11/05/24
December 05, 2005
Weak FA Market: It seems to run in cycles. This year's FA market is WEAK. Damon is good, but not a long term pickup. I like Furcal, but he is REALLY frustrating as a lead of hitter. Other than that, the market is bad. Remember a few years back when the Rockies paid BIG money for Denny Neagle? He didn't last long and he was the premier FA pitcher hat year. It seems like decent pitches or hitters who are the best of a week market make a killing: Furcal 5 years 50 mill or so Paul Byrd 2 years, 14.5 mill
posted by Wrigley South to baseball at 12:27 PM - 22 comments
/backs away slowly
posted by yerfatma at 01:56 PM on December 05, 2005
don't.... look.... in..... the... eyes.... *Run.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:03 PM on December 05, 2005
Still would have liked to seen furcal in a cubs uniform, but once again the money machine that is the Chicago Tribune comes up short again. The only thing that makes me feel better is that the dodgers will be bad again even with furcal.
posted by sadsadcubsfan at 02:46 PM on December 05, 2005
mofarooqi1 What does a corpse fetch on the free agent market these days. I bet Stienbrener will over pay by at least 20%.
posted by HATER 187 at 03:37 PM on December 05, 2005
You're better off in Chicago without him if it was going to cost that much. I'll miss watching Furcal play every day here in Atlanta, but he can be too much of a free swinger and falls in love with his home-run swing too. He simply isn't worth the kind of money that LA is paying him.
posted by trox at 04:04 PM on December 05, 2005
Wilt Chamberlain. Case closed. Oh, what were we talking about?
posted by dyams at 04:47 PM on December 05, 2005
What does a corpse fetch on the free agent market these days. I'm not sure, but Weedy can tell you what one fetches on the black market, if that's any help.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 06:20 PM on December 05, 2005
He simply isn't worth the kind of money that LA is paying him. No joke. I liked him well enough, but damn if the sports announcers were not in Farvre-like love with him at times. Knowing Atlanta's farm system, it'll work out.
posted by jmd82 at 10:14 PM on December 05, 2005
He simply isn't worth the kind of money that LA is paying him. If anything, the Dodger pitchers should pony up half the contract from their own salaries. Furcal is going to turn Derek Lowe back into a Cy Young candidate with all the ground ball outs that are going to be produced.
posted by grum@work at 11:22 PM on December 05, 2005
How about ex-Cub flops Kyle Farnsworth at $15 mil. over 3 years and Tom Gordon at $9 mil. over 3 years. Some of these G.M.'s must be selling coke on the side.
posted by Richie Bee at 11:57 PM on December 05, 2005
How about ex-Cub flops Kyle Farnsworth at $15 mil. over 3 years and Tom Gordon at $9 mil. over 3 years. Some of these G.M.'s must be selling coke on the side.
posted by Richie Bee at 11:57 PM on December 05, 2005
Furcal is so overrated, anyone who watched him hack away in Atlanta would know this...guys with great speed and a decent average come along so often anyway (Carl Crawford and Chone Figgins and Willie Tavarez to name a few who have emerged in the past couple seasons), why pay so much for a leadoff man?
posted by Masked at 11:59 PM on December 05, 2005
Now let's see, Furcal could have chosen between Atlanta, Cubbies or Dodger Blue. Appently he only cares about the $$$$$$. Dodgers will still suck, he should have went to the cubs. He would have gotten what a millon less, but at least they'de get to battle for the playoffs each year, or maybe he wants the money while playing less games. GO TRIBE!!!!!!!!!!
posted by injury-prone at 03:32 AM on December 06, 2005
Furcal is going to turn Derek Lowe back into a Cy Young candidate with all the ground ball outs that are going to be produced. What's going to turn Derek Lowe back into a Cy Young candidate is the fact it's an even-numbered year. For some reason he has a distinct up-and-down cycle. Is Furcal really that much better than Izturis or whomever defensively? I thought LA had great defense up the middle.
posted by yerfatma at 06:10 AM on December 06, 2005
I believe that Izturis is still rehabing an injury and won't be back till midseason. Fransworth getting 15 million is an absolute joke, trust me he will be drunk and fail just like furcal. If atlanta fans thought furcal and his swing were frustrating wait till yankee fans get a look at farnsworth. That'll be worth the price of admission.
