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Thursday, February 11, 2010

ESPN: Carlos Delgado may opt to retire

Former New York Mets cleanup hitter Carlos Delgado will consider retirement if he does not receive an adequate offer to play next season, Puerto Rico newspaper Primera Hora reported Wednesday.

“I have to analyze well all the options that I have and, another important thing, I’m not going to sign a contract just to say I signed. You have to look for the best situation for yourself at the moment,” Delgado said during a news conference to promote a high school baseball tournament in the U.S. territory.

Delgado, 37, has 473 homers and 1,512 RBIs in 17 seasons in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins and Mets.

Since becoming a free agent in November, Delgado said he has seen interest in some teams but has had no solid offers.

“There are teams of both leagues, but I’m not going to go crazy just to say I signed. When the moment comes and the right situation comes up, I’ll know what to do,” Delgado said. “We are talking. There are a few points that have yet to be discussed.”

...“If there is no work, I’ll retire. That’s not Plan A, but if I don’t get any work, I can’t do anything about it. I am staying positive and the lines of communication are open to try to create a situation,” Delgado said, according to Primera Hora. “If nothing comes up, Crash Boat [beach] is in Aguadilla.”

Las Ruinas is calling!

Repoz Posted: February 11, 2010 at 04:21 PM | 29 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. JRVJ (formerly Delta Socrates) Posted: February 11, 2010 at 04:41 PM (#3458655)

BUH-bye.

2. Crispix Attacks Posted: February 11, 2010 at 04:48 PM (#3458663)

"Crash Boat"?

Aguadilla is best known to visitors for its beaches. Aguadilla's most popular surfing beaches include Crash Boat, famous for it's crystal clear waters, Gas Chambers, and Wilderness.

Who are the advertising wizards...

3. RJ in TO Posted: February 11, 2010 at 04:52 PM (#3458668)

Come on, AA. Get on the phone and make an offer. Give the fans what they want.

4. Crispix Attacks Posted: February 11, 2010 at 04:53 PM (#3458669)

By now Ricciardi would have given Delgado whatever the contract was he gave Frank Thomas. In fact, Ricciardi may have been fired specifically to prevent that from happening.

5. deputydrew Posted: February 11, 2010 at 04:54 PM (#3458670)

I guess I shouldn't have given him a two year contract in my Strat league. Was hoping for a 400 AB comeback season. And why wouldn't the Giants give him a shot? Maybe he doesn't want to play on a cheap deal, but if he did, I'd love to see him in black and orange.

6. RJ in TO Posted: February 11, 2010 at 04:55 PM (#3458673)

And why wouldn't the Giants give him a shot?

Because they don't have a DH position. His hip is in rough enough shape that he apparently can't play the field at an acceptable level anymore.

7. RollingWave Posted: February 11, 2010 at 05:18 PM (#3458689)

isn't there some one that could use a DH?

.... now that I think about it.... wow, really, not a whole lot of teams is actually without a better DH. maybe Texas ? KC ? White Sox ? Detroit?

8. John Northey Posted: February 11, 2010 at 05:31 PM (#3458700)

Given how this year could easily be very painful here in Toronto I'd love a swan song for Delgado. Trade Overbay for anything, put Lind at 1B and Delgado DH with Ruiz mixed in as a RH extra - put Lind in LF whenever Snider needs a day off and Ruiz or Delgado at 1B. Defense will be poor, but at least it'll be entertaining. Mix in new guys whenever needed.

It would be funny if Delgado got to 493 HR's and ties another guy who started his career here in McGriff.

9. Home Run Teal & Black Black Black Gone! Posted: February 11, 2010 at 05:45 PM (#3458705)

Seattle?

10. Walt Davis Posted: February 11, 2010 at 05:59 PM (#3458712)

By now Ricciardi would have given Delgado whatever the contract was he gave Frank Thomas. In fact, Ricciardi may have been fired specifically to prevent that from happening.

That contract was 2/$18 if I remember right and Toronto got a 125 OPS+ season (624 PA), a horrible 2-week slump (seriously, 16 games ... you cut bait on Thomas after 16 games?) and then Oakland got 55 games of 105 OPS+ out of him, then he was hurt. As 2/$18 contracts go, that's hardly a disaster. As Ricciardi contracts go, that was a brilliant success. :-) (I'm kidding, other than Wells, bad contracts weren't that big a problem during his tenure)

11. Home Run Teal & Black Black Black Gone! Posted: February 11, 2010 at 06:07 PM (#3458715)

And other than the Titanic, it was a good year for passenger freight.

12. DCW3 Posted: February 11, 2010 at 06:26 PM (#3458728)

Come on, AA. Get on the phone and make an offer. Give the fans what they want.

I think Delgado'd probably retire rather than go back to AA.

13. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: February 11, 2010 at 06:32 PM (#3458731)

He was only around for two regular-season plate appearances in 1993, but I think he's the last active member of the Blue Jays World Series teams.

14. DCW3 Posted: February 11, 2010 at 06:41 PM (#3458741)

He was only around for two regular-season plate appearances in 1993, but I think he's the last active member of the Blue Jays World Series teams.

David Weathers pitched three innings for the '92 Jays.

15. Greg Franklin Posted: February 11, 2010 at 06:59 PM (#3458752)

Were Weathers and Delgado in uniform and in the dugout during those series? It was so long ago....

16. RJ in TO Posted: February 11, 2010 at 07:01 PM (#3458755)

Were Weathers and Delgado in uniform and in the dugout during those series? It was so long ago....

