Chone Figgins Closing in on Dead with Seattle

ESPN is reporting that Chone Figgins may be close to signing with the Seattle Mariners. How he would fit in Seattle is a little unclear. Seattle already has a leadoff hitter that is pretty good. You may have heard of him he is that Japanese guy. Either way the deal appears to be all but done. How does this impact the World Champs among other teams who had an interest in Figgins remains to be seen.  Most importantly the Hot Stove is really starting to heat up. Placido Polanco, Marco Scutaro, and now Chone Figgins have all signed with new teams. 

After next weeks winter meetings in Indianapolis things should really catch fire. Just because there is no baseball doesn’t mean things aren’t exciting. Stay tuned!

It’s Official

Marc Scutaro is a Boston Red Sox. You can read about the two year deal at the attached link. Mike Rook had just posted that it was possible but now It’s official. This means Pedroia is staying put.

Source: Scutaro, Red Sox closing in on contract

Source: Scutaro, Red Sox closing in on contract

Well it looks like the Idea of moving Pedroia to short may have been short lived. (no pun intended) Marco Scutaro is beyond a doubt the best free agent available. But is he worth a first round draft pick. Luckily for the Red Sox they are getting one from the Braves so it kind of works out in the wash.  I was a fan of moving Pedroia and signing a second baseman but Im not the one calling the shots now am I.

All and all they will definitely have upgraded their infield over last season. Next up will the Red Sox be able to move Lowell? One of the rumors out their is that if Lowell is moved Youkilis will move to third and they may try and make a blockbuster trade for Migel Cabrerra. Personally I don’t think they have the pieces to pull off a deal like that but there are a couple of other big fish first baseman out there that might suit the Red Sox just fine.

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Interesting Red Sox news

At the time that the Red Sox picked up Billy Wagner everyone wondered if they were making a wise decision. With many question marks considering his age and his health he only actually made 14 appearances with the Sox.  The Red Sox not only offered him arbitration but the Braves picked him up on a one year deal which will cost them a first round draft pick. So not only do the Red Sox get the pick but they also get a supplemental pick between the first and second round. All this for a 38 year old pitcher with health question marks. Kinda makes Theo Epstien look like a genius now doesn’t it?

The Red Sox are also dealing with who to play at short stop in 2010. Jed Lowerie is a plus defender who cant hit and has to many injury concerns, Nick Green became a free agent when the Sox removed him from the 40 man. Alex Gonzalez as we have already discussed signed with the Blue Jays. The two best free agents are not that best choices for the Sox so now there are some internal discussions of having Dustin Pedroia make the move to short stop. Again with Theo being a genius. Here are three reasons why this is brilliant:

1. Dustin was an all star short stop in college

2. Dustin is one of the most athletic players in the game and has great range.

3. There are so many more second baseman available than there are short stops.

The Red Sox may have interest in Brandon Phillips who batted .276 last year with 20 HR and 97 RBI’s. Phillips also won a gold glove in 2008. Now as a closet Yankees fan I’m not a fan of  the Red Sox making some good baseball moves but if they are ,its about time.

A Couple of interesting thoughts

There isn’t much happening in baseball right now do to the Thanksgiving Holiday and the fact that the GM’s are basically taking the Information they collected at the Gm meeting and getting a plan together. Its kinda like testing the water with your foot to see how warm it is before you jump in. There are a few things that we have learned over the last week or so:

1. One interesting situation is the Red Sox short stop situation. With the Jays signing Alex  Gonzalez the Red Sox choices are somewhat limited. Nick Green is a decent utility player and even has a mean fastball but they shouldn’t consider him the everyday answer. They Basically have two choices Marco Scutoro  or Migel Tejada. Tejada is a35 year old Short stop who is not showing any signs of slowing down last season with the Astros he batted .313 which was good for eighth in the NL. Scutoro is also no spring chicken at 34 provides significantly better defense without as much pop in the bat. I believe that short stop should be a defence first position and the Sox would be wiser to sign Marco. However Marco is a type A free agent and the Red Sox would have to part with a number one draft pick as compensation to the Jays because they offered Scutaro arbitration. Even so I don’t see much other choice for the Red Sox.

2. Speaking of the Red Sox it seems they want desperately to unload their current third baseman Mike Lowell. Lowell sense 2007  Lowell has been hampered by injuries and has not had more than 119 games in each of the last two seasons. However injured or not he still is a gem with the lumber. Last season in 119 games he had 17 HR,75RBI batted .290 with a .811 ops. Also at 35 years old and is certainly on the down slide the ,Sox  are so desperate to unload him they are rumored to be willing to pick up a large portion of his 2010 salary.  Seems that if they could unload him a run at Migel Cabrera would certainly improve their offensive stock. Cabrera is a beast that has had 25 or more HR and 100+ RBI’s every year sense 2004. Detroit seems like a broken team that is willing to unload some of its bigger contracts and start rebuilding. For them to move Migel they would certainly demand a big package of young talent.

3. Other interesting news as previously stated the Marlins seem unwilling to offer Josh Johnson the number of years he would like for an extension. Im sure there is not a team in baseball that wouldnt love to have him on their roster. Im also sure that pretty much every team that is even considering adding a pitcher will be calling the Fish to see what it would take to land him.

