Feb
28
2009
Updates from around the league…
Juan Cruz has finally signed, not to the Twins, but to a rival in their division, the Royals! Who could have seen that coming? The Royals have spent a lot on flame throwers with no control this winter, giving 9.5 MM to Kyle Farnsworth and 6 MM to Cruz. This deal also comes with a club option for the third year. The Royals are quietly moving up, who knows, next year when Moustakas and Hosmer are ready, they have themselves a nice looking ballclub (a la Rays of 08?)
Curt Shilling is thinking about returning to the big leagues. He says he wants to play for a contending team who hasn’t one a championship, the Cubs or the Rays. Money is not an issue he says, but he may not come back this year even. He will make his decision in the next few weeks.
The Cubs have signed Corey Koskie, an ex-Twin 3B, to a minor league deal.
The Red Sox are not interested in signing Pedro Martinez, who is pitching for the Dominican Republic for the World Baseball Classic as a tryout for MLB teams. I think he will end up with the Pirates just to find a team and then if he pitches well, be trade bait to a contender looking for a veteran (same with Randy Johnson if the Giants don’t do well)
Feb
28
2009
Johan Santana has been deemed “Out Indefinitely” due to a sore elbow. He was supposed to start yesterday but was scratched and move to this Tuesday. He has also been scratched from that start and taking it easy now. Jerry Manuel says that this is nothing new with Johan and he should be OK. I am going to assume that because of his knee surgery, his offseason routine was interrupted so he is not on a normal schedule. This would throw off his arm and possibly cause soreness. That is my optimistic view. Johan was 16-6 last year with around a 2 and a half ERA. He was 3rd in the CY Young vote and cold have won it had his bullpen not blown 7 leads for him that were not even close!
Feb
27
2009
Last night, Manny Ramirez turned down another 2 year offer, worth 45 million. The problem this time was that the money was to be deferred.
Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times explains this:
Under the terms of the contract that Ramirez was offered by the Dodgers on Wednesday, he would’ve received $10 million this year. And by exercising the option for the second year, he would’ve received $10 million in 2010.
Ramirez, who turns 37 in May, would’ve been paid the remaining $25 million over the next three years without any added interest. He would’ve received $10 million in 2011, $10 million in 2012 and $5 million in 2013 .
Manny has stated today that had the money not been deferred he would have accepted the deal. This guy is NUTS. He already made 160 million from his last deal, what does it matter if he makes 45 in 2 years, or over the course of 5 years.
Other updates around the MLB…
Nomar Garciaparra is considering retirement. The Phillies are no longer interested in him, but he may sign with the A’s for a 1 year deal. It is either one or the other for Nomar.
Finally, the Phillies have released Adam Eaton. He had a huge 25 MM contract. The Phillies still have to pay him 8.5 MM, but it is well worth it to just get rid of him.
Johan Santana was scratched from his Friday start due to elbow soreness. This is likely a result of a late start due to his knee surgery. Nothing to get worked up about here, he will still win the CY Young.
Feb
26
2009
The Dodgers have made Free Agent Outfielder Manny Ramirez a new offer. Well, new terms to an old offer is a better way to put it.
The contract would be a 2 year deal, worth 45 million dollars.
The first year would pay out 25 million, and the 2nd deal would pay out 20 million.
The 2nd year is a player option so Manny could walk if he felt he could get more next winter in possibly better economic times.
If Manny gets injured this year, his 2nd year of the contract becomes GUARANTEED.
The Twins have ended talks with RP Free Agent Juan Cruz. Talks of a sign and trade died off because they never started. Cruz rejected the offer before the trade talks began.
Many teams are signing up their non arbitration eligible young stars. The list is too long, but notable names such as Geovany Soto, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and Josh Hamilton have signed in the past few days.
Jose Rijo has been fired from the Nationals. This is the guy who recruited E. Gonzalez, the player who was “19″ but turned out to be 23.
Feb
25
2009
And the Major League Baseball season has truly started. My Yankees played their first game today and won 6-1. Alex Rodriguez homered in his 2nd bat and heard on SportsCenter that he got a standing ovation!
Andy Marte, once top prospect from 2004-06, has cleared waivers and will stay with the Indians triple A team.
Duaner Sanchez may be cut by April 1. His fastball has dipped below 90 MPH and cutting him would save the Mets seventy five percent of his contract and only need to pay him under 500K.
Buster Olney thinks the biggest thing keeping teams away from Manny Ramirez was his attitude in Boston. I think it is his monetary demands, but I am sure it is a mix of both sides.
Joe Borowski has retired after a long career. He was not signed this season and choose to hang up the spikes.
The Rangers and Josh Hamilton are working a contract extension hopefully. He has really only had 2 years MLB experience so the contract should be around 4-5 years for under 50 MM. However, since he is very old for arbitration due to his case, I think he should test the market and get his huge contract now if he repeats next year.
