Memphis was apparently a major competitor for the services of James Martin; GM sully712 had some choice comments on Martin's decision to take a lesser offer from Charleston:
"We offered a 5-year deal for 92 million with a 10 million dollar bonus. Plus, I offered a no trade clause.
'The franchise was quite disappointed that Martin decided to take a lesser offer to play with a less talented team. With Martin we felt we were locks to reach the World Series. Someone else will have to step up."
TLoM wonders if Charleston GM mnnorthstars has anything to say in response...???
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Colberts Sign Martin
The Charleston Colberts nabbed the biggest price in this year's free agent class, James Martin, with a 5-year, $94 million contract.
Martin was AL Rookie of the Year in Season 2 and has 2 MVP's (Seasons 6 and 7), 6 All-Star appearances and 5 Silver Sluggers. He's a lifetime .307 hitter with 308 homers and 314 stolen bases. Martin was a 2B with the Gangsta' Chimps but is expected to shift to LF with the Colberts.
The bidding was undoubtedly brisk on Martin, with at least 1 team (Memphis) claiming to have topped Charleston's bid.
In other A/B Free Agent news:
Scranton picked up tough reliever Jerome Ross (255 career saves) for a 1-year, $3.95 million deal.
Iowa City added a good lefty bench bat and versatile utility man in Jorel Benosn (1 year, $3.8 million).
Shane Leius joins the Detroit Dome Drivers for 2 years, $5.6 million. He can play 1B, 3B and COF and is expected to get the full compliment of AB's against lefties.
Toledo may have a real sleeper in Mark Austin (3 years, $3.945 per year). He seems to be one of those rare players who gets the job done without having good ratings.
Kansas City gets a nice 3B for a good price in Magglio De La Vega (2 years, $7.1 million).
Atlanta corrals Pedro Beltre, he of the still-electric and always-wild arm, for 2 years, $5.6 million.
SP Rob Spencer inks with the Chicago Gangsta' Chimps for a mere $1.2 million a year for 2 years. Spencer has gotten better as he got older and his ratings are intact; could be quite a bargain.
Martin was AL Rookie of the Year in Season 2 and has 2 MVP's (Seasons 6 and 7), 6 All-Star appearances and 5 Silver Sluggers. He's a lifetime .307 hitter with 308 homers and 314 stolen bases. Martin was a 2B with the Gangsta' Chimps but is expected to shift to LF with the Colberts.
The bidding was undoubtedly brisk on Martin, with at least 1 team (Memphis) claiming to have topped Charleston's bid.
In other A/B Free Agent news:
Scranton picked up tough reliever Jerome Ross (255 career saves) for a 1-year, $3.95 million deal.
Iowa City added a good lefty bench bat and versatile utility man in Jorel Benosn (1 year, $3.8 million).
Shane Leius joins the Detroit Dome Drivers for 2 years, $5.6 million. He can play 1B, 3B and COF and is expected to get the full compliment of AB's against lefties.
Toledo may have a real sleeper in Mark Austin (3 years, $3.945 per year). He seems to be one of those rare players who gets the job done without having good ratings.
Kansas City gets a nice 3B for a good price in Magglio De La Vega (2 years, $7.1 million).
Atlanta corrals Pedro Beltre, he of the still-electric and always-wild arm, for 2 years, $5.6 million.
SP Rob Spencer inks with the Chicago Gangsta' Chimps for a mere $1.2 million a year for 2 years. Spencer has gotten better as he got older and his ratings are intact; could be quite a bargain.
Friday, December 10, 2010
1-On-1 With vandydave
Who is vandydave in real life?
I am a shepherd in the Kansas City area. Went to Duke for grad school, thus why I chose Durham for my HBD team.
Is there some reason you hate pitching?
Heh, in actuality I hate fielding. I like pitching, just nowhere near as much as hitting. More specifically, I like slugging.
Do you develop "man-crushes" on your HBD players?
The only HBD players I've ever really developed man-crushes on are the ones who eventually spurn me for free-agency despite my desire to re-sign them, especially in the Shtickless world, Eugene Weston and Wiki Armas. I want to be wanted.
What's the most under-appreciated player rating and why?
I'm not much into nuances, contributes to my general mediocrity in HBD. I do wish they'd depreciate how much health and stamina inflate overall ratings.
