• You may have to login or register before you can post and view our exclusive members only forums.
    To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

MLB Off Season

Forums New posts
LAS VEGAS (AP)—The New York Mets overhauled their much-maligned bullpen with two big moves Wednesday, obtaining J.J. Putz from Seattle as part of a three-team, 12-player trade that gives them a setup man for new closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Hours after completing a $37 million, three-year contract with Rodriguez, New York dealt seven players—six to the Mariners and one to Cleveland—to get three back in a huge swap at the winter meetings.

“All I kept on hearing in the streets of New York when you go get bagels in the morning was, `Omar, please address the bullpen,â€â€™ Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. “Well, to all you Mets fans, we’ve addressed the bullpen.â€

New York shipped reliever Aaron Heilman, outfielder Endy Chavez, lefty Jason Vargas and three minor leaguers to the Mariners for Putz, center fielder Jeremy Reed and reliever Sean Green in the first trade by new Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik.

Promising outfielder Franklin Gutierrez was sent from the Indians to Seattle. Cleveland got reliever Joe Smith from the Mets and 23-year-old second baseman Luis Valbuena from the Mariners.
Click to expand...
 
two big moves there.

The Mets are certainly addressing the issue of the bullpen.
 
The Phillies have agreed to a three-year contract with free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez, pending a physical. The deal is believed to be worth $30 million over three years.

The 36-year-old Ibanez will become the Phillies' new every-day leftfielder, and his signing means the Phillies no longer will pursue their long-time leftfielder, Pat Burrell, who is also a free agent.

Ibanez had drawn significant interest from a number of teams, including the Cubs, Mets, Angels and Braves. But he had been sending signals through friends that the Phillies were his first choice. And the Phillies stepped up their efforts to sign him Thursday after it became known that the Angels were also negotiating the parameters of a deal with Ibanez as their No. 1 alternative if they lost out in efforts to sign Mark Teixeira.

Ibanez, who turns 37 next June, has spent the past five seasons with the Mariners, where he was a long-time favorite of outgoing Phillies GM Pat Gillick. He hit .293 this season, with 23 homers, 110 RBIs, a .358 on-base percentage and a .472 slugging percentage. He is one of just five outfielders who have driven in at least 100 runs in each of the last three seasons. The others: Carlos Beltran, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee and Bobby Abreu.
Click to expand...
 
Free agent right-hander A.J. Burnett has reached preliminary agreement on a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the New York Yankees.

Burnett's agreement was confirmed by the office of his agent, Darek Braunecker, The Associated Press reported.

While Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Braunecker are still negotiating final contract terms, the deal is expected to be complete once Burnett passes a physical.

Burnett, who turns 32 in January, will join CC Sabathia at the top of a revamped starting rotation in New York. The Yankees agreed to terms on a seven-year, $161 million contract with Sabathia earlier this week.
Click to expand...

They're trying to buy the WS again, I hope they fail miserably again.

Kerry Wood is the Cleveland Indians' new closer.

The former Chicago Cubs star signed a two-year deal worth nearly $20 million, the team announced Saturday. The contract includes a third-year option with a vesting mechanism.

General manager Mark Shapiro will hold a conference call later in the day to formally announce Wood's signing.

Wood, who saved 34 games in his first season as a closer for Chicago, reached a preliminary agreement with the Indians during the winter meetings. But because of his long history of arm and elbow problems, Wood had to pass a physical before the Indians would finalize the package.
Click to expand...

Man ... I still remember that 'hall of fame' material 20k game against he 'Stros ...
 
Furcal is close to signing 3 year, 30 million contract with Braves ...

If this happens, a good chance Peavy will move to the Braves with HotLanta's highly rated young SS going to the Pads.
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=28563.msg754679#msg754679 date=1229512279]
didn't Furcal start out with the Braves ?
[/quote]

yup.
 
Free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira has reached agreement with the New York Yankees on an eight-year contract worth $180 million, two sources involved in the negotiations tell ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

The contract would pay Teixeira an average of $22.5 million per season. New York has spent more than $400 million in salary in the last month, with $161 million going to left-handed pitcher CC Sabathia in a seven-year deal and $82.5 million on right-hander A.J. Burnett for five years.

Teixeira's salary also lifts the Yankees into a league of their own class; they would the four highest-paid players in Major League Baseball, including third baseman Alex Rodriguez, shortstop Derek Jeter and Sabathia.
Click to expand...

The Yankees are yet again trying to buy the Series ... What a joke ... I hope they crash and burn as they've done since the Diamondbacks series - or better yet, I hope the BoSox and Rays keep 'em out of the playoffs again ...
 
They came on the scene late with the offer for him didn't they ? I'm guessing this was the one that put the Red Sox and Angels out of the running.

Some people still think they'll sign Manny too.
 
HOUSTON -- The Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine, which opened in January 2007, will no longer carry the embattled pitching great's name.

