11/21/24
December 16, 2005
Bargain or bust: Will Nomar be the player of old or damaged goods? Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi is trying to recruit Nomar while some Red Sox fans such as Napster founder Shawn Fanning want Garciaparra back in Boston.
Both the LA Times and LA Daily News report Nomar at Dodger Stadium on Thursday. I'd rather see him in the OF than first. This is Choi's breakout year.
posted by jasonspaceman at 06:27 AM on December 16, 2005
But the Chowderheads will over pay since they cleared out Renteria. Well sure, except this isn't 1999 and that Sox administration is long gone. If the Sox were worried about SS, they wouldn't have moved Hanley Ramirez and Edgar in the same offseason. Maybe they feel Dustin Pedroia is ready to play at the major league level (and move back to his old position), maybe they have something else planned. I doubt they're going to overpay for Nomar, much as I miss the guy. The problem is, I miss the guy who won consecutive batting titles; he doesn't exist anymore.
posted by yerfatma at 07:11 AM on December 16, 2005
This has to be one of the strangest free agent situations in recent memory. Here's a guy who left 60mil on the table because he thought his status in the top 3 SS in the game would net him 100mil. Now there isn't a major league team willing to give a job at SS, nevermind 60mil. If he stays healthy, he may be bargain but there's been 3 years of consistent bad luck and injury that must say bust to a lot of teams. Yankees just make no sense to me. I know Nomar doesn't want to be #1 in the public eye, he'd be like 6 or 7 there, but a backup role at every infield position? Can you say Donnie Sadler? LA seems like the most sense, start...live in SoCal. As far as Boston goes, I think Lucchino sufficiently burned the bridge for his return.
posted by YukonGold at 07:32 AM on December 16, 2005
But the Chowderheads will over pay since they cleared out Renteria. are you &%@#ing kidding me? You couldn't be more wrong or... god damn, just wrong, man. Nomar isn't coming back to Boston. As errortastic as Renteria was last year, Edgar > Nomar, everything (on/off field and in the clubhouse) considered.
posted by jerseygirl at 07:32 AM on December 16, 2005
People think he's done, I don't know. I'd bet a couple of great seasons in the future. Its tough to overcome the injury rap, but he's a player you can take a chance on. I'd have to shake my head if the Yanks actually got him - put him at 2nd and move Cano to CF? Or left and move Matsui to CF. Who knows?
posted by sfts2 at 07:58 AM on December 16, 2005
He's a hitter - I still think he can give you 25 HRs and 80 RBI in about 125 games. But he is at best a 1st base/DH guy now. He'll hurt himself any other place (maybe the outfield).
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:07 AM on December 16, 2005
I'd have to shake my head if the Yanks actually got him - put him at 2nd and move Cano to CF? Or left and move Matsui to CF. Who knows? if the yanks got him i see him more in a super utility role. i like the proposal that the guys at nomaas gave.
Give Sheffield 20 games at DH and stick Nomar in RF. Give Matsui 15 games at DH and stick him in LF. Give Giambi 50 games at DH and stick Nomar at first. Give Rodriguez 10 games off at DH and stick Nomar at third, Give Jeter 10 games off at SS and stick Nomar at short. Give Cano 10 games off and stick Nomar at second. That's 115 games in the field.
posted by goddam at 08:20 AM on December 16, 2005
Not sure if Nomar is the type of player who could bounce around like that. Not saying he can't, just saying a situation like that is easier said than done.
posted by Fade222 at 08:38 AM on December 16, 2005
He didn't do much for the Cubs but stay injured. Buyer Beware!
posted by skydivedad at 09:00 AM on December 16, 2005
I still think he can give you 25 HRs and 80 RBI in about 125 games. Who is Nomar Garciaparra?
posted by yerfatma at 09:14 AM on December 16, 2005
I don't think Nomar is capable of being a bargain to any team. It looks like whoever gets him is going to be paying 8-9 mil for his (likely) part-time services. It seems to me that is a pretty penny for a guy without a clear cut position (although the Cubs have made it very clear he can't play shortstop anymore), who is also a major injury risk. However what is 8 or 9 mil to the Yankees with the chance to land the sexy name on the free agent market? Give me the Colts with the over and Nomar on the DL by June, here is the deed to the family farm.
