Let the long awaited Matsuzaka-mania begin in New England!
Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a 6-year $52 million dollar contract on Wednesday night, mere hours before the negotiating window for getting a deal done and passing a physical would have expired. The Red Sox will now call the pride of Yokahama High their own - a very talented and highly touted Japanese right-hander who should instantly make an impact on the Boston starting rotation. Theo Epstein's grin can even grow wider knowing that he kept arguably the best talent available in the offseason away from his arch-nemesis, the Yankees.
Matsuzaka brings a lot of hype, a lot of expectations, and a lot of questions to a city that is desperately in love with their baseball team. The light that shines on Boston as a sports town is considered by many to be second brightest only to that of New York, and the question of whether or not a player can adapt to a new lifestyle, the media frenzy, and the pressure that comes with playing in Beantown is always on the lips of every baseball analyst, writer, pundit, and fan when a new acquisition comes to town.You only need to look as far back as 2005 and Edgar Renteria to see what happens when a player doesn't have the makeup to adapt to his new surroundings.
It has to be stated that the Red Sox got an incredible deal here. Theo Epstein, Larry Lucchino, and Tom Werner have to be commended for not only getting the deal done in time but doing so without caving into the demands of ultra-super-mega agent Scott Boras. They signed him for an average annual value (AAV) of $8.7 million - which in today's market has to be seen as a steal. The deal calls for a $2 million dollar signing bonus (go put a down payment on a house D-Mat) with a $6 million salary in '07, $8 million a season for the next 3 years and $10 million in the final 2 years. When you take into account the enormous $51.1 million posting fee that Boston is paying directly to the Seibu Lion's (which incidentally is 3 times their annual payroll) then their AAV investment in Matsuzaka totals $17.2 million - Jason Schmidt/Barry Zito money. Fortunately for the Sox, only the $52 million is accounted against the salary cap so they are saving tens of millions of dollars right there alone.
Peter Gammons is calling this the remarkable deal of the season.
Keith Law of ESPN writes that the Res Sox have positioned themselves even further in front of the teams chasing them.
Eric Wilbur of The Boston Glove wonders if Boston can handle the influx of invading Japanese reporters.
David Picker of the New York Times writes that Matsuzaka's blood type is Type-O which makes him a warrior, following a long line of successful Japanese professional baseball players with the same blood type.
Boston's NESN has wall-to-wall coverage of all things Matsuzaka.
In other baseball news, Toronto has made a good-faith offer to Vernon Wells to stay with the Jays, offering him a seven year $126 million dollar extension. This extension, should he accept it, would make him the 6th richest player in baseball. Wells is set to become a free-agent after the season, however, and some think he'll hold out and test the waters of free-agency, where he may be able to command closer to the $200 million mark depending on what the market is doing then. Another possibility that still remains is the Jays trading him for as much as they can get sometime either before the start of the season or during. The Dodger's are still looking for a big bat and have pitchers to trade...
On a more somber note, Eric Gagne signed with the Texas Rangers, turning down a similar contract offer from the Dodgers and choosing instead to make $1 million more. This was no surprise as indications were that this was going to happen. What confused Dodger's GM Ned Colletti was why Gagne told him in the off-season that he was willing to accept a home town discount if he didn't actually do it. As a Gagne fan who spent many top-of-the-9ths cheering for the lights out closer in '02 and '03, my disappointment of him leaving the team is supplanted by my hope that he'll actually figure out a way to revive his once great career and be at the very least a reliable major league pitching option again. After seeing him throw some 15 innings the last 2 years, I just don't see how that is going to happen. If the steroid rumors about Gagne are true, then there seems to be a very small chance that he'll be able to pull a Jason Giambi and somehow find his game while staying healthy. That still remains my hope however... and since he's in Texas the Dodgers fortunately don't have to worry about him closing many games against them.
Showing posts with label MLB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MLB. Show all posts
12.14.2006
12.09.2006
The baseball winter meetings are over
Well, the baseball winter meetings are over and a whirlwind of activity happened. In case you missed it, we'll break down the good, the bad, and the rest of it.
