years away. Travis D’arnaud is a good 3-4 years away. There is nobody here right now to play there at the level he projects at and for his price tag. Why would AA think about giving that up when there isn’t anything behind him that’s ready?
I really don’t understand why people call Snider a 1b/DH type except for his body type. He really isn’t that bad defensively. Right now his speed is slightly above average and he has a cannon for an arm which would be wasted at 1b. Sure maybe when he becomes a free agent he won’t be suited for the outfield anymore but for the next 4-6 years Snider should be an average to slightly above average left fielder.
People don’t realize his body is so much different from when he was 20 to now, 22. Even his body, its not suited for DH. His speed has improved and I think once he continues to play more and more, his range and defense overall should improve.
He is the future LF for this team.
I really think letting walton and murphy go would be a terrible mistake by the jays. . I hate this oh hire a new manager and he brings his staff in aka his buddies. You want the job, then this is your pitch and hitting coach until further notice, if you have a problem with that go manage the mets.
okay. Talk to me.
i just think walton and murphy are good coaches and have formed some bonds that if broken can have detrimental effects to development.
I mean okay romero and marcum have had good years, but not out of the norm, just steady progression.. Where as, can you find me one person who anticipated cecil to have a 2011 rotation spot locked up? Morrow the same? Walton has done an incredible job with morrow especially, refining him in to a pitcher..
When I said talk to me, I meant tell me what you thought of Kyle and how was the game
Ahhhh you need to be more specific after i’ve had 10 beers. . . I actually think that Drabek was more nervous today then his first start.. He was spinning out of his delivery a bit especially when people were on base.
but again, if this is him not on, because he pretty much only could command the fastball, then thats a good sign. He left a few pitches up, and he got burned, but lopez burned every pitcher he saw. So tough breaks, I would have liked to see him go for the 6th inning… but pretty much when tallet is out there i rather have me take the mound.
What did you think span?
well I think he definetly looked better last night then in his first start, but he’s still doing the same things that got him in to trouble in New Hampshire; rushing, not following through, not trusting his catcher, and speeding up his delivery. But he’s obviously nervous, excited, and still getting used to pitching in the Majors.
He’s still going to be a tremendous pitcher, so these 2 starts are obviously just Kyle gagging on his cup of coffee. He’ll be fine an I think he will pitch well in his next start.
I feel the same way.
I was rather disappointed with the turn out though. but what else is new.
on a side note i’m pretty sure i made brandon league cry.. true story
Did you make fun of his glasses?
I think we really need to keep Walton. I wouldn’t mind keeping butters either but if he doesn’t get that manager job, I think he walks.
Would like to keep Murphy as well but he should not be saying walks don’t matter. You can’t have that type of mentality.
I’ve heard that arguement before, but the reality is he has worked well with the roster given.. If you tried to be a small ball team, lay down bunts, move runners along with this team, they would have 62 wins.
I agree that this team has badly lacked base presence all season, but its not from coaching its from inferior players.. Bringing in escobar was the first of many steps in hopefully a higher team obp, scoring more runs without the long ball.. but next years team should still hit plenty of HR’s…
I don’t mind that philosophy. In fact I prefer it to the alternatives.The manager is the boss on the field, and things should be done his way — it’s part of the reason that you hire who you do as your team’s manager. Who does it benefit for a manager to manage a team where his coaches’ philosophies don’t match his own? He should be comfortable with his lieutenants and with what they’re teaching and how they’re teaching it. In fact, I think one of the best situations in baseball currently exists on the Angels, where Mike Scioscia is locked up as a long-term manager and the entire organization is tailored so that when its players make it to the Bigs, they play the way Scoscia wants them to play. It’s rare to get a manager that good and that trusted, but if you can get it, hoo boy.That said, the best way it can happen is either a manager is open-minded to how things are done or he is open-minded to the strong coaches already on a team, and they get on the same page and everybody prospers. If that can’t or doesn’t happen, then I let the manager bring in whoever he wants as coaches. I trusted him and his style enough to give him the job, I should allow him to carry it out to the best of his abilities and that includes having people he trusts.The only possible exception would be if I have one of the coaches pretty much universally acknowledged as the best or nearly the best at their job, somebody like a Dave Duncan or a Rudy Jaramillo. In that case he would stay when I brought a new manager in. In fact, it would influence the decision as to who that new manager should be. If a potential manager isn’t comfortable with it or with that coach, next please.The common thread, though, is comfort. The manager needs to be comfortable with his staff either because he picked them, approved them, or I picked HIM with that quality in mind.
