2006-2007 Hot Stove Thread

[chris olivarez]

I can't believe the Yanks couldn't get at least one major leaguer for Sheffield. Dan, I agree with you, those three guys they got had better be the real deal. I know the Yanks are making a concerted effort to rebuild their minor league system, but I'm not interested in guys that will only be, at best, marginal big league ballplayers.

One other thought. If the Yanks lose out on the Japanese pitcher, I'd have to think Barry Zito comes squarely into their crosshairs.

Up over and out.

Oh hell Dave don't worry about the prospects. The Yanks will eventually trade them and take on somebody's inflated salary-maybe JD Drew.

[chris olivarez]

Drew usually batted fifth in the lineup, behind Kent. I can't believe that Drew thought there was too much pressure in L.A., which is Cakewalk City in terms of the press. With Boston, I would imagine he would bat behind Manny to give him some protection. I just don't see Drew surviving the Boston press though, he's too use to hands-off teatment from his days in St. Louis, Atlanta, and L.A., none of which is noted for an agressive press.

I know it wasn't fabricated but for the life of me I can't see how Drew had a 100 rbi's. Every time I tracked the team it seemed like he was striking out or stranding runners and as for his vaunted defense it seemed like every time I saw him he was chasing down a ball and I don't think I ever saw him throw out a baserunner. As far as intensity goes Drew will never be mistaken for Jim Edmonds-marshmallow is the word that comes to mind. Ned Colletti blew him off and so am I. No doubt Boras and JD will find somebody else that they can make a fool of.

Edited November 11, 2006 by chris olivarez

[chris olivarez]

It will be all warm and fuzzy with Sheffield for awhile but it he'll probably revert back to his usual form and start spreading his poisonous crap in the clubhouse. TO with a different name.

[Dan Gould]

I can't believe the Yanks couldn't get at least one major leaguer for Sheffield. Dan, I agree with you, those three guys they got had better be the real deal. I know the Yanks are making a concerted effort to rebuild their minor league system, but I'm not interested in guys that will only be, at best, marginal big league ballplayers.

One other thought. If the Yanks lose out on the Japanese pitcher, I'd have to think Barry Zito comes squarely into their crosshairs.

Up over and out.

Oh hell Dave don't worry about the prospects. The Yanks will eventually trade them and take on somebody's inflated salary-maybe JD Drew.

Well that's just plain silly - the reason they had no room for Sheffield is that there is no room in the outfield. So I don't think they're going after Drew.

As for the prospects - turns out the most impressive guy, the one who split his season between AA and AAA, has something of a history of arm injuries. So on top of not getting a major league player, they agreed to take a high-risk/high-reward kinda guy as the centerpiece.

[Matthew]

It will be all warm and fuzzy with Sheffield for awhile but it he'll probably revert back to his usual form and start spreading his poisonous crap in the clubhouse. TO with a different name.

Ex-zack-ta-mundo on this one. I don't see Sheff add too many positives to a club that had very good chemistry, (if that means anything nowadays) and his power might not transfer too well in his new home.

[Dan Gould]

It will be all warm and fuzzy with Sheffield for awhile but it he'll probably revert back to his usual form and start spreading his poisonous crap in the clubhouse. TO with a different name.

Ex-zack-ta-mundo on this one. I don't see Sheff add too many positives to a club that had very good chemistry, (if that means anything nowadays) and his power might not transfer too well in his new home.

I thought Detroit was a launching pad now?

Amazing how fast the worm turns. Had Sheffield not gotten injured, he would have surely hit 35 homers/100+ RBIs/.290 and the Yankees would have had no reason to make the Abreu trade and would have surely picked up the option if not signed him to a longer deal, and Yankee fans might have worried about his age but otherwise would have been perfectly happy. No one was bitching about Sheffield's clubhouse presence until he started squacking about his contract status.

Now, after a few weeks of his grousing, its "good riddance" and "they'll hate him in Detroit soon enough".

Seems to me that Sheffield has two moods:

Serious, all-business baseball player

or

if you've pissed him off or especially if you've "disrespected him", angry selfish egotistical asshole.

I don't think the Tigers will have any problem with Sheffield so long as he is in the lineup and produces. Their only problem will arise if his skills deteriorate such that his production wanes and they can't keep him in the lineup. Otherwise, they've got a very dangerous bat in their lineup, precisely what they needed.

[Matthew]

I thought Detroit was a launching pad now?

That could be true. I'm purely a Senior Circuit guy, so I don't follow this new league that recently formed

[Quincy]

Park factor or Comerica (Detroit) was 27th for HR, 18th for R in 2006.

