Open Thread: Winter Meetings Day Three
By
Mo, Mo Jr., and some school official. (Photo Credit: Lenny Neslin, lennysyankees.com)
We’re now three-fourths of the way through the 2010 edition of the winter meetings, but it wasn’t until a little while ago that the Yankees did anything noteworthy. After meeting with some agents and a bunch of behind the scenes stuff, they made a formal offer to free agent Cliff Lee. The ball is in their court now. There was also some noteworthy stuff in Joe Girardi’s press conference, but perhaps the biggest news of the day came from back home, as Mariano Rivera Jr. visited in Quinnipiac. Exciting stuff.
Anyways, here is your open thread for the evening. You’re on your own as far as entertaining goes, none of the NBA or NHL locals are in action tonight. Ain’t that a drag. Enjoy.
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The next great closer?
Of course, he won’t get a chance until his dad retires in another twenty or twenty-five years.
“Source said the Yankees’ offer to Cliff Lee was six years and $140 million, an average of $23.3 million per season.”
http://twitter.com/BloggingBom.....7474299904
Awesome, put your name to the paper Clifton.
Is that you Ian?
blah blah blah I didn’t read that blah blah blah
“Just sign whatever they give you”
/Kinsler’d
Wait, the Knicks are playing the Raptors, right?
Yes.
DAMN IT.
I would be going to Quinnipiac, if it wasn’t hella expensive.
THIS.
I’m applying there, and its my top choice, but I probably can’t afford to go, which blows. I visited back in October and I really like the school too.
Yeah, it was the first school I visited. My dad knows the president of the school personally, and he remembers when I was born.
You can probably get some favorable financial aid package then right?
GO TO UCONN.
At risk of alienating myself, GO CUSE
Why settle for a school with lower academic standards?
Over/Under on Amare’s points today against the Raptors: 30
I say barely under. Like 28.
32. Keep the streak going.
I wish that the winter meetings this year didn’t revolve around Cliff Lee, it was nice last year when there wasn’t a giant target and the Yanks could make other deals. It sounds like the odds that the Yanks make ANY move is like 1/100.
My buddy went to Quinnipiac.
What’s ironic is that he is a very knowledgeable baseball fan – lives in AZ, and follows all the minor leaguers that pass through there, as well as the big leagues. Unfortunately for him, he’s a staunch Mets fan.
Last time I visited him to check out some spring training games, he told me Rivera was “so overrated.”
I asked him if he meant that the closer position itself was overrated.
He said, “no, Rivera is overrated.”
I then asked him who was better. He then gave a half-chuckle and said John Franco.
I took that to mean despite his very respectable baseball knowledge, he has a hard time overcoming his Yankee-envy. John Franco. Please.
Long story short – Quinnipiac may or may not promote Yankee hate.
So according to Mark Feinsand via Twitter the Yankees have offered 6/140 the same deal they initially offered CC back in 2008.
My mom (Mets fan) asked me to write down what I wanted for Christmas. I wrote down “Cliff Lee and Andy Pettitte,” handed it to her and she just came back, like six hours later and informed me to “dream on.” If there was a Spanish word for “hater” that didn’t get me smacked, I would use it.
/grumpy
Haha, that’s what I told my mom I wanted too. Only she’s a Yankee fan so we commiserated over it. =P
you two are going to be so disappointed when there is NOTHING under the tree for you this year
Heh, my mother just reinforced how I would not be getting presents.
Dad told me to go by myself a nice TV, so there’s that.
Poor Mo Jr. I’m sure he’s a hell of a talented athlete. Unfortunately, what are the chances he’s as good as his father? That he pitches in MLB?
Theyre better than mine.
I feel worse for the third Manning brother.
How did that guy even show up to Thanksgiving dinner the year after BOTH he brothers won the last two superbowls?
There’s a third Manning brother?
(from Wikipedia)
Cooper Manning, Archie’s oldest son, was born in 1974. At 6’4″, he was once an All-State High School wide receiver, and he was considered a hot prospect for the University of Mississippi. He is also the joker of the family, once convincing Peyton to join him in wearing brown paper bags on their heads at one of their father’s Saints games.[12] Diagnosed with spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal canal) after extensive testing, his football career was ended.[13] He guest starred in The Simpsons episode “Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?” with his brothers. He is now a partner in a New Orleans energy investment firm.[14]
That sucks about the spinal stenosis, I didn’t know that.
