Who had the best offseason? BOS? NYM? NYY? TOR?

[calebdead]

Now that football is over (THANK THE LORD) we can focus once again on baseball.

Anyway, hands down Boston had the best offseason of the 3. Especially their pitching and defense. Alex Gonzalez is possibly the best defensive SS in the game right now. And Lowell and Snow are GG calibre corner infielders. Not to mention Mark Loretta who is a very solid 2B.

Solidifying their CF spot with Coco Crisp also gives them some speed. Even though they don't use it.

And trading for a young arm like Beckett's was also huge. And with Palpebon, Lester, and Craig Hansen they have a good group of young pitchers. Trading and signing for Riske and Tavarez should be a nice boost to their pen. Seriously, they did a great job this offseason.

The Yankees signed Damon and got their first true leadoff hitter since Knoblauch and can now move Jeter to his more natural 2 slot. Which means Cano moves to 8 or 8. Christ our lineup is gross.

We also signed about 09347592803 + 33 = infinity relief pitchers. Love signing a filthy lefty like Myers but hate siging another ATL pitcher like Farnsworth who is just going to suck just like the other 45 other Mazzone coached pitchers who can't pitch without his guidance. Don't know what Octavio Dotel will bring. When was the last time he was healthy? Am I missing anyone that is significant. I mean, unless you think Colter Bean is worth mentioning.

The Mets did ok too. Obviously getting Delgado for only Jacobs and Pettit was a steal. Signing Wagner and Bradford shored up the bullpen some. Lo Duca trade was solid. Hated the Benson and Seo traades though. wtf were they thinking? They sacrificed two pretty solid starters for a few dinky relief pitchers. What if Pedro or Glavine goes down? Can Heilman be more than just a relief pitcher? Do they have a RP who can get lefties out other than Heilman? Who's starting at 2B? Keppinger? Matsui? Hernandez? Boone?

All in all they all improved but I don't think any of the three improved as much as Toronto did. I mean, my god. They have the best bullpen in baseball hands down. They have a very strong rotation with Halladay, Burnett, Chacin and Lilly (I forget the fifth guy) They got better offensively with Glaus, Overbay, and Molina. They're the trendy pick for division champs.

[Codica3]

I like what the Mets did this off-season but we'll see if it translates to anything during the year..

[lolahotass]

yeah.. thanks to all the above teams for taking all the marlins players.. our season is going to be a disaster.

[JonStephen]

i think the blue jays did the most to improve their team. whether or not this equates to them having the best offseason is still up in the air. the reason i say this is because to get to where they are right now, they basically maxed out their spending power so it gives them little room to manuever say they actually make a playoff run (along with the sox) later in the year.

the mets did quite a bit to improve their team also, but its a lot of the same big name free agent signing that we just dont know how its gonna turn out down the road. all i do know is it burned them in the past. what i do like about what the mets did is they focused a little more on trying to get good players versus getting good bats or rifle arms

the sox i think did a good job in the end. i know francona is a coach with his mind set on defense and pitching and this offseason showed how the sox tried to sure up some defensive liabilities. shortstop is an automatic upgrade and even though gonzalez is an offensive liability, he should benefit from a lineup where he's gonna see a lot of strikes. i'm not sold on lowell or snow but lowell might have just had a down year and if he turns into a bill mueller type hitter with his glove...who cares. snow is ehh at best. pitching i'm actually excited about to see if they can turn it around a little. we'll see with that

yanks....relief pitching, relief pitching, relief pitching. its obvious they know a few or their starters or 5 inning guys at best. not a good sign overall IMO. but, they did address their concern the right way and picked up enough relievers where at least two of them should have good years. they also got that benedict arnold muthafucker in centerfield which is an instant upgrade from whoever they had filling in the scorecard last year. i so hate that sellout

and the white sox got Thome...good move for the current world series champs

[Felix_Leiter]

they also got that benedict arnold muthafucker in centerfield which is an instant upgrade from whoever they had filling in the scorecard last year. i so hate that sellout

yea but shouldnt you reserve your anger towars red sox management.. they kinda dropped the ball on that one

[stymie]

how is damon a sellout? how many millions more did the yankees pay him than the sox offered? hes not from boston so why should he stay.

[vicman]

fucking dc council is screwing up everything! fuck them!

[nomembername]

how is damon a sellout? how many millions more did the yankees pay him than the sox offered? hes not from boston so why should he stay.

cause obviously you're only supposed to stay with one team your entire career even if they want to pay you a shit load less money then some other team

[JonStephen]

how is damon a sellout? how many millions more did the yankees pay him than the sox offered? hes not from boston so why should he stay.

because he was quoted last year during the season that a couple million extra a year wont sway him to hop ship to the yankees even if it were offered....

and lookie what he did

not to mention the douchebag shaved his beard and head the minute he got to the yankees.....hope he gets a demolished patella tendon to go along with his new look

[JonStephen]

cause obviously you're only supposed to stay with one team your entire career even if they want to pay you a shit load less money then some other team

go back to quoting the ny post....its what you're good at and its the only thing that makes you sound intelligent

[JonStephen]

yea but shouldnt you reserve your anger towars red sox management.. they kinda dropped the ball on that one

ehhh....not so as far as I know. from what i've heard they offered him exactly what they told him they would offer him come the end of the year. the yankees just pulled out their wallet and trumped them

[kfitz73]

ehhh....not so as far as I know. from what i've heard they offered him exactly what they told him they would offer him come the end of the year. the yankees just pulled out their wallet and trumped them

I don't know...

