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Pat
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... Lerud was weird, but the reasoning was probably that catchers have been taken in the past because you can put a good defensive catcher on your roster that can't hit and use him as a backup without costing the team much. The reasoning (I'm guessing) is that Lerud was just more likely to be taken for that reason than Romak. |
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Bishop
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... Don't think I'll lose any sleep over this one. Bloom had little upside and was beyond the point of being considered a real prospect, while Veal at least seems to be an intriguing possibility. As for Vazquez, not sure why they have to give a utility guy 2 million per year for two years, but where else are they going to spend the money? |
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gregschuler
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... Santos - a 22 yo LHP who tore up the DSL - hardly inspiring. Quintero and Esparza are 21 yo playin g in a league typically filled with 16-18 yo players. They all have to be Gayo picks, and I can't see how any of them will be of use unless the Pirates have work visas to spare. Since players selected in the minor league portion of the draft don't have to be returned to their original organizations, it's another bunch of arms in the system. However, color me unimpressed by what Gayp has done so far - if the best to date is Romulo!, then it's pretty slim. And yes, I know it takes a great deal longer to matriculate players from Latin America to the USA, but even the first wave of internal prospects are more suspect at this point. |
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Tim
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... Those 3 minor league pickups look pretty interesting. The Yankees thought enough of Santos to give him $300,000 bonus in 2003, and they all three look like NH specials. I like the Veal pickup too. I think the Bucs can hide him pretty well all season. |
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Bishop
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... Tim - The Yankees would give a three-hundred thousand dollar bonus to a chunk of wood if they thought another team was interested in the same chunk. Never base a player's worth on what the Yankees paid in a signing bonus; they play under a different set of economic rules from everyone else. |
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Vlad
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... The scouting report I read on Santos (a few years old), indicated that he had a mid-90s FB, a plus change, plus control, and the makings of a good curve (although it was still pretty rudimentary). He was old for his leagues because he had some kind of trouble with the growth plates in his legs, which is now fixed. I think he's a real sleeper. And Quintero was still a catcher a year ago, so he might have more ceiling than your typical overaged reliever as well. On the whole, I like those three a hell of a lot more than the usual roster filler you see changing hands in the minor league portion of the Rule 5. |
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Tim
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... Bishop - I agree that the Pirates throw quarters around like their manhole covers, and the Yankees light cigars with hundred dollar bills, but still - the fact that they coughed up the dough means that somebody (and likely more than one somebody) thought at some point that he was worth it. I think it's a bargain pickup that could amount to something. |
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Gavin
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... At least NH seems to share DL's obsession for relief pitchers, although he seems to focus on power-armed ones that can't throw strikes. That, and back-up catchers. Two years and four million dollars for a 32 year old utility infielder who has had one good season is vintage Pirates. |
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Vlad
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... This isn't 1994. Two years and $4M is nothing nowadays, money-wise. And Vazquez has had more than one good season. Like his 95 OPS+ as a full-timer in 2002, for example. Not sure about last year, but average OPS+ for a shortstop with 100+ PA in '07 was 94 (Source). If that's a fairly typical annual value, then Vazquez's career value of 85, coupled with average SS defense, makes him a lower-tier starting-caliber SS. I.e. probably relatively good value at only 2years/$4M. |
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Vlad
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... Grr. Apparently the new digs don't allow active HTML code in comments. It stripped out all my links. |
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MrPedriqueIfYou'reNasty
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... By the way, if the Tigers are actually considering starting Bloom like I've seen bandied about a few places on the internet, and not stashing him in long relief I doubt that they'll need Jack for any sort of playoff push. The AL central always strikes me as the Twins and a bunch of teams without a clue(please note that this only sometimes includes Cleveland) |
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azibuck
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... Kenny Williams operates somewhere on a higher mental plane. That mortals don't understand his plan does not make it a bad plan. Hate this comment system. I lost a post on another thread, and I just don't like the structure. |
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Gavin
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... Please, Vazquez is awful. We don't need 32 year old veteran stop-gaps during what should be a complete rebuilding effort, not some half-assed version under the guise of competing that has been the root cause of this sixteen year stretch of terrible. His career line going into last season was a paltry .250/.319/.343, which makes Jack Wilson look like a star. Any player that has a career year at 31 years old by putting up a line of .290/.366/.430 should NEVER be given a multi-year contract, especially considering the fact that he's primarily been a corner infielder over the past two years and played in hitter friendly Texas last season. This move is DL redux. |
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azibuck
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... Gavin, "not some half-assed version under the guise of competing..." Who said it was? He's a bench player/spot starter (extreme platoon split), and a true UT defensive player. Jack of all, master of none. He's also insurance if Fred's not healthy, and/or if Jack gets traded. You can dislike the signing, but I don't get the vitriol. |
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Gavin
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... Azibuck - we spent four million dollars over two years on a utility player, money that should absolutely be spent in almost any other facet of the organization when you are a rebuilding team, whether it be signing Scheppers and/or Gagnon from the June draft, signing more young Latin American talents or taking fliers on a couple younger minor league FAs. Signing guys like Vazquez and rumors of attempting to sign Hairston and Wigginton is needless waste of resources and taking of at bats from potentially younger sources. It furthers this organization's obsession with more "certain" veterans who have proven to be nothing better than mediocre, rather than younger guys who might completely bomb, but have the potential to be better than mediocre. They are almost completely risk adverse and that's one way to keep losing for sixteen straight years. |
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