What the Hell...ton?

Ok, so the Globe's Nick Cafardo is floating trade talks with the Rockies (initiated by the Rockies). The Rockies are seeking what looks like Hansen for Helton (and they will pay a big portion of Helton's contract). Why wouldn't you do this? Hansen more than likely won't make the big league roster (at least to start the year), and he isn't going to be the closer (even late in the year). The Sox lineup would be devastating.

Also, you could then try to move Lowell and move Youk back to third.

Think of the lineup:

Lugo
Youk
Ortiz
Manny
Drew
Helton
Varitek
Crisp
Pedroia

Of course, Helton's power numbers are way down, but he'd be your number 6 hitter and you'd be getting him for an unproven pitcher.

The down side is that your defense in the infield really isn't very good (minus Helton). Youk is a downgrade at third from Lowell, Lugo (anyone) is a downgrade from Gonzalez, and Pedroia (well, we haven't seen much of him)...

Anyway, I doubt (*seriously doubt) that this is much more than Cafardo trying to stir something up during a very quiet on the baseball front month. But it is cool to think about...sort of...

Virtual Waiting Room My ASS

It's 12 minutes into ticket sales and despite my best attempts to try multiple tabs and windows I can't seem to crack the systems. (More in the comments)

This is why I hate local radio...

Schilling for Senate 2008?! Why do we give air time to stupid morons? Oh, that's right every once in a blue moon they say something provocative.

More proof of crazy contracts

Willie Randolph was given a three year extension for $5.65 MM. That works out to an average annual value of $1.8. Or as the members of the media who love Willie and his always available sound bits, about what a middle reliever makes. Which is a really stupid comparison. Because then I could say "hey he is way overpaid - Ryan Howard won the MVP last year and Willie will get 3 times more than him.

But I digress. In keeping with managers (apples to apples), Randolph will be the 6th highest paid manager. He will trail only the following - with some numbers next to each.

Torre 25/4
Pinella 18/1
Cox 25/1
LaRussa 29/2
Scioscia 7/1
Leyland 14/1

The first number is the number of years as a manager and the second is WS trophies. And Willie would be a 2 and a ZERO. You could even add WS appearances and with the exception of Pinella and Scioscia they would all add at least one more. Now I know that Randolph "gets" NY. And he brought them from 71 wins to 97 and a trip to the LCS. But really that is the result of Mr. Wilpon opening his wallet Pedro and Beltran in 05, Delgado and Wagner in 06) the fortunate emergence of Reyes and Wright. It will be interesting to see if he makes it to the end of the contract. I would bet NO.

OMFG

Okay, so reading the headlines each day we now all know how insane this year's FA market is. But seeing all the new contracts in one place really made my head splode. Total value of all the contracts: over 1.6 billion dollars. Seriously, how high can payrolls get before baseball starts bleeding money? This can't last.

Utley

Normally, I'm not a big fan of "locking up" your young players (long) before their arbitration or FA. Like what the Mets did with Reyes and Wright. Those guys were so far away from FA and the Mets controlled their contracts for something like four more years. Why guarantee the money? And they really did not buy out any of the FA years. Sure they have cost certainty, but the downside risk seems to great. But that is just me.

At first I thought the Utley deal made some sense, well as much sense as any 7 year deal. It probably is very backloaded, which of course is always nice for the current GM (like Riccardi did with the Wells and Overbay deals). But at least they are buying out 4 years of FA. But then I looked at the math a bit more.

He was a 3 year player - with three years of arbitration before FA. So you figure 2MM this year, 4MM in 08 and 8MM in 09. So what they did was not arbitrate the next three years and sign a 4 year $70MM FA contract? $17MM/year for him? Maybe I don't like that one so much. Unless they think the market is continue to go up and up.

I thought Gillick was a smart man.

Two thoughts....

