Baseball Hot Stove

[Brass]

According to various reports on Rotoworld.com, the Red Sox have officially signed Marco Scutaro.

I don't see thing turning out great.

[CC97]

According to various reports on Rotoworld.com, the Red Sox have officially signed Marco Scutaro.

I don't see thing turning out great.

So essentially it's like the Sox made a trade with the Jays

To Red Sox:

Marco Scutaro

To Blue Jays:

Alex Gonzalez

Red Sox 2010 1st Round Draft Pick

Supplemental 2010 Draft Pick

I'm happy with that

[Breakwood]

According to various reports on Rotoworld.com, the Red Sox have officially signed Marco Scutaro.

I don't see thing turning out great.

So essentially it's like the Sox made a trade with the Jays

To Red Sox:

Marco Scutaro

To Blue Jays:

Alex Gonzalez

Red Sox 2010 1st Round Draft Pick

Supplemental 2010 Draft Pick

I'm happy with that

I still hope Scutaro breaks his leg in Spring Training.

[Brass]

According to various reports on Rotoworld.com, the Red Sox have officially signed Marco Scutaro.

I don't see thing turning out great.

So essentially it's like the Sox made a trade with the Jays

To Red Sox:

Marco Scutaro

To Blue Jays:

Alex Gonzalez

Red Sox 2010 1st Round Draft Pick

Supplemental 2010 Draft Pick

I'm happy with that

I would be too if I was a Blue Jays fan. I'm just glad they didn't get Marco Scutaro the standard Red Sox 4-year deal at SS. I'm going to miss Gonzalez (again).

As a Blue Jays fan though, Chris, as well as any other Blue Jay fans out there, what's your analysis on Scutaro?

[epper]

Scutaro is a solid player. Nothing flashy, and won't kill you in any area. Just solid.

Fits right into the Red Sox mentality of working the count, as he rarely swings at bad pitches. More walks than strikeouts last year. He's got a little bit of pop if you make a mistake on an inside pitch (seems like all his homers are dead-pulls just inside the LF foul pole).

Pretty good defender and turns the double-play very well. Not really that fast but he's a very smart baserunner (stole 2nd base on a walk last year, 14 SB with only 5 CS).

He did have a career year at age 33, so it remains to be seen if that was a fluke or if he can keep it up.

[CC97]

Scutaro is a solid player. Nothing flashy, and won't kill you in any area. Just solid.

Fits right into the Red Sox mentality of working the count, as he rarely swings at bad pitches. More walks than strikeouts last year. He's got a little bit of pop if you make a mistake on an inside pitch (seems like all his homers are dead-pulls just inside the LF foul pole).

Pretty good defender and turns the double-play very well. Not really that fast but he's a very very smart baserunner (stole 2nd base on a walk last year, 14 SB with only 5 CS).

I'll add that he's great at getting on base to this analysis, was our leadoff man for most of last season.

[Audiodrama]

Ken Rosenthal's reporting that the Mariners are on the verge of signing Free Agent speedster Chone Figgins.

I guess this means they're backing off of Jason Bay?

[CDixonDesign]

The Sox are holding a 4:15 press conference to announce the signing of Scutaro, from the analysis from you Blue Jay guys, i'm with Brass, i'm glad we didn't give him a long term deal or break the bank, if he's solid defensively, Boston fans will take a rather quick liking to him...

As for the 1st Rd draft pick, because Wagner's signing was a "Type A" FA...we get a first round pick from Atlanta...

[BaltimoreFan]

I heard the first Orioles rumor of the offseason, they may be interested in Pedro Feliz.

Nothing to get excited about. I see this similar to the Steve Trachsel and Adam Eaton signings from the past 2 seasons. The O's really only need a thridbaseman for a month or two when Josh Bell is ready. No reason to break the bank, just to have a guy for that short a period. Plus it can't hurt that the guy was a starter for a World Series team.

Now I'd also like to see them try to get Delgado if he is healthy. He'd similarly just be holding 1B until Brandon Snyder was ready, but he could then move to DH and actually be a solid producer there.

[STL_Ian]

I wish I had any faith that the Cards are going to improve the roster. They have 2 SP vacancies, 3B, LF, & possibly some holes in the bullpen. With the team always looking to stay under $100M, it's going to be tough to fill those spots with high-caliber talent, despite several large contracts having come off of the books. I'll honestly be quite happy to not have Wellemeyer pitching every 5th day.

