The Major League Baseball Offseason Post

[bruce waynee]

Posey is the goods

 

[nnarum]

Spoiler it!

 

[incredibleev]

SUPER excited about Montero who I was recently reading projects to a Miguel Cabrera-type bat with 40 HR potential.

i personally will miss Damon and need major convincing on Randy Winn everyday

 

[wildkycat]

Trainer: Griffey ready for spring training

SEATTLE -- Ken Griffey Jr. is "ripped" and ready to go for spring training.

Baseball's active home run leader had his second arthroscopic knee surgery in 12 months in October, to remove a bone spur. And Seattle Mariners trainer Rick Griffin says Griffey is "better now than he was at any time last year."

Griffin spent a few days with Griffey at his home in Florida this winter. The trainer said Thursday the slugger who turned 40 on Nov. 21 has lost about 7 pounds.

Griffey's even bragging about his new physique.

"He told our general manager that he's going to be ripped. We'll see," Griffin said, smiling three weeks before the Mariners begin spring training.

"He knows he has to lose weight. And he has," Griffin said.

Griffey hit .214 last season in his return to Seattle, with 19 homers and 57 RBIs in 117 games. He was a designated hitter for all but the first weeks of the season.

The man with 630 career home runs had his knee drained repeatedly in 2009, and often walked stiffly around the clubhouse with a bulbous ice pack wrapped around his leg.

Yet he still produced thrilling, late-game home runs, reminders of what made the 13-time All-Star a Seattle icon from 1989-99, beginning as a grinning Mariners teenager.

"A lot of people don't realize, not being in the clubhouse every day, how bad his knee was last year," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said.

He has Griffey penciled in as his designated hitter. Wakamatsu, who led Seattle's turnaround from 101 losses to an 85-77 record last season, said Thursday at the team's annual pre-spring training luncheon that the Mariners will again slowly work the 1997 AL MVP into everyday shape.

"When he can play, he's going to be in there," Wakamatsu said.

Griffey is Seattle's clubhouse leader and the key to maintaining the environment of trust Wakamatsu created last year in his first season with the Mariners.

But just as Seattle is expecting more out of its rising team, its manager expects more out of Griffey now that he's healthy.

"We're expecting production," Wakamatsu said.

The Big Unit is also coming back to Seattle for opening day.

The Mariners announced Thursday that former ace Randy Johnson will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before April 12's home opener against Oakland.

The 46-year-old, five-time Cy Young Award winner retired this month from the San Francisco Giants after 303 wins, 4,875 strikeouts and 22 major league seasons.

Johnson was 130-74 in 10 years with Seattle -- his most wins among any of his six teams -- before he was traded to Houston midway through 1998. He led the Mariners into their first postseasons in 1995 and '97.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

 

[gangsta207therevolution]

watch him hit 30...

 

[jpzx]

Baseball needs to come sooner.

 

[alleniversonfan01]

Originally Posted by JPZx

Baseball needs to come sooner.

Exactly. All these "Superior" sports (according to some NTers) are doing nothing for me right now. Dont get me wrong I like Basketball and Football just as much as Baseball but Baseball is the only sport that has been interesting in the last 6 months. The NFL playoffs where BLEH! and hopefully basketball picks up a little after the all star break.

 

[bkmac]

I can't believe Griffey is 40 years old already. It's scary.

 

[wildkycat]

A Major League source told MLB.com late Saturday that the Reds agreed to terms with free-agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera on a one-year, $3 million contract.
well...it's an upgrade. 

 

[dacomeup]

Reds trade Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales to the Rockies for Aaron Miles.

Anything to get Taveras off the books, and the Reds save 1.3 mill.

 

[dland24]

^Wrong.

 

[dacomeup]

Reds officially announce Miles-Taveras trade Posted by tgroeschen February 1st, 2010, 1:38 pm

Update: The Reds have made this official.

According to ESPN’s Buster Onley, the Reds and A’s have completed a trade that will send utility infielder Aaron Miles and a player to be named for Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales.

The report.

Miles, 33, is a career .282 hitter. He was recently traded from the Cubs along with Jake Fox to Oakland for Jeff Gray and two minor league prospects.

He hit .185 in 157 plate appearances last season in Chicago. He was on the DL twice last year, with a strained right shoulder strain and a hyperextended right elbow.

However, in his two previous seasons in St. Louis, he hit .317 (200 and .290 (2007).

