baseball offseason

[eestlinc]

Braves trade prospect pitcher Jose Capellan for Danny kolb, paving the way for Smoltz to return to the starting rotation!

who cares about anything else?

[Strider]

I care that Jeff Kent signed with the Dodgers, and that Steve Finley signed with the Angels.

In a perfect world, the Giants would trade A.J. Pierzynski, which would free up enough salary space to sign Magglio Ordonez.

[eestlinc]

now as long as the Braves don't make a huge blunder and trade Giles for Hudson, we'll be ok.

[Del Murder]

I hope Oakland doesn't trade Huddy, even though they don't have enough to sign him long term. Stupid free agency.

Liking Kendall though. He is an underrated catcher. Great durability, and a good person to bat between Kotsay (an underrated CF) and Chavez (one of the elite 3B).

Gone (so far) - Rhodes (eh), Dye (overrated), Redman (not so hot in the AL)

Acquired - Kendall (good)

[Kirobaito]

The only important thing for the Rangers thus far is the signing of RF Richard Hidalgo. Inconsistent, but he had a bad year in '04, paving the way for a good '05 in the 5th or 6th spot in the lineup.

From what I hear, Carlos Delgado really wants to come to Texas, where he's a .316 hitter in his career. That would make next year's lineup this:

2B Alfonso Soriano
SS Michael Young
3B Hank Blalock
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Carlos Delgado
RF Richard Hidalgo
LF Kevin Mench
CF Laynce Nix
C Rod Barajas

That's a pretty good lineup, from the looks of it. We're involved in talks with the Rockies about the availability of pitcher Shawn Chacon, who had a good first half of '03. I really don't know.

Other than that, their pitching rotation next year may be:

Kenny Rogers
Ryan Drese
Ricardo Rodriguez
Juan Dominguez
Chris Young

With Park on the DL. All young, except for Rogers. Go Rangers!

[eestlinc]

The Braves need to get a replacement for Drew. They were smart not to resign him, though. As soon as he gets a contract he'll go back to getting hurt again.

[Strider]

Another perfect world scenario:

Atlanta trades Marcus Giles for Tim Hudson. Now in need of a second baseman, the Braves contact the Giants, who have been interested in trading Ray Durham's contract. And since Atlanta has been looking to dump Andruw Jones' contract after salary cuts, they trade him to San Francisco for Durham and prospects.

[eestlinc]

god help us if that happens

[m4tt]

Everyone in the NL west has made some kind of big move, except for the Padres. They lose Wells to the Red Sox, but they get Williams from the Cardninals.

Everyone else they've signed seem to be crap anyway.

[Del Murder]

NL West turned from a toilet bowl to one of the toughest divisions in baseball.

[Kirobaito]

Everyone in the NL west has made some kind of big move, except for the Padres. They lose Wells to the Red Sox, but they get Williams from the Cardninals.

Everyone else they've signed seem to be crap anyway.
Eric Young isn't crap. :(

[m4tt]

Eric Young isn't crap. :(

Compared to Mark Loretta, every second baseman is crap.

[Strider]

You're being completely honest when you say Mark Lorretta is better than the likes of Jeff Kent, Alfonso Soriano and Marcus Giles?

[eestlinc]

Loretta was bad ass last year.

[m4tt]

You're being completely honest when you say Mark Lorretta is better than the likes of Jeff Kent, Alfonso Soriano and Marcus Giles?
Better than Kent yes, on par with Soriano probably. Better defensivly. Giles is awesome, but he was injured alot.

[Venom65437]

As a Braves fan I care they they're too cheap to re-sign anyone. We only got Kolb so Smoltz can start cause we didn't want to pay Ortiz or Wright. I'll bet the whole board $100 each Smoltz's elbow gives out and we'll be even more screwed than we already are! :mad2:

Any other good player we have will be gone when their contract is up well thanks to our cheap ass ownership. :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

[The Captain]

I think Beltran will be going either back to Houston or to the Yanks, though I hope the former. As for other free agents:

Beltre - Dodgers
Drew - Tigers
Delgado - Seattle
Pedro - Red Sox
Ordonez - Mets, if they don't sign Alou and find a way to trade Piazza

EDIT: Pedro appears ready to sign with the METS, wow.

Take care all.

[Strider]

Yay, the Giants signed Mike Matheny! Take that, St. Louis Branigans!

It's kind of a shame, though, since I really liked A.J. Pierzynski.

...

Well, at least when he wasn't hitting into double plays.

[eestlinc]

As a Braves fan I care they they're too cheap to re-sign anyone. We only got Kolb so Smoltz can start cause we didn't want to pay Ortiz or Wright. I'll bet the whole board $100 each Smoltz's elbow gives out and we'll be even more screwed than we already are! :mad2:

Any other good player we have will be gone when their contract is up well thanks to our cheap ass ownership. :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

man, good thing you aren't a Reds fan...or a Royals fan. The Braves spend plenty of money. They just spend it more wisely.

Also: TIM HUDSON BABY.

[Del Murder]

:(<a></a>

[Venom65437]

I know we got Tim Hudson, I'm just curious if this is the last year for his contract. At any rate, the moment he's a free agent, we won't even bother trying to resign him anyway. So whoop-te-damn-do for renting players.

I wonder who else is going to hit the ball for us outside of Chipper, and Giles (if healthy).

Oh well, I guess I can watch Andruw strike out twice a game still. :(

[Del Murder]

The A's would not have traded Hudson if it wasn't the last year of his contract. He'll get big bucks next fall.

I looked at the stats of the players the A's got and I must say that they are a nice crop of young talent. Beane is pretty good at his job, and even though I love Hudson, I must say I am anticipating the next season all the more just to see how these guys pan out.

[The Captain]

Hudson may well re-sign with the Braves since he's from the area.

Seattle is putting together a nice team if their moves pan out, Sexson, now Beltre, and word is they may try to sign a pitcher or two.


In other news, late word is that the Unit may still be coming to the Yanks, stay tuned.

Take care all.

[eestlinc]

Hudson and Mulder traded, but I think Beane made the right moves. I think the Braves wouldn't have made the trade unless they felt they could sign Hudson long term. Then again, maybe he really is in decline and they won't want to. Billy Koch certainly went downhill after leaving Oakland.