Kent Mercker:

18.0 innings vs. lefties

Bong had been struggling of late. In fact, Bong was just allowing "too many hits." Mercker represents a tangible improvement this year for a bullpen looking for reliable arms to get to Smoltz.

As for Belisle, that is a very steep price for what may be half a year of a middle reliever. Often when the Braves trade a young pitcher, they know something about that young pitcher that we all don't, so perhaps this one works out. That is, if it is in fact true that Belisle is the PTBNL, I haven't seen any true confirmation of that.

"That is, if it is in fact true that Belisle is the PTBNL, I haven't seen any true confirmation of that. "

I just saw it today. Pity. I always liked Belise (though I'm not sure why exactly).

The Chicago Tribune is reporting 1 year, $3M.

Its $3M guaranteed and another $4.5M in incentives based on PA. If Edgar plays all year he will make a little more than $7M.

Thus begins the David DeJesus Experience for Kansas City.

Whoooooo!

I hope my blog isn't too mean and bitter to Raul.

No UL, I think you hit it on the head. Didn't ol' stand Pat stick around as an advisor or something to prevent just this kind of thing?

If they were going to sign him, they could've at least waited until the Royals declined arbitration.

God, this is a bad deal. Raul Ibanez is the new Terrence Long.(mediocre player with an immovable contract).

One question, couldn't the M's have waited to see if the Royals would offer arbitration. If the Royals didn't, it wouldn't have cost a draft pick. This is like the 3rd year in a row that the M's have lost their first round draft pick.

I thought the vitriol toward this deal was a bit much until I saw the price. Yowza, $4 mil/year? That and giving up the picks is just ridiculous. You've got to at least wait and make sure KC is going to offer him arbitration. Why not spend $6 mil or so and get Cameron instead.

Bad move for a decent player, the kind of player I usually root for.

Interesting move and one that was made way to early. I'm pretty sure there aren't teams knocking down Ibanez' door.

For KC, Ken Harvey and Dee Brown have to be happy.

This is liked Mabry -- squared.

When Raul played in Seattle before, they gave him plenty of chances to succeed in various roles and against different types of pitchers. He never seemed to be all that comfortable here in the cold confines, and I thought they gave him about 150 PAs more than they ever needed to know he was not a starter.

In his defense, he may have learned soemthing about hitting major league he didn't know before that will stick. And this team needs at least one big (or two so-so) LH poppers. Olerud will never be that guy, so if you get one that's readily available, where are you gonna find one for either LF or 3b? I think they took the easy way out in the decision. Why the $$ were so high is a complete enigma. Perhaps they will luck out for a year and he'll perform the way he did on the road in 2003.

Oracle...I think you were a little too kind.

This is like Mabry -- squared.

When Raul played in Seattle before, they gave him plenty of chances to succeed in various roles and against different types of pitchers. He never seemed to be all that comfortable here in the cold confines, and I thought they gave him about 150 PAs more than they ever needed to know he was not a starter.

In his defense, he may have learned soemthing about hitting major league he didn't know before that will stick. And this team needs at least one big (or two so-so) LH poppers. Olerud will never be that guy, so if you get one that's readily available, where are you gonna find one for either LF or 3b? I think they took the easy way out in the decision. Why the $$ were so high is a complete enigma. Perhaps they will luck out for a year and he'll perform the way he did on the road in 2003.

Oracle...I think you were a little too kind.

It's a trap!

If somebody signs Mayne before December 7th. Then we get more draft picks. Whooooo!

OPS+ is just the ratio of the player's OPS to the league OPS. An OPS+ of 100 is, therefore, average.

AFTER adjusting the league OPS for the player's park effects -- i.e. an 800 OPS in Dodgers Stadium (pitchers park) will yield a much higher OPS+ than an 800 OPS in Coors Field (extreme hitters park).

As hinted above, it's hardly a perfect measure, but it's quick and easy and right there at baseball-reference.com and it at least adjusts for league and park context. Other fancier measures will (1) try to do a better job of measuring production than simple OPS and (2) adjust for park, league, AND position.

"Positional value is important for every meaningful offensive statistic."

No it's not. A number of metrics already factor it in.

BTW, if yer just getting into SABR stuff, isn't it a little presumptuous to call yourself moneyball?

Dan, "apparently" you gotta brush up on your use/mention distinction.

BTW, if yer just getting into SABR stuff, isn't it a little presumptuous to call yourself moneyball?

What a snide comment.

Gov. Hogg of Texas named a daughter Ima. Ima Hogg never married and lived to a ripe old age as a prominent socialite/philanthopist in Houston. That much is clear. I was never sure if the claim that Ima had a sister named Ura was truth or myth.

But is Cameron worth paying $4m/year to Raul Ibanez, in addition to what you'll be paying him? The M's should definately keep Cameron if they can, but there are going to be enough OF FAs that they shouldn't go out of their way to keep him from leaving.