Favorite moment of your HBD career?
My one and only championship, in Aaron World. I'm good at getting to the playoffs, bad at winning once I'm there, normally due to a lack of ace starting pitchers.
F, Marry or Kill:
a) Angelina Joile, Jennifer Connelly, Marissa Miller
b) Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah
c) cbriese, mbriese, robusk
A) I like everyone but Jolie
B) no use for any of these people
C) If I had a life raft with three extra spots I'd probably let mbriese have one spot then I'd stretch out and take a nap. Or maybe I'd let cbriese have a spot, then veto that decision and kick him out anyway.
If you could change one thing about HBD, what would it be and why?
HBD is the best of WIS games, that said the maddening inconsistency of players from season to season should be reigned in a bit. I appreciate that HBD needs variability, but there should be some generally identifiable causation when players really suck or excel for no apparent reason.
I am a shepherd in the Kansas City area. Went to Duke for grad school, thus why I chose Durham for my HBD team.
Is there some reason you hate pitching?
Heh, in actuality I hate fielding. I like pitching, just nowhere near as much as hitting. More specifically, I like slugging.
Do you develop "man-crushes" on your HBD players?
The only HBD players I've ever really developed man-crushes on are the ones who eventually spurn me for free-agency despite my desire to re-sign them, especially in the Shtickless world, Eugene Weston and Wiki Armas. I want to be wanted.
What's the most under-appreciated player rating and why?
I'm not much into nuances, contributes to my general mediocrity in HBD. I do wish they'd depreciate how much health and stamina inflate overall ratings.
Favorite moment of your HBD career?
My one and only championship, in Aaron World. I'm good at getting to the playoffs, bad at winning once I'm there, normally due to a lack of ace starting pitchers.
F, Marry or Kill:
a) Angelina Joile, Jennifer Connelly, Marissa Miller
b) Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah
c) cbriese, mbriese, robusk
A) I like everyone but Jolie
B) no use for any of these people
C) If I had a life raft with three extra spots I'd probably let mbriese have one spot then I'd stretch out and take a nap. Or maybe I'd let cbriese have a spot, then veto that decision and kick him out anyway.
If you could change one thing about HBD, what would it be and why?
HBD is the best of WIS games, that said the maddening inconsistency of players from season to season should be reigned in a bit. I appreciate that HBD needs variability, but there should be some generally identifiable causation when players really suck or excel for no apparent reason.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
1-on-1 With Robusk
The Line on Mendoza recently sat down with the WS Champ Iowa Amiable Apartheid's owner robusk for a brisk back-and-forth on all things HBD.
Who is robusk in real life?
29 year old continuous improvement project manager for a transportation company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Lived all over the world the last 10 years, but originally grew up in New York and Florida (summer/winter) and went to college in Hawaii.
What was the key to your championship run last season, and how do you rate your chances to repeat?
Well, my team started slowly (losing record at the break)as I didn't really have a lot of offense. I made a lineup swap and two massive trades at the All Star break, giving my team the best record in the world after the All Star break. I built the team around a couple of good young pitchers and a scrappy offense. I cut my post-season IP down to a couple of guys mostly and relied on clutch plays by the offense. I got lucky in the WS because on paper I was pretty outmatched. Repeating will be tricky. I believe I will have the best defensive team outside of Montgomery, and hopefully the strength of my bats will be enough to put me over him. My team is still young and the pitching is great. I would say 55% chance of making the LCS, 18% chance of repeating as WS champs.
Do you develop "man-crushes" on your HBD players?
I consider Woodie Jacobs on my Harold Reynolds team the best pure hitter in HBD. In my other worlds I have had a number of guys I always seem to bring back and have success with that no one else wants... and I do feel a sense of fondness for them. However, with the exception of Jacobs in HR, every player in every world is available for trade.
What's the most under-appreciated player rating and why?
r0b0t would say that I add like 20% to every rating if the hitter is a switch hitter... but that is probably an exaggeration. More than underrated, I think that Contact and Stamina are the two most overrated things for hitters and pitchers respectively. Things like velocity and patience and stuff suck too, but everyone knows that. I also don't care a lot about baserunning/speed.
Favorite moment of your HBD career?
