Category: Fantasy Baseball (Page 25 of 48)

      Nobody wants Manny Ramirez?

      December 10, 2008 /

      Now that CC Sabathia is set to become a Yankee, the attention will start to turn to finding Manny Ramirez a home. According to YAHOO! Sports, there’s no market for Manny at this point.

      Manny RamirezThe Dodger offer, the only known offer, is for $45 million over two years.

      “Was for $45 million over two years,” one Dodgers executive corrected.

      It’s off the table, along with the third-year option that, if exercised, would have brought the contract’s worth to $60 million.

      The Dodgers are still in on Ramirez. Their offer could be reheated and reserved. But, they could in the coming days or weeks re-sign Furcal and find themselves up to their credit lines in Sabathia, and quickly turn away. So, what of the others out there?

      The Angels? Teixeira comes first, Sabathia second. Manny?

      “It’s not a likely scenario,” Angels GM Tony Reagins said. “We think there are opportunities we see that are more important at this time.”

      The Red Sox? Please.

      The Yankees? Sabathia first, then Burnett and Lowe, then more pitching, then Teixeira, then Manny. GM Brian Cashman believes nearly all the problems of recent seasons can be fixed on the mound. They could eventually turn to Manny, but it sounds like a distant priority.

      The Mets? GM Omar Minaya loves Manny. But he’s just added Francisco Rodriguez and he needs at least one starting pitcher and his owner is cutting payroll, not adding, say, $75 million over three years.

      I thought for sure that the Yankees would lose out on Sabathia and turn their attention to Manny, but obviously it’s a long shot that Ramirez winds up in the Bronx now. A potential sleeper candidate could be the San Francisco Giants. They’ve got plenty of pitching both at the big league level and in the minors, yet absolutely nothing in terms of bats. (Unless you consider Randy Winn, Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand has heavy hitters.)

      Buuuuuuuuuut, I don’t know if the Giants will come up with the money. And compared to their needs in the infield, the Giants need another outfielder like Barry Bonds needs another federal charge filed against him. But if no market is established for Manny in the upcoming weeks, maybe the G-Men will make a move and finally get a true cleanup hitter back in the lineup.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Yankees ready to sign CC Sabathia

      December 10, 2008 /

      There was talk about wanting the opportunity to hit, to play for his home state and the desire to be a Dodger. But in the end, it was all about the money.

      CC Sabathia is on the verge of signing a seven-year contract with the New York Yankees worth at least $160 million according to ESPN.

      CC SabathiaAfter three straight days of face-to-face meetings between GM Brian Cashman and Sabathia, the big lefty decided he wants to spend the next six years of his career as a Yankee. The decision came late last night after Cashman flew to see Sabathia at his home in San Francisco. By the time the meeting was concluded, Sabathia had informed the Yankees that he had made his decision to call New York his baseball home, the Post has learned.

      There are still minor hurdles to finalize, notably that Sabathia must pass a physical. But after so much belief that Sabathia was stalling because he wanted to avoid New York, he agreed to the largest pitching contract in major league history, at least $140 million.

      It means that the Yankees have lassoed the player they were building their offseason around: An ace in his prime. Sabathia is just 28, and last year between the Indians and Brewers he went 17-10 with a 2.70 ERA. The previous season he won the AL Cy Young. Now he is the first major new piece to be put into the new Yankee Stadium.

      Should we be surprised? No. Money talks and the Yankees have a lot of it. Maybe he had other reasons to sign with the Bronx Bombers that aren’t being reported yet, but it really appears that the cash trumped all.

      You have to hand it to the Yankees. They had to get pitching this offseason and they landed the biggest fish in the free agency pond. But it’ll be interesting to see if CC goes the way of Mike Hampton, Barry Zito and all of the other pitchers who got massive free agency deals and then effectively became dog crap. Either way, the Yankees got their guy.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Cubs could land Jake Peavy in 4-team deal

      December 9, 2008 /

      NBC Sports is reporting that Jake Peavy could be heading to the Chicago Cubs as part of a four-team trade.

      Jake PeavyThe Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the world champion Phillies are one of the additional teams. Philadelphia reportedly would receive utilityman Mark DeRosa from the Cubs for a pair of prospects, one of them possibly being lefthander J.A. Happ. The Cubs would then flip those prospects to the Padres as part of the package for Peavy. The Union-Tribune reported that the Padres would get DeRosa first, then flip him to the Phillies for the prospects. Either way, DeRosa would wind up in Philly as insurance for injured second baseman Chase Utley, and the Padres would get the prospects.

