San Francisco Giants
Signed P Brett Tomko to a 1-year contract, $1.5 million contract.
Good thing Brian Sabean didn’t waste $1.5 million on one of those evil, child-molesting draft picks when a player the caliber of Tomko can be acquired for the same price. If Sabean’s really having trouble figuring out what to do with the saved draft pick money, I can think of better uses than Brett Tomko, such as hiring someone to dub the entire run of Mama’s Family into Mandarin Chinese.
Most mediocre pitchers are able to sneak above league-average once in a while, but Tomko’s proven devilishly skillful at avoiding that nasty fate since his rookie year, maxing out at an ERA+ of 97 in 1998. Tomko has even proven impervious to ballpark effects, allowing 66 homers in the last 2 years playing at Qualcomm and Busch.
People say that ballplayers are spoiled nowadays, especially the stars. Brian Sabean has decided to change that and has dedicated the 2004 season to making sure Barry Bonds knows what it feels like to be working in a waste treatment plant.
Tomko, Brett - 2004 ZiPS Projection
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W L G GS IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
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9 11 31 30 196 208 102 29 58 113 4.68
Dan Szymborski
Posted: January 10, 2004 at 06:41 AM |
7 comment(s)
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I think the Olperfesser nailed this one - they get a chance to see if they can negotiate a reasonable deal with him, and if not they just non-tender him and he's back on the open market.
-- MWE
Grabbing Ortiz would be a good idea in SD, where the dropoff in MI after Alomar-Templeton is precipitous.
Ortiz is supposed to get sold to Japan (Orix).
Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~96~1004027~,00.html
True, but you see players sold off to Japan quite frequently with no claims being put in.
That would lead me to believe one of two things is true:
except I'll admit to being a smidgen confused. Usually such a player is "non-tendered" and then becomes an FA. Perez was waived and is not an FA (since he's been claimed). Maybe there's always been a waiver step between non-tendering and FA, and I never noticed. Anyway, if this is different than a standard non-tendering, then you may be right. If the Giants put themselves in an arbitration bind with Perez, they're idiots.
I still believe that Sabean is, in his own words, not an idiot. But Neifi Perez in a Giants uniform is going to erode that belief quite a bit.
This makes sense to me. If a player is being sold to Japan, this means he has agreed to go there. I can't imagine another team trying to block that through a waiver claim.
It ain't pretty, but it would be effective.
Actually, as many studies have shown, Barry would be even more valuable if he was walked every plate appearance. What the Giants really need is someone who can drive Barry in after he walks. Someone like Kent, Alfonzo, or Floyd.
Oh well, at least I can be ill all in one day now. It might work out OK depending on how he's used, but it seems like they could have at least waited on this and seen who was non-tendered, etc. Was there really that much demand for Grissom?
That's one of the funnier things I've read in a while. Thank god someone can make me laugh about this. My favorite team just signed my least favorite player.
:-(
A.
Back to the drawing board on that one. Finley just re-upped with Arizona.
Grissom: bad pickup. Too much money to spend on the short end of a platoon. As Michael said further up, if they wanted a light-hitting righty to play center, they should have stuck with Shinjo.
Of course, they have plenty of room for upgrade, but I don't forsee any high-OBP guys coming anytime soon, nor sluggers to bat behind Bonds. What is the over/under for Bonds' walk total in 2003? 200?
Given Alou's handling of Fullmer/Stevens, I don't think Snow's in much danger at all.
What did Alou do with Fullmer/Stevens other than ask that Fullmer be traded for Stevens after he fractured a coaches face swinging a bat around at the end of the prior season. Fullmer got a fair shake with the Expos....Shane Andrews was the guy who never did.
Alou is maligned unfairly. Alot of his pushing situational hitting in Montreal from '95 on was because that was the type of hitter he had. From '92 to '94 the Expos had a number of high-walk guys like Walker and DeShields. Once the firesale happened in '95 the Expos had to switch gears and change their concept because no matter how much you preach plate discipline, a guy like Orlando Cabrera or Vladimir Guererro is not going to pick it up....they like to swing the bat too much.
2) Harped endlessly about Fullmer's defense.
3) Complained about Fullmer's attitude when Fullmer had a knee injury and wanted to have it a second opinion before reporting to Ottawa.
Fullmer even had "Can't Break Me" tattooed on his bicep to celebrate getting away from Alou and Beattie.
