Monthly Archives: November 2005
The San Diego Union Tribune is reporting that the Padres have reached an agreement with OF Brian Giles on a 3-year contract which guarantees him $30 million. Additionally, the Padres hold a club option for the 2009 season at another $9 million against a $3 million buyout. Giles has the potential to make $36 million if the option is picked up.
…in other words, he’ll make $9 million per year for the first three seasons and that buyout will guarantee him at least $30 million total…
…since giles will be turning 35 before the 06′ season, it’s unlikely they’ll pick up that option for 09′, hence the importance of that guaranteed money…sheesh, no wonder these deals take so long to hash out…
…i can honestly say i didn’t see this one coming…
At Gotham Baseball, Mark Healey writes that the Yankees and Cardinals are discussing a deal centered on OF Jim Edmonds…
Healey also notes that the Giants will look to rekindle talks with the Mets regarding a swap of 2B Kaz Matsui and 2B-3B-1B Edgardo Alfonso…
…fonzi would be a nice fit for the mets at this point…if the mets land a better second baseman down the road, so be it, fonzi can serve as a utility-man…he can still work a count, he can still pick a grounder, he’d be a veteran, stable presence for the young reyes and he’s got orange-n-blue blood…
If you’re online and looking for some great baseball conversation, check out Joe McDonald’s Pro Baseball Central radio program at 8:00 PM EDT…
Tonight at Pro Baseball Central, Joe is joined by Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record and Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post…
…i’ll be listening joe…and great guest list…
At FOXSports.com, Ken Rosenthal wonders if the Angels will now use the money they earmarked for Paul Konerko to acquire Red Sox OF Manny Ramirez…
Rosenthal suggests they Angels could send the Sox a variety of players, such as 1B Darin Erstad, 2B Adam Kennedy, OF Steve Finley, as well one or two top prospects…
…the angels really are a much better fit for the sox than the mets…
Many of you have emailed and asked a question similar to the following…
“How does a team go about getting a draft pick as compensation for losing a free-agent to another team?”…
Nobody can answer a question like this better than Jim Callis at Baseball America…
He addressed this very issue a few weeks ago at AskBA…
…i just noticed that the person writing to callis in the chat is jason from metsgeek.com…so, thanks to jason, too…
In his answer, Callis also provides a list of Type A, B and C players, which is vital when trying to understand this complicated rule…
…i will be sure to put this post in the useful info links in the sidebar for future reference…
Metstradamus thanks Mets GM Omar Minaya for the generic email sent following the signing of Billy Wagner…
Metstradamus then addresses a few issues of his own…
According to Mets.com’s Marty Noble, the team does not plan to trade P Aaron Heilman or OF prospect Lastings Milledge.
…noble spells out the reasons why, with one stating that the marlins asked for both heilman and milledge in the trade for carlos delgado, with omar minaya refusing to part with either…
…this means that if the mets do try and acquire manny ramirez, it will not be the bosox dictating the players…
Noble also notes that the Mets would now rather trade for another catcher, than sign Bengie Molina or Ramon Hernandez.
…the money saved would go towards signing a free-agent reliever, which is smart thinking…
…if you thought this week was exciting, get ready for next week’s winter meetings…
…you may want to park yourself at starbucks now and just have them put an iv of coffee in, you’ll need it…
For Red Sox fans who want OF Manny Ramirez to remain in Boston, sign the petition at KeepManny.com…
…i suppose a mets fan that doesn’t want him could sign it, too…or a fan of a team in the national league, not named the mets, who doesn’t want to face him could sign it, too…
The talking point around baseball is that the Mets have turned into the Yankees, and are spending money like water. A local talk show described the team’s payroll as “sky-rocketing,” from where it stood last season…
From reading websites and newspapers, and listening to talk radio, the conveyed message is that the Mets have written countless checks to all sorts of players this off-season and are starring down the barrel of a $200 million payroll, which, by the way, would still be less than the Yankees finished with last season…
In fact, if the Yankees do not make a single acquisition this off-season, their payroll will begin around $160 million…
On the other hand, last season the Mets final payroll checked in at roughly $116 million…
Going into this season, they are committed to roughly $80 million between Steve Trachsel, Alay Soler, Kaz Matsui, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Cliff Floyd, Kris Benson and Carlos Beltran, assuming each player attains their additional benefit packages…
To that $80 million, they will likely add roughly $13 million in additional contracts to players on their 40-man roster and minor league contracts.
The additions of Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner tack on an estimated $26 million, bringing the team’s estimated opening day payroll for 2006 to $125 million, roughly $9 million more than they paid out last season…
With the addition of a free-agent catcher, such as Ramon Hernandez, that total jumps to $132 million…
How exactly does that define a skyrocketing payroll? Or a team spending money like water?…
I guarentee there are other teams besides the Mets and Yankees that will end up adding 15 percent in salary this off-season…
And even if the Mets add more, or add Manny Ramirez, this doesn’t bother me. The Mets play in New York, and should put together the most entertaining product they can find. This is the entertainment business, not the sports business. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves…
My main concern is the rhetoric. If the talk show hosts and the writers are simply trying to get a rise out of the Mets fan by mocking their team while comparing it to the Yankees, who most Mets fans despise, so be it, but know you’re facts are off-base in doing so…
1B Paul Konerko has agreed to a five-year deal with the White Sox…
…smart move, by both parties…