Oh wow, I honestly did not know he existed, but that’s expected if he’s not a public figure, I mistakenly thought he was also a football player. Sad about his spinal stenosis though. =(
Damn I was just about to say:
Yea what kind of loser develops spinal stenosis
And his name is pronounced “Cupper.”
Yes, his name is Cooper. He was actually a very good WR, but was diagnosed with a spinal condition so he couldn’t play anymore.
I was just about to ask that question
He was a huge football prospect… but he had spinal stenosis.
Cooper has the grandchildren. That makes him the favorite.
I can’t feel too bad for him, kid’s set for freakin’ life and his dad is like the coolest human being (yeah yeah yeah, Mo isn’t human) on the planet.
Mo always finishes the chalupa.
Did Lee’s agent go directly to Lee and his wife after the Yankee offer, or are they meeting tomorrow to discuss?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Ok, I was just wondering because Lohud mentioned something about it, but didn’t provide details.
So Lee’s agent leaving is 100x more reasonable now that we know he has legit offers.
The Yankees are on of 7 teams interested in Octovio Dotel.
http://twitter.com/Enrique_Roj.....3554420736
I think 7 means something different in Spanish…
lol im spanish and i understood jeje
So this has been the Winter Meetings in a nutshell so far, right?
http://i748.photobucket.com/al.....qzzud0.gif
(mildly NSFW but it’s just a written word)
Carl Crawford for $20M+ a year will be more like the Pavano, Vazquez, Jaret Wright, Burnett acquisitions than the CC, Arod, Mussina ones. The guys is way overrated . He doesn’t get on base often enough or hit for enough power to validate that kind of salary (.350 OBP and .453 slugging over the last four seasons).
I think with Crawford we get so impressed with his 60 steal/20 homer ability that we lose sight of the fact that he isn’t a premier run producer.
If Crawford didn’t steal 60 bags and had say average speed, he’d be looking at a $6-8M a year contract, as the rest of his numbers are merely pedestrian for a corner outfielder. Are 60 steals THAT valuble? I’d like to analyze a steal’s true value more but I highly doubt it.
Also as Crawford ages his OBP is likely to decline faster than most players, as a larger percentage of his hits are infield hits. If he loses just a little speed he won’t beat out as many of those and might steal say 30 bases instead of 60. In which case you’ll have a very expensive version of Johnny Damon on your hands.
If the Yankees sign Crawford it’ll be a sad day in their history.
no way crawford’s rate is 20MM
I hope the Angels sign him…after Lee is signed though, I think the Yanks lose some leverage with Lee if he goes before.
I agree that he’s overrated offensively, mid-120′s wRC+(a reasonable expectation) isn’t worth that kinda contract imo. And that’s not even considering aging.
This.
Gardner and Swisher both produced at the same 120s wRC as Crawford did and at a much cheaper price.
Yeah, I’m not that familiar with the advanced stats but it seems Swish and Crawford are about the same production-wise. At least offensively..
Gee-he is entering his 29 year old season and has had 6 pretty good years already. Werth didn’t have his first good year UNTIL he was 29. I would hardly call it a sad day to get a guy with his ability and his #’s on a team/offense that has mostly sucked during his time with them.
“I feel like Hannibal Lecter in a straight jacket,’’ Cashman said of his obsession with Lee.
If this thing doesn’t workout I suggest only eating salad at the Cashman’s dinner table.
another weird comment from cash. is he on roids?
Cashman to Braunecker: A baseball agent once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
It signs the contract with the pen, or else it gets the hose again.
it’s the chilling noise afterwards that makes it real.
as you wish
Cashman to Braunecker: A baseball agent once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice
chianti.reality potionThat is not the whole quote. Pretty messed up to frame it that way.
It’s a joke you know humor.
My bad on the phrasing. I meant from the writer, not you.
No problem.
Small potatoes but worth noting that P.J. Pilittere was given a contract by the D’backs last week sometime. Lifetime Yankee farmhand had some promise once. Good luck to him.
D’backs also signed Cody “more valuable than ARod” Ransom last week.
nybaseballdigest.com has a source that say that its a less than 50% chance that Lee ends up in NY.
They just gave a shotout to RAB too.
Heres the link.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/n.....ings-day-3
that website… kinda sucks
Well, that’s not good. I will only accept 99% chance Lee signs with Yankees.
My source says it is greater than 50% and he doesn’t look like this creepster.
http://bleacherreport.com/user.....-delgrippo
Saw this from a Rangers source. http://twitter.com/RangersRadi.....3110614016
Sounds like Yankees have the top offer and are the favorite right now.
Link doesn’t lead to an actual account page. =/
He deleted it for some reason.