To be fair, Fullmer's defense is bad. Still, what Felipe did with Fullmer was the cardinal sin of talent evaluation... focusing on what a player can't do to the complete exclusion of what the player can do. Or vice versa. Felipe also loved to make player evaluations based on a single skill. The endless post-White parade of crappy centerfielders in Montreal was largely due to the fact that Felipe was desperately in love with speedy outfielders, and wanted fast players without thinking for a minute whether all that speed did him any good if the player couldn't hit or field well.
Fullmer, for all that he is a deeply flawed player, is also a very useful player because he can absolutely kill rghthanded pitching, and fake first base while doing it. He can be inattentive... he even looks narcissistic to me... and he doesn't hit lefties. But even an NL team can use Brad Fullmer.
Fans in San Francisco, unless Felipe changes his act, are going to tire very quickly of his snap judgments of players.
First time I've laughed out loud at Primer, excellent line. As much grief as Sabean gets, I cannot think of any free agents that would help the Giants more than Durham and Alfonzo. Great OBP's and solid power. I would rather Neifi be on the roster than Feliz, if only for defense. Now its time to unload Livan and either Ortiz or Rueter. I would even be happy with the Ortiz + Ainsworth for Drew rumor. Do most people believe Foppert is ready? Bonser?
If Kent signs with San Francisco, that means they've found a taker for Snow. Bow your heads in prayer, Atlanta fans.
It's not that bad a deal if he comes cheap...
How many second baseman do the Giants plan on signing this offseason?
2 years $4.25 million? Martinez would certainly be cheaper than that. Between Neifi and Grissom the Giants spent over $8 million over two years. That money would be better spent Cruz, Jr.
I'm grasping at straws, I know. I mean, Dunston would have come back for nothing...
The Giants lineup would be:
Durham RF/CF
That money would have been better spent on magic beans.
Will Livan even be on the roster Opening Day?
After all, he (via his golf clubs) provided a nice little excuse to get rid of him...
Durham
Yeah, but I don't think Kent signs the same contract with San Francisco. He gave the Astros the hometown discount (he has a ranch in Texas) and he got away from Barry so he could play with some "gamers" in a right handed hitter's dream park. I base that on what he said in the post trade interviews and what Alfonzo got (more money, longer contract, much less deferred dollars).
As a Diamondback fan, I damn-well hope you are right!
Cruz the Junior is a classic candidate to be a better hitter in his 30s than he was in his 20s, just like Daddy Cruz. By the way, Cruz Jr. is a better player than Daddy Cruz was at the same age...so there is hope.
Daddy Cruz = Poor Man's Bobby Abreu (or Bobby Abreu 80s-ified).
They'll have three great OBPs at the top of the lineup, with power ranging from solid to noo-kew-lar. The rest of the lineup may struggle to post a combined OBP above .320. The first three hitters will comprise an insanely huge chunk of the offense. That being the case, why would you have the pitcher bat directly ahead of the offensive core? I might go all LaRussa and stick a guy like JT Snow in the 9th spot, so after the 1st, you don't lead into the murderer's row with a near-guaranteed out.
If the Mets let him go because of his "counting stats," then they are even bigger fools than they appear.
Durham
Points 2 and 3 are good ones, though. Cruz was not a good CF, but he'll be good in right. And he's pretty durable overall.
1)Durham
And who is the better hitter, Dunston or Perez? I'm genuinely stumped. :-)
Speaking of RH hitters, isn't Reggie Sanders still floating around out there and wouldn't he cost about $800 k right now or even accept an NRI?
Also, I'm not sure that Grissom and Benard will be a straight platoon. Alou *loves* the Marquis de Hack. I think Grissom will get the majority of playing time in CF and I wouldn't be shocked if Alou batted Grissom second in the lineup.
1) The only way the picther could take a PA away from Snow would be if the pitcher made the last out of the game. Alou would have to be the dumbest manager in the history of baseball to not pinch hit for the pitcher in this situation if the game was still in doubt.
2) With Snow batting 2nd, Alfonso 3rd, and Bonds 4th Snow would take away (162/9) 18 PA away from Alfonso and 18 more from Bonds. If Alou turned out to be the dumbest manager in the history of baseball, the pitcher would just take away 18 PA from Snow.
3) The difference between Bonds and Snow is larger than the difference between Snow and an average pitcher.
I'm not sure who is better Dunston or Perez....
