OFFICIAL offseason baseball moves thread

[Al Neri]

I just noticed two things that caught my eye

**Angels GM Bill Stoneman suggested yesterday that it is unlikely Bengie Molina or Jarrod Washburn will return in 2006.

**The new GM of the phillies sees ryan howard as a 1b not an OF... where's thome going??

 

[ironxman99]

1. pretty sure molina's leaving. i think the angels have a catcher prospect ready to go. and they're rumored to be going after konerko via signing and/or manny via trade.

2. thome will be traded eventually, so howard will play 1b

 

[Al Neri]

thome has that ridiculous (i believe backloaded too) contract

the phils are going to have to eat much of it and send him packing to the twins (DH obviously with morenau blossoming)

i hope the mets are heavy in the molina sweeps... i wonder whats up with R.Hernandez too

 

[Coquito]

Frankie Thomas was just bought out. He doesn't have the reflexes to hit for the high average any more, but can still hit homers & draw plenty of walks. He wants too much money & he still wants to play first base. This is a tough one to predict.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: ironxman99
1. pretty sure molina's leaving. i think the angels have a catcher prospect ready to go. and they're rumored to be going after konerko via signing and/or manny via trade.

The Angels prospect is Jeff Mathis. He played in AAA last season so I suppose that the Angels could put him in at catcher next season.

 

[anxi80]

lawrence for vinny castilla? i mean, b-law wasnt the most consistent pitcher, but crap... castilla is 38 years old! if he gets hurt/career ends, who is going to guard the hot corner then? randa will probably leave for free agency and burroughs is being shopped around. but im worried about putting someone who's been in a decline, in a pitcher friendly park, who is injury-prone, as a starter.

and we might lose hoffman also?! the dude got 40+ saves last year, is knocking on lee smith's door for the record, and the padres cant pony up some change to keep him around for a few more years?! (they offered 2yr/10 mill, he wants 3 yr/25 mill) its not like if his fastball burns out he's done, he's got an amazing change up to fall back on.

and ramon hernandez. please alderson and towers for the love of gawd sign ramon hernandez. good bat, smart and alert catcher, and is clutch as hell. if we need to keep anyone this year, keep ramon. and trevor. hate to see him get the saves title in another uni.

 

[Al Neri]

I don't understand why this is considered a weak Catching FA crop... Ramon Hernandez, Benji Molina and theoretically Piazza

 

[techs]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the Yankees will overpay for aging stars.

 

[Al Neri]

Originally posted by: anxi80
lawrence for vinny castilla? i mean, b-law wasnt the most consistent pitcher, but crap... castilla is 38 years old! if he gets hurt/career ends, who is going to guard the hot corner then? randa will probably leave for free agency and burroughs is being shopped around. but im worried about putting someone who's been in a decline, in a pitcher friendly park, who is injury-prone, as a starter.

and we might lose hoffman also?! the dude got 40+ saves last year, is knocking on lee smith's door for the record, and the padres cant pony up some change to keep him around for a few more years?! (they offered 2yr/10 mill, he wants 3 yr/25 mill) its not like if his fastball burns out he's done, he's got an amazing change up to fall back on.

and ramon hernandez. please alderson and towers for the love of gawd sign ramon hernandez. good bat, smart and alert catcher, and is clutch as hell. if we need to keep anyone this year, keep ramon. and trevor. hate to see him get the saves title in another uni.

how's RH's arm? I hope the mets get their hands on him....

lawrence for castilla is HORRIBLE... what the hell were they thinking...

i always compared the effectiveness of lawrence to steve trachsel... tho they are both differnt types of pitchers they are both work horses/innings eaters... and a great guy to have at the back end of a staff...

 

[anxi80]

Originally posted by: matstars
how's RH's arm? I hope the mets get their hands on him....

lawrence for castilla is HORRIBLE... what the hell were they thinking...

i always compared the effectiveness of lawrence to steve trachsel... tho they are both differnt types of pitchers they are both work horses/innings eaters... and a great guy to have at the back end of a staff...

rh's arm is pretty good. not afraid to throw down to first behind a left handed batter either, which i respect a lot from a catcher. but our backup catcher, olivio. man, that guy has a cannon on him. he's throws down like every other pitch, and he'll try and pick people wandering off 2nd also. but his bat is lacking a bit, and thats why id rather they kept hernandez because he's more well-rounded.

thats a good way of putting it as far as that comparison goes. both pitchers had a pretty decent past, became hittable all of a sudden, but still manage to put out solid performances. like you put it, i wouldnt put them as starters but they make great 4th/5th day guys. especially if the team aces get chewed up in their starts and the bullpen was used a few times, guys like b-law can come out and give you 7 solid innings and rest the bullpen.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

Originally posted by: ironxman99
1. pretty sure molina's leaving. i think the angels have a catcher prospect ready to go. and they're rumored to be going after konerko via signing and/or manny via trade.

The Angels prospect is Jeff Mathis. He played in AAA last season so I suppose that the Angels could put him in at catcher next season.

Molina is the team's leader though. HE REALLY should be brought back. Sure they have Mathis, Jose Molina and J. Paul but Bengie is the leader of the bunch.

Wash leaving doesn't surprise me. After all Kelvim will be back in the starting rotation and E. Santana has represented himself very well. The Angels have plenty of pitching IMHO. They need some more bats. Personally I'd go after Manny (or some other DH-type) or possibly a center fielder.

At least we locked up Scioscia for a few more years.

 

[Al Neri]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedit...5,0,4810793.story?coll=ny-sports-print