The Memorial Hermann Hospital Health Care System announced Saturday that Clemens' name will be removed, effective Thursday, as the fallout from the Mitchell report continues to haunt the winner of 354 major league games and seven Cy Young awards.

The facility will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.

In its statement, the hospital said the decision to take off Clemens' name was made "to better reflect its commitment to all sports and athletes" and that "the move reflects the desire to promote the broad range of sports medicine services and programs offered by Memorial Hermann."

In November, the New York Daily News reported that Clemens has been asked to end his involvement with a charity golf tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years.

Although Clemens helped raise millions of dollars for the charities associated with the event, the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids was held Nov. 11 at Houston's Shadow Hawk Golf Club without him.

Despite its move to disassociate itself with the pitcher, Memorial Hermann Hospital said "Roger Clemens remains committed to working with us to champion youth sports and develop aspiring baseball players."

Clemens donated $3 million to Memorial Hermann for a pediatric wing at Memorial Hermann's Children's Hospital.

Clemens has denied using performance-enhancing drugs since he was identified in former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell's report on drug use in baseball. He filed a defamation lawsuit last January against his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who claims he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.

Federal prosecutors also are looking into whether Clemens committed perjury when he testified under oath in front of a congressional committee that he never used PEDs.

Clemens is eligible for Hall of Fame election in 2013, but McNamee's allegations may have irreparably damaged Clemens' chances of induction. Clemens has since filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Click to expand...
 
Not a very popular fella though is he ?

There's a number of unemployed potential hall of famers knocking about this year. Kent is one, but Pedro, Griffey, Glavine, Schilling (doubtful for HOF) and of course Manny - although he'll get a contract.

Boston don't seem interested in spending big. Although the two pitchers they picked up could be shrewd acquisitions. Smoltz and Penny - both have issues but if they're anywhere near their best then they'll be great for the Red Sox.
 
Joe Torre didn't need "incentives" to lead the New York Yankees, so he left.

Torre's incentives to expose the salacious side of his former team are another story.

According to two newspaper reports, Torre blasts the team he managed to four World Series titles in a book set to be released Feb. 3.

Teammates frequently called Alex Rodriguez "A-Fraud," and the third baseman was obsessed over his rivalry with shortstop Derek Jeter, "The Yankee Years" reveals, according to the New York Daily News and New York Post.

In the book written by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci and published by Doubleday, Torre also says Yankees general manager Brian Cashman "betrayed him on several fronts," the Daily News reports.

It's in stark contrast to Torre's former stance, in which he said Cashman supported him throughout 2007 negotiations, which ultimately failed.

And it goes beyond the widely reported 2007 meeting in which Cashman met with the Steinbrenners to discuss Torre's future with the team, a talk in which the GM was said to have remained neutral as the drawbacks to extending Torre's tenure were discussed.

In a later confrontation with Torre, Cashman confirmed he was quiet when the subject of offering Torre his desired two-year deal instead of one came up, the book says.

Cashman wouldn't comment on the book when contacted Sunday by ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

Cashman, who said he's in regular contact with Torre, told Olney he didn't know the context of the portrayal and didn't know if the reported comments were from Torre or Verducci.

"I think Brian Cashman wanted me back," Torre said in Oct. 2007, as he announced he wouldn't return for the Yankees. "We have a close relationship. We felt we worked hard at trying to get this thing straightened out."

After completing a three-year, $19.2 million contract with the Yankees, Torre signed a three-year, $13 million contract to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers in Nov. 2007, the same month the book deal with Verducci was announced.

His Dodgers deal came two weeks after having walked away from the Yankees when they offered a one-year contract worth $5 million plus $3 million in performance incentives he termed "an insult.''

"I don't think incentives are necessary," he said then. "I've been here a long time and I've never needed to be motivated. Plus, in my [previous] contract, I get a million-dollar bonus if we do win the World Series, so that's always been there."

One source familiar with the book told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that it's "inaccurate'' to suggest that Torre used it as a forum to get even with the Yankees or settle old scores.

The source said some of the controversial angles being reported in the New York tabloids have been taken out of context or "overblown.''

"Joe is very honest in the book,'' the source said, "but he doesn't make any personal attacks. In terms of him name-calling, that's not his style.''

The book is not a first-person tell-all, but rather, a third-person narrative by Verducci, who interviewed dozens of players and team personnel while researching for the book, the source said.

Torre is currently in Hawaii on vacation. According to the Daily News, he is scheduled for the "Late Show With David Letterman" on Feb. 3, as well as a book signing that day at the Yogi Berra Museum in New Jersey.
Click to expand...
 
The heat is being turned up on Barry Bonds as his perjury trial approaches.

Citing a person who has reviewed the evidence in the case, the New York Times reported on Wednesday that authorities detected anabolic steroids in urine samples linked to Bonds that they gathered in their investigation.

Bonds testified to a federal grand jury in 2003 that he used the "cream" and the "clear" but did not know that they were performance-enhancing drugs. The urine samples could prove the existence of other steroids in his body.