"But is Cameron worth paying $4m/year to Raul Ibanez, in addition to what you'll be paying him?"

What's Cameron likely to get on the market or if they offer him arb?

I'll be shocked if Cammy doesn't get $8M.

Cameron made 7 million this year, there is no way he comes back to Seattle cheaper than that. Heck, if they offer him arbitration, and he accepts, he could point out to Torii Hunter's and Erstad's contracts and argue he deserves a raise. (Both of those contracts are for 32 million/4 years).

Seriously, was Ibanez significantly better than Sanders or White last year? Both of them were playing for <$3M per.

I wonder if this means the Mariners are going to try and make Rafael Soriano a starter?

I think Hawkins was the far better deal for the Cubs than Guardado for the M's.

This is actually something of a weird deal.

It's really a one-year deal, but has two (apparently) mutual option years attached to it...

GMoney-- I agree totally with what the Twins will/should do the rest of the offseason, except I think Tejada will go for more than your estimate. How about Rich Aurilia in his place? I think the easiest way for the Twins to improve would be to acquire their first ML-caliber middle infielder since Knoblauch. And how sweet would Rhodes be in Eddie's spot? I also wouldn't rule out a Mike Jackson/Mike Fetters type signing to fill out the pen, and a Kenny Rogers-type for the rotation (the real McCoy, perhaps?).

And if Ryan could somehow get Jones into the Dirty South or San Diego in exchange for Giles or Peavy or Barfield, (obviously that wouldn't be the whole deal) even better.

They declined to offer Rogers arb, so I'm not sure he's an option until May 1.

I'd love to see Ryan trade Jones and some youngsters to ATL for M Giles, but that seems really unlikely unless he overpays. They need another starter, a lefty in the pen, and a veteran catcher to counsel young Mr Mauer. That's the bare minimum.

Of course all I read about in thepaper today is the need for a closer with experience (to replace Ed G who seemed to do OK FOR A GUY WHO HAD NO SUCH EXPERIENCE). The latest name is Roberto Hernandez, which is saving me the trouble of eating lunch but does nothing for the team in '04.

The St Paul paper's big focus today (other than the panic over not having a REAL closer) was the unheathy stew now being served as clubhouse chemistry in MIN: Eddie was the heart and soul, Hawk was the man, how can we consider parting with Jacque, oh my gosh. Terry Ryan, to his credit, replyed something like "we were lucky to have so much stability for so long, it's nice, but we're trying to win here."

GMoney--

I make no bones about being replacement-level, do I? I've been arguing with my friends for so long that the Twins have cleared enough payroll (before Stewart, or after trading JJ) that they had the financial resources to go after a Miguel Tejada or (shudder) Vlad. I thought someone was agreeing with me, so I didn't read past the "Miguel". Whoops. I haven't even considered Miguel Batista, and I must say, I like it.

Hasn't Jim Souhan been ridiculed off this board yet? I hold him in higher esteem than Sid, but not by much. What is wrong with signing Art Rhodes the take Guardado's lefty spot and then go with a bullpen by committee (well, not really a committee, but what Boston tried to do last year...)? They would have 4 relievers who project to be closer/setup types. Two righties, Joe Nathan and Juan Rincon, and two lefties, Rhodes and J.C. Romero. Really, at this point in their careers it is hard to say which two would be the best for next year (isn't it always with pitchers?), and Nathan and Rincon has recent histories of pitching multi-inning outings, while Romero can go nearly every day. This assumes that Rincon (and Nathan) stay in the pen rather than the rotation, and that the Twins sign at least Rhodes for next year's pen.

Matthew Thompson-- Do you really think S.D. would give up both Gautreau and Tankersly for JJ? Seems a little steep for one year of a platoon outfielder. Then again, you can just as easily describe him as a young, righty-mashing CF, too, i guess.

But surely you must admit that Jones and Pierzynski would have been enough for Peavy+, no? I don't know why Ryan didn't package the two off to the sunny shores of San Diego for our future 2B (can Gautreau still play the deuce? I get mixed answers) and some nice rolls of the pitching dice. I am underwhelmed by what A.J. brought in return, especially since their were no shortage of teams in the market for a catcher, and this would have allowed Terry Ryan to negotiate with LaTroy and/or Eddie before he moved Milton's salary. The Twins are still looking for their third straight AL Central title without a major league-caliber middle infielder. Why do they need to make it so tough?

If you Twins guys are so sold on Gautreau, you should hope they take him in the Rule 5 draft, or make a deal where they have another team take him, and trade for him....

That's what a few years of Luis Rivas will do for ya. Any chance of prying Craig Shipley away from the Pads?

Probably not. The M's can't get enough pitching ... they signed Ryan F. Franklin to a 2-year $4.3M extension.