Thursday, January 8, 2009
Red Sox Sign Smotlz and Baldelli
It has been reported that the Red Sox are on the verge of signing John Smoltz and Rocco Baldelli. This is clear retaliation for the Yankees signing Burnett and Teixeira. The Red Sox already retaliated against the Sabathia signing by signing Brad Penny. Smoltz is coming off of major surgery and will be 41. Baldelli was apart of that Rays team that made it to the playoffs. Baldelli, who has a mitochondrial disorder, can only play as a backup, but has some pop and can play good defense. How does this effect the AL East? We can't be certain, but I did enjoy a day off yesterday because of the ice storm that blanketed the Northeast.
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10 comments:
Might point out, just to be Petitt-y...
Smoltz signed for 5.5M, with another 5M in incentives.
That would be the legendary, automatic first ballot HOFer John Smotz.
Joe
They are at slightly different points in their careers, but you're right, he took the contract he could get, but that was reasonable under the circumstances. I'm not sure what Pettitte is thinking. Let's say he prefers the Dodgers, will that team, who hasn't budged on Manny Ramirez, pay him $16M?
Great site guys, I'm one of the people who came over here to check it out after the PeteAb Pinch Hit article.
Anyways, not to nitpick, but it was discovered a few weeks ago the Baldelli actually doesn't have the mitowhatchamacallit and it was a misdianosis. He has something else that is treatable. Still doubt he'll be very effective until half way through the season though.
Going back to laugh my ass off at some of your back posts
-Will
Will, glad you like the site! I did hear about the mitochondrial thing, but I think I largely skimmed over it, and didn't get all the details.
"...Baldelli actually has a condition known as channelopothy." http://www.wpri.com/dpp/sports/baldelli_was_misdiagnosed
So is Varitek the Red Sox version of Pettitte? Both players supposedly are the "heart and soul" of their teams and yet where are they? Nowhere.
I think Varitek will ultimately end up back with Boston, maybe in a platoon role now with Bard. He's still an excellent catcher and the pitchers swear by him, but he can't hit a lick. Pettitte just isn't worth that money, and I find it hilarious that the Yanks are supposedly mulling over making him another offer even lower than the initial $10M that he turned down! I still think he'll come crawling back too, but I wouldn't mind giving someone like Ben Sheets a shot. Even though the "faucet" is apparently turned off, there are still some lower risk, high reward guys out there that could be signed. Sheets is one example, Adam Dunn is another, if the Yanks trade away Nady and/or Swisher.
Baldelli is a good fit as a backup for Boston, but I don't think Smoltz will contribute much at all, unless he is put in the bullpen. He won't be ready until sometime around June, if at all. I think he's shot personally. Labrum surgery at that age, and you want to return as a big league pitcher? I just don't think there's any chance. So kudos for him for squeezing another $5M, but I think that's just a glorified rehab signing. Posada had the same surgery, and I doubt he's going to throw out too many baserunners. Posada's value will come in being able to swing the bat at the catcher position. Even still, I think the most realistic view on Posada is a glorified platoon role, where he catches around 100 games, calls a good game, and blocks balls around the plate. He's gonna have even more trouble with baserunners, though.
The faucet's reportedly turned off, but was reportedly turned off when they signed Teixeira. If a good deal is there to be made, the faucet will be a-flowing.
Fernando, I haven't checked on where the payroll is at right now, but I do believe Cashman when he says the payroll is going to be lower this year than last. So if we factor in arbitration-eligible guys who will receive raises and all that, is there a whole lot left to spend? Probably just around $10M maybe? What that says to me is to not expect another $20M per year player like Manny, which is fine with me. Dunn is not that type of player, so I'm not ruling him out yet. Although, I just watched HR Derby last night and I have wood for Josh Hamilton in my CF all over again. I know that's a pipedream, but maybe he could be traded with arbitration looming. I know the price would be high, his away splits indicate he's a product of the home ballparks he's played in, but I just got a mancrush on him from that display he put on...
Bigjf, Hamilton would be amazing, but the bid would start with Cano, and Hughes. We would be buying at his absolute high point. Also, I'm not completely sold on his health. He's had a history of injury problems, and last year was his first fully healthy season. If we could sneak him out on the cheap, then I'd be all for it, but I doubt that would be the case.
As for the payroll, I think that ideally the Yankees would want to open below last years amount, but I don't think that's a hard rule. If things made sense, I could see them adding another bat, or a pitcher. If Boras were to come to the Yankees and say that Manny would be willing to take a one year deal for $20 million, I bet they would bite (understandably this is an unlikely situation). They can definitely up the Pettitte offer by a couple million, but are unlikely to do so since I think they're a little turned off to how Pettitte is handling this.
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