During that testimony, Bonds was asked if he ever took steroids, and he answered no. The government alleges that Bonds lied under oath. His perjury trial is scheduled to begin March 2.

Meanwhile, federal authorities have taken another avenue in their pursuit of Bonds.

Agents raided the home of the mother-in-law of Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson.

Madeleine Gestas is the target of a tax investigation that Anderson's lawyer says is aimed at pressuring the trainer to testify at Bonds' upcoming trial on charges on lying to a grand jury.

Mark Geragos, a lawyer for Anderson, said he believes the raid Wednesday is in response to his refusal to tell prosecutors whether Anderson would testify.

The attorney said some 20 FBI and IRS agents showed up at the Redwood City, Calif., home of Madeline Gestas armed with a search warrant and seized miscellaneous documents. Gestgas, 60, has been the subject of a tax probe, but Geragos described the raid as part of an ongoing effort by the federal government to intimidate Anderson and coerce him to cooperate in the government's case against Bonds.

"They trashed the place and took all kinds of stuff," he said. "The execution was illegal and a grotesque example of bullying."

Arlette Lee, a spokesman for the IRS, acknowledged agents had been at Gestas' home but declined comment on the nature of the activity.

Last June, the government sent a letter to Nicole Gestas, a local fitness trainer who married Anderson in the summer of 2007, notifying her that she was the target of a federal conspiracy investigation.

"How much more obvious can they get?" said Paula Canny, an attorney who worked the BALCO case and a close friend of Anderson.

Geragos said he received a letter on Monday from federal prosecutors wanting to know if Anderson is going to testify in the Bonds trial.

"They can't demand that. It's sheer bullying," Geragos said.

Anderson served two terms in federal prison for refusing to appear in front of separate grand juries during the government's investigation of Bonds. Federal prosecutors believe Anderson can testify, among other things, that calendars and diary entries that document steroid use by a "BB" is in fact Bonds.

Anderson initially served 15 days in prison in July 2006, and then again from Aug. 28, 2006, until Nov. 15, 2007, in a federal correctional institute in Dublin, Calif. He also served three months in federal prison earlier in 2006 after he pleaded guilty in the BALCO steroid scandal.

Geragos has insisted for some time that Anderson will never testify against Bonds.

"My client is never going to speak," he told ESPN.com in March of 2007.

Geragos said Anderson received a government subpoena last week demanding his testimony at trial. If he refuses to testify, he could be sent to prison again.

Information from ESPN.com investigative reporters Mike Fish, T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada and The Associated Press was used in this report.
Click to expand...
 
LTW, did you see what's going on with Andruw Jones ?

The Dodgers paid him off to get rid of him, because apparently he was too out of shape to play Winter Ball. Now he's a FA and has absolutely no takers. His only offer has been a minor league one with the Braves, which he refused.

He had a massive fall from grace didn't he ?
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=28563.msg791941#msg791941 date=1233347921]
LTW, did you see what's going on with Andruw Jones ?

The Dodgers paid him off to get rid of him, because apparently he was too out of shape to play Winter Ball. Now he's a FA and has absolutely no takers. His only offer has been a minor league one with the Braves, which he refused.

He had a massive fall from grace didn't he ?
[/quote]

I honestly have no clue what happened to him but if memory serves me well, his BA dropped like crazy in his last season with the Braves. But I'm a wee bit shocked that he hasn't figured out that a lot of this is due to his shape ...
 
Does his decline coincide with the introduction of drug testing in baseball ?
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=28563.msg795032#msg795032 date=1233616601]
Does his decline coincide with the introduction of drug testing in baseball ?
[/quote]

He got fat, not weak.
 
My Cardinals.... vast overachievers for 80% of the season last year, not only came crashing back to earth in September 08, but they have done jack squat to improve the team for 09. Kalil Greene? Yay. :-\ Ankiel and Ludwick are still unsigned, and Skip freaking Schumaker is going to play some 2B to get some playing time.


On a more positive note, the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees will FINALLY have something in common once the 2009 season begins.

BOTH Teams will be trying to win their very first World Series in their new ballparks (rim shot)
 
Welcome to the site mate.

Some evidence from the Bonds trial has been "unsealed", and it appears he tested positive three times back in 2001. That should be the smoking gun they need to bury him and his lame stories.
 
According to a report by Sports Illustrated, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2003, when he was with the Texas Rangers and won the AL home run title and MVP award.

According to the report, which was posted Saturday morning on SI.com, sources told the publication that Rodriguez was on a list of 104 players who tested positive that year, when Major League Baseball conducted tests to see if mandatory random drug testing was needed.

In 2003, there were no penalties for a positive result.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rosco
The latest MLB PED scandal
Replies
14
Views
2K
LeTallecWiz
LeTallecWiz
LeTallecWiz
MLB Off season 09/10 & Regular Season 2010
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
184
Views
11K
LeTallecWiz
LeTallecWiz
Back
Top Bottom