I want to focus on one team today, the team that I thought came out of the winter meetings as the big winner - the Los Angeles Dodgers. I happen to be a lifelong Dodgers fan so this is of a particular interest to me as a fan and Dodger Stadium patron.
First, I need to give credit where credit is due - Ned Colletti has done an amazing job in his short tenure with the Dodgers in his first GM role, and the moves he made this week are a clear indication of just how good a GM he has become. Long gone are the days of the nausea inducing moves of Kevin Malone and Paul DePodesta. Ned Colletti is able to use his cool demeanor and personal relationships with his players and future players to draw them away from other suitors, even when those other suitors are offering more money and/or incentives. He is able to sell "L.A." - not just the team but the city. In the past month he has signed 3 players that cited the ability to play for their hometown ball club as a major factor in signing with the Dodgers (Nomar Garciaparra, Randy Wolf, and Mike Lieberthal). He's obviously building something bigger than what the Dodgers have been since they traded away Mike Piazza for a few big name stars in 1998. He's able to lock players up short term (1-3 years generally) for money that could usually be considered a bargain by today's market standards, and he is able to do this without "selling the farm". Signing players to short term contracts is desirable on many fronts, one of which is that it becomes much easier to trade a player with 1 year left in his contract vs a player with 3 years left on his contract, especially if that player is not producing well. Last year he was able to see the development of some of his farm system's highly touted prospects into everyday club roles on the big league club (Russ Martin, Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton, James Loney), and there's a good chance there will be some more rookies who get to make an impact this year as well.
The Dodgers signing Jason Schmidt was huge. Not only were they able to acquire who in my opinion was the best starting pitcher free agent on the market (apologies to Barry Zito), but they were able to draw that talent away from their hated rivals. This is another deal that may not have gotten done if Paul DePodesta or someone else was in place instead of Colletti. Jason Schmidt himself admitted that his relationship with Colletti helped seal the deal and get him to come to L.A. Jason Schmidt is a solid #1 starter option, and has been the ace of a fairly successful ball club over the last few years (as much to say that). He has averaged over 200 innings per year for the last 5 years and has compiled a 71-36 record for the Giants in those 5 years. His ERA over that same time period has been just 3.35 - and he's done it in what is not a terribly pitching friendly ballpark... throw him in Dodger Stadium and expect a few points to come off his average. He's sustained a very similar average at the end of each season - his highest being 4.40 in 2005. The even better news is that he lowered that ERA nearly .80 points the following year, having ended the 2006 campaign with a 3.59 ERA. What all this should tell you is that he is a very solid, consistent starter and probably has well more than 3 years of #1 starter quality pitcher left in his arm. The only thing I'm left wondering is who will get the opening day start for the Dodgers in '07 - Derek Lowe or Schmidt? My money's on Lowe, but we'll see.
I just wanted to say a quick word about Luis Gonzales - while his power numbers have dropped off in the last couple of years, I think this could be a good fit for the Blue Crew. He still has some pop in his bat and has an average that you can live with from a 39 year old veteran (batted .271 in both '06 and '05) and he's played in over 150 games in all but 1 of the last 10 seasons. Mark my words - J.D. Drew WILL NOT stay healthy in '07. It was a miracle he made it through 2006 as well as he did. Unfortunately, his body is a ticking time bomb and the Red Sox will need an even greater miracle in 2007 to see him not go down for an extended period of time. Paying him 14 million a year and signing him to a long-term contract is just mind-shockingly ridiculous in my opinion but that's a whole different story.
The last thing I want to mention is that the Dodgers are said to be heavily interested in Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells - possibly giving up Brad Penny and one of their young prospects for the powerful outfield bat. I would love to see such a move, but the latest rumor is that he might be put out on the market in January, which means there is still some time we'll have to wait to see if a deal like that can be done. The Dodgers can afford to move a starter like Brad Penny and Toronto could definitely use an arm like him. I'm just going to hold my breath and see if anything develops.
In closing, here's a quote I wanted to share with you - it's from Bruce Jenkins of the SF Chronicle regarding the Giant's signing of Barry Bonds -
I want to focus on one team today, the team that I thought came out of the winter meetings as the big winner - the Los Angeles Dodgers. I happen to be a lifelong Dodgers fan so this is of a particular interest to me as a fan and Dodger Stadium patron.