Delgado wasn't on the WS roster, if that's what you're asking. I don't know about Weathers, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't either.

17. Petooter: 11'6" 355 lbs of scrap and grit Posted: February 11, 2010 at 07:19 PM (#3458773)

not a whole lot of teams is actually without a {better} DH. maybe Texas ? KC ? White Sox ? Detroit?

I think the problem is that the word I bracketed is optional for some teams. Texas and Chicago already signed their retread hitters for this year (Vlad Guerrero and Andruw Jones, respectively), so wouldn't have space to carry another guy who can't play the field. Likewise the M's resigned Griffey, the A's resigned Cust, and the Angels and O's picked up Matsui and Atkins for the role.

The Tigers have a lot of moving parts in the OF as well as a couple guys who need a lot of days off from defense (Guillen, Ordonez, Cabrera), so don't really have roster space for a LHB DH.

The Royals already have Jose Guillen pushed off a starting OF spot as their presumptive DH; I imagine Butler/Fields will get ABs there as well.

It looks to me like the team that could actually use a player like Delgado the most would be the Twins, by letting Kubel play a corner OF and either moving Delmon to the bench or trying to see if Cuddyer would move back to the IF, pushing Harris off a starting spot.

Of course, for as few openings as there are out there for aging sluggers with no glove, Delgado is competing with Damon, Dye, Thome, Branyan, Blalock, Garrett Anderson, and so forth.

I'll admit I always think it's a shame when I see a number like 473. I always liked Delgado, too.

18. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: February 11, 2010 at 07:29 PM (#3458786)

It looks to me like the team that could actually use a player like Delgado the most would be the Twins

...

Delgado is competing with Damon, Dye, Thome, Branyan, Blalock, Garrett Anderson, and so forth

The Twins signed Thome, so cross one name off that competition list. Also cross one team off the possible destination list.

19. John DiFool2 Posted: February 11, 2010 at 10:07 PM (#3458905)

No discussion of his Hall chances, so I guess the consensus is he doesn't make the 5% cut? McGriff is comparable, but better, and only got ~20% this year.

20. Kiko Sakata

Posted: February 11, 2010 at 10:22 PM (#3458916)

No discussion of his Hall chances, so I guess the consensus is he doesn't make the 5% cut?

I could maybe see him slipping past 5% for a year or two a'la Harold Baines or Willie McGee (seriously, McGee got exactly 5.0% of the vote his first year on the ballot). But, yeah, unless the BBWAA decides that he would have been the best first baseman in baseball for a decade if all of the guys better than him hadn't been dirty, stinking, steroid-shooting drug monkey cheaters, I can't see Delgado getting any kind of traction in HOF voting, especially if he retires short of 500 home runs.

21. Dan Szymborski

Posted: February 11, 2010 at 10:39 PM (#3458928)

Delgado used a lot of words to say "If I ain't starting, I ain't departing."

22. Harvey Berkman Posted: February 11, 2010 at 10:43 PM (#3458932)

where does he rank vs. orlando cepeda and tony perez, should hie call it quits?

23. Josh1 Posted: February 11, 2010 at 11:15 PM (#3458945)

Some WAR comps
W Clark 57.4
Olerud 56.6
Cash 52.9
Giambi 52.7
McGriff 50.5
Perez 50.3
Grace 47
Cepeda 46.6
Staub 45
Hodges 44.4
Delgado 43.9
Jose Canseco 41.9
Rice 41.5
Mattingly+Boog 39.8

24. formerly dp Posted: February 11, 2010 at 11:37 PM (#3458958)

This would make me very unhappy. I'd really like to see him get to 500. Delgado's always been a good guy, even when catching a ton of #### in Toronto from JP in his last couple of years there. 2008 was one of those "don't mistake an injury-related decline for an age-related one" moments- every Met fan was ready to release him, then he went apeshit on the league and ended up with 38 HRs. I'm curious to see if he could go close to .350/.500 again this year as a full-time DH; he was hitting well last year before th hip trouble. Why the Jays aren't making this happen is just beyond me...

25. Walt Davis Posted: February 12, 2010 at 12:11 AM (#3458976)

Certainly comps well to Cepeda who had a career of about equal length -- but of course Cepeda wasn't elected by the writers and he had the advantage of an MVP and RoY. Perez remains a freak case -- much longer career but little extra value.

26. SoSH U at work Posted: February 12, 2010 at 12:25 AM (#3458985)

(seriously, 16 games ... you cut bait on Thomas after 16 games?)

IIFC, the reason they cut him so early was because they feared he was done AND they didn't want to get close to triggering the option for a third-year to trigger. And that if he enjoyed some modest rebound as the summer went along, it would become harder to release him without the union fighting the move.

27. crict Posted: February 12, 2010 at 02:41 AM (#3459050)

Trivia:

What do Hank Aaron, Carlos Delgado, Jorge Posada, Ken Caminiti and Brian Schneider have in common?

28. Russlan will never be fond of Jason Bay Posted: February 12, 2010 at 02:53 AM (#3459061)

Delgado is one of the classiest athletes that I've followed and it'll make me sad for a moment when he retires. I still think he can be a real asset as a DH as he was hitting even last season.

29. RollingWave Posted: February 12, 2010 at 03:08 AM (#3459073)

it looks unlikely, though if anyone of these borderline guys could make a Rice like run Delgado would be as good of a choie as any.

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ESPN: Carlos Delgado may opt to retire

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