flyingswoosh Wrote:the tigers bolstered their bullpen, by signing troy percival to a 2 yr, 12 mil. contract.

this is a decent signing if the contract were for 4 mil. less. there is no way the 36 yr old percival should get 6 mil/yr. he has lost at least 5 mph on his fastball, and gets hurt every season.

dito... Why they would bring in Percival to close over Urbina I don't know... I've watched Percival blow save after save against the Tribe... 6 million?? The Tiger fans just got raped!

It would have been a great signing four years ago. But Percival will be lucky to have two good years left. He can't pitch with that degenerating hip much longer.

flyingswoosh Wrote:

GDawgs88 Wrote:I'm just saying, all the stuff I read talked about how good he was. I never saw him up close so I don't know.

in all seriousness, i have no idea what you've been reading. he hasn't been considered a prospect in years (at least 4). we figured out awhile ago that he couldn't hit.

You know, you're right. I went and digged up some of my old baseball magazines and none of them listed him as a top prospect. I guess I just figured since he was young and was supposed to be a starter last year that he was really highly thought of. Guess not. Why'd he even get a shot, though?

GDawgs88 Wrote:

flyingswoosh Wrote:

GDawgs88 Wrote:I'm just saying, all the stuff I read talked about how good he was. I never saw him up close so I don't know.

in all seriousness, i have no idea what you've been reading. he hasn't been considered a prospect in years (at least 4). we figured out awhile ago that he couldn't hit.

You know, you're right. I went and digged up some of my old baseball magazines and none of them listed him as a top prospect. I guess I just figured since he was young and was supposed to be a starter last year that he was really highly thought of. Guess not. Why'd he even get a shot, though?

'cause, before last season he was an amazing fielder. He was definitely as good a SS as clayton. except he was actually a worse hitter than clayton.

Ah...

jim bowden is going wild! he just traded for jose guillen. now they have an outfield of , chavez, wilkerson and guillen. that outfield has 55-60 HR, 200 RBI potential, and it is very good/great defensively. also, it's fast. thanks to bowden, and the move out of montreal, the expos lineup has drastically improved. so ahs their defense.
C- Schneider (had the highest success rate in throwing runners out stealing)
1B- Nick Johnson- not sure if he can hit, due to all the injuries, although i think he can be a good hitter. also, he is an excellent defensive first baseman.
2B- Vidro (no explanation here)
SS- guzman (very good fielder, who is also very fast, although he isn't a fundamentally sound base stealer, which has stopped him from stealing many bases.
3B- Castilla- a good hitter, and an excellent fielder.
OF- wilkerson
OF- chavez
OF-Guillen
4th OF- termel sledge- (he is much like chavez, but with more power)

I said back around July or August that I thought the Expos would be much better in '05, and that was obviously before all these moves. I really like their team for next year.

GDawgs88 Wrote:I said back around July or August that I thought the Expos would be much better in '05, and that was obviously before all these moves. I really like their team for next year.

as i stated, their lineup is much improved , but the pitching is still dismal.

flyingswoosh Wrote:

GDawgs88 Wrote:I said back around July or August that I thought the Expos would be much better in '05, and that was obviously before all these moves. I really like their team for next year.

as i stated, their lineup is much improved , but the pitching is still dismal.

It kind of reminds you of what the Orioles did last year, except the Nationals are doing it better. They still won't challenge, the NL East will be pretty formidable next year.

<a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1931862' target='_blank'>Great move by both teams</a>

Nobody is talking about this, so i guess i will. i think the A's are making a great move. The pirates are more so looking out for their payroll than their team, but that's the pirates. As for the analysis, i believe this is a tiny upgrade over damian miller who hasn't quite signed with the brewers yet (they aren't done with the medical <a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1931528' target='_blank'>evaluation</a>). Kendall is an all star catcher who can get on base, hit for average, run, and play a very good catcher. Losing redman and rhodes, isn't such a big deal, blanton replaces redman, and huston street and jairo garcia replace rhodes. i don't think garcia is ready, but street definitely is, he is extremely advanced.

BTW, i think getting damian miller is a great move by the brewers. Forget that he's a good clutch hitter. The best part about him is his ability to handle a pitching staff. that is exactly what the brewers need, in order to help their young, talented staff make the next step.

looks like we got <a href='http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20041129&content_id=916933&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp' target='_blank'>Benitez</a>

this is a great pickup. It would really help solidify the bullpen.

flyingswoosh Wrote:looks like we got <a href='http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20041129&content_id=916933&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp' target='_blank'>Benitez</a>

this is a great pickup. It would really help solidify the bullpen.

That is a great pickup. The Giants just got a lot better.

GDawgs88 Wrote:

flyingswoosh Wrote:looks like we got <a href='http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20041129&content_id=916933&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp' target='_blank'>Benitez</a>

this is a great pickup.&nbsp; It would really help solidify the bullpen.

That is a great pickup. The Giants just got a lot better.

yup. we haven't had a shutdown closer since Nen.

Yeah, when you had Hermanson closing games last year, you knew the Giants were in trouble.

GDawgs88 Wrote:Yeah, when you had Hermanson closing games last year, you knew the Giants were in trouble.

yes and no. it was a bad sign, because it showed how desperate we were. but on the flip side, i think hermanson can be a very good closer. can he be nathan, rivera, gagne, benitez? No. can he convert at least 80% of his saves? yes.

Also, i forgot to note that the Reds have re-signed paul wilson. 2 years, 8.2 million. :bang: the market for starting pitching has become so inflated. when paul wilson is getting 4.1 mil/yr, you know that the market is out of balance. This seemed to begin 4/5 years ago, when chan ho park and darren dreifort got 15 mil/yr and 11mil/yr, respectively.

I don't think that's a bad move by the Reds. Sure, Wilson will never lead the league in ERA, but he does pretty well at GAB, which is what the Reds need.

the angels signed cuban phenom, 21 yr old kendry morales. the deal is for 6 years, and is reportedly worth about 10 million.

Nomah re-signs with the Cubs. One-year deal...

GDawgs88 Wrote:Nomah re-signs with the Cubs. One-year deal...

yup. it's for 8 mil. nomah wanted to prove that he was healthy and could still play at a nomar-like level, before he tested free agency completely.