posted by bigrobbieb at 11:58 AM on December 16, 2005
The Dodgers almost promised to get Grady Little, Raffie Furcal, Nomar, and Damon or Reggie Sanders. They've delivered half the promise, looks like it will be 3/4 by the ed of the day. BTW, Peter Gammons called it. He said that we'd see Nomar in a Dodgers uniform by the end of Friday.
posted by Joe88 at 12:22 PM on December 16, 2005
The awful shame of it is, one freakin' fastball into his wrist in a meaningless game at the end of the year pretty much ended his career as a future HOF shortstop. He missed most of the following season, and while competent was a shadow of his former self when he got healthy enough to put 120+ games in. Nomar was outstanding. He had 30HR as a rookie, along with 200+ hits, 98 RBI, and 122 runs... batting leadoff!!! The guy hit .372 for god's sake, won two batting titles in a row with 1.000+ OPSs, at the start of what should have been his "prime" years. He had Boston fans thrilled- he was going to be the greatest Boston player in decades: a hitter as good as Boggs, if not someday even Ted Williams (Ted even commented, "I'm looking at someone who is going to be as good as anyone who has ever played this game. I say that, and boy, I believe it, too."), and a slick-fielding shortstop to boot! I recall back in those days how clueless Jeter fans couldn't understand that Jeter wasn't fit to clean Nomar's jockstrap, much less A-Rod's- the shortstop holy trinity was decidedly uneven. Now? Fuck. How sad. Of the 3, Jeter is now the best shortstop- since A-Rod is inexplicably at 3rd, and Nomar can't hardly play a full season. Watching Nomar fall is like watching Junior. Griffey was going to topple Mays, then Ruth, the Aaron- the guy who was going to powder 50+ a year every year, with that smooth effortless .300 swing, and perform feats in centerfield like you'd never seen before. Now, his stubborn refusal to be a gym rat or conditioning freak in his early years have bit him; his knee injuries have robbed him of his leg strength, which results in a Rob Deer style of uppercut, swing-for-the-fences one dimensional power hitting that makes us yearn for the exciting player of old, the one who could race around the bases with ease, the one who slashed doubles to all fields, then popped a graceful arcing shot into the bleachers when his team seemed to need it most. It's just so depressing to see two people who were such phenomenal talents get struck down by injuries that left them a pale shadow of their former selves. And it's too small a sample size to be meaningful, but I'm pretty sure both of those players were "clean", making it all the sadder (no one cries at the loss of Jose Canseco's career, after all). Maybe they should allow players to use doctor-monitored substances currently banned by the league: one might ask if the human body is meant to take the damage of a pro sports career, and whether a carefully monitored program of these chemicals can boost a player's ability and resistance to injury/recovery time without any significant side effects.
posted by hincandenza at 12:39 PM on December 16, 2005
well said hal.
posted by ninjavshippo at 12:48 PM on December 16, 2005
The Yankees don't need Nomar for power. If healthy, his batting average and on-base percentage will be huge. He's still a fantastic, clutch hitter, and in a lineup like the Yankees have, he'll be protected anywhere they put him. There's no downside to signing him no matter how you cut it. The team's not expecting him to come in and lead them.
posted by dyams at 01:07 PM on December 16, 2005
There's no downside to signing him no matter how you cut it. How about the last two seasons, two and a half seasons, of him being often injured?
posted by jerseygirl at 02:07 PM on December 16, 2005
How about the last two seasons, two and a half seasons, of him being often injured? Then he's on the DL. They put Giambi back on first. So what, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I doubt they'll go broke because of it.
posted by dyams at 02:44 PM on December 16, 2005
one freakin' fastball into his wrist in a meaningless game at the end of the year pretty much ended his career as a future HOF shortstop. I get depressed everytime I think that. Thank you Al Reyes and thank you Brady Anderson.
posted by yerfatma at 02:51 PM on December 16, 2005
Very nice post Hal.
posted by jojomfd1 at 05:00 PM on December 16, 2005
Nomar is No More. But the Chowderheads will over pay since they cleared out Renteria. The only thing Bean town has to worry about is the Parking Lot attendent in LA, trying to corner the market on short stops and re-create Sox-west with the fast-talking Mr. Little. As for me, I look forward to buying 1/2 price Dodger tickets from pissed off season ticket holders.