I think Damon wouldn't have left if they made him a little more of a priority. Look at what they did when Varitek was a free agent. They rolled the red carpet out for him. You never heard of any replacements mentioned. When you're in contract negotiations you ask for the moon while the team lowballs you and you meet somewhere in the middle. The Sox never budged off their initial proposal. Add to the fact that there were about a million trade proposals going around for a new CF and Damon probably didn't feel he was wanted by the Sox... I'd be willing to bet that if the Sox split the difference between what they offered and what the Yankees offered he'd still be in Boston...

[nomembername]

go back to quoting the ny post....its what you're good at and its the only thing that makes you sound intelligent

it's a business...the yanks went above and beyond what the Sox were offering him. i'd like to see you turn down the type of money he did just so you won't be considered a "sell out"

stop crying and get over it

*waits for djjon to avoid the topic and come back with some cheesy "chatroom" joke*

[JonStephen]

it's a business...the yanks went above and beyond what the Sox were offering him. i'd like to see you turn down the type of money he did just so you won't be considered a "sell out"

stop crying and get over it

*waits for djjon to avoid the topic and come back with some cheesy "chatroom" joke*

and you wonder why your babble never makes any sense unless you quote the post

"duh dee doh the yanks offered more money dum dee doh. i'd like to see you turn that down duhh dee dum. stop crying duhhh dum dum. players should play for one team their whole career. dum da dum dum dum"

doesnt matter that damon already played for the royals and a's.....but a statement tryin to discredit me by saying that i think players should stay with one team in their career makes total sense to the quotacular superstar

you even know how much that contract he signed was? go google it jackass

[nomembername]

sorry i don't know the exact numbers...what does that mean? all i know is the yanks offered him more and he took it...doesn't make him a sell out. not saying you have to like the guy for going to the yanks but like i said at the end of the day it's a business and he made what he felt was the right business decision for himself and his family.

[JonStephen]

sorry i don't know the exact numbers...what does that mean? all i know is the yanks offered him more and he took it...doesn't make him a sell out. not saying you have to like the guy for going to the yanks but like i said at the end of the day it's a business and he made what he felt was the right business decision for himself and his family.

thats not what you said....

but anyway, back to the subject

[nomembername]

it's a business...the yanks went above and beyond what the Sox were offering him. i'd like to see you turn down the type of money he did just so you won't be considered a "sell out"

the part where i said you think a guy should remain with one team was me being sarcastic in case you couldn't tell for you calling him a sell out. you just enjoy arguing with me...i understand

[calebdead]

I'm pretty sure Damon's contract was the exactly the one Matsui got: 4 years 52 million.

Anyway, you gotta remember what these guys do is a job. Most of us would leave our job(no matter how much we liked it) to take a job elsewhere if they're were offering that much more money.

Anyway, anyone here paying attention to the Clemens situation? I'm pretty sure he's not going to Texas. And he can't sign with Houston until May !st. So I think it comes down to Boston and the Yankees. wow imagine Clemens pitching in the ALCS against the Yankees wearing a Red Sox uniform

[JonStephen]

I'm pretty sure Damon's contract was the exactly the one Matsui got: 4 years 52 million.

Anyway, you gotta remember what these guys do is a job. Most of us would leave our job(no matter how much we liked it) to take a job elsewhere if they're were offering that much more money.

Anyway, anyone here paying attention to the Clemens situation? I'm pretty sure he's not going to Texas. And he can't sign with Houston until May !st. So I think it comes down to Boston and the Yankees. wow imagine Clemens pitching in the ALCS against the Yankees wearing a Red Sox uniform

here's another question....you think yankees fans would cheer him in a sox uni?

[calebdead]

I don't know...

I think Damon wouldn't have left if they made him a little more of a priority. Look at what they did when Varitek was a free agent. They rolled the red carpet out for him. You never heard of any replacements mentioned. When you're in contract negotiations you ask for the moon while the team lowballs you and you meet somewhere in the middle. The Sox never budged off their initial proposal. Add to the fact that there were about a million trade proposals going around for a new CF and Damon probably didn't feel he was wanted by the Sox... I'd be willing to bet that if the Sox split the difference between what they offered and what the Yankees offered he'd still be in Boston...

Boston never budged because they probably believed their offer was more than fair. Damon is on the decline and just because the Yankees were willing to overpay for him doesn't mean Boston has to outbid and overpay as well.

