MLB offseason thread

[mrusse01 0]

Sox made a mistake letting Santana go...I don't care how good your team is, nobody ever complains about having too much starting pitching.

There are a lot more Ellsbury's out there than Johan Santana's.

Johan would have made them massive favorites to win at least one more World Series in the next 2-3 years.

[mik3 1]

Yeah, especially since Buchholz broke down at the end of 07 and will have a very strong innings cap in 08 you pretty much needed another guy who can throw 200 innings.

If Schilling's done they're said to be looking at Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Lohse. Garcia and Colon both throw about 10mph less than they did 3-4 years ago and Lohse isn't good. You sox fans better be praying Bowden or Masterson get hot quick.

[Jason Harris 31]

The Sox were willing to trade Ellsbury for Santana, but they weren't willing to trade Ellsbury, Lester and/or Buckholz, plus a couple of others that the Twins wanted. Every Sox fan would have loved to have Johan Santana, but most agreed with not giving up as much as the Twins wanted. Unlike mik3, we believe in the Ellsbury hype!

Another consideration is the Sox were worried how paying Santana the $25 mil he was asking would sit with Beckett, especially after Beckett's postseason heroics.

It's hard to know how much losing Schilling might hurt. I'm sure they weren't looking for him to be better than their number 3 pitcher, but they were probably hoping that Schilling might have had a decent year if he really was serious about dropping twenty pounds.

[D-MaN88 0]

What exactly is this "significant" shoulder injury and when/where did it happen?

I just saw it scroll along the bottom of ESPN while watching Jim Rome is Burning but it said nothing about the Red Sox trying to void his contract.

Damn...I don't know what to think about this, I've never really cared for Schilling but I can't deny his pitching last season which was A LOT better than I expected.

[mik3 1]

Torn labrum or rotator cuff. And it was supposedly something he made worse over the winter by not rehabbing it. That's why they want to void his deal.

[Jason Harris 31]

Interesting spin the Sox are putting on this, per Nick Cafardo of the Globe. "We knew this could happen. We only hoped to get half a season out of him anyway. We we're counting on him. Yada, yada, yada."

They may be right. If Schilling can come back after the All-Star break and be integrated in a way that he limits the innings on the younger pitchers, it might work out okay. Otherwise, I think the Sox would probably be a player at the trade deadline.

[mik3 1]

Cafardo is possibly the worst writer in baseball. It's between him and Lupica.

And, I guess the spin means Schilling didn't hide it during contract negotiations.

[mik3 1]

So, Bedard and Santana are 7 days apart in age. Bedard's not signing an extension, has never thrown 200 innings, and doesn't have Santana's track record. How did Baltimore get more for him than Minnesota got for Santana?

[Jason Harris 31]

Cafardo is possibly the worst writer in baseball. It's between him and Lupica.

And, I guess the spin means Schilling didn't hide it during contract negotiations.

I've always like Cafardo, but I'm not sure what criteria you are using.

I don't think there was anything to hide during the contract negotiations; indications are that Schilling was pain free in November.

Schilling's doctor wants to perform surgery now, because he says the conservative approach -- rest and rehab -- won't work, leaving too little time when the inevitable surgery occurs. He says having surgery today would allow Schilling to come back pain free after the All Star break. Conversely, the Sox want to go the conservative approach and they have a second doctor saying surgery would put Schiling out for the season. It will interesting who turns out to be correct.

[Jason Harris 31]

So, Bedard and Santana are 7 days apart in age. Bedard's not signing an extension, has never thrown 200 innings, and doesn't have Santana's track record. How did Baltimore get more for him than Minnesota got for Santana?

I'm sure that demands of six years at $25 mil had a large part to do with it, but I also heard some people question whether Santana's higher ERA and HR allowed was an aberration or due to all the innings he had pitched in the previous 4-5 years.

[trevor13478 1]

red sox sign bartolo colon...

[mack 44]

Are they trying to get all the fat latin players on one team or what?

[LegoDoom 0]

red sox sign bartolo colon...

To a minor league contract.

[Jason Harris 31]

I don't think they are expecting much from Colon. If he can rehabilitate his shoulder enough to pick up 3-4 MPH on his fastball, maybe they'd call him up for the back of the rotation. Otherwise, they would probably release him.

[chshockey30 0]

Tigers are definatly going to be huge this year

[cxo 0]

Shoot, as long as they keep making the playoffs I'll be happy.

[mik3 1]

Tigers are definatly going to be huge this year

huge busts

And, Colon's shoulder rehab is pretty much done, he's still sitting between 85-88.

[trevor13478 1]

Colon is deffinetly not going to replace Schilling, but he will be good for a few spot starts if somebodys tired or hurt. I dont see any harm in the redsox adding a little insurance, you can never have too many starting pitchers.

[mik3 1]

The Red Sox are looking at Freddy Garcia now also. I guess they want guys that make Wakefield's fastball not look bad.

They'd be better off just splitting up Schilling's innings between Tavarez and Snyder.

[LegoDoom 0]

Garcia would be lucky to pitch this year, let alone pitch well.

[Jason Harris 31]

The Sox had their doctors look at Garcia, but they aren't expected to sign him. He also recently visited the Mets' camp.

[mrusse01 0]

Tigers are definatly going to be huge this year

Everybody seems to forget....DONTRELLE WILLIS ISN'T GOOD. And that was in a pitcher's park in a pitcher's league.

Maggs isn't hitting close to .365 or 140 RBIs this yer.

Bonderman regressed badly.

Pudge will get about 7 walks all season.

Todd Jones is the closer, nuff said.

Seriously, who is going to pitch for these guys? Besides Verlander, their SP really is atrocious.

[LegoDoom 0]

I'm not a Willis fan, but he had better numbers on the road than he did at home.

And Mags might not have as good of a season as he did last year, but he'll get pitches to hit with Cabrera behind him.

[mik3 1]

Ordonez' BABIP last year was almost .400, his career norm was about .295-.305. Him and Granderson had really gross BABIPs that pretty much guarantee they won't replicate their 07 numbers.

Also, the Tigers didn't miss the playoffs because of offense last year, they missed the playoffs because they have one reliable starter and a terrible bullpen. They've helped neither problem.

[mack 44]

Yay superfluous stats!