posted by sadsadcubsfan at 08:00 AM on December 06, 2005
What's going to turn Derek Lowe back into a Cy Young candidate is the fact it's an even-numbered year. For some reason he has a distinct up-and-down cycle. Is Furcal really that much better than Izturis or whomever defensively? I thought LA had great defense up the middle. Izturis is a terrific defensive shortstop. The upgrade they are getting with Furcal is on the offensive side of the ball. LA still has the same recipe for disaster, ground ball pitchers and limited range on the infield. Jeff Kent at 2B is a liability, he would be better served as a first baseman. Hee Sop Choi/Olmedo Saenz/whoever else they play at first are below average and Valentin at third is in the same boat. Unless more changes are made to the infield Lowe will be in line for another tough year in 2006.
posted by bigrobbieb at 11:49 AM on December 06, 2005
yerfatma, its not about Izzy's fielding , its that he is either the 3rd best hitting SS or the 3rd best hitting 2B on the current 40 man roster. Jeff Kent at 2B is a liability. Having watched the Dodgers all last season, I take issue with this statement. Kent wasn't a liability on the field, or in the box. Lets not forget that his arrival ended the "Alex Cora Era". Its nice to have a 2B who can defend and hit. The 1B platoon worked out rather well and was "fiscally responsible" to boot. With Izzy out and no other sensible options the Blue will audition Choi at first for the first 3 months and hopefully we'll find out whether his struggles stem from Tracy's micro-managing line-ups or not. IF Choi works out, I wouldn't be surprised to see Izzy headed out of town for additional pieces down the stretch. IF Choi doesn't work out, Izzy moves to 2B, Kent moves to 1B. Valentin was serviceable for the first few weeks that he played at 3B, but then he missed most of the year with a knee injury, returning to play LF at the end of the season. Not exactly a strong sample size to go on. Not that he was the answer at 3B, his signing was and is a stop gap while we wait for the kids on the farm to show up in late '06 or '07. The Dodgers are in far greater need of starting pitching and a slugging OF or 3B.
posted by lilnemo at 03:07 PM on December 06, 2005
I agree that I would take the hitting/fielding combo Kent brings any day of the week. Having watched nearly ewvery game he played during his entire tenure in SF I can't see how you would take issue with him being called a defensive liability, but to each their own. IF Choi doesn't work out, Izzy moves to 2B, Kent moves to 1B. Can Hee Sop see the ball? I have never seen a player hit 7-8 HRs in a week who looks so clueless at the plate. "Izzy" is out until midseason and will have a hard time showing he is healthy enough to warrent any trade consideration, so playing at 2B might be an option, at least against lefties. Kent has made it very clear that he will not play 1B everyday as he is concered it will effect his team's chance to win...I mean Hall of Fame chances. Hopefully he can avoid washing his truck this offseason. we'll find out whether his struggles stem from Tracy's micro-managing line-ups or not. Maybe you missed the memo, but Tracy was fired the day after the season. The Dodgers are in far greater need of starting pitching and a slugging OF or 3B. Pitching is really the least of their problems. A little production from the outfield and corner infield positions would go a long way for them. JD Drew healthy should help, if ever healthy that is.
posted by bigrobbieb at 03:43 PM on December 06, 2005
Maybe you missed the memo, but Tracy was fired the day after the season. Right, so next year's performance would provide a good control to compare against last year's.
posted by yerfatma at 03:46 PM on December 06, 2005
Might have been clearer if I'd opted for stemmed. But I think the point is made. My larger point is that infield defense wasn't the Dodgers downfall, their micro-managed offense was. Izturis is ideally your #8 hitter and not your lead-off man. The same could be said of Robles. The fact that guys like Mike Edwards and Phillips were playing instead of Antonio Perez or Choi is 2 notches below mentally retarded. And pitching is a problem when Brad Penny is your #1 and Jeff Weaver can be considered your #2 (though Tracy did him no favors by leaving him in an inning or 2 too long). Or when your groundball pitchers are giving up home runs. If Edwin Jackson pitched to expectations, if D. Lowe started pitching from the opposite side of the rubber in ST, if OP wasn't out of commission most of the year, if Gagne doesn't try and force himself to pitch in ST (and ultimately injuring himself from over-compensating), if Billingsley or any of the other kids were ready to come up at the end of the season. Then, maybe, I would agree that pitching wasn't an issue.
posted by lilnemo at 04:17 PM on December 06, 2005
That goddamn reading comprehension gets me again. I hate it when my teachers prove to be right ten years too late. The current pitching situation is definately not up to Dodger standards, but it is still better than most teams. The bullpen figures to be strong again, with or without Gagne, although a healthy Gagne to close things out would make a huge difference. The rotation has some question marks, but when you look at the pitchers available (now that Burnett has signed with Toronto) there is not much chance reasonably upgrade, whereas an outfielder or corner infielder that can be put in the middle of the lineup is attainable.
posted by bigrobbieb at 06:23 PM on December 06, 2005
Walter payton, hands down! no camparison alot to any other running back