It is an easier park to homer in now compared to when it opened though. If I remember right it made Petco (SD for those who like me have difficulty with modern corporate names!) look like a sandbox.

*edited to note that Petco was 16th (in the majors) in HR this year. However it was last in R.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Quincy

[Dan Gould]

Park factor or Comerica (Detroit) was 27th for HR, 18th for R in 2006.

It is an easier park to homer in now compared to when it opened though. If I remember right it made Petco (SD for those who like me have difficulty with modern corporate names!) look like a sandbox.

*edited to note that Petco was 16th (in the majors) in HR this year. However it was last in R.

I don't see Sheffield having a big problem with that park. He hit 35+ playing half his games in the Bronx, which isn't exactly friendly for RHs.

[Matthew]

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS

Home 290 65 87 11 0 19 75 35 5 39 7 0 .300 .381 .534 .915

Away 294 39 83 16 0 15 48 43 3 37 3 2 .282 .377 .490 .867

Sheffield's stats from 2005. Surprising he did so much better at home then on the road. At Detroit, he was 13 for 3, no HR & 3 RBI, which works out to a .230 BA (I think, math isn't one of my strong points ) So, who knows, he might not be all that for the Tigers.

Edit: Sorry, can't seem to line up the top row too well....

Edited November 11, 2006 by Matthew

[Quincy]

I was wondering if like Piazza Sheff hits a lot of HRs to right. I've certainly seen him pull it at Yankee though, and last year's hit chart shows him to mainly be a pull hitter. Of course he didn't play much last year.

Sheff @ Yankee in '06

Mainly posting this in case some of us are missing the game too much and want to look at other hitter's charts.

*edit - Oh well, the link will show you Comamerica 1st, but you can pick any park you want from the pull-down menu.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Quincy

[Matthew]

Nice article on JD Drew that explains why Dan should be scared, very scared of Drew in Boston,

After two years of floating transparently through Chavez Ravine summers, J.D. Ghost has finally done something with passion, with strength, with heart.

He quit.

He ordered his agent to tell the Dodgers on Thursday that he was opting out of a contract that was undeservedly lucrative and generously long.

He walked away from a stunningly guaranteed $33 million because it wasn't enough.

He walked away from a team that spent two years coddling and protecting him because a supportive clubhouse wasn't enough.

He walked away from a city that blindly embraced and supported him because Dodgers fans weren't enough.

He did all of this only a few weeks after publicly saying he wasn't going anywhere, because his word wasn't enough.

In a flourish never before seen from the softest player on the planet, J.D. Drew flat quit.

The move was legal, fair, Scott Boras-brilliant, and stunningly brash.

Who knew the Ghost had it in him?

"He wants out. He can have out," said Ned Colletti, Dodgers general manager. "If he's moving on, we're moving on."

Boras, Drew's agent, was surprised at Colletti's anger, saying this was just business.

"I never said anything like that when he didn't exercise the option on Eric Gagne, it works both ways," Boras said.

I'll confess, I'm having a hard time writing this while doing a butter-churn dance, high-fiving strangers and digging up Christmas music.

Losing J.D. Drew is the best thing to happen to the Dodgers since they lost Milton Bradley.

His disappearing act was as disruptive as Bradley's disturbances.

Keeping him in the lineup was as difficult as keeping Bradley out of trouble.

Sure, he led the team with 100 runs batted in last season, but do you remember more than a handful of them? In two years he averaged 109 games, 18 homers, 68 RBIs and dozens of funny looks from teammates who never quite understood.

He missed games with strange pains and hidden soreness. He missed games simply because the manager didn't want to push him. Never once did he express anger that he wasn't in the lineup, even in the final week of this season's playoff push. Never once, it seemed, did he fight to get on the field.

The Dodgers will not miss a presence they never had, a power they never felt.

They can take the $33 million that he just dropped in their pockets — $11 million annually — and use it to get stronger and tougher and better.

A couple of days from now, Colletti will realize that giving up the Ghost is the best thing that could have happened.

But he's angry now because the Dodgers did back flips to keep this guy happy. He's angry because the Dodgers were caught by surprise. He's angry because if he had known this earlier, he could have planned better for an off-season that will now be as nuts as last winter.

"You don't just go to the Rotisserie room basement and pull another guy off the table," Colletti said.

So the question remains, why did he leave? He didn't return The Times' phone calls Thursday night, so we'll have to guess.

Everyone, including Drew, thought he was happy here. Late in the season, he told the Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett he was staying.

"At some point, you make those commitments, and you stick to them," he told Plunkett.

Colletti referred to that story with a sigh.

"I'm surprised how it came down," he said. "Everything that we had heard … indicated that the player loved being here."

Boras publicly agreed with that.

