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The 2010-2011 MLB Offseason Thread


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Wowowowow. That's all i can say. Heard it in the car on the way in to work today, and my jaw literally dropped. Glad I bought that Phillies red 5950 last offseason. B)

Yanks miss out on Werth, Crawford, and Lee. I hear Pavano is still available though!

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It looks like Blanton and possibly Ibanez and Kendrick will be dealt to clear some $$. Blanton was already linked to the Tigers for a potential destination...

Kendrick doesn't make any money, and probably isn't very attractive to many teams. Keep him in AAA or see if he can hack it in the 'pen. Joe Blanton is a fat out-of-shape piece of feces who I hope snaps his femur every time he takes the mound. It was foolish to tender him last season (that move essentially forced their hand with Lee) so I'd get rid of him for anything possible, even if it means eating half of the money. Lord knows Blanton looks like he ate all the money.

Ibanez hasn't been the same since mid '09, and is blocking Domonic Brown as the left handed outfielder in the lineup. I think he's due 10 or 11 M this year - see if someone will take him and throw in 6 M. Use the extra 5 to get someone to either play right, or platoon with Francisco. Or platoon Brown with Francisco and get someone for Left. Whatever - it doesn't matter. Hell - put Oswalt in left.

Deep down, you are just a regular fan, I guess.

Yeah, I didn't think he'd sign with the Phillies. I thought they were out of the running. Good on them for signing him though.

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So the Phillies have one Hell of a starting rotation, but how's the rest of the staff? Who's the closer? Offensively, there are three players the Phils can count on, Utley, Rollins, and Howard. The rest of the team is a bunch of civs. I'm not saying that civs can't win you a World Series, just look at the '88 Dodgers, but let's all be realistic and look at how thin their offense really is. If they can win 60 1-0 games, then they have a great shot at the World Series. I just don't know if the pitching staff past the top 4 starters is that good... or good at all. It really looks like 4 starters and nothing. I would give them a better chance if they went to a four man rotation, but you have the fifth starter. Let's also realize that we are assuming that all four starters stay healthy. They look good in December, but you don't win a World Series in December.

It could be that since they realized that they couldn't improve the 'pen, the next best thing was to lessen the burdon placed on it by the starting pitchers and get someone who can go deep into games. Every game Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick or Jamie Moyer threw pretty much guaranteed that the 'pen would be called on for 4 or 5 innings of work. Reduce that to 1 or 2 innings (maybe 3) and you can hide a lot of weaknesses.

As for that pen, Ryan Madsen is a stud in the 8th. Arguably the best 8th innning righty out there. Brad Lidge can be among the best closers - he was over the last couple of months last season. He can also blow up. I'm clearly hoping for the former. Jose Contrereas (sp) may be 65, but he had a very good season last year and is coming back. They still need a new 8th-inning lefty, and a long guy, but it's really not nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. Not many teams have solid starting and relief pitching - it's generally one or the other. I think that they are more than OK in that area.

So the Phillies have one Hell of a starting rotation, but how's the rest of the staff? Who's the closer? Offensively, there are three players the Phils can count on, Utley, Rollins, and Howard. The rest of the team is a bunch of civs. I'm not saying that civs can't win you a World Series, just look at the '88 Dodgers, but let's all be realistic and look at how thin their offense really is. If they can win 60 1-0 games, then they have a great shot at the World Series. I just don't know if the pitching staff past the top 4 starters is that good... or good at all. It really looks like 4 starters and nothing. I would give them a better chance if they went to a four man rotation, but you have the fifth starter. Let's also realize that we are assuming that all four starters stay healthy. They look good in December, but you don't win a World Series in December.

The Phillies were second in the NL in runs scored last year and had lenghty DL stints from 6 out of their 8 starters. To say the offense is a weakness is insane.

The bullpen is a weakspot, but Brad Lidge was 17 for 18 in save opportunities with a 0.73 ERA in the last 2 months of the season. In that same amount of time set up man Ryan Madson posted a 1.07 ERA in 35 games pitched. When on the back end of the Phillies bullpen is tops in the majors.

Placido Polanco is faaaar from a "civ". Carlos Ruiz is hardly a "civ" (as far as 8-hole hitters go). Shane Victorino is hardly a "civ". They need another right-handed bat to replace Werth and to protect the lineup from strong lefties, but honestly, if you look at their injuries last year and what they were able to do, this post is really not accurate.

Until the Phillies get LeBron, I'm not impressed.

They offered him more than Miami, but he just wanted to be "one of the guys" instead of "the guy". Not gonna lie - I was a little disappointed that he didn't want to take his talents to Citizens Bank Park.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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Does he mean "civ" as in civilian (meaning average/pedestrian) or "civ" as in "sieve" like the University of Michigan defense? With oddball, I can never really tell what the :censored: he's talking about.