With Sammy Sosa signing with Rangers, we should all take a deep breath and be thankful (I suppose), for this brings thoughts of what might have been. Not a lot of people remember that Sammy had signed with the Red Sox before the 1995 season when the owners imposed their own "new" rules on free agency, reducing it from 6 years to 4 years and making Sosa a FA. However the union and MLB soon reached a new agreement and Sosa went back to CHI and immediately began a run of 8 years where he AVERAGED 50 HRs. Who knows how a few of those Sox playoff teams would have fared with Nomar, Mo, Pedro and Sammy. They probably never had enough pitching, but it would have been interesting. But even worse, we would have found ourselves more firmly entrenched in the Steroid saga.

Is Trot Nixon freaking out that he does not have a job next year? For a guy that seems to love competition, I would think the thought of playing in Pittsburgh, Washington or Baltimore would probably bum him out more than the fact that his salary is likely to go from $8MM to about $500,000 - $1MM.

Boring

Ok, yesterday was annoying...Today is boring.

I feel that it is my duty as an avid baseball fan to say that this past month has bored me to tears. Nothing has happened in baseball (even the HOF stuff) that is worthy of much discussion. Seriously, go check out some of the RedSox.com articles...An intriguing interview with Mike Lowell saying that Manny is a great hitter with ridiculous numbers. Another fascinating article about how the catchers struggled last year and will "try" to be better this year. And yet another captivating piece on Julio Lugo and Pedroia and how they are ready to rock.

Wow, it is just so quiet out there. Hell, even on my cell phone when I surf to sports, MLB is all the way down to #7! I think I saw water polo listed above it.

The good news? Only a few weeks until pitchers and catchers report...I am actually looking forward to watching some of the spring training games since a lot of young guys have a legit shot at playing time this year...

Annoying

Two things are annoying me this morning, and one way more than the other...

One...The JD Drew deal...The Sox are paying him a lot of money to come in here and bat fifth. I am looking forward to that providing he is healthy. But this has been dragging on for quite a while now. Both sides are saying that "legalese" is holding up the final contract. Medical language and legal language combined can be tough to wade through, I understand that...However, there must be some serious nitpicking on both sides for this to drag on and on and on. The Sox must have serious doubts as to the durability of Drew and they are looking to financially protect themselves. Great move. Except that, perhaps, while protecting themselves financially they may hurt the team on the field. If Drew's shoulder puts him to the DL a few times, this severely thins the lineup. Sure, the Sox aren't on the hook to pay him during those times (possibly), or his salary is severely reduced during those times (more likely), the product on the field suffers. How are fans not supposed to doubt Drew's potential durability when the FO is willing to go months after the signing without the formal announcement because they are trying to craft language to protect themselves?

Second...Pat Fans...Seriously, they are such "homers", I can't take it. I know...they win and win...The team should get respect (and they do)...Is there anyone really thinking that they aren't going to the Super Bowl this year? But, many players and reporters saw the Pats taunting fans and mimicking the (ridiculous) Merriman sack dance on the Chargers logo. I know Merriman is silly, but if the Chargers were dancing on the Patriot and Brady or Dillon or Brown got in the face of a Charger, he'd be a hero looking out for the Pats' respect. Here, LT is a cry-baby. Yes, LT made comments afterward about Belicheck being classless, but it stemmed from the players dancing on the logo.

I don't know...to Pats fans, the team does NOTHING wrong. In discussing last year's playoff loss to Denver (with two Pats fans here)...the Pats gave the game away...Denver did not cause turnovers or make opportune moments count. The Pats gave it away.

When comparing it to McCree fumbling the game winning INT this week (and the Pats recovering it), it was the Pats doing what the Pats always do. Finding ways to win...

Sorry, had to vent...Drives me nuts...

By the way, despite the fact the Sox won ONE WS (for which I will always be greatful), Sox fans are acting the same way lately. Except us...Which is why I like posting here...

PSA

I'll save you the time as one of my co-workers was nice enough to forward to me. Fuck Da Eagles.