First, I need to give credit where credit is due - Ned Colletti has done an amazing job in his short tenure with the Dodgers in his first GM role, and the moves he made this week are a clear indication of just how good a GM he has become. Long gone are the days of the nausea inducing moves of Kevin Malone and Paul DePodesta. Ned Colletti is able to use his cool demeanor and personal relationships with his players and future players to draw them away from other suitors, even when those other suitors are offering more money and/or incentives. He is able to sell "L.A." - not just the team but the city. In the past month he has signed 3 players that cited the ability to play for their hometown ball club as a major factor in signing with the Dodgers (Nomar Garciaparra, Randy Wolf, and Mike Lieberthal). He's obviously building something bigger than what the Dodgers have been since they traded away Mike Piazza for a few big name stars in 1998. He's able to lock players up short term (1-3 years generally) for money that could usually be considered a bargain by today's market standards, and he is able to do this without "selling the farm". Signing players to short term contracts is desirable on many fronts, one of which is that it becomes much easier to trade a player with 1 year left in his contract vs a player with 3 years left on his contract, especially if that player is not producing well. Last year he was able to see the development of some of his farm system's highly touted prospects into everyday club roles on the big league club (Russ Martin, Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton, James Loney), and there's a good chance there will be some more rookies who get to make an impact this year as well.
The Dodgers signing Jason Schmidt was huge. Not only were they able to acquire who in my opinion was the best starting pitcher free agent on the market (apologies to Barry Zito), but they were able to draw that talent away from their hated rivals. This is another deal that may not have gotten done if Paul DePodesta or someone else was in place instead of Colletti. Jason Schmidt himself admitted that his relationship with Colletti helped seal the deal and get him to come to L.A. Jason Schmidt is a solid #1 starter option, and has been the ace of a fairly successful ball club over the last few years (as much to say that). He has averaged over 200 innings per year for the last 5 years and has compiled a 71-36 record for the Giants in those 5 years. His ERA over that same time period has been just 3.35 - and he's done it in what is not a terribly pitching friendly ballpark... throw him in Dodger Stadium and expect a few points to come off his average. He's sustained a very similar average at the end of each season - his highest being 4.40 in 2005. The even better news is that he lowered that ERA nearly .80 points the following year, having ended the 2006 campaign with a 3.59 ERA. What all this should tell you is that he is a very solid, consistent starter and probably has well more than 3 years of #1 starter quality pitcher left in his arm. The only thing I'm left wondering is who will get the opening day start for the Dodgers in '07 - Derek Lowe or Schmidt? My money's on Lowe, but we'll see.
I just wanted to say a quick word about Luis Gonzales - while his power numbers have dropped off in the last couple of years, I think this could be a good fit for the Blue Crew. He still has some pop in his bat and has an average that you can live with from a 39 year old veteran (batted .271 in both '06 and '05) and he's played in over 150 games in all but 1 of the last 10 seasons. Mark my words - J.D. Drew WILL NOT stay healthy in '07. It was a miracle he made it through 2006 as well as he did. Unfortunately, his body is a ticking time bomb and the Red Sox will need an even greater miracle in 2007 to see him not go down for an extended period of time. Paying him 14 million a year and signing him to a long-term contract is just mind-shockingly ridiculous in my opinion but that's a whole different story.The last thing I want to mention is that the Dodgers are said to be heavily interested in Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells - possibly giving up Brad Penny and one of their young prospects for the powerful outfield bat. I would love to see such a move, but the latest rumor is that he might be put out on the market in January, which means there is still some time we'll have to wait to see if a deal like that can be done. The Dodgers can afford to move a starter like Brad Penny and Toronto could definitely use an arm like him. I'm just going to hold my breath and see if anything develops.
In closing, here's a quote I wanted to share with you - it's from Bruce Jenkins of the SF Chronicle regarding the Giant's signing of Barry Bonds -
"This ranks among the most cowardly, gutless baseball decisions of the post-war era, but then again, it would take a pretty stiff dose of courage for Sabean (and many other people in the organization) to say what they really think, like "His steroid associations have embarrassed us for far too long," or "We've grown tired of looking the other way," or "We're sick of him running the team and the way it's built." So everybody just caved in, and now Bonds has a contract (potentially even more lucrative than last year's) that will stifle the Giants' more pressing financial needs."