“Nolan Ryan says they have requested from Cliff Lee’s agent what it will take to make him a Ranger.”
Also this.
http://twitter.com/RangersRadi.....7905200129
Why do the Knicks play poorly at home. Kinda bizarre.
SSS?
Sure, I suppose, though it’s weird because home teams in the NBA win about 60% of the time.
Yeah, it doesn’t make too much sense.
I’m not sure what to think about this…
A trade sending shortstop Jason Bartlett of the Tampa Bay Rays to the San Diego Padres is off, at least for now, because the teams couldn’t finalize the deal, sources tell ESPN.com.
The Rays’ trade for a pair of young pitchers is in limbo, but it’s not dead, sources said.
The Boston Red Sox ran into a problem yesterday with the trade that was to have brought them Spike Owen and Dave Henderson from Seattle.
Cesar Ramos and Adam Russell, a pair of right-handed pitchers, would go to the Rays.
Bartlett, 31, hit .254 with a .675 OPS in 135 games for the Rays last season. He became expendable with the arrival of top shortstop prospect Reid Brignac in Tampa Bay.
The Rays, who lost closer Rafael Soriano, top setup man Joaquin Benoit and several other relievers to free agency this offseason, had been dangling Bartlett in the quest to rebuild their bullpen with young, affordable arms.
ESPN.com baseball writers Jayson Stark and Jerry Crasnick contributed to this report.
All I gather is that apparently San Diego is a pain in the ass when it comes to finalizing trades.
That’s not what I was referring to, if you read closely.
Clearly I need to know what the Red Sox are doing when I’m reading a report about the Rays.
…wait, what?
CC’s at the Knick game!
Sabathia is at the Knicks game. Cool.
Damn. Who would have thought that Felton would thrive like this in D’Antoni’s system?
wtf is the deal with felton? he looks like the new starks out there. actually between him/stoudemire/turaif the team kind of has that starks/ewing/oakley feel
Starks wasn’t a PG.
well, i’m done pretending i know about basketball
Landry Fields is a BEAST.
yeah for real, that dude rocks. sucks to lose a kid like that if you want to make a trade and get melo, the knicks might have a little dilemma on their hands soon, who knew?
59 – 57, Knicks, after being down by 13 earlier in the quarter. Awesome.
A little Christmas season diversion, for those of you inclined.
Suppose you were at a food court, and someone started singing …
http://www.cfnews.org/flashmob.htm
I hope this plays okay. I just tested it, and it’s kind of balky. It’s really worth checking out, whether or not you appreciate choral singing.
CC just said he won’t opt put of his contract on MSG.
But, did he say the exact words, “I will not opt out!!!”
The reporter asked him if he was going to opt out and he said no. Then they started talking about Cliff Lee and Nick Swisher’s wedding.
Wait. Nick and Cliff are getting married? I didn’t know they were engaged.
Hmm, don’t think that is good enough for Joe. The words “opt out” did not come out of CC’s mouth.
Joe did include him in his 2012 salary total in the last post. Maybe he’s beginning to believe him.
Good catch. I don’t know what to think now. Joe has got us all fooled!
whoops that came out wrong! Should say Cliff Lee’s free agency and Nick Swisher’s wedding with his fiancé!
Is it me or did CC actually get fatter?
It’s the offseason isn’t it?
ok that doesn’t mean that everything that doesn’t move is in season.
“Cashman confirms that Yankees have made offer to Lee and diet for CC.”
That beard didn’t fool you?
Maybe the rest of the team is getting skinnier and he looks fat in comparison?
My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Braunecker review some documents at 31 Flavors today. I guess it’s pretty serious.
-Jon Heyman
Bueller?
JD said he’d return to Boston.
Are you talking about the great JD Drew ?
johnny damon
I was half kidding,taking a shot at Drew….Damon would go wherever at this point
He meant Damon I think. O noz, not Damon
It’s always been my dream
to return toto play for theYankees,Red Sox,Athletics,Royals, Nippon Ham Fighters.Sincerely,
Johnny Damon
For some reason, I just don’t care.
Probably because he’s not very good anymore. Still, I’m a Johnny Damon fan. I’m hoping against hope he can tread water for a few more years and reach 3,000 hits, he is 429 away right now.
I just don’t have a good feeling about Cliff Lee coming to the Yankees. This entire thing is bizarre
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
Yea I agree. I feel that they’d be totally screwed w/o him though. The rotation just doesn’t hold up without him or a different strong mid to frontline guy. If they don’t get him it either means settle for a team with pitching ?’s or gut the farm. And if we lose Jesus then we’re screwed at catcher for at least a season, I mean shit everyones talking about russell martin as an option in that case. Doom and gloom I know I know.