4. Roy Halladay has stated that he would wave his no trade clause to play for the Yankees. This is actually old news, NY is Roy’ s preferred destination but he is also willing to play for Boston,Philly,or the Angels. If the Yankees were smart they would jump in thier with a decent offer and put Roy in the Bag before it gets messy. I would give them Joba,Melky and Ian Kennedy. Seems that should get the deal done. I would even go as far as to give them both Joba and Hughes for him. What I wouldn’t do if I were the Yankees would be to part with Montero or Jackson. Boston also has a decent package that could be offered if they are willing to part with Clay Bucholtz and a couple of young prospects. The Yankees seem to be deeper in the pitching department and Young pitching will be what they will be looking for.

5. Tim Lincecum’s arbitration hearing should top Ryan Howard’s 10 million dollar victory back in 2008. After 2 Cy Young awards the Giants are going to have to open up their wallets and dig deep to prevent this whole thing from getting ugly and feelings hurt. Be smart San Fransisco hand him a blank check and a 5 year extension and move on with your day.

6. Lastly the Angels aren’ t the least bit interested in Matt Holiday to roam Left Field in 2010. Who they do want is Red Sox free agent Jason Bay.It will be an interesting battle for Bay as these two teams have been playoff foes for many a game over the last decade. Ok so maybe there is a bit more going on than I originally stated.

Blue Jays agree with ex-Red Sox SS Gonzalez

Blue Jays agree with ex-Red Sox SS Gonzalez

This says that the Jays are not going to try to get Marco Scutaro back, which to me seems dumb. Yes Alex is a better fielder but Scutaro is an exceptable fielder and a better hitter. If they simply wanted defense and no pop they have McDonald who is a great fielding shortstop.Scutaro batted .282 last season and is a carrer .270 type hitter and Alex is more like a .240 hitter. Granted Alex used to hit 20 HR a year but that was back in 2004. I don’t know it might be an ok move considering they are going to lose Halladay and they might be trying to tighten up the defense up the middle but I still don’t see it as anything other than them being cheap.

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Report says Boston wants Halladay

Reports are coming out now that the Boston Red Sox’s want Roy Halladay and they want him bad.  You can read about it here The New York Daily News reports that Boston is putting on the “full court press” in getting the ace.  Boston needs to sure up that shaky rotation which was their downfall at the end of last season.

It’s unanimous: Pujols is National League MVP

It’s unanimous: Pujols is National League MVP

You can’t say enough about how great Albert Pojols is. This is his third MVP in a row a feat only topped by Barry Bonds. Albert is by far the best player in the National Leauge and In my humble opinion the second best player in baseball topped only by Alex Rodriguez but that is a story for another time.

Pujols  led the majors in homers (47), runs (124), slugging percentage (.658) and intentional walks (44), and topped the NL in on-base percentage (.443). He was second in the league in doubles (45) and third in batting average (.327) and RBIs (135).  His 2009 effort may have been the greatest single season ever posted by any hitter ever. But that is probably just me shooting off at the mouth. It is definitely the best I have ever seen. Congrats to Albert now for the Cardinals sake lets hope they can back him up and get him some more world series rings. Albert says he would like to have as many as Jeter, who wouldn’t?

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Twins’ Mauer near-unanimous pick as AL’s MVP

Twins’ Mauer near-unanimous pick as AL’s MVP

Joe Mauer is probably one of the greatest players to wear a Twins uniform and is beyond a doubt a player that every team in baseball would love to have crouched down behind their dish wearing their uniform. But for now that honor belongs to Minnesota. Speaking of honors its been 33 years sense a catcher won the MVP. That honor belonged to Thurman Munson in 1976. Mauer is also the first person to win back to back batting titles sense Nomar Garciapara in 1999-2000.

Its uncertain wether of not Mauer will remain a twin at the end of his contract, the Twins are not known for spending the money to hold on to their stars. If they are smart they will just hand him a blank check and let him fill it out at the end of his current contract.

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The Marlins truly are Stupid

The Marlins have what I consider to be one of the top five pitchers in baseball in Josh Johnson. Sense July of 2008 after returning from Tommy John surgery he is 22-6. He has the third highest average velocity on his fastball in the majors at 95.1 and the Marlins wont give him a four year deal. He is a 25 year old flamethrower and has brilliant command. Josh’s agent used Zack Greinke’s 4 year 38 million dollar deal will the Royals as framework for negotiations. A contract that would cost the Marlins less than 10 million a year is peanuts. They get twice that in free money via revenue sharing every year. Instead they will end up trading him or lose him to free agency at the end of the season. Keeping him for the entire year would be stupid and not trading him before the start of the season would be equally as dumb. Why the marlins continue to cry poverty is inexplicable.Especially considering all the money they are dropping into stadium development. What good is a shiny new stadium if you suck? The Marlins new home was set to open in 2011 has been pushed back to 2012 and you can be certain that Johnson wont be there on top of their rotation.

In case you were wondering who I feel the other four of my top five are they are Tim Lincecum ,CC Sabathia,Roy Halladay, and Zach Greinke