[calebdead]

here's another question....you think yankees fans would cheer him in a sox uni?

I think if Yankee fans can accept Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens then they can cheer anyone.

It may be alittle rocky at first. who knows

[kfitz73]

Boston never budged because they probably believed their offer was more than fair. Damon is on the decline and just because the Yankees were willing to overpay for him doesn't mean Boston has to outbid and overpay as well.

They overpaid to keep Varitek, who is not going to be the same player at the end of his contract. I don't think it was the money as much as it was Boston's indifference about keeping him. You never heard anything in the papers or on ESPN from Boston mgmt about how signing him was a top priority. A lot of that could have been Boston still reeling from the loss of Theo. To be honest, they looked kind of inept for a while. The epitome of that was when John Henry didn't even know Damon was leaving till it was already a done deal.

[calebdead]

They overpaid to keep Varitek, who is not going to be the same player at the end of his contract. I don't think it was the money as much as it was Boston's indifference about keeping him. You never heard anything in the papers or on ESPN from Boston mgmt about how signing him was a top priority. A lot of that could have been Boston still reeling from the loss of Theo. To be honest, they looked kind of inept for a while. The epitome of that was when John Henry didn't even know Damon was leaving till it was already a done deal.

Well, yeah. I mean, look at all the huge contracts that have been signed by players like Jeter, AROD, Manny, etc. Are any of them at the end of their contract going to be the player they were when they first signed? And Boston's overpaying for 'Tek is somewhat comparable to the Yanks grossly over paying Jeter. They are both captain/leader types who are the "face" of their respective teams. So, you almost have to pay them more than what they're worth. I don't think that is the case with Damon.

But I do think it was about the money. Boston has never really been caught up in a bidding war with the Yanks because they know they'll always lose. The Yankees offered alot more money than Boston did: 52 mil - 42 mil. 12 million dollars is alot for anyone to give up.

I do agree, however, that Boston seemed in somewhat of a daze while Epstein was gone. I think he would've resigned Damon.

I'm not sure if anything I just wrote made any sense.

[JonStephen]

Well, yeah. I mean, look at all the huge contracts that have been signed by players like Jeter, AROD, Manny, etc. Are any of them at the end of their contract going to be the player they were when they first signed? And Boston's overpaying for 'Tek is somewhat comparable to the Yanks grossly over paying Jeter. They are both captain/leader types who are the "face" of their respective teams. So, you almost have to pay them more than what they're worth. I don't think that is the case with Damon.

But I do think it was about the money. Boston has never really been caught up in a bidding war with the Yanks because they know they'll always lose. The Yankees offered alot more money than Boston did: 52 mil - 42 mil. 12 million dollars is alot for anyone to give up.

I do agree, however, that Boston seemed in somewhat of a daze while Epstein was gone. I think he would've resigned Damon.

I'm not sure if anything I just wrote made any sense.

lets put it this way....they may have lost something initially with the bat, but defensively they got just as good if not better a centerfielder in coco

i remember a play on baseball tonight where he was chasing down a shot in the gap by frank thomas and even though crisp misplayed the angle, he dove behind after running in full sprint. guys an athelete

i still hate damon though

[kfitz73]

Well, yeah. I mean, look at all the huge contracts that have been signed by players like Jeter, AROD, Manny, etc. Are any of them at the end of their contract going to be the player they were when they first signed? And Boston's overpaying for 'Tek is somewhat comparable to the Yanks grossly over paying Jeter. They are both captain/leader types who are the "face" of their respective teams. So, you almost have to pay them more than what they're worth. I don't think that is the case with Damon.

But I do think it was about the money. Boston has never really been caught up in a bidding war with the Yanks because they know they'll always lose. The Yankees offered alot more money than Boston did: 52 mil - 42 mil. 12 million dollars is alot for anyone to give up.

I do agree, however, that Boston seemed in somewhat of a daze while Epstein was gone. I think he would've resigned Damon.

I'm not sure if anything I just wrote made any sense.

I agree that in the end the money played a big part but the fact that the Yankees actually made a push to get him had just as much to do with it. Damon initially wanted 7 years for 84. Boston offered 4 years for 40. Usually in contract negotiations you would meet somewhere in between. Especially if it's a player you supposedly want to sign. Around that time Theo stepped down and all hell broke loose. They had a gaping hole at SS by trading Renteria. (he had a sucky year but is a good player and I think would have rebounded) Their closer situation was ugly and they let Millar / Olerud go so they had no 1B. They also were looking into trading Manny for about .40 cents on the dollar. At the time it looked like Boston clearly looked like it was taking a step backward. On top of all this Boston didn't budge one cent on Damon. So if you were in Damon's shoes, would you be jumping at the prospect of returning to a team seemingly in decline that's not making much of an effort to bring you back? I wouldn't... So along come the Yankees who give him a substantially better offer give him the whole "New York Treatment" and they hammer out a deal. If Boston upped the offer to say 4 years and say 46-48 million, I still think he'd be a Red Sock...