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From: Mortimer on 3 Feb 2010 23:01 On Feb 2, 11:30 am, Wayback1918 <wayback1...(a)verizon.net> wrote: > Kevin Millar signed a minor league deal with the Cubs... > > Still unsigned...... > > Rocco Baldelli (28) I know he's a 2004 WS Hero, but I can't believe Kevin Millar was signed before the other more viable options still available, but W/E. And we can rule out Baldelli signing with TEE, since they signed OF Randy Winn for an incentive-laden deal starting at $2MM (I think).
From: Wayback1918 on 4 Feb 2010 08:31 On Feb 3, 11:01 pm, Mortimer <ecthaki...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Feb 2, 11:30 am, Wayback1918 <wayback1...(a)verizon.net> wrote: > > > Kevin Millar signed a minor league deal with the Cubs... > > > Still unsigned...... > > > Rocco Baldelli (28) > > I know he's a 2004 WS Hero, but I can't believe Kevin Millar was > signed before the other more viable options still available, but W/E. > And we can rule out Baldelli signing with TEE, since they signed OF > Randy Winn for an incentive-laden deal starting at $2MM (I think). Micah (no..not that one) Hoffpauir and Chad Tracy are listed on the Cub's depth chart behind Derek Lee. Neither is anything special....but both are LHB where Millar is RH. I don't know if that factors in. Certainly there wouldn't be a platoon situation with Lee. Both Hoffpauir and Tracy are nine years younger than Millar and play other postions beside 1B. It can't be for Millar's PH skills because he is 0-17 going back to 2006. Somebody in Cub's organization may owe him a favor. Concerning Baldelli...I think Seattle might be a fit. They have Griffey as the DH and Rocco could platoon with him in limited duty.
From: Mortimer on 4 Feb 2010 16:10 On Feb 4, 8:31 am, Wayback1918 <wayback1...(a)verizon.net> wrote: > Micah (no..not that one) Hoffpauir and Chad Tracy are listed on the > Cub's depth chart behind Derek Lee. > > Neither is anything special....but both are LHB where Millar is RH. I > don't know if that factors in. Certainly there wouldn't be a platoon > situation with Lee. > > Both Hoffpauir and Tracy are nine years younger than Millar and play > other postions beside 1B. > > It can't be for Millar's PH skills because he is 0-17 going back to > 2006. Somebody in Cub's organization may owe him a favor. > > Concerning Baldelli...I think Seattle might be a fit. They have > Griffey as the DH and Rocco could platoon with him in limited duty. Probably...one last yearly paycheck for our WS hero Millar (except it will be in minor league dollars). And concerning Baldelli, I doubt the Mariners are remotely interested in his services anymore because they just signed Eric Byrnes to a 1 year deal (It's only a minimal $400,000 gamble, instead of paying Baldelli an incentive-laden deal starting at $500,000-$1 million. Even I wouldn't mind Byrnes on the Red Sox if it was for $400,000 with no incentives. ----------------------------------------- "The Mariners are giving Eric Byrnes a chance to resurrect his career, signing the outfielder to a one-year contract Friday, barely a week after the Arizona Diamondbacks released him. Arizona must pay the remaining $11 million on Byrnes' contract, leaving the Mariners to take only a minimum-salary ($400,000) gamble on a player who was a productive fan favorite in Arizona until injuries hit hard the past two seasons." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2010932286_mari30.html
From: Mortimer on 8 Feb 2010 16:11
On Feb 2, 11:30 am, Wayback1918 <wayback1...(a)verizon.net> wrote: > Kevin Millar signed a minor league deal with the Cubs... > > Still unsigned...... > > Rocco Baldelli (28) A nice little article on Baldelli. The Rangers are probably the front- runners to sign Baldelli for this upcoming season too a major league deal, but who *really* knows... A Few Words On Rocco Baldelli Joey Matschulat | Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7:22 AM | Print Article | Share Article Prolonged exposure to the yearly ritual that is baseball's hot stove season has taught us that, in general, the month of November is reserved for the "feeling-out period" between executives and agents, whereas the months of December and January -- excluding the Christmas- time cessation in activity -- comprise the bulk of baseball's winter transactions. February, then, is the time when teams go bargain- shopping for back-of-the-roster pieces who have been injured, inconsistent, incendiary or some nasty combination of the three. This loosely defined pattern in off-season activity became even more evident exactly one year ago today when, on February 8th, Texas took a Rudy Jaramillo-spearheaded flier on Andruw Jones; two years earlier, the Rangers famously stirred up the masses by signing Sammy Sosa on the penultimate day of January, which supplied some milestone-fueled thrills down the line but, like the Jones signing, very little in the way of quantifiable value. Thus, in light of recent history, why should we adopt any position other than hard-line skepticism towards this year's apparent February object of intrigue: Rocco Baldelli? We've already mused at some length about the logical foundation underlying this Baldelli-to-Texas notion, which, at a glance, doesn't appear all that remarkable from an upside standpoint. Conversely, going out and snagging Baldelli via the incentive-laden minor league deal also wouldn't seem to entail much in the way of downside, in the sense that his durability-related limitations and a dearth of major league-quality outfield depth are likely going to prevent any sort of playing time crunch and/or overexposure -- two leading concerns of mine regarding last year's Jones signing that fortunately proved unfounded. Here are the two thoughts that keep boomeranging around my head, neither of which concern his potential on-the-field value (we'll run through that discussion if/when a signing actually happens): first, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein has been absolutely smothering Baldelli in praise (describing him as "a great person, an excellent teammate and an asset to any organization), and with certain people "in the know" assuring me that the Rangers are going to miss Marlon Byrd's leadership qualities more so than most realize, you find yourself wondering if Baldelli might be a suitable short-term successor to that Byrd-vacated clubhouse role. That second thought concerns (what else?) the tenuous state of Baldelli's health, which certainly works against him, but not to the extent that it might with another team relying upon him to fill an expanded role. Put another way, if Baldelli might only be good for 40-50 games divided between first base, center field and designated hitter, then the fit might be optimal for both sides -- particularly when you consider that the Rangers' medical staff currently ranks among baseball's best, a team attribute that would most certainly behoove Baldelli as he attempts to return to prominence. http://www.bbtia.com/home/2010/2/8/a-few-words-on-rocco-baldelli.html |