1~ Month Until ST starts..

Ive been listening to 660am(yankees/mets), and 720am(cubs) late night last few weeks when I can get reception. The yankees,mets, and cubs do have their share of leaf fans & gary wise(s).

Whats the thread title for 2011 gonna be?

Finishing with a ~500% record since 1998.

Destined to finished in 4th place until Tampa Bay can't afford to pay there players.

Actually, I disagree on where the Jays will finish this year. My projected 2011 AL East standings: BOS, NYY, TOR, TB, BAL.

The Rays have lost a lot of talent this offseason. Crawford was the lifeblood of their team, I estimate that losing him alone is worth 5 wins. They lost their ace in Garza, they lost a big bat from the middle of their lineup in Pena, they lost Soriano who was rock solid last year, and they lost a very serviceable starting SS in Jason Bartlett.

Have I missed anyone? Who exactly have they added to compensate for these big losses? Yeah, some spots in their starting lineup are now free for some younger talent, but I can't see Desmond Jennings and some of their other top rookies keeping them at 96 wins next year.

Their team basically is Evan Longoria, a handful of excellent young SP's, and a bunch of chumps. I'm pegging them for a <.500 record in '11.

I think you're probably right, 2011 looks like a bit of a rebuilding year for them. It must be nice for them to be able to have one rebuilding season of .500ish ball, then they'll probably be right back in contention in 2012.

What, you mean studied, intelligent, reasonable fans as opposed to ignoramuses like you who talk out their asses when taking a break from stalking anyone in the city who has an opinion with psychotic frenzy? Go back to the hockey rink.

TB is gonna surprise yawl

edit
zobrist.

re-edit- price, hellickson, etc. i mean these aren't additions per se, but they're still going to beast

3.5 for Jon Rauch with a 3.75 team option for next year. I like it.

Crap gonna be like 15 legit people with a shot for some of the bullpen spots come spring.

And thats bad?????

Well several guys are gonna get stuck in AAA with major league contracts like Accardo was last year.

Alan Farina I thought had a good enough year to get a legit chance, highlighted by striking Bryce Harper out in 3 pitches in the AFL, but he will have to wait another year probably.

Yunel signs 1 year/2.9M. Not sure how much he would have gotten in arb. but that seems like very good value, no?

Yes. Nice contract

Some of the other Jays have agreed to short-term deals to avoid arbitration:

Carlos Villanueva, 1-year, $1.415M
Casey Janssen, 1-year, $1.095M
Jesse Litsch, 1-year, $0.830M
Shawn Camp, 1-year, $2.25M
Yunel Escobar, 1-year, $2.9M
Rajai Davis, 2-years, $5.25M plus $3M club option for 2013
Brandon Morrow, 1-year, $2.3M

Overall, I like most of the prices in these deals.

Also, the couple of players look to be going to arbitration over their salaries:

Jason Frasor wants $3.725M, was offered $3.25M
Jose Bautista wants $10.5M, was offered $7.6M

Nothing says "ready for the big leagues" more than a single plate appearance against and 18 year old that has never played in the majors.

how many 18 year olds have their been in MLB history

That's kind of the point - striking out a kid once is, in isolation, a worthless fact for judging someone's big league readiness.

Better to ask "...In the last 50 years". Wasn't entirely uncommon back in the day.

i thought yuni was an overpay. he got a huuuuuuuge raise, which is pretty much the antithesis of the arbitration process.

also doubt that bautista or frasor get to arb hearings, as these seem pretty easy. frasor gets traded for someone who got drafted in a recent 2nd round before the season starts, whether or not they agree to a number (they're only 400k apart), Bautista gets a 1-yr above the midpoint and they re-evaluate around the midway point of the season as to whether they want to extend. if no, he hit 54HR last year and has a bunch of value.

edit- jesse litsch getting a raise is absurd imo. especially a 200%.

i feel like i'm going to have to eventually explain my previous post, so i may as well do it now since i only check itt about once a week during the offseason.

by signing Dotel and Rauch, the jays essentially make Frasor their third best RHP reliever, leading me to believe that they're cool platooning their closing job depending on the handedness of batters (i.e. Carlson and Purcey, moreso the latter, as well as Dotel and Rauch, again, moreso the latter). I realize that Dotel isn't all that good, nor is Rauch, but you don't go out and sign FA's just to have them be there, especially when they have "closing experience".
This effectively makes Frasor 5th on the depth chart at RP (and frankly Shawn Camp was better last year, so 6th), which really means that $3.275-3.75MM is insanity for what will ultimately be a "7th-inning-guy". I mean don't get me started about what inning a guy should be pitching based on his "stuff", but I'm sure that's what's going to end up happening with the bullpen this year; Rommie Lewis is probably going to be the long man, which I guess is fine... you should be running your worst pitcher out there when the starter takes a dump and can only go 2IP, and if there are two rookies in the projected rotation in Drabek and Stewart [right?] then that's bound to happen at least every now and then.

My point is, and if I've realized this, then I'm damn certain that AA has realized this, but signing those two relievers has pretty much made Frasor available to other teams, especially those who were interested in the relief pitcher market but didn't feel like giving up a first rounder (which is the inherent problem of the compensation system, but that's another story). Look at Minnesotam for example. They lost pretty much all of their bullpen, and would probably give up a decent prospect. I know I would if I were them (payroll as high as it's ever been, just lost Fuentes, Crain, that other guy).

If they (Frasor and Jays) can't agree on a price due to a $400k difference then something is obviously up. Having had the Type-A thing going on, nobody wanted him (and he knew that... so did the Jays, who said "w/e, we'll just have Jason Frasor in our bullpen next year" when they really probably didn't think so). I really feel like, at worst, AA is just ready to move him and let young guys (Rzep, Purcey, Janssen to an extent, Carlson... is Villanueva LHP?) develop as bullpen arms, moving Frasor for whatever the **** he can get. But wait, he was Type-A! And you don't have to give up a pick! ZOMG!

Just found value.

As for Bautista, I just see it happening, idk why.

Meh...too lazy to look it up, but outside of the World War periods, I'm sure it still wasn't all that common.

Guys like Bob Feller et. al were obviously the exception to the rule.

Gawd, I was just saying it was highlighted in his last appearance of the year in the AFL Championship game which was broadcasted on mlb.tv, considering that Harper is the highest touted hitting prospect in the year..

1.29 era, 0.81 whip, 12.1 k/9, is a pretty good season imo....

He appears to be a clone of jason frasor though...

But he will spend more time in vegas..

Not saying everyone did it, but Joe Nuxhall was 15 when he debuted. 18 wasn't newsworthy.

wat? We traded Wells for Napoli?

Wow....talk about payroll WIDE OPEN!

like, there has to be money going back, right? Dancing regardless.