Dodgers Making A Big Splash With Offseason Signings...
During an offseason filled with available pitchers and hitters such as: Soriano, Man-Ram, Aramis Ramirez and pitchers Barry Zito and Japanese import Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Los Angeles Dodgers may have been the surprise winners without having signed any of the following players mentioned above...
The Dodger GM Ned Colleti has been very closed to the vest about the his offseason moves, much like a master chess player, or even a fantasy baseball owner the hour before the draft starts... But he has done nothing but become one of the best GM's in all of major league baseball with some key acquisitions that make the Dodgers the team to beat in the NL West...
First off, the Dodgers were able to rid themselves of the enigmatic J.D.N.P Drew... (ie. J.D. Did Not Play Drew) amongst some confusion on why he would actually leave L.A. for Boston... It did appear that Colleti took that very personally because this move seemed to be precipitated by Bob Sugar a.k.a. Scott Boras... Now there has been some grumblings about a potential investigation into whether Boras and the Red Sox were involved in some tampering to get Drew to opt out of his contract with the Dodgers, but oh well, I think everybody that bleeds blue is glad that Drew is gone, even though that .280 avg., 20 HRs and 100 RBI will be missed... But if that move ends up landing us Manny Ramirez, I think that fans in L.A. and New York will vote J.D. Drew the MVP...
Secondly, the Dodgers decided not to sign Eric Gagne, I love Gagne for what he means to the Dodgers but having not pitched in 2 seasons is hard to justify paying the 10 million for him... Also, GM Ned Colleti retained the services of Takasi Saito to either close or set-up for the Dodgers for a very inexpensive $1 million, 1 year deal... However, there needs to be a decision made about whether to drop Joe "Mr. Glass" Beimel...
Then the Dodgers after not being able to land free agents Aramis Ramirez and Soriano to the Chicago Cubs they turned their sights to acquiring the speedy center fielder Juan Pierre... This move has been questioned with some moans and groans because Pierre, who was 2nd in the NL stolen bases, triples and led the NL in hits is not the power hitting outfielder that many believe was the reason why the Dodgers didn't march further into the playoffs... However, Pierre, a mainstay on all my yahoo! fantasy teams offers a upgrade from the geriatric Kenny Lofton who played old and looked old out in center last season... Plus, Pierre was signifcantly cheaper than Gary Matthews Jr. cost the Angels...
Shortly after the Pierre move, Colleti made the move to sign free agent lefty Randy Wolf from the Phillies... This move made me scratch my head a little... Even though this was a one year deal... This certainly meant the doom for either Greg Maddux or Brad Penny... But looking at the acquistion of Wolf by the Dodgers in the grand scheme of things, this would give the Dodgers 7 starting pitchers that give them some depth and a potential chip in a trade for that big bat that they need... In theory, the Dodgers could package Brad Penny or Brett Tomko along with a James Loney or LaRoche for Andruw Jones or Planet Man-Ram...
This week, Greg Maddux signs with San Diego Padres...
This move made me question why the Dodgers didn't make a more significant push to retain the Professor... But then I guess that was the domino that needed to fall before the Dodgers decided to announce that they have indeed agree with free agent pitcher Jason Schmidt... Which swung the pendulum to the Dodgers as being the favorite to win the NL West with the best pitcher available... This was a big blow to the rest of the division... First, the Dodgers took Schmidt from the Hated Ones and Schmidt looks like Drysdale against that weak lineup in San Diego... This gives the Dodgers the 1-2 punch of Schmidt and Lowe...
Dodgers sign, OF Luis Gonzalez to a 1-year, 8 million dollar deal to be the Dodgers left fielder at least to begin the year... I guess the big sticking point for Gonzalez was to stay in the NL West, and the prospect of having half of the fans in left field rocking a Gonzalez jersey, let's face it, most of all the fans in the left field pavillion have Gonzalez as a last name...
All of these moves have allowed the Dodgers to have some roster flexibility, depth and experience on the team...