World Series Championship in Shtickless world. I won over a team that tanked (and thus didn't deserve to win) and there are some of the sharpest minds (except for moy) in the game in that world. Also, in my championship in both that world and Harold Reynolds, everyone said my teams sucked, which made it better.
If you could change one thing about HBD, what would it be and why?
If I could change anything about HBD, it would be getting rid of the obsession to make the game more like real life and less like a game. Also, the simpler they make things, the easier it is for crappy owners to win. The game should be tricky, about exploiting things other people don't think of, and about effort.
Who is robusk in real life?
29 year old continuous improvement project manager for a transportation company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Lived all over the world the last 10 years, but originally grew up in New York and Florida (summer/winter) and went to college in Hawaii.
What was the key to your championship run last season, and how do you rate your chances to repeat?
Well, my team started slowly (losing record at the break)as I didn't really have a lot of offense. I made a lineup swap and two massive trades at the All Star break, giving my team the best record in the world after the All Star break. I built the team around a couple of good young pitchers and a scrappy offense. I cut my post-season IP down to a couple of guys mostly and relied on clutch plays by the offense. I got lucky in the WS because on paper I was pretty outmatched. Repeating will be tricky. I believe I will have the best defensive team outside of Montgomery, and hopefully the strength of my bats will be enough to put me over him. My team is still young and the pitching is great. I would say 55% chance of making the LCS, 18% chance of repeating as WS champs.
Do you develop "man-crushes" on your HBD players?
I consider Woodie Jacobs on my Harold Reynolds team the best pure hitter in HBD. In my other worlds I have had a number of guys I always seem to bring back and have success with that no one else wants... and I do feel a sense of fondness for them. However, with the exception of Jacobs in HR, every player in every world is available for trade.
What's the most under-appreciated player rating and why?
r0b0t would say that I add like 20% to every rating if the hitter is a switch hitter... but that is probably an exaggeration. More than underrated, I think that Contact and Stamina are the two most overrated things for hitters and pitchers respectively. Things like velocity and patience and stuff suck too, but everyone knows that. I also don't care a lot about baserunning/speed.
Favorite moment of your HBD career?
World Series Championship in Shtickless world. I won over a team that tanked (and thus didn't deserve to win) and there are some of the sharpest minds (except for moy) in the game in that world. Also, in my championship in both that world and Harold Reynolds, everyone said my teams sucked, which made it better.
If you could change one thing about HBD, what would it be and why?
If I could change anything about HBD, it would be getting rid of the obsession to make the game more like real life and less like a game. Also, the simpler they make things, the easier it is for crappy owners to win. The game should be tricky, about exploiting things other people don't think of, and about effort.
**Snooze** Free Agency Lull Hits
Only 1 A/B free agent signed in the last few cycles. I'm not sure how many are left but we know one J. Martin is still out there sorting through megabucks offers. I think The Line on Mendoza needs to send a few reporters out to dig up a few clues as to the identity of Mr. Martin's next employer.
Menawhile, D'Angelo Owen has signed with Tucson for 5 years, $27MM (team option on the 5th year). A career-long member of the Montreal-now-Detroit organization, Owen has 101 wins and a 4.47 ERA over his 9 ML seasons. He sports a trio of pretty fair pitches to go with good control, sinking action on everything, and a tough delivery for righties to pick up. When he's not on, lefties give him fits. He has a long contract, but his health and makeup are good, and his ratings should hold up for the duration
Menawhile, D'Angelo Owen has signed with Tucson for 5 years, $27MM (team option on the 5th year). A career-long member of the Montreal-now-Detroit organization, Owen has 101 wins and a 4.47 ERA over his 9 ML seasons. He sports a trio of pretty fair pitches to go with good control, sinking action on everything, and a tough delivery for righties to pick up. When he's not on, lefties give him fits. He has a long contract, but his health and makeup are good, and his ratings should hold up for the duration
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
2 More Pitchers Sign
Two more top pitchers have signed new free agent contracts.
Darrell Ingram has inked with Vancouver for 3 years, $5.6MM per. It appears that there was no competition for what many believed was the best pitcher, much less the best reliever, available this year. His ratings - 80's control and splits, with 2 devastating pitches - are certainly the envy of many. He's got 2 FOY's and 6 All-Star Games on the resume. This is a great pickup for the Renegades.