[oddball]

Reports everywhere have Choke Figgins signing with Seattle. That's great for him, because at least with Seattle he won't have to worry about choking in the playoffs as the Mariners won't sniff the playoffs with him playing 3B. I don't understand Angel fans love affair with this guy. He's the poor man's version of David Eckstein, and I wasn't an Eckstein fan, but at least Eckstein knew how to play in the clutch (playoffs). I'm sorry to Choke Figgins, you can have all the stats in the regular season, but you don't play the game for the regular season, it's about what you do in the post season. Choke Figgins will go down as one of the all-time great playoff choke artists.

[The_Admiral]

Are you dumb? Figgins is way better at baseball than Eckstein.

[oddball]

No, I'm not. How many World Series has Figgins won? How many World Series MVPs has Figgins won? Zero. Choke Figgins is a great athlete. He runs his numbers up in the regular season and when it counts he's no where to be seen. So again, he won't have to worry about choking in the playoffs as he won't sniff the playoffs. He is what he is, a regular season player that can't do it when it really matters. The Angels needed him to set the tone in playoffs as a lead off hitter and he's horrible. His strike out to walk ratio is 6 strike outs for every walk. His OBP .223. If he's a leadoff hitter and his job is suppose to get on and steal bases, how does he do his job when he's striking out as much as he does? Do you realize that Eckstein has more stolen bases in playoff games than Choke does? Yep, 7 for Eckstein and 4 for Choke. Eckstein has double the walks that Choke has in the playoffs and an OPS of .345 to Chokes' .223. You keep Choke Figgins all you want, and when it comes down to a clutch moment in the playoffs, you'll see how hard it is for Choke to play when he has both his hands over his throat as he chokes again. And as I said the first time, I'm not an Eckstein fan, but he's a way better player than Choke is. This is the difference between an athlete like Choke Figgins and a ball player such as David Eckstein who is not flashy, but when it comes down to that situation when you need him, he comes through. He can go up to Seattle with all the other free agents that they will sign and be this year's "team" that everyone picks to win their division, and end up in last place and be a horrible team.

[The_Admiral]

So many bad baseball thoughts in there. I don't know where to begin. If you'd rather have David Eckstein than Chone Figgins on your team, okay, but you better have Albert Pujols on that team too.

[Jigga]

If nothing else, oddball bat sh** crazy is so much more entertaining than willmorris bat sh** crazy.

[Shumway]

The Angels wouldn't make playoffs without Figgy, I remind you. I'm totally in agreement with you about his playoff performance, but he's gotten MVP votes in each of the last four years.

[The_Admiral]

Look, I'm sorry that the Angels have had the unique misfortune of being steamrolled by the eventual world champions four times in the last six years, but the playoffs are largely a crapshoot, and you can't build a team that's designed to win three short series. You build a team to win as many games as possible over six months so you can get in and hope for the best. That's how baseball works with a 5-7-7 October. I don't like it but that's what they do. To that end, you are so much better off with a player as versatile and talented as Chone Figgins, irrespective of poor playoff numbers (small sample size), rather than a player like David Eckstein, whose reputation is built far more on reputation than any sort of empirical data, not to mention that here entering 2010 he is eminently in decline. Seriously, I thought the Fire Joe Morgan guys shot down the Eckstein blimp with a thousand rounds of machine gun fire like two years ago, which is six years ago in internet time. How are we still here debating the "playoff intangibles" of David Eckstein? It's uncanny.

[BaltimoreFan]

Seriously, I thought the Fire Joe Morgan guys shot down the Eckstein blimp with a thousand rounds of machine gun fire like two years ago, which is six years ago in internet time. How are we still here debating the "playoff intangibles" of David Eckstein? It's uncanny.

Yea, its ridiculous to judge a player on such a short number of ABs. I think A-Rod proved that this year. Also Eckstein's postseason numbers are pretty awful aside from 2 good series.

[TFoA]

Brewers sign Gregg Zaun

Pretty nice upgrade over Kendall at this point for them.

[epper]

Brewers sign Gregg Zaun

Pretty nice upgrade over Kendall at this point for them.

Especially if he brings his steroids with him.