Some fans will look at this offseason as only partially successful since the Dodgers did not land that Manny Ramirez or ARod or Soriano... But I think in the long run the Dodgers still set themselves up to be a contender this year without mortaging the future to overpay to acquire a bat... a la' the Angels...
The Dodger GM Ned Colleti has been very closed to the vest about the his offseason moves, much like a master chess player, or even a fantasy baseball owner the hour before the draft starts... But he has done nothing but become one of the best GM's in all of major league baseball with some key acquisitions that make the Dodgers the team to beat in the NL West...
First off, the Dodgers were able to rid themselves of the enigmatic J.D.N.P Drew... (ie. J.D. Did Not Play Drew) amongst some confusion on why he would actually leave L.A. for Boston... It did appear that Colleti took that very personally because this move seemed to be precipitated by Bob Sugar a.k.a. Scott Boras... Now there has been some grumblings about a potential investigation into whether Boras and the Red Sox were involved in some tampering to get Drew to opt out of his contract with the Dodgers, but oh well, I think everybody that bleeds blue is glad that Drew is gone, even though that .280 avg., 20 HRs and 100 RBI will be missed... But if that move ends up landing us Manny Ramirez, I think that fans in L.A. and New York will vote J.D. Drew the MVP...
Secondly, the Dodgers decided not to sign Eric Gagne, I love Gagne for what he means to the Dodgers but having not pitched in 2 seasons is hard to justify paying the 10 million for him... Also, GM Ned Colleti retained the services of Takasi Saito to either close or set-up for the Dodgers for a very inexpensive $1 million, 1 year deal... However, there needs to be a decision made about whether to drop Joe "Mr. Glass" Beimel...
Then the Dodgers after not being able to land free agents Aramis Ramirez and Soriano to the Chicago Cubs they turned their sights to acquiring the speedy center fielder Juan Pierre... This move has been questioned with some moans and groans because Pierre, who was 2nd in the NL stolen bases, triples and led the NL in hits is not the power hitting outfielder that many believe was the reason why the Dodgers didn't march further into the playoffs... However, Pierre, a mainstay on all my yahoo! fantasy teams offers a upgrade from the geriatric Kenny Lofton who played old and looked old out in center last season... Plus, Pierre was signifcantly cheaper than Gary Matthews Jr. cost the Angels...
Shortly after the Pierre move, Colleti made the move to sign free agent lefty Randy Wolf from the Phillies... This move made me scratch my head a little... Even though this was a one year deal... This certainly meant the doom for either Greg Maddux or Brad Penny... But looking at the acquistion of Wolf by the Dodgers in the grand scheme of things, this would give the Dodgers 7 starting pitchers that give them some depth and a potential chip in a trade for that big bat that they need... In theory, the Dodgers could package Brad Penny or Brett Tomko along with a James Loney or LaRoche for Andruw Jones or Planet Man-Ram...
This week, Greg Maddux signs with San Diego Padres...
This move made me question why the Dodgers didn't make a more significant push to retain the Professor... But then I guess that was the domino that needed to fall before the Dodgers decided to announce that they have indeed agree with free agent pitcher Jason Schmidt... Which swung the pendulum to the Dodgers as being the favorite to win the NL West with the best pitcher available... This was a big blow to the rest of the division... First, the Dodgers took Schmidt from the Hated Ones and Schmidt looks like Drysdale against that weak lineup in San Diego... This gives the Dodgers the 1-2 punch of Schmidt and Lowe...
Dodgers sign, OF Luis Gonzalez to a 1-year, 8 million dollar deal to be the Dodgers left fielder at least to begin the year... I guess the big sticking point for Gonzalez was to stay in the NL West, and the prospect of having half of the fans in left field rocking a Gonzalez jersey, let's face it, most of all the fans in the left field pavillion have Gonzalez as a last name...
All of these moves have allowed the Dodgers to have some roster flexibility, depth and experience on the team...
Some fans will look at this offseason as only partially successful since the Dodgers did not land that Manny Ramirez or ARod or Soriano... But I think in the long run the Dodgers still set themselves up to be a contender this year without mortaging the future to overpay to acquire a bat... a la' the Angels...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)