Olney reports the Reds will save $1.3 million on the deal, which will help offset some of the money they just committed in signing shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

“I’m happy to be reunited with Aaron, who played a key role in our World Series championship in St. Louis,

 

[jdcurt2]

Thank God Willy is gone, he was one of the worst ball players i've ever seen (He's already been cut by the A's too

) and Rosales wasn't far behind.

So that means Beane picked up a $4 million contract to pick up the mighty Adam Rosales.

I'll take it

 

[kiddin like jason]

Gark to the Mariners. Best move they've made all winter.

Career .313/.392/.495 hitter against lefties.

 

[proshares]

Millar signed w/the Cubs and good old B.K. Kim signed w/the Giants. Both minor league deals.

 

[dland24]

Originally Posted by Kiddin Like Jason

Gark to the Mariners. Best move they've made all winter.

Career .313/.392/.495 hitter against lefties.

Garkage?  Hopefully for the Mariners sake he is just better in the AL, because he was absolute trash for us.
And COMEUP....you said Tavares was traded to the Rockies.....which was wrong.

 

[stringer bell 32]

Heard the Twins are looking at O Dog

 

[wildkycat]

Drew Stubbs time.

 

[wildkycat]

DaComeUp...you going to be home in Cincy this summer?  i don't think i'm going to be able to go to near as many Reds games as i have in the past this season, so i'll have tickets that i'm going to need to get rid of.  just a heads up.

 

[jpzx]

"Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said on Sirius XM's MLB Home Plateshow today that GM Mike Rizzo "feels confident that we’re going to get[a Hudson deal] done," but other teams are interested and taking alower-than-expected contract "might be a little bit of a hard pill toswallow" for the player."

The Mariners "remain a long shot candidate" to sign free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Morosi admits that some roster maneuvering would be necessary to accomodate Hudson, as the Ms already have Jose Lopezat second and a full slate of position players.  I should add thatwhether Hudson is an upgrade over Lopez overall is an open question.
It looks like it's down to the Nationals, Twins and Indians. KLJ basically mocked the Indians being a potential team, so let's just say it's realistically down to the Nationals and the Twins. I 100% believe the Nationals will fork up the cash necessary to sign Hudson, while the Twins will just sit back and hope that for some reason that DC becomes less interested.

 

[jaysfordays]

O-Dog would make the Nats off-season and lineup complete.

 

[N41D]

Originally Posted by JaysForDays

O-Dog would make the Nats off-season and lineup complete.

And they'd still be the worst team in the National League...

  

 

[jpzx]

Gregg close to deal with Jays -- 2:19 p.m.

Free-agent reliever Kevin Gregg is close to signing with the Blue Jays, according to major-league sources.

Gregg, a right-hander, would be turning down chances to set up for the Rockies and Marlins for a better opportunity to close with the Jays.

Right-handerJason Frasor and left-hander Scott Downs had most of the saveopportunities last season for the Jays, who released their previouscloser, oft-injured lefty B.J. Ryan, in July.

Gregg, 31, had the third-lowest save percentage in the majors last season with the Cubs,converting 23 of 30 chances. The year before, he had the sixth lowestpercentage while pitching for the Marlins, going 29-for-38.

HisERA rose from 3.41 in 2008 to 4.72 last season, but Gregg has beendurable, averaging approximately 75 innings per season over the pastsix seasons and never once appearing on the disabled list. -- Ken Rosenthal
Link
[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/02/marlins-made-offer-to-russell-branyan.html[/h1]

[h1]Marlins Made Offer To Russell Branyan[/h1]
By Tim Dierkes [February 2 at 1:32pm CST]

The Marlins offered a one-year deal to free agent first baseman Russell Branyan, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark.  The offer contains a "low base and lots of incentives," and Branyan would have to pass rookies Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison on the depth chart for a starting job.


Link

 

[jpzx]

[h1][/h1]

[h1]Nationals Monitoring Chien-Ming Wang[/h1]
By Tim Dierkes [February 3, 2010 at 10:20am CST]

The Nationals are the latest team linked to free agent righty Chien-Ming Wang, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Wang, 30 in March, had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his rightshoulder capsule on July 29th of last year.  On January 28th, Wang'sagent Alan Nero told ESPN's Jayson Starkthat his client is expected to "make a major-league start sometime inthe first two weeks of May."  If we project Wang's return date as May15th, that'd be 75% of a season.