Columbus added RP Livan Olivares for 2 years, $7.8MM. Olivares has pinpoint control - only once has he walked more than 20 in a season. He's absolutely murder on lefties, good enough against righties, and his ratings have held up better than any 36-yo I've seen. His only real weakness is a tendency to miss high and give up homers, but it's not severe. Nice addition at a good price for the Discoverers.
Darrell Ingram has inked with Vancouver for 3 years, $5.6MM per. It appears that there was no competition for what many believed was the best pitcher, much less the best reliever, available this year. His ratings - 80's control and splits, with 2 devastating pitches - are certainly the envy of many. He's got 2 FOY's and 6 All-Star Games on the resume. This is a great pickup for the Renegades.
Columbus added RP Livan Olivares for 2 years, $7.8MM. Olivares has pinpoint control - only once has he walked more than 20 in a season. He's absolutely murder on lefties, good enough against righties, and his ratings have held up better than any 36-yo I've seen. His only real weakness is a tendency to miss high and give up homers, but it's not severe. Nice addition at a good price for the Discoverers.
Breakdown of the Iowa City-Helena and Honolulu-Columbus trades
Iowa City gets IF J.P. Ontiveros (Season 5 IFA - $18MM bonus)
Helena gets IF William Chong (Season 9 #28), 2B/CF Alberto Quinnones (Season 8 IFA - $10.9MM bonus), and 2B/OF Hal Stairs (Season 9 #40).
Analysis: Another puzzler from Helena. The argument is not what you have with Ontiveros - he established his bona fides with a .296/29/104 last year. Chong and Stairs are hard to project; Quinnones will hit a Range-Glove of about 82-78 and contact-power-vL-vR/eye of about 51-67-60-66-68. Low-end major-leaguer. But even if Chong and Stairs are better than that, I wonder why Helena makes this deal. This team has "win now" written all over it and they trade a young, star SS for 3 prospects who might be major-leaguers 2-3 years from now? We can say with certainty that the deal helps the Champs now - Ontiveros is the odds-on favorite to be the Silver Slugger at 2B, and the NL 2B Gold Glove has moved to right field for him.
Columbus gets SP Daisuke Miyakazi (Season 4 IFA - $31.3MM Bonus)
Honolulu gets IF Gabby Owens (Season 5 #2)
Analysis: The Kahunas had cap issues and figured it made more sense to trade one of their aces and get max value than move other vets and try to cobble together a lineup with the dregs of free agency. Team officials confirm that 12 teams submitted offers, and characterized "5 or 7 as serious". It came down to Columbus' offer of Owens vs. Arizona's offer of younger prospects, and the bonus of getting immediate help won out. Owens brings excellent defense and and power bat to the Kahunas; his .291/42/103 was good for the NL ROY. He'll line up in RF for Honolulu this season but is the heir apparent at either 2B or 3B. Miyakazi has 52 wins and a 3.29 ERA in 4 seasons. He moves in as the #1 starter for Columbus, which had a 3.72 team ERA last year but just missed the playoffs. The Discoverers now begin a game of musical chairs to replace Owens' production. Vance Winn moves from 2nd to 3rd, Orlando Martinez moves from 1st to 2nd, and somebody new - probably promising rookie Wally Richmond - moves in at first.
Helena gets IF William Chong (Season 9 #28), 2B/CF Alberto Quinnones (Season 8 IFA - $10.9MM bonus), and 2B/OF Hal Stairs (Season 9 #40).
Analysis: Another puzzler from Helena. The argument is not what you have with Ontiveros - he established his bona fides with a .296/29/104 last year. Chong and Stairs are hard to project; Quinnones will hit a Range-Glove of about 82-78 and contact-power-vL-vR/eye of about 51-67-60-66-68. Low-end major-leaguer. But even if Chong and Stairs are better than that, I wonder why Helena makes this deal. This team has "win now" written all over it and they trade a young, star SS for 3 prospects who might be major-leaguers 2-3 years from now? We can say with certainty that the deal helps the Champs now - Ontiveros is the odds-on favorite to be the Silver Slugger at 2B, and the NL 2B Gold Glove has moved to right field for him.
