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Tuesday, January 11, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves
Why The Mets Overpaid For Beltran
Richard still thinks the Angels should have gotten Beltran. I remain as skeptical as ever, and for at least the reasons appearing in this New York Sun article: the contract is too long, for too many dollars, and he's not all that, anyway ("five or six wins above average"). Getting a peek at his future with some help of Nate Silverman at Baseball Prospectus:"The going rate this winter has been about $2.25 million per win, using the same PECOTA-based method," Silver wrote me in an email, "so he's overpaid even by this winter's lofty standards. It's the sixth and seventh years that do the trick; something like $17 million for 5 years wouldn't have been so out of line."Here's hoping that Drew has two great years with the Dodgers and leaves.
Quote, Unquote
From the Riverside Press-Enterprise:- DePodesta on the turnover at Dodger Stadium: "There's been a lot of heartache involved. "It hasn't been easy. I've had as many sleepless nights as anyone."
- On the important part of the trades: "The emotion is great. I love the fact that fans came to the ballpark and embraced the team like that. Now we have to do our part, and that's to win."
- On the quality of the pitching staff: "It's a great pitching staff. You won't see a better one in baseball." Pow! Take that, Billy Beane! Socko! Take that, Brian Cashman!
- On what this offseason means to the farm system: "To try and rebuild and win at the same time, it's a bit of a magic trick. We did it in '04 and we feel we can do it in '05. Then it's over. And we did it without trading our nucleus of young players, so we bought our minor league system another year or two." Tom, consider this a kiss of validation for this.
The Best Rumors Are The Funny Ones
Ken Arneson at Baysball drops a couple rumors, first that the A's are interested in Delgado, and second, that they're pursuing Mike Cameron. Now that's entertainment.No Delgado For Texas, A Lump Of Coal In Hart's Stocking
Texas Rangers Blog passes on a T. R. Sullivan story in the Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram saying the Rangers won't be looking to acquire Carlos Delgado. But look at the bright side, Ranger fans: the team's found $30M to spend on other players! Trust me, "payroll flexibility" are not words the paying customers like to hear.Yanks Lack Heart, Get On Postseason Treadmill
Alex Belth has a good piece today hauling one from the 1988 Bill James Abstract and from yesterday's Joe Sheehan column at Baseball Prospectus. Quoting James:... and of course, now, they won't have that chance, now that Beltran's working across town in Queens.... The problem with the Yankees is that they never want to pay the real price of success. The real price of success in baseball is not the dollars that you come up with for a Jack Clark or a Dave Winfield or an Ed Whitson or a Goose Gossage. It is the patience to work with young players and help them develop. So long as the Yankees are unwilling to pay that price, don’t bet on them to win anything.I don’t know that what James wrote is exactly true now, but in general, his point is right on. Eventually, this treadmill effect will burn the Yanks like it did in the eighties. That’s why some writers are understandably upset that the team didn’t sign Beltran. He would be keeping them young. It’s hard to believe that the Yankees will replace Bernie Williams with someone nearly as good or as young.
Comments:
He said on 710 last night that we also have one of the better defenses in MLB and the offense has been improved.
If that's the case, with his statement that we have the best pitching in baseball, I guess he's predicting a world series win next year, right?
If that's the case, with his statement that we have the best pitching in baseball, I guess he's predicting a world series win next year, right?
# posted by 
: 1/11/2005 08:58:00 PM
: 1/11/2005 08:58:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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