On January 16, 2013 at 3:49 PM, NJTank said:

Btw this is old hat for Notre Dame. Knits Rockne made up George Tip's death bed speech.

 

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It looks like Canadian catcher Russell Martin will be in pinstripes in 2011.

According to an MLB report, Martin has agreed to terms with the New York Yankees.

Martin, who was born in East York, Ontario and lives in Montreal, hit .248 last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was shut down in August to have hip surgery.

While the 27-year-old has seen his numbers decline in each of the last three seasons, he'll have the chance to get a bulk of at-bats in New York with Jorge Posada set to be a full-time designated hitter in 2011.

On September 20, 2012 at 0:50 AM, 'CS85 said:

It's like watching the hellish undead creakily shuffling their way out of the flames of a liposuction clinic dumpster fire.

On February 19, 2012 at 9:30 AM, 'pianoknight said:

Story B: Red Wings go undefeated and score 100 goals in every game. They also beat a team comprised of Godzilla, the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, 2 Power Rangers and Betty White. Oh, and they played in the middle of Iraq on a military base. In the sand. With no ice. Santa gave them special sand-skates that allowed them to play in shorts and t-shirts in 115 degree weather. Jesus, Zeus and Buddha watched from the sidelines and ate cotton candy.

POTD 5/24/12POTD 2/26/17

 

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Like Halladay, Lee doesn't really care too much about uniform numbers. Ironically, he was only #34 when he came to the Phillies in '09 because they had #34 jerseys made up in anticipation of getting Halladay (who told them that he'd take 34 if he was traded). Since Halladay eventually did get Lee's 34, I would assume that Lee would go back to #31, which wasn't available in '09 when he was traded (hence why they just gave him a Halladay jersey with the name stripped off.) For what it's worth, Rodrigo Lopez (who?) was #31 and was cool with giving it up (and was told to give it up even if he wasn't) but Lee said that he couldn't care less and just give him "whatever".

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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the 2001 Mariners lost to team that was going to it's 4th Straight World Series, and 5th in 6 years.

Doesn't matter. A teams wins 116 games and doesn't even MAKE it to the World Series? "Biggest chokers ever."

cv2TCLZ.png


"I secretly hope people like that hydroplane into a wall." - Dennis "Big Sexy" Ittner

POTD - 7/3/14

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Halladay... Lee... Hamels... Oswalt...

Dear lord.

Good luck, National League.

Don't worry, the Cardinals spent $8 million on a broken down old Lance Berkman.

Oh...

:censored:

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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This brings me a little solace.

The last pitcher to turn down a huge contract offer from the Rangers was Barry Zito.

To me, the biggest annoyance in the Cliff Lee thing isn't that he signed elsewhere... it's that the Lee move predicated any other move the team was making, and Lee has strung them along for a month, allowing the Rangers to get weaker as other teams made moves. If he didn't want to come back to Arlington, he shouldn't have had the team waste it's time.

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This brings me a little solace.

The last pitcher to turn down a huge contract offer from the Rangers was Barry Zito.

To me, the biggest annoyance in the Cliff Lee thing isn't that he signed elsewhere... it's that the Lee move predicated any other move the team was making, and Lee has strung them along for a month, allowing the Rangers to get weaker as other teams made moves. If he didn't want to come back to Arlington, he shouldn't have had the team waste it's time.

It feels like a stroke of genius by the Phillies. They waited until both the Yankees and Rangers had exasperated their resources, found out what Lee wanted (something Ryan tried to do, just went the wrong way), and gave it to him.

Lee obviously wanted to return to Philadelphia the entire time (props to BBTV for calling that). He left upwards of $40m on the table. I agree that this seems like holding the carrot in front of the rabbit, though. Only difference is that Lee tossed the carrot over the Cliff...

Pun intended. :P

Spurs2017_HomeSignature.png.d781df3b4d5c0e482d74d6a47c072475.pngDortmund2017_HomeSignature.png.277fd43b7b71e5d54e4c655f30c9a1e6.png

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This brings me a little solace.

The last pitcher to turn down a huge contract offer from the Rangers was Barry Zito.

To me, the biggest annoyance in the Cliff Lee thing isn't that he signed elsewhere... it's that the Lee move predicated any other move the team was making, and Lee has strung them along for a month, allowing the Rangers to get weaker as other teams made moves. If he didn't want to come back to Arlington, he shouldn't have had the team waste it's time.

This is certainly a legitimate gripe - sort of. Any player has to look out for himself, and really doesn't have any obligation to any of the clubs as long as he is a FA. He had to "string along" the Rangers in order to get the best offer from the Yankees. It's understandable to be upset that the team was "held hostage", however the Rangers FO should have had plans B, C, and D ready to go - and should have been able to sniff out that he wasn't interested and moved on earlier. That is one thing that RAJ and the Phillies have been very good at since Pat Gillick took over a few years ago - contingency.

