The dance that the Mets have tried to play with Scott Boras and his clients this winter just got a lot trickier now that Omar Minaya's top option is off to the division rival Braves. Losing out on Derek Lowe leaves Oliver Perez as the best option to fill a top rotation spot for the Mets. And it leaves Boras firmly in the drivers seat.
The Mets, who held firm on their three-year, $36 million offer to him, must have known that Lowe was headed to the Braves. They were losing their grip on him, so they tried to turn the market in their favor by offering Perez three years at $30 million, hoping he would bite quickly.
But now that Perez stands front and center as the top free-agent starter available, the Mets aren't getting away that cheaply. Nor are they likely to get away with a three-year deal now that Lowe got his four years.
Remember when the news came out that the Texas Rangers were quietly shoppingMichael Young? Now we might know why. Apparently, the Rangers were afraid of how Young would react after requesting he switch to third base. Sure enough ... he requested a trade.
He was "absolutely livid" with the Rangers for making such a request just months after American League managers and coaches voted him a Gold Glove for the first time, one source said.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington informed Young shortly after the winter meetings that the team wanted him to play third to clear a spot for top shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus, 20.
While it may seem a selfish move on Young's part, I can't blame him completely. Not that Young is a player of the caliber/prestige of Derek Jeter, but Jeter wouldn't switch positions to make room for a Hall of Famer who might break Barry Bonds' home run record. Why should Young move away from a position where he won a Gold Glove to make room for a 20-year-old rookie? Honestly, I can see where he'd feel slighted.
Rocco Baldelli's baseball journey has been affected by a mitochondrian disorder which has kept him to 155 games over three seasons. And now it has taken him out of Tampa Bay, and out of an organization he's been a member of for over eight seasons.
But fear not for Baldelli, because it has now taken him to Boston, where it's being reported that the Red Sox are about to sign him to a free agent deal. With Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, and J.D. Drew making up the outfield, it looks like Baldelli would be their fourth outfielder. But with Matt Joyce and Pat Burrell joining the fray for the Rays, there didn't seem to be a role even as big as that for him there, so it's off to a division rival for Rocco.
As long as his problems with fatigue remain somewhat in check (and according to the link, the tests looked good), Baldelli is an intriguing option off the bench for Boston, and could fill in as a starter if Ellsbury slumps or if Drew is injured, which some may say is inevitable. So there will be plenty of chances for Baldelli to play.
Nick Swisher was an interesting acquisition for the Yankees from jump. He was penciled in as the Yankees' first baseman, but had enough versatility to move to the outfield if the Yanks were to acquire Mark Teixeira. Back then, the possibility of the Yanks signing Teixeira was remote ... but now that he's here, the Yankees were all of a sudden faced with a possible outfield of Hideki Matsui/Johnny Damon in left field, Swisher in center, and Xavier Nady in right, with Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera on the outside looking in.
But the Yankees must be thinking about the potential defensive nightmare in such an outfield due to a lack of range, and wonder if any offense that Nady or Swisher would bring would be too much of a luxury on a team with Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. So somewhat not surprisingly, the Yanks are now reportedly listening to offers for Nady and Swisher.
With teams scared to spend money for free agent outfielders, Nady could provide an interesting option for a team with a deep farm system and who's close to contention. Ultimately, I see the Yankees asking for a bit too much in return for Nady for him to be the guy to go ... and that leaves Swisher, who's coming off a down year and would be easier to trade for. And for the Yanks, putting Gardner in your outfield is a little easier to take with Teixeira, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Nady in your lineup. So I can see the Nick Swisher era ending in New York before it ever starts.
I guess this counts as politicians doing their part to give back during these trying economic times. But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his administration, against a backdrop of economic turmoil, are giving up their luxury boxes in both the new Yankee Stadium, and Citi Field.
Senior Bloomberg aides had fought hard to get the luxury boxes, describing the perk in internal e-mails as "a big issue to the mayor" during negotiations with the teams in 2006. (...)
Bloomberg spokesman Andrew Brent said the new agreement means the city will receive cash payments for the use of its Yankees box. Future mayoral administrations will have the option of using the box or being paid for it. (...)
State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who accuses the city of conducting the stadium negotiations behind closed doors, said the Bloomberg administration is clearly worried about how it looks to be haggling over luxury boxes now that the city is grappling with dramatic budget cuts, job losses and tax hikes.
"This whole thing has been an embarrassment," Brodsky said. "I think they were scared about the public reaction to this entire fiasco."
Any chance that money the city is getting could be put towards a halfway decent transit system so my fare doesn't go up to five bucks per round trip? Yeah, I thought that might be too much to ask. With my luck, that money will probably go towards a new flat screen television so the mayor can enjoy baseball in the comfort of Gracie Mansion so he doesn't feel so bad about losing his luxury box.
It's almost as if teams are looking at the calendar and saying "hey, let's start signing these players before spring training gets here". The market was almost dead in December, traditionally when the pieces start to fall into place. But now that it's 2009, the pieces are starting to move a bit. Proof: there are two teams interested in Trevor Hoffman. We found out about the Brewers earlier, but now the Dodgers have entered the fray by offering Hoffman a one year deal.
"He's got three young boys, so he could go home a lot more if he signs with Los Angeles," Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "That's what free agency allows a player to do -- pick where it's best suited for him to play."
Hoffman made $7.5 million last season with the San Diego Padres, who withdrew a $4-million offer to him in November. The Dodgers' offer exceeds $4 million.
