Re: The Hot Stove Thread There's still a lot of work to be done there. The middle relief wasn't that great and the starters (aside from Schmidt) and some position players overachieved. Before all the deals get done, SD probably looks the best on paper, especially if they can unload Klesko for anything and not give up Burroughs. LA has a ton of questions to answer and holes to fill.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread So is this Green for Piazza deal happening? After a lot of talk, it seems as if the rumor has died down quite a bit. Would Dodger fans like to see Mikey back? I know everytime he played at Dodger Stadium as a Met he'd be booed like crazy. He'd also hit a homerun or two.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread I think no. The Dodger's need an everyday catcher, which Piazza very well may not be anymore. At his age it's a gamble. If I'm going to have to pay someone 16M a year, I'd rather it be Green. Younger, better defender, more durable. Seems both men's best years are behind them, but Piazza's are even further behind him.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread The outfield, other than Bonds, was shambles. Grissom's good, but getting older and probably shouldn't play CF every day. The Mohr/Tucker platoon in RF was uninspiring, which is why the G's are apparently trying to sign Jermaine Dye, who wants to stay local (he's from Vallejo). At least Dye would give them a bat that could somewhat protect Bonds, but he gets hurt a lot and will probably make big bucks, so it's a risk. Catcher could be an interesting position this offseason for SF, too. A.J. Pierczynski was apparently not extremely popular with the pitching staff or other teammates, and GM Brian Sabean just implied on KNBR that he'd perhaps look at dealing him if the only other option seems to be arbitration again. But that would mean they'd need to sign another catcher, because there's no guarantee Yorvit Torrealba is ready to catch every day. According to Sabean, we'll know more about this situation by the winter meetings.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread They Padres would be better off if Phil Nevin left because his defensive skills suck. Klesko had a good 2nd half of the season and is better at first base than Nevin and will re-gain his power next season most likely. Plus, Nevin and Kevin Towers had a few conflicts about the park last season. The Padres were best on paper, by many, last season and underperformed...
Re: The Hot Stove Thread The concern I'd have with SD is will they score enough runs. The Giants have holes, but their pen was one of if not the biggest IMHO. Getting FLA' Benitez would really help them protect leads, I lost count of how many leads they lost late last season.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread The Giants need to address their lineup issue. They've been making do without anybody to protect Bonds because guys like Snow and Grissom have been coming through, but how long can you rely on aging players to produce? They got rid of Santiago at the right time because otherwise they would have been stuck with a 40 yr old, injury prone catcher. It's too early to start calling division races, even if Benitez is headed to NoCal.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread Yeah, I don't think Towers is going to be predicting 800-plus runs anytime soon. They need to build around their ballpark. Keep Loretta, keep Burroughs, get rid of Nevin and Klesko (with their no-trade clauses, though, keeping both is likely), bring in some pitching and bolster their pen. And they'll still finish in third place
Re: The Hot Stove Thread It will be interesting to see how many dominant years Hoffman has left. He's been at the top of his game for much longer than average for closers. As the MPH keep coming off his fastball, it's going to make the change that much more hittable. Their rotation is ready to turn the corner though. It's like what was said before, they need to build for their ballpark. They're in pretty good shape pitching wise, but they need more speed and on-base guys. Nevin, Klesko, and at times Payton are trying to beat the ballpark instead of driving the ball to the gaps and driving in runs. Giles needs to prove he's the go-to guy he was in Pittsburgh--not just a guy whose numbers looked great in a crap lineup.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread Apparently the Red Sox have thrown their hats in the Randy Johnson derby. They're talking with the DBacks about Arroyo, Jon Lester, and another top prospect. Don't know how I feel about this one, since RJ would want an extension before approving a trade.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread Actually, no. There's no clarification on that at all. But I imagine they wouldn't pull the trigger unless Pedro took off. Schilling, Johnson, Pavano, Wakefield, ???
Re: The Hot Stove Thread Yeah, that's what the article is basically saying. If Pedro goes, say, to the Mets, then something could happen. I think they're banking on the fact that Colangelo would rather not deal with Steinbrenner.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread This is from the Providence Journal article: "A trade for Johnson, though considered a longshot for the Red Sox, would preclude re-signing Martinez, who grabbed the Sox' full attention following the Mets' proposal." You need a registration for the article.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread Colangelo is out in AZ. A group of higher stake holders forced him out. Former agent Jeffrey Moorad is the new COO. I know Colangelo never had any fondness for Steinbrenner. Who knows how this new guy, with his background feels.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread Klesko's been doing that for his entire career. Why do you think Atlanta got fed up with him? He isn't going to change.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseb...93.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-mlb-dodger Nice job by TJ Simers of the LA Times who interviewed Milton Bradley this week.
I know this signing doesn't have near the impact of Randy Johnson or Pedro, but rumors have Matt Clement going to Cleveland. That makes sense...if Cleveland gets any pitching besides Sabathia, they have a shot at the Central the way they can score runs.
The Giants signed Armando Benitez. Considering how many blown saves we had last season, and with Vasquel to strengthen up our infield, the Giants have to be a major contender now.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread Klesko finally got the hang of it the second half of the season as he drove in more and more doubles and good line-drives. The lack of homers made him realize he can't hit one every at bad I guess. Payton was useless at the plate until the last month or so of the season when he really heated up. I thought he did a good job defensively though. A lot of San Diegans still want Finley back but that won't happen cause the Padres are cheap.
Re: The Hot Stove Thread They'd do it, but somebody'd have to take Klesko, his contract, and his Burnitz approach at the plate first.