Nero told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sportsa week ago that he's "anticipating a major-league offer with asubstantial guarantee and substantial upside."  About six clubs havebeen in on Wang this winter to some extent, including the Nationals,Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals, and Mets.


Link
[h1][/h1]

[h1]Dodgers Sign Ramon Ortiz[/h1]
By Tim Dierkes [February 3 at 8:37am CST]

The Dodgers signed righty Ramon Ortiz to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. Ortiz, 37 in March, spent 2009 with the Giants' Triple A club.  Heposted a 3.05 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9 in 129.6 innings.  Ortiz'scareer has also included stops with the Angels, Reds, Nationals, Twins,Rockies, and Orix Buffaloes.

Link
[h1][/h1]

[h1]Padres On Verge Of Deal With Yorvit Torrealba[/h1]
By Tim Dierkes [February 3 at 9:46am CST]

The Padres are on the verge of a one-year deal with catcher Yorvit Torrealba, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Torrealba, 31, hit .291/.351/.380 in 242 plate appearances for theRockies last year, catching 545.3 innings.  Torrealba split time lastyear with a solid young catcher in Chris Iannetta, and he'll do so again this year with Nick Hundley.

We learned on Mondayfrom Olney that despite an offer in hand from San Diego, Torrealbahoped to engage the Mets.  However, the Mets may be done spending.


Link
[h1][/h1]

[h1]Deciphering The Tigers' Interest In Damon[/h1]
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 3 at 9:35am CST]

WEDNESDAY, 9:35am: Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, formerly of the Tigers beat, believes Boras is trying to appeal to owner Mike Ilitch as he did for Ivan Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez in the past.  Morosi believes a Damon deal with the Tigers "is a distinct possibility."

TUESDAY, 6:25pm: Johnny Damonwould play in Detroit, but the Tigers haven't spoken with agent ScottBoras and their level of interest in the left fielder remains unclear.This week Boras told the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press that Damon would play in the Motor City, citing his client's will to win and fondness for manager Jim Leyland.

Boras told the Free Press that he has not spoken with Dave Dombrowski and the Tigers GM told MLive's Steve Kornackithat he has an "open mind" about tinkering with his club. Dombrowskideclined to comment further, so we're left without a definite sense ofthe team's interest.


This much is clear: Boras wants to engage the Tigers and the team is stopping short of ruling Damon out completely.


Link
[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/02/dodgers-to-resign-jeff-weaver.html[/h1]

[h1]Dodgers Re-Sign Jeff Weaver[/h1]
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 2, 2010 at 10:49pm CST]

The Dodgers have re-signed Jeff Weaverto a minor league deal worth $800K plus up to $100K in incentives. The33-year-old righty pitched to a 3.65 ERA in 79 innings for the Dodgerslast year. He started seven games and finished five, serving as aswingman in Joe Torre's bullpen. Weaver paired a 3.8 BB/9 with a careerhigh strikeout rate of 7.3 K/9.

We heard this weekend that Scott Boras was trying to find interest in Weaver. There wasn't much buzz around the sidearmer this offseason; the Dodgers were the only team linked to him.

Yahoo's Tim Brown first tweeted the agreement and Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times added the terms of the contract and tweeted when it became official.


Link

 

[jpzx]

[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/02/orlando-hudson-rumors-thursday.html[/h1]

[h1]Orlando Hudson Close To Deal With Twins[/h1]
By Tim Dierkes [February 4, 2010 at 12:32pm CST]

12:32pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Hudson will not play for the Nationals, and a deal is almost done with the Twins.

11:59am: The Twins have "intensified their pursuit" of Orlando Hudson, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The writers believe Hudson is likely to find a team this week,though the free agent second baseman is still asking for at least $6MMon a one-year deal.

Rosenthal and Morosi say the Nationals are not a clear frontrunnerfor Hudson, who could be swayed by the Twins' status as a contender.The Indians are seen as the least likely of the three suitors.

...

Oh yeah...this was finally made official today too. Not sure why it took so long.
[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/02/twins-agree-to-terms-with-jim-thome.html[/h1]

[h1]Twins Sign Jim Thome[/h1]
By Mark Polishuk [February 4, 2010 at 12:20pm CST]

The Twins officially signed designated hitter Jim Thome to a one-year, $1.5MM deal today.  The contract includes another $750K in plate appearance incentives.