I gotta say I'm a bit surprised that the Dodgers, who have Jonathon Broxton in tow, would go after Hoffman to close games. That being said, Hoffman didn't have such a bad season considering he played for an awful team. He had a WHIP of 1.04 and only walked nine batters and blown four saves in 45.1 innings. Of course your walks and blown saves will go down if there aren't any games to pitch or saves to blow.
Major League Baseball kills me sometimes. They want to get tough on enhancing your performance through drug use, but then a player does his due diligence only to get clipped because the league changes the list of banned substances without giving players enough notice or grace period. Take the case of J.C. Romero, who has found himself stuck with a 50-game ban ... not for cheating, but for "negligence".
Three months after Romero was tested before a Phillies-Mets game on Aug. 26, the players' association sent a Nov. 21 letter to players that stated, "We have previously told you there is no reason to believe a supplement bought at a U.S. based retail store could cause you to test positive under our Drug Program. That is no longer true. We have recently learned of three substances which can be bought over the counter at stores in the United States that will cause you to test positive. These three supplements were purchased at a GNC and Vitamin Shoppe in the U.S."
So what Major League Baseball is saying is this: "J.C., we told you the rules and you followed the rules. But because we just found these substances now we're going to ban you. Sorry, you should have read our minds even before these new substances were even in our minds." So who are the negligent ones here? The player for doing what he's told? Or the MLB machine for changing the rules in the middle of the game and then handing out retroactive punishment? It's the World Series rain delay all over again.
Scott Boras isn't taking New Year's Eve off. Oh no, not while there's commission to be made. Boras is currently experiencing a mixed bag of news with top clients Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez.
Lowe has received a three-year, $36 million offer from the Mets ... and while that would be good news for most people, the offer isn't quite the Zito-type contract Boras had hoped for at the beginning of the winter meetings, but at least he has an offer unlike a certain dreadlocked left fielder. And to that end, Boras has contracted the Dodgers about signing Manny ... no doubt responding to Ned Colletti's newfound affection for guys like Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu, which may or may not be a way to lure Boras back on their terms.
And that's how you know this has been a strange winter. Boras must be used to teams coming to him for his cavalcade of stars. And now, he's practically begging the Dodgers to come back to the table for Manny, who must be confused as to why he hasn't gotten the large offers he expected when he tore apart the N.L. for close to three months. Of course, if he would pick up a newspaper and read the front page and not the back (that's what my mom would always tell me to do), he'd see the word "economy" and then totally understand ... maybe.
It would have been a pretty cool sight to see Bernie Williams lace 'em up one more time in the World Baseball Classic after not having played baseball for two years. And he made a valiant attempt as he joined a winter league team in Puerto Rico to prepare. But circumstances beyond his control has changed his plans, as a serious quad injury has derailed his comeback, and at the age of 40 has probably ended his baseball career for good.
It just shows you how tough it is to come back from a long layoff and get back to playing shape. And let this be a cautionary tale if anyone decides they want to take a chance and sign Barry Bonds, who also hasn't played in a while.
As for Williams, if indeed he doesn't heal in time for the Classic, it looks like he'll have to fall back on his music career for good this time. The next WBC isn't going to happen until 2013.
Give the Red Sox credit. When life hands them lemons, they make lemonade ... and they go to the state more famous for oranges to do it. They struck once in late 2005 when they traded Hanley Ramirez to get themselves Josh Beckett, and Beckett helped them to a World Series championship in 2007. Now, in the winter of 2008, Epstein has responded to their failed pursuit of Mark Teixeira by going to the Marlins and trying to get Ramirez back.
Epstein offered the Marlins a deal which included Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury, and was supposedly planning on putting Hanley in center field while keeping Jed Lowrie at short. Considering Ramirez isn't the most fluid defensive shortstop in the world, that wouldn't be a bad position switch, and it's a creative way to add Ramirez's bat into Boston's lineup.
Problem: Even though trading Ramirez would be a good way to shed salary for Florida, the Marlins are hoping to build around Hanley when they move into their new stadium, and can hopefully afford him more easily. He's too good a talent to give away for the normal haul of prospects, so the Marlins ultimately turned Epstein down. But you can't blame Theo for trying. And the fact that he got the Marlins' brief attention shows that he's willing to shoot for the moon, and that he has the prospects to pull off a blockbuster somewhere else if he so chooses.
The dance that the Mets have tried to play with Scott Boras and his clients this winter just got a lot trickier now that Omar Minaya's top option is off to the division rival Braves. Losing out on Derek Lowe leaves Oliver Perez as the best option to fill a top rotation spot for the Mets. And it leaves Boras firmly in the drivers seat.
Remember when the news came out that the Texas Rangers were 
I guess this counts as politicians doing their part to give back during these trying economic times. But New York Mayor 
It's almost as if teams are looking at the calendar and saying "hey, let's start signing these players before spring training gets here". The market was almost dead in December, traditionally when the pieces start to fall into place. But now that it's 2009, the pieces are starting to move a bit. Proof: there are two teams interested in Trevor Hoffman. We 
Major League Baseball kills me sometimes. They want to get tough on enhancing your performance through drug use, but then a player does his due diligence only to get clipped because the league changes the list of banned substances without giving players enough notice or grace period. Take the case of 
Scott Boras isn't taking New Year's Eve off. Oh no, not while there's commission to be made. Boras is currently experiencing a mixed bag of news with top clients 
It would have been a 
Give the Red Sox credit. When life hands them lemons, they make lemonade ... and they go to the state more famous for oranges to do it. They struck once in late 2005 when they traded 
