It's hard to say where Bautista would have played if Toronto had been more serious about dealing him. He made 113 starts in right field and 45 at third base last season, so one of J.D. Drew, Kevin Youkilis, or David Ortiz would have been left out in the cold.
Peter Gammons tweeted that the Red Sox claimed Bautista on waivers in September 2009, "but Bos ownership wouldn't take $". Since Bautista earned only $2.4 million last year, I assume that means the front office was not keen on inking an extension. According to Speier, however, the Red Sox were not awarded the waiver claim in 2009. (Bautista belted 10 home runs in September 2009 and handily led the major leagues with 54 in 2010.)
Dustin Pedroia, on his left foot:
There have been some surprises. I thought when I had surgery on my foot, in three months I would feel 100 percent, and that wasn't the case. It's been a lot tougher than I thought it was, and what everyone thought it would be. ... It's a weird bone to break without a non-stress fracture. ... Mine is from a ball hitting off it, so it's a little different in terms of the recovery. ... I'm two weeks away from spring training and I'm just now kind of getting ... to where I feel good [and] can play a game.ESPN's Keith Law ranks the Red Sox's farm system as 11th best in MLB, with three other AL East teams above them: Rays (2nd), Blue Jays (4th), and Yankees (9th). Law puts the Royals at #1.
Jeter in CF gave me lolz.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Yankees signings this winter would have been awesome if it was eight (?) years ago...Colon, Andruw Jones and Mark Prior!
I know the sox have made many attempts to "capture lightning in a bottle" - Penny, Smoltz, Gagne etc. But three at a time - wow! Should be interesting. Especially if they have Kerry Wood coming back (? - no idea where he's at this year)
Soriano was a dece pickup though. Hopefully he'll have a shit year in typical relief pitcher "boom-bust" fashion.
Why do you find this waiver claim interesting?
ReplyDeleteI mean they make dozens a year that never turn out to be anything.
Why does this one make news?
Why does this one make news?
ReplyDelete1. Nothing else is going on.
2. I don't want to do a post that involves hours of research//thinking.
3. If 4+ days go by without a new post, everyone will give up and go away.
4. I'm far more interested in the different trade offers the Sox made for Bautista earlier this winter than the waiver claim (about which Gammons and Speier have reported contradictory information).
I think it's very interesting that we tried to acquire Bautista, both now and then.
ReplyDeleteIn The Bar last night, a woman was trying to convince a man of how great it is to make a trip to Spring Training. He made her list five reasons why it was worth doing instead of just waiting for baseball season. Among them were:
It's baseball.
Access to players for conversation and autographs.
"You will totally get laid at least twice."
I wasn't so much talkin about you more the fact that Rosenthal and Gammons are talkin about it....
ReplyDeleteYou are right though after all the intial trades and such, it has been very quiet.
Baseball should jump on the strife that could possiblly hurt football.
In my opinion football is in for very tough road and that could only help baseball draw more fans..
It is time for baseball to start marketing the vast number of up and coming stars. They have never been that good at it ...Baseball has to find a way to stop being so local and go national.
3. If 4+ days go by without a new post, everyone will give up and go away.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to take this one off the list. 2,000+ subscriptions in Google Reader - people are not going away.
"You will totally get laid at least twice."
ReplyDeleteOn our trips to spring training, 90% of the crowd were 70+ years old. The remaining 10% were large groups of men, and families/couples.
So it might depend on how his tastes run.
Zenslinger said...
ReplyDeleteIn The Bar last night, a woman was trying to convince a man of how great it is to make a trip to Spring Training.
"You will totally get laid at least twice."
nice.............did ya get her number?
It is time for baseball to start marketing the vast number of up and coming stars. They have never been that good at it ...
ReplyDeleteThe clueless and tone deafness of baseball management has never ceased to amaze me.
Reminds me a little of Ted Turner's old line, to his fellow owners: "Gentlemen, we have the only legal monopoly in the country, and we're fucking it up."
This Bautista news is a cold reminder that Ortiz is going to be on his way out soon. I don't think it'll get all of the hullaballoo that Jeter has received, but it's still going to suck from an emotional standpoint.
ReplyDeleteColon! We took a flyer on him three years ago! His last MLB game was July 24, 2009.
ReplyDeleteThe clueless and tone deafness of baseball management has never ceased to amaze me.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true. No matter what they do, they always manage to eff it up. I know there is no pleasing everyone, but they seem determined to displease everyone.
It's so true. No matter what they do, they always manage to eff it up. I know there is no pleasing everyone, but they seem determined to displease everyone
ReplyDeleteHey, as long as they're rolling in money, there isn't a problem, right?
Pokerwolf said...
ReplyDeleteHey, as long as they're rolling in money, there isn't a problem, right?
A team just went Bankrupt.
hahahahahahahhh
ReplyDeleteFuck you, Randy Levine!
On our trips to spring training, 90% of the crowd were 70+ years old. The remaining 10% were large groups of men, and families/couples.
ReplyDeleteSo it might depend on how his tastes run.
I just finished Dirk Hayhurst's memoir of a season in the minor leagues, and he has some things to say about 'cleat-chasers.'
If 4+ days go by without a new post, everyone will give up and go away.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Charlie Brown looking in his mailbox for Christmas cards when my crawler shows no new posts from your blog. But give up and go away? Never!
I just finished Dirk Hayhurst's memoir of a season in the minor leagues, and he has some things to say about 'cleat-chasers.'
ReplyDeleteBut the "guaranteed to get laid" comment was for a fan, presumably not wearing cleats.
Hey, as long as they're rolling in money, there isn't a problem, right?
ReplyDeleteTrue. It's apparently all they care about. And people call the players greedy!
Re team going bankrupt, how would we know? We only have their word to go on.
I read Hayhurst's book this off-season, too. Quite liked it, but the Ball Four comparisions are a bit much.
ReplyDelete