Columbus gets SP Daisuke Miyakazi (Season 4 IFA - $31.3MM Bonus)
Honolulu gets IF Gabby Owens (Season 5 #2)
Analysis: The Kahunas had cap issues and figured it made more sense to trade one of their aces and get max value than move other vets and try to cobble together a lineup with the dregs of free agency. Team officials confirm that 12 teams submitted offers, and characterized "5 or 7 as serious". It came down to Columbus' offer of Owens vs. Arizona's offer of younger prospects, and the bonus of getting immediate help won out. Owens brings excellent defense and and power bat to the Kahunas; his .291/42/103 was good for the NL ROY. He'll line up in RF for Honolulu this season but is the heir apparent at either 2B or 3B. Miyakazi has 52 wins and a 3.29 ERA in 4 seasons. He moves in as the #1 starter for Columbus, which had a 3.72 team ERA last year but just missed the playoffs. The Discoverers now begin a game of musical chairs to replace Owens' production. Vance Winn moves from 2nd to 3rd, Orlando Martinez moves from 1st to 2nd, and somebody new - probably promising rookie Wally Richmond - moves in at first.
Kahunas Set To Threaten Least Bases Stolen Mark
This season's Honolulu Brawling Kahunas could become known as the slowest team in the history of Double Mendoza.
They're just not going to get there very quickly.
This team could well surpass the single-season record for the fewest stolen bases - 2, by the Season 2 Richmond Spider Monkeys (this era's Columbus Discoverers). They were trying to do much better - they had 8 caught stealing's to go with their pair of thefts. Incidentally, the immortal Andrew Beaulac had both those steals. With no worlds left to conquer, he retired after that penultimate season with a .226 lifetime batting average and 16 home runs.
The Kahunas moved into elite turtledom status in Season 9 with 9 SB's (7 CS), and nearly hit single figures with 11 last year (5 CS). But their only thief, Ray Kozlowski, went to Iowa City in a deadline trade. No player on the current ML roster had a stolen base last year.
Some team officials had lobbied to use one of the team's last 2 utility jobs on a speedy pinch-runner. The first one has gone to Travis Costello, who did steal few bags in his younger days but whose only jobs now will be to hit lefties and wheeze around left filed in a wheelchair for a few innings.
BREAKING NEWS: Honolulu has signed vet OF Anthony Winn to their last position spot, imperiling their shot at the record. Winn has 209 career steals, and swiped 14 with Philly last year. While his speed has dropped even more and his playing time this season will be minimal, it seems likely he'll manage more than a couple.
They're just not going to get there very quickly.
This team could well surpass the single-season record for the fewest stolen bases - 2, by the Season 2 Richmond Spider Monkeys (this era's Columbus Discoverers). They were trying to do much better - they had 8 caught stealing's to go with their pair of thefts. Incidentally, the immortal Andrew Beaulac had both those steals. With no worlds left to conquer, he retired after that penultimate season with a .226 lifetime batting average and 16 home runs.
The Kahunas moved into elite turtledom status in Season 9 with 9 SB's (7 CS), and nearly hit single figures with 11 last year (5 CS). But their only thief, Ray Kozlowski, went to Iowa City in a deadline trade. No player on the current ML roster had a stolen base last year.
Some team officials had lobbied to use one of the team's last 2 utility jobs on a speedy pinch-runner. The first one has gone to Travis Costello, who did steal few bags in his younger days but whose only jobs now will be to hit lefties and wheeze around left filed in a wheelchair for a few innings.
BREAKING NEWS: Honolulu has signed vet OF Anthony Winn to their last position spot, imperiling their shot at the record. Winn has 209 career steals, and swiped 14 with Philly last year. While his speed has dropped even more and his playing time this season will be minimal, it seems likely he'll manage more than a couple.
Off-Season Trade Activity Brisk
It's been a pretty steady pace of trades leading up to Season 10, with some fairly big names changing teams. The rundown:
Durham gets rookie C Andres Julio, Season 6's #12 overall pick.
Salt Lake City gets 2-year vet SP Heinie McNally, Season 2's #10 overall pick.