Feb
24
2009
Baseball America has published its Top 100 prospects list. This comes out every year and is very influential in the prospecting card world. When a player makes this list, and jumps to a higher spot, or gets a great ranking, a lot of times his card will go up. Here are some of the highlight rankings:
#1 Matt Wieters
#2 David Price
#3 Colby Rasmus
#4 Tommy Hanson
#5 Jason Heyward
#6 Travis Snider
#7 Brett Anderson
#8 Cameron Maybin
#9 Madison Bumgarner
#10 Neftali Feliz
#17 Lars Anderson
#21 Rick Porcello
#23 Justin Smoak
#27 Matt LaPorta
#31 Derek Holland
#38 Jesus Montero
#40 Brett Wallace
#45 Tim Alderson
#47 Wilmer Flores
#57 Greg Halman
#61 Dayan Viciedo
#85 Kyle Skipworth
#87 Freddie Freeman
Feb
23
2009
Here are some of the latest news in the Prospecting world:
Here is an update on my Bowman Chrome Draft 2007 Blue Refractor set. I only need 2 MORE! I need Todd Frazier and Nick Schmidt Autos! That is it for the 94 card set! I will post it all complete when it is complete.
Donruss has brought its known football line Contenders to the diamond. This is a great set, although many people hate the design. The SP list has been released and cards are going crazy. Prime example is Shooter Hunt. His card sold for $3.00 and now that he is an SP his card sold for $250.00!! Other notable SPs are Dayan Viciedo, and Jesus Montero. The set is huge among set collectors and once the full SP info is totally public, the cards may even rise some more.
Here are some of the latest news in the MLB world:
A radio in LA is reporting that Manny Ramirez will be a Dodger by the end of the week. The deal is supposedly a 2 year deal with a 3rd year incentive laced deal. Of course, this is pure speculation.
Looks like Nady and Swisher are staying put as Cashman hasn’t gotten any offers he liked.
Odalis Perez has been cut by the Nationals. His hold out and not returning calls didn’t help him and the Nats cut him.
Feb
22
2009
Here are the latest Major League Baseball Updates…
Garret Anderson has reached a contract agreement with the Atlanta Braves. The deal is a one year deal worth 2.5 million dollars. The deal comes only a few days after they did not sign Ken Griffey Jr. He is already en route to the Braves and should report tomorrow.
The Twins are not close to a deal with free agent RP Juan Cruz. They were trying to work a deal with the Diamondbacks to have a “sign and trade” deal that would not cost the Twins their first round pick for signing him. They were thought to be close however news today says that they are not close and it is unlikely something will get done now. Of course if Cruz decides to sit out, he can sign in June and
Odalis Perez is still holding out and is no longer returning calls. He feels he is being lowballed and wants a major league deal that is guaranteed.
The Phillies are likely to pass on free agents Nomar Garciaparra and Joe Biemel. Nomar has been linked to the Athletics.
Feb
21
2009
Updates from around the league…
The Twins are busy today. They have reached an accord with Joe Crede, likely for less than the 7 MM that he was wanting. No contract details are out yet, but those should come out soon. Not only that, the Twins are trying to shore up their bullpen after adding Luis Ayala. They have made an offer to Type A Free Agent Juan Cruz. The deal would be a sign and trade with the D-Backs so that the Twins do not have to lose their coveted first round pick. If Cruz accepts the deal, the teams will have 48 hours to work out a trade.
Jon Lester says he wants to be a Red Sox player for life. He hopes to work out a long term deal. It is likely he will be the next to receive a long term deal after young players Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia signed long term deals this off-season. They are doing a great job of signing their young guns to long term deals.
The Rays have signed Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal. Although Izzy kind of folded last year, I think it is a great deal and could be a very good deal for them if Izzy is still able to get people out. He wouldn’t be the closer if he makes the team, but he does have experience and could mentor Grant Balfour.
David Ortiz and Robinson Cano have stated they both attened the gym run by Angel Prisenal. Prisenal is a steroids-linked trainer.
The Rangers have signed P Kris Benson to a minor league deal.
Feb
20
2009
Well, this has been a stellar week at The Arena. With the merge of TTA and Cardboard Collectors, we have doubled our membership and things are busy around the site. We have just installed the long awaited feedback system with the trade manager coming soon.
As promised, we will be having the return of “Deal or No Deal” this Sunday night in the chatroom. Should be a huge crowd, since Sunday evenings are set aside as trade night, and with this contest added, it may be standing room only. Come early and stay late. If you need more info, look here: Link
rgage’s NASCAR contest continues into week 2 of the season. Great chance to win some awesome prizes and easy to play. You need to get in on this. Find out the particulars here: Link
The site’s latest group break is for 3 boxes of 08 Donruss Gridiron Gear and 3 boxes of Donruss Threads football. That’s right 6 boxes total. And it’s only $37.50 for 2 teams. that’s a lot of cards for not much cost. Details can be found here: http://www.thetradersarena.com/vbul/…9213#post19213
Hey, want to get some great cards and help the site at the same time? Check out this site auction for a Matt Ryan Patch card #/25 and some dang good rookies thrown in: Link
We just started a referrals contest. Great return here for very little work. Win a hobby box valued at $100 and other great prizes. Remember the more members we have, the more trades we can have:
That’s the highlights for the week here at the Traders Arena. Congrats go out to hoser for being chosen as January 2009 Member of the Month. His contributions here are much appreciated. Keep on trading and let’s bring in all the members we can find. Have a good week.