      The Union-Tribune reported that the Baltimore Orioles also are involved in what Towers called the most complicated trade negotiation of his 14-year tenure as Padres GM. San Diego likely would obtain Orioles lefthander Garrett Olson for Cubs outfielder Felix Pie, after Pie is sent to the Orioles in the package for Peavy. Olson-for-Pie has long been rumored.

      Cubs reliever Kevin Hart, another name frequently tied to the Peavy talks, might also be headed to San Diego. Righthanded starter Jason Marquis, whom the Cubs reportedly are shopping, is unlikely to be part of the deal.

      Interesting enough, ESPN cites a source close to the situation that says the Cubs are nowhere close to dealing for Peavy:

      First, the source said, the Cubs’ “No. 1 priority” is adding a left-handed-hitting outfielder, not a starting pitcher. And the team isn’t close to acquiring that bat. The Cubs have interest in a half-dozen outfielders who meet that description, with free agents Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu seemingly at the top of that list.

      Second, the Cubs’ muddled ownership situation leaves Hendry and his baseball people unsure about whether they would be permitted to take on a contract as large as Peavy’s. The 27-year-old right-hander will make $11 million next season and has as much as $81 million remaining over the next five years if his team picks up his 2013 option.

      Hmm. Are the Cubs just trying to protect themselves by not making the news public or are the Peavy-to-Chicago reports a fabrication?

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Vegas puts halt to insider trading at MLB’s winter meetings

      December 9, 2008 /

      If you were hoping to put a little cash on your favorite MLB team this winter in the wake of them signing a big name free agent, you’re out of luck. The largest oddsmaker in the world – Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) – is halting/suspending/limiting all action on futures (i.e. the team’s odds to win a pennant or World Series) until after baseball’s winter meetings.

      After an inquiry from the Herald, Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) decided to issue an alert at 4:05 p.m. EST to sportsbooks at casinos in Nevada and around the world that the potential for insider information arising from the meetings posed too much of a threat for gaining an unfair advantage.

      “Major League Baseball’s annual meetings are under way here in Las Vegas through Thursday afternoon,” the alert stated. “LVSC is recommending to lower limits on futures or take them completely off boards during the meetings. News of trades or free agent signings will be known prior to being made public.”

      Shortly after the alert was issued, the sportsbook at the Bellagio, where the meetings are being held, took action. Currently, the sportsbook is taking bets on the odds of a team winning the World Series and either the AL or NL pennant. This morning, a bet of up to $500 could be made. After the alert, any bet of $100 or more needed to be investigated before it was allowed.

      This is a pretty smart move. Vegas doesn’t want anyone to have an unfair advantage with information coming out of the meetings and onto the strip, and they also don’t want any bad press with a major sport hosting a major event right in their backyard. Some gamblers might not like it because the ones staying on the strip in hopes of getting inside information (or what they believe to be inside information) are looking for every advantage they can get against the sports books. But Vegas is smart for playing this one safe.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      CC Sabathia wants to be a Dodger

      December 9, 2008 /

      According to general manager Ned Colletti, free agent pitcher CC Sabathia wants to be in Dodger blue next season.

      CC SabathiaDodgers general manager Ned Colletti told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark on Monday that he ran into the free agent on Sunday night in a hotel lobby and the left-hander told him that he wants to be a Dodger.

      Although the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers have made offers to the prize of the free-agent class, speculation continued that Sabathia would want to play near the home he is building in Southern California.

      Sabathia did meet with the Yankees on Sunday and Monday, and his representatives spoke with the Brewers on Monday.

      According to a baseball man with knowledge of the meeting, Sabathia wanted to meet with the Yankees on Sunday because he’s “trying to gather information” about the franchise and New York.
      Sabathia and his agent, Greg Genske, met for about 2½ hours on Sunday with Yankees GM Brian Cashman, manager Joe Girardi and adviser Reggie Jackson. And the main focus of the conversation, the source said, was whether Sabathia wants to be a Yankee.

      Cashman met alone with Sabathia and his representatives on Monday.

      Many insist that Sabathia will eventually take the money and wind up in New York, but his desire to hit and play in his home state seem to be more appealing at this point. The Dodgers seem like a perfect fit for the three things Sabathia wants – his home state, money and the opportunity to hit. The other two California teams that have shown interest – the Angels and Giants – only seem to be trying to drive up the market value for the ace with the Yankees and Dodgers being the two main players in the Sabathia sweepstakes.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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