To be fair though, I don't think that Lee was stringing anyone along. Unless a story comes out to the contrary, I really think that the Phillies weren't serious players until the end. Yes, they had been having "conversations" all along, but it wasn't until the end that Lee decided that he wanted to see if there was any way that they could get close enough to where it would work out.

This brings me a little solace.

The last pitcher to turn down a huge contract offer from the Rangers was Barry Zito.

To me, the biggest annoyance in the Cliff Lee thing isn't that he signed elsewhere... it's that the Lee move predicated any other move the team was making, and Lee has strung them along for a month, allowing the Rangers to get weaker as other teams made moves. If he didn't want to come back to Arlington, he shouldn't have had the team waste it's time.

It feels like a stroke of genius by the Phillies. They waited until both the Yankees and Rangers had exasperated their resources, found out what Lee wanted (something Ryan tried to do, just went the wrong way), and gave it to him.

Lee obviously wanted to return to Philadelphia the entire time (props to BBTV for calling that). He left upwards of $40m on the table. I agree that this seems like holding the carrot in front of the rabbit, though. Only difference is that Lee tossed the carrot over the Cliff...

Pun intended. :P

Don't give me any props - I was just relaying messages that were told by players that my friends talk to / interview, and stories that have been in the local papers. I never ever ever thought that they'd open the bank like this, and I would have bet anyone cash money that they would not have signed him. I'm as shocked as anyone about this.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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Like Halladay, Lee doesn't really care too much about uniform numbers. Ironically, he was only #34 when he came to the Phillies in '09 because they had #34 jerseys made up in anticipation of getting Halladay (who told them that he'd take 34 if he was traded). Since Halladay eventually did get Lee's 34, I would assume that Lee would go back to #31, which wasn't available in '09 when he was traded (hence why they just gave him a Halladay jersey with the name stripped off.) For what it's worth, Rodrigo Lopez (who?) was #31 and was cool with giving it up (and was told to give it up even if he wasn't) but Lee said that he couldn't care less and just give him "whatever".

Dude you're an idiot. It's confirmed that Lee will keep the #33 that he wore with the Rangers. Where did you get 31 from??? Think before you post next time.

106932403_crop_340x234.jpg

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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Like Halladay, Lee doesn't really care too much about uniform numbers. Ironically, he was only #34 when he came to the Phillies in '09 because they had #34 jerseys made up in anticipation of getting Halladay (who told them that he'd take 34 if he was traded). Since Halladay eventually did get Lee's 34, I would assume that Lee would go back to #31, which wasn't available in '09 when he was traded (hence why they just gave him a Halladay jersey with the name stripped off.) For what it's worth, Rodrigo Lopez (who?) was #31 and was cool with giving it up (and was told to give it up even if he wasn't) but Lee said that he couldn't care less and just give him "whatever".

Dude you're an idiot. It's confirmed that Lee will keep the #33 that he wore with the Rangers. Where did you get 31 from??? Think before you post next time.

106932403_crop_340x234.jpg

It isn't a true thread until someone calls themself an idiot :P

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Also, something to tick off Yankee fans - there is a report - merely rumor, nothing concrete - that once it was known that Lee would take less to come back to the Phillies, but that they would still have to stretch to get him, the Red Sox told RAJ that they'd take Joe Blanton (more specifically his contract) off of their hands so that they could sign Lee. More specifically, they wanted the Phillies to sign him so that the Yankees didn't. If true, genius on the Red Sox part.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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I don't think the Rangers will be able to get another pitcher now, honestly. I'm reminded of a quote from "A Beautiful Mind":

If we all go for the blonde and block each other, not a single one of us is going to get her. So then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because no on likes to be second choice. But what if none of us goes for the blonde? We won't get in each other's way and we won't insult the other girls. It's the only way to win.

Seeing as how, essentially, anyone else is only Plan B to the Rangers, why would a Greinke or Pavano or Sheets want to go to the Rangers?

Spurs2017_HomeSignature.png.d781df3b4d5c0e482d74d6a47c072475.pngDortmund2017_HomeSignature.png.277fd43b7b71e5d54e4c655f30c9a1e6.png

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I don't think the Rangers will be able to get another pitcher now, honestly. I'm reminded of a quote from "A Beautiful Mind":

If we all go for the blonde and block each other, not a single one of us is going to get her. So then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because no on likes to be second choice. But what if none of us goes for the blonde? We won't get in each other's way and we won't insult the other girls. It's the only way to win.

Seeing as how, essentially, anyone else is only Plan B to the Rangers, why would a Greinke or Pavano or Sheets want to go to the Rangers?

Money talks. The Rangers now suddenly have a TON of free money that they don't have to pay Lee.

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On 11/19/2012 at 7:23 PM, oldschoolvikings said:
She’s still half convinced “Chris Creamer” is a porn site.)
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