"There's no question he was happy in L.A.," he said.

So was it all about the money?

Considering Drew instantly becomes the third-most attractive free-agent outfielder for teams that will gladly ignore his issues, much of it is.

"If you have a five-tool outfielder who drove in 100 runs in a rather weak center-field free agency market, that matters," Boras said.

But apparently it was also about the warm fuzzies. Insiders are saying that Drew truly did it love it here, until the season ended and he realized that not everyone in the organization loved him.

He heard the rumblings that the front office was tired of the coddling. He grew weary of media that kept applying the heat.

Drew is the sort of player who hates the hassles that come with being a star. He wanted to go somewhere and do what he does best — disappear.

By the end of the season, he apparently realized that the longer he was here, the more impossible this disappearing act would become.

Increasingly, the Dodgers weren't afraid of no Ghost.

So Drew climbed on Boras' back and took the leap, while Colletti rubbed his eyes in shock that such a mild player could act so maddeningly.

In the end, there's no reason for anger by anyone. Drew was just exercising his rights. Boras is just doing his job. The Dodgers eventually will get what they want. None of this was illegal or unethical.

If you want to be upset, be upset at former general manager Paul DePodesta for giving Drew such a misguided quit clause in the first place.

On second thought, give DePodesta a standing ovation.

The Dodgers have finally rid themselves of … what's his name again?

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Matthew

[Dan Gould]

Jesus. I hope that Theo's inbox is loaded with emails from people sending that article to him.

I had no idea that was the kind of person he is. I just knew him as the guy who never seemed to produce because he always got hurt.

If the guy truly prefers to disappear than he can't be stupid enough to come to Boston. I hope.

If the Dodgers want a stand-up guy who loves to play and get dirty, they should give Trot Nixon a call.

[BERIGAN]

More reasons to run away from the slacker Drew.....

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlib...s/D/Drew_JD.stm

and

http://www.unitedstatesofbaseball.com/entry.asp?ENTRY_ID=205

The guy looks kind of stupid criticizing LaRussa, at least on this point, but I have heard LaRussa thought Drew was going to be the next Micky Mantle.....

None of these notions quite register with not-quite-genius LaRussa, however. As evidence for his attacks on modern ball players, he mentions the example of J.D. Drew, a former star prospect for his team. It seems that when Drew was with LaRussa’s Cardinals from 1998 to 2003, he never maximized his God-given potential out on the field. LaRussa and Bissinger assert that "Drew may be too talented, that [Major League performance'> comes too easily to him."

Oh boy.

J.D. Drew probably never has, and never will, made the very most of his natural abilities, and that tells us a lot about J.D. Drew’s character. But it’s quite another thing to imply that this one underachiever represents some kind of damning indictment of the whole modern game.

[Matthew]

Last night I had a scary thought: Drew, on paper, would be a perfect fit for the Mariners I mean, they sign Drew, which moves Ichiro back to right, takes care of center, and adds a big bat to the line up. Thankfully, I don't think the Mariners can afford Drew, who would probably ask for 15 million. Scary though....

[Matthew]

Another thought I had last night: I wonder if J.D. Drew is english for Juan Gonzalez

[Dan Gould]

Not official yet, but pretty much every NY paper is reporting that the Yankees are about to trade Jaret Wright to the O's, for a mid-level prospect or possibly a member of the 25 man roster. Who it turns out to be will determine whether the Yanks pay 4 million of his 7 mil salary. Apparently the idea is to pay what would have been the buy-out amount while getting something in return.

For being the king of 5 inning stints, Wright wasn't a terrible pitcher last year in ERA, and it certainly puts more pressure on Pavano to show up and perform, but I guess with Hughes on the doorstep, they figure they can do better than Wright. The funny thing is that when this market shakes out, the seven million he's getting will probably look like a huge bargain.

**********************************

Just what the heck is going on in Japan??? I've heard that a meeting may be taking place Monday morning, which would be this afternoon here, so maybe the long wait will be over. I will say this: After Olney's big announcement, it will hurt even more if it turns out the Yanks won the bidding after all.

[chris olivarez]

Nah.Let JD underachieve for the Padres for a whole bunch of money and I still wouldn't put it past the Yanks to go after Drew even with an outfield glut just because they could. Collecting high riced and over priced ballplayers seems to be Steinbrunners hobby.

Edited November 13, 2006 by chris olivarez

[Dan Gould]

I just had a terrible vision:

What if Nomar ends up with the Yankees? I've read that the Yankees are planning on Giambi being their full-time DH next year, which makes sense if Bernie retires and Sheffield is gone. The Dodgers have good young talent if they don't want to meet Nomar's price, and otherwise, with the Cubs signing A-Ram, they have no need for him. Its an obvious match up, and there are some sportswriters who've already predicted Nomar will sign.