It’s not really a lack of faith, I just have a feeling he won’t sign with the Yankees. I hope I’m wrong, hell I pray I’m wrong, but something tells me he’s not coming here.
Hopefully I’m wrong
I am extremely confident that Lee signs with the Yankees. If anything, recent events have made me feel better about it than ever. They’re just going to have to pay a lot more than I figured.
But if he doesn’t, the world is far from over. The Yankees need to trade for a solid #3 type guy ala Gavin Floyd. We have the mandatory ace any contender needs in CC. The way I see it, Lee could make this like the 1998 team. A Gavin Floyd type could make it like the 2009 version.
Did anyone else see Mitch Williams slur and stammer his way through all the reasons why Cliff Lee was going back to Texas ? I used to manage a bar, and he talks like a three day drunk . What is MLBN thinking hiring this idiot ?……God Bless Joe Carter
They had to one up ESPN’s Rick Sutcliffe.
No, but I heard them say the Yankees had no shot at winning the AL East. lol whatevs
They may actually finish fourth, I think he said
where’s our candy, cashman?
Joey beat him up when he went to give some to Leo.
Anybody else think Carlos Pena is just glad to get out of the AL East?
The Yankees ought to be glad he’s out of the Beast, even last year he OPS’d .986 vs them (.653 SLG, 6 of his 12 hits were HR)
Rosenthal:
“Cliff Lee, the biggest prize on this year’s free-agent market, will make his decision before the end of the weekend, according to a major-league source.”
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/s.....Lee-120810
Robothal says that Lee will sign by the end of the weekend…odd way this negotiation has played out.
I agree that Braunecker has conducted his negotiations in an unusual way, but I do see a cohesive and logical strategy at the heart of it.
With the Adrian Gonzales trade putting pressure on the Yankees competitively and the Werth contract obfuscating real market conditions and making it seem like teams were ready to burst open and go effing crazy, it put the Yankees on guard.
Then by leaking all this BS about 7 years and mystery teams and making it clear that Lee is going to the highest bidder, no questions asked … but refusing to actually take their bids until today? Well that riled up the Yankees. Now they want this guy and they want him now. No more bullshit.
So they offer him the 2nd biggest pitching contract in the history of the game. And now Braunecker is going to take a few more days to push the AAV to $25M and booya. Lee signs by Monday, presser TBA.
Knicks are killing it right now. Nasty
Mo Jr: Fordham!
6 in a row!! A’mare(34Points, 18 in the 4th Q ) for MVP!!
Damn, I can’t believe how great it feels to watch Knicks basketball again!! The Knicks are actually good again!
The rebirth has begun this season with our nice six deep core- A’Mare, Raymond “Ray-Ray ” Felton, Landry Fields, Wilson Chandler, Danillo “the Rooster” Gallineri, Toney “TD” Douglas. Now who will join this rising spower, Melo, CP3!
another chat tomorrow?
“Source: The Red Sox have a seven-year, $142 million deal done with Carl Crawford.” Pete-Abe via Twitter
Damn, I should have never opened MLBTR.
Carl Crawford the…Red Sox?
There’s a new AL East favorite…looks like it’ll take Greinke in addition to Lee and Pettitte returning. Fuck this shit.
Lee + Pettitte + lefty reliever and healthy bounceback for some key pieces. If that happens we’re good. Big if though.
That’s like an “if my aunt had balls” type of thing.
Not really. Lee is the biggest if. Pettitte’s production can likely be recovered in a trade in a worst case scenario. I don’t think we’re asking too much of Tex, Arod, and Jeter to do a little better. A lefty reliever, that’s cake.
Woohooo, can’t wait for Carl Crawfords epic decline and regression to normal offensive production!!
That said, Boston’s lineup is pretty fucking epic right now. Also, Yanks just lost leverage for Lee negotiations.
Crawford, Midget Fuck, Ugly Fuck, Gonzalez, Fat Roided Fuck, Drew, Cameron, Scutaro, Varitek/Saltalamacchia
That line up has a legit shot at scoring 1000 runs.
of course you think they do
I don’t get it, he only got 16m more over 7 years than Werth. I figured he would at least get double that…
His value shouldn’t age as well as Werth’s.
Werth is older and also a health risk with his knees, I really don’t get where that comes from…
What do you guys think about signing Ordonez and trading an outfielder for pitching?