Analysis: Intersting swap of former high first-rounders. McNally has 24 wins and a solid (especially in Durham) 3.94 ERA. He has a pretty nice array of pitches to go with good control; he does have his struggles with righty hitters, but will likely thrive in the decidedly more pitcher-friendly Franklin Covey Field. Julio should put up some nice hitting numbers (1.004 minor-league OPS) and calls a good game. His accuracy to second is a little suspect, but he's a good, well-rounded C. It did raise a few eyebrows when Durham, which has hitting and needs pitching, traded a nice young SP for more hitting. But the object is to score more runs than the other team; vandydave just focuses more on the "score more runs" than the "than the other team" part.
Philadelphia gets SP Len Keats (Sea 3 #18) and RP Walt Sandberg (Sea 7 #31)
Kansas City gets RP Tomas Lee (Sea 8 IFA)
Analysis: Keats has been biding time at KC's AAA team for 4 years, a good prospect but not good enough to crack the tough Masterpiece rotation. He gets his shot in Philly, and KC gets a prospect in Lee who has a chance to be a very good reliever in a couple of years.
Montgomery gets SS Gus Harper (Sea 3's #2)
Helena gets gets RP Pablo Plata (Sea 4's #37)
Analysis: Bit of a puzzler for Helena. Harper's a solid SS who's neither old, overpaid, brittle, nor lacking endurance. Sure, his glove is a little clanky for a SS, but he also hits 30 dings a year. The team can use relief help, but is Plata it? He has good control, is pretty tough on lefties, and has a great first pitch (sinker). But he's always going to have trouble with righties...lots of trouble. His 4.01 ERA last year was pretty good considering the .761 OPS-against. Alright, he could be better in the more-neutral ballpark in Helena. But the in't no place for erffdogs could've done much better.
Kansas City gets 2B Josh Bolden (a league-startup AAA prospect with the Biscuits)
Detroit gets OF Leon Durrington (a league-startup LoA prospect with the Houston organization)
Analysis: Bolden has been a backup his whole career, albeit a pretty effective one with a career OPS of .788. Durrington was a long-time minor-leaguer who finally came up in Season 7 and got more than his 15 minutes with an All-Star, Silver Slugger Season 7 (.313/26/100). Bolden appears to be penclied in as Juan Olmedo's defensive replacement; Durrington might see full-time DH duty.
Durham gets rookie C Andres Julio, Season 6's #12 overall pick.
Salt Lake City gets 2-year vet SP Heinie McNally, Season 2's #10 overall pick.
Analysis: Intersting swap of former high first-rounders. McNally has 24 wins and a solid (especially in Durham) 3.94 ERA. He has a pretty nice array of pitches to go with good control; he does have his struggles with righty hitters, but will likely thrive in the decidedly more pitcher-friendly Franklin Covey Field. Julio should put up some nice hitting numbers (1.004 minor-league OPS) and calls a good game. His accuracy to second is a little suspect, but he's a good, well-rounded C. It did raise a few eyebrows when Durham, which has hitting and needs pitching, traded a nice young SP for more hitting. But the object is to score more runs than the other team; vandydave just focuses more on the "score more runs" than the "than the other team" part.
Philadelphia gets SP Len Keats (Sea 3 #18) and RP Walt Sandberg (Sea 7 #31)
Kansas City gets RP Tomas Lee (Sea 8 IFA)
Analysis: Keats has been biding time at KC's AAA team for 4 years, a good prospect but not good enough to crack the tough Masterpiece rotation. He gets his shot in Philly, and KC gets a prospect in Lee who has a chance to be a very good reliever in a couple of years.
Montgomery gets SS Gus Harper (Sea 3's #2)
Helena gets gets RP Pablo Plata (Sea 4's #37)
Analysis: Bit of a puzzler for Helena. Harper's a solid SS who's neither old, overpaid, brittle, nor lacking endurance. Sure, his glove is a little clanky for a SS, but he also hits 30 dings a year. The team can use relief help, but is Plata it? He has good control, is pretty tough on lefties, and has a great first pitch (sinker). But he's always going to have trouble with righties...lots of trouble. His 4.01 ERA last year was pretty good considering the .761 OPS-against. Alright, he could be better in the more-neutral ballpark in Helena. But the in't no place for erffdogs could've done much better.