I guess I'd go with Perez as actually a better hitter cause of his higher walk rate If I was pressed to pick one.
My point was that they are nearly indistinguishable like Vit and the Big Cat. But honestly, who cares of Vitello and the Big Cat who is better? Neither is good for much of anything if they aren't even good enough to send Snow to the bench and Vitello doesn't carry the ML rep to bench even Damon Minor.
Of course its unfair to his career value to compare Dunston and Neifi. btw -- Neifi swings hard all the time too....he just doesn't have any power. I still would take Neifi over Shawon now cause Neifi is likely to have an OBP over .250, Dunston isn't and I couldn't stand to put a guy out there who can't get a .250 OBP even if he does slug like .350 (vs. Neifi's .275 or so).
As to Dunston as a reliever....it would have been interesting. I think a black guy would have had a harder time pulling off the Mitch Williams wild thing routing though so I'm not sure it would have been all that long of an experiment. The guy I more wonder about is Mark Whiten. He is one of a very select group of guys to strike every batter he ever got out with 3 or more Ks.
In all of the dozens of articles that were written last year on the theme of "to whom do we compare Soriano?" I did not see anyone mention Andres, perhaps because he's a slow cornerman. But if you run your database looking for guys who hit .300 several times with awful K/BB ratios, it's Andres who keeps coming up.
You know, Felipe Alou must be Rivera's first Latino manager in the majors. Maybe he can get through to him...
Damn! That kid's tools are seductive.
Toronto Blue Jays acquire Juan Gonzalez and Hank Blalock from the Texas Rangers for Orlando Hudson and a PTBNL.
The Rangers pick up a nice 2B prospect to fill the hole once they finally give up on Young, dump an unwanted salary, and deal from excess in 3B prospects.
The Jays fill a hole in RF (Cat don't got the arm) for at least the time Juan's not broken (and are no weaker when he breaks) while they wait for Werth to prove himself, and can move F-Cat in to 2B, where he's much more valuable.
Discuss.
Moreover, they only have F-Cat for a year - they could have controlled Hudson for much longer.
In total talent, the Jays are clear winners, but in terms of positional need, I say this one is a bust.
I'm sick of ballplayers like Kevin Millar and Albert Belle refusing to be sold to a team halfway across the planet!
Spectacular career at Alabama ... selected 7th in the draft by the Royals and bought a SAAB 9-5 drop-top with his $300k bonus. Never really paned out with the Royals although he did hit a couple of homers at Yankee Stadium off of Jimmy Key back in 1996. Played briefly for the Padres back in 2000 - the same year that he was MVP of the Triple A All-Star game. Spent 2001 dominating in Japan with the Orix Blue Wave. My friends tell me he was just as good a power hitter as Mitsui over there. Spent the entire year with Montreal last year -- leading them in all offensive categories.
Spectacular career at Alabama ... selected 7th in the draft by the Royals and bought a SAAB 9-5 drop-top with his $300k bonus. Never really paned out with the Royals although he did hit a couple of homers at Yankee Stadium off of Jimmy Key back in 1996. Played briefly for the Padres back in 2000 - the same year that he was MVP of the Triple A All-Star game. Spent 2001 dominating in Japan with the Orix Blue Wave. My friends tell me he was just as good a power hitter as Mitsui over there. Spent the entire year with Montreal last year -- leading them in all offensive categories.
Spectacular career at Alabama ... selected 7th in the draft by the Royals and bought a SAAB 9-5 drop-top with his $300k bonus. Never really paned out with the Royals although he did hit a couple of homers at Yankee Stadium off of Jimmy Key back in 1996. Played briefly for the Padres back in 2000 - the same year that he was MVP of the Triple A All-Star game. Spent 2001 dominating in Japan with the Orix Blue Wave. My friends tell me he was just as good a power hitter as Mitsui over there. Spent the entire year with Montreal last year -- leading them in all offensive categories.
It worked for Embree, Witasick, Reed (and others?). Now it's Herges's turn:
Home: 21.1 IP, 24 Ks, 8 BBs, 0 HR, 1.69 ERA
looks like a win-win trade; the Giants were scrabblingly desperate for pitching help, and the Padres get a nice long-shot lottery ticket for essentially nothing.
Q: what do you call a Primate after his first A-ball game?
A: A scout
A part of me really hopes that the Orioles offer Ponson the deal he wants when he hits free agency.
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