What a horrible sight, if Nomar returns to Fenway wearing pinstripes.

[Dan Gould]

The Boston Globe is reporting that the Seibu Lions will meet and discuss the sealed bid at 8 PM ET tonite and that an announcement will be forthcoming shortly thereafter. In fact, the Japanese press is reporting that they will hold a press conference at 8 pm, which suggests the decision will be made before then.

Finally, some info is released. I've been sick and tired of checking websites and ESPNews to see if something has broken. Now I can drop that routine and just wait til 8 pm to find out.

Please let it be us!

[Dan Gould]

Now MLB is saying that they and the Lions will make a joint announcement Tuesday at 8 pm.

The good news is that Buster Olney finally has company in reporting that the Red Sox made the high bid.

Gammons says that the bid was $42 million, and "far exceeded" the other team's bids. What, no incremental bidding like eBay?

Orestes Destrade, who spent a lot of time playing in Japan and maintains good contacts, says the bid was "over $50 million".

Glad that John Henry makes that kind of money in a day ... or maybe it takes him a week. Now I'm going to sleep a little easier, since it really looks like the Sox will get their man.

Scary news from the Globe is that the Sox may have already made an offer to JD Drew. Say it ain't so, Theo.

[Chalupa]

Here's a nice FU to Theo....

National League Rookie of the Year Hanley Ramirez told ESPNdeportes.com's Enrique Rojas that he feels "blessed" and thanked the Red Sox for giving him a chance by trading him to the Marlins.

[Matthew]

I don't get this. Why is Theo spending so much money on this guy? Why not use that money a get a couple of solid starters? Over 50 million? Since when has a pitcher from Japan been dominate for more than his first seson? Plus, this guy has Boras as his agent.

Edited November 14, 2006 by Matthew

[Chalupa]

I don't get this. Why is Theo spending so much money on this guy? Why not use that money a get a couple of solid starters? Over 50 million? Since when has a pitcher from Japan been dominate for more than his first seson? Plus, this guy has Boras as his agent.

To keep him out of a Yankees' uniform would be my guess. It is pretty amazing how much money they are going to invest in this guy. There's no way Boras is gonna take less than $50M for this guy. I bet he will wind up costing the Sox over $100M when all is said and done. That's a lot of cash to throwing around on a guy who has never pitched in the majors. What if he turns out to be anothe FPT??? I think I would have gone after Zito and used the money saved to go after another arm for the bullpen.

Edited November 14, 2006 by Chalupa

[Dan Gould]

Here are the relevant facts:

Pitched in the majors or not, he is the undisputed number one available arm and he is 26 years old. Zito has declining peripherals (particularly BB and K rates), and has shown a career-long inability to beat the Yankees. He's a non-starter as an option. Schmidt is older, has a history of elbow trouble and pitches in the NL. Both are going to get huge dollars - $75 million is my low-end guess. Compared to a total of $100 mil for the Japanese pitcher, it doesn't look so bad. Another important consideration is that the Red Sox have no competition to sign him. Boras can't say "I've got a 17 million dollar a year offer" because no one else has the right to negotiate. Boras can say that when he negotiates for Zito, and it will create pressure to over-pay.

Another factor: Let's say they sign him for 13 million a year (which I think is pushing it, they can probably get it done for 10-11). After this year, Schilling's 13 million comes off the books. The reality is they are paying for two aces for just one season, and then Matz gets ace dollars, and the remainder (Beckett, Papelbon, hopefully Lester) are all inexpensive (Beckett, to me, is cheap at 6 million a year; Paps and Lester are salary-controlled). Overall, starting in 2008, the Red Sox are situated to have one of the best rotations in the majors and all things considered, it will be a cheap one.

The money spent on this pitcher will not impact what is done for the bullpen. My guess is that they take a long look at trading for Lidge, or signing one of several closers who are coming off of injuries.

Next, not only are the Red Sox keeping Matz away from the Yanks, which is wonderful enough, but it is crucial after last season to send a message to the fan base that they are very serious about fixing things. Yes, they have sell-outs, so he can't really increase ballpark revenue, but this will get the fans raring to go.

Last thing I'll mention is that there are opportunities to recoup the investment by taking advantage of Japanese interest in this player. That starts, but hardly ends, with licensing NESN broadcasts in Japan. NESN broadcasts would have Japanese sponsors, obviously, and any deal would call for sharing of ad revenue. There's still money to be made with Matz on board, and that is going to reduce the overall cost of this contract in a way that a deal for Schmidt or Zito never could.