Kansas City gets 2B Josh Bolden (a league-startup AAA prospect with the Biscuits)
Detroit gets OF Leon Durrington (a league-startup LoA prospect with the Houston organization)
Analysis: Bolden has been a backup his whole career, albeit a pretty effective one with a career OPS of .788. Durrington was a long-time minor-leaguer who finally came up in Season 7 and got more than his 15 minutes with an All-Star, Silver Slugger Season 7 (.313/26/100). Bolden appears to be penclied in as Juan Olmedo's defensive replacement; Durrington might see full-time DH duty.
FLASH...Batista Signs With Arizona
Season 1 NL Cy Young winner and 4-time All-Star Julio Batista has signed with Arizona, getting $16.6 million over 2 years (the contract has a mutual option for Season 11). Batista has been a stalwart SP for Montgomery teams since the league's inception, getting double-digit wins every year and posting a career 3.42 ERA. His ratings have held up remarkably well over the years (excepting major injuries early in his career), even posting gains up to age 32. The only question here is how fast or slow those ratings will start to slip (Arizona's training budget is a slightly-below-average 14; Montgomery's has never wavered from 20).
FIrst Free Agents Sign
New Britain, Detroit, Montgomery and Arizona broke the ice on free agency, signing the first A and B players.
The Spitfires inked reliever Rudy Cole, who had spent all 9 years of his career in Vancouver. Cole has a "Nuke Laloosh reputation" (million-dollar arm, or in this case $12.5MM over 2 years, and a 5 cent head). sneekes is betting his as-yet-unnamed new pitching coach can restore him to his Season 4 Fireman Of The Year glory.
Detroit front-loaded a 3-year deal to get infielder Greg Evers, a 9-year vet looking to bounce back from a bad year. Evers is an excellent defender with a Grade A arm and thunder in his bat (228 homers). GM rockindock has assembled one of the league's better defensive infields with Evers at 2B, Alberto Owen at SS and Ismael Mercado at 3B.
Montgomery grabbed a potential bargain in IF Alex Gonzalez, who's coming off a monster 200-hit, .333/27/92 campaign. GM cbriese is marvelling at the Biscuits' good fortune this off-season, having added SS Gus Harper and 3B Gonzalez for the price of $6.1MM a year (Gonzalez), and a run-of-the-mill reliever.
Arizona ponied up $32MM and change to nab George Carter, an excellent reliever with absolutely amazing recovery abilities. Carter has never started a game in the majors, yet has thrown as many as 189 innings in a season. He's coming off a pair of relatively poor seasons - let's see if the change of venue puts him back on track.
While there are quite a few solid players available this year, all await the decision of the 1 marquis name: James Martin, former ROY and 2-time MVP who bolted on the Gansta' Chimps after 8 hugely productive seasons. Oddsmakers are saying it's 50-50 on whether he'll land a max contract.
The Spitfires inked reliever Rudy Cole, who had spent all 9 years of his career in Vancouver. Cole has a "Nuke Laloosh reputation" (million-dollar arm, or in this case $12.5MM over 2 years, and a 5 cent head). sneekes is betting his as-yet-unnamed new pitching coach can restore him to his Season 4 Fireman Of The Year glory.
Detroit front-loaded a 3-year deal to get infielder Greg Evers, a 9-year vet looking to bounce back from a bad year. Evers is an excellent defender with a Grade A arm and thunder in his bat (228 homers). GM rockindock has assembled one of the league's better defensive infields with Evers at 2B, Alberto Owen at SS and Ismael Mercado at 3B.
Montgomery grabbed a potential bargain in IF Alex Gonzalez, who's coming off a monster 200-hit, .333/27/92 campaign. GM cbriese is marvelling at the Biscuits' good fortune this off-season, having added SS Gus Harper and 3B Gonzalez for the price of $6.1MM a year (Gonzalez), and a run-of-the-mill reliever.
Arizona ponied up $32MM and change to nab George Carter, an excellent reliever with absolutely amazing recovery abilities. Carter has never started a game in the majors, yet has thrown as many as 189 innings in a season. He's coming off a pair of relatively poor seasons - let's see if the change of venue puts him back on track.
While there are quite a few solid players available this year, all await the decision of the 1 marquis name: James Martin, former ROY and 2-time MVP who bolted on the Gansta' Chimps after 8 hugely productive seasons. Oddsmakers are saying it's 50-50 on whether he'll land a max contract.
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