ummm….the mets rarely if ever allow a manager to pick his staff…the only exception was art howe…not even bobby v picked his staff…so im not sure what the mets reference was, unless they are the poster child for bad organizations…in which case im almost hard pressed to disagree
I can see the Reds being after a young LF/SS, they have some kids in the system that could likely fill both slots, but I could see them going after some more proven talent.
I would love to see that happen as long as we don’t get rid of any of our young pitchers like Leake or Wood. Would not care if Bailey was shipped out. Never really have cared for him too much.
The Rays should really inquire on Yonder Alonso… James Shields for him, then sign him to a ridiculously team friendly contract like Longo if Alonso does well
the rays risked it all, longoria was barley in the league and gave him that contract without really finding out if he was the real deal. It worked out for them, but it is extremley risky
Honestly, where does Cincy need to improve. Their hittings already unstoppable. Plus the dynamic 1-2 of Cueto & Volquez. I say, I say, I say, what else is needed Suh.
The biggest problem I see (granted I’ve only seen the Reds a half dozen times or so) is the extreme K rates of their OFers (pretty much all of them) and late-inning relief. The Reds could use a LHB high-average good-speed decent-contact LF/CF type that could start primarily in LF but also spell Stubbs when there’s a definite risk for a golden sombrero. Crawford’s pretty much out of the Reds picture for 2011, but signing a healthy David DeJesus might be a good fit there (if KC doesn’t pick up his option). Otherwise the Reds might simply look to pick up a Pierre/Podsednik type as a 4th OF. Bullpen arms (there’s no such thing as too many of these), middle IF prospects, and perhaps even that LHB LF/CF make sense as targets in the seemingly unavoidable future trade involving Alonso.
Drools of even a fantasy dream of getting Crawford in Cincy!!!!!! sigh not likely though. Never count out Jockety completely though.
Of course Omar Minaya isn’t worried about the speculation. He’s getting paid regardless of what happens. He’s the Isiah Thomas of baseball.
If he is Isiah Thomas…who is Jim Hendry’s equilivant ?
lol
If he is Isiah Thomas…who is Jim Hendry’s equilivant ?
lol
(C-Soto1B- Colvin2B-DeWittSS-Castro3B-VittersRF- Brandon GuyerCF- Brett JacksonLF- Kyler Burke
2012-13 Chicago Cubs
They will still flop you watch.. Somehow they always find a way.
Eh. At this point if you’re projecting 2-3 seasons out and aren’t penciling Hak-Ju Lee in someplace, you’re probably wrong.
Props to Matt Stairs for still having the fire to play a couple of more years also helps he still has some pop left in the bat. The Jaime Moyer of hitters?
Reds pitching should be in good shape for a long time. They could use an established left fielder they can control for a few years, someone that can hit home runs and knock in some runs. They couldn’t pry him away from the Twins, but a Delmon Young type would be a nice fit at least with the numbers he’s putting up this year. 300 average with 100 plus rbis, and 20 hrs. Thats the kind of player they need, especially with Rolen getting up there and no clear replacement for his right handed pop.
2012-2013 Pirates
CF- McCutchen
2B- Walker
1B- Rendon
3B- Alvarez
RF- Lambo
LF- Tabata
C- Sanchez
SS- TBD
SP- Taillon
2012-2013 Pirates
CF- McCutchen
2B- Walker
1B- Rendon
3B- Alvarez
RF- Lambo
LF- Tabata
C- Sanchez
SS- TBD
SP- Taillon
Looks like the Mets are already waving the white flag for next year lol
Looks like the Mets are already waving the white flag for next year lol