*** Official 2012-13 Hot Stove Thread (3 Viewers)

[the moops]

How the hell did Ty Cobb hit with his hands spread apart?So freaky.

Probably the same way Youkilis doeshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/bostonfaninmichigan/2850889561/

 

[the moops]

Better question is why the #### is he flipping everyone off?

 

[Eephus]

In a move w/ possible longshot fantasy implications, the White Sox signed Matt Lindstrom. In a move w/ none, the Indians signed Ryan Raburn to a minor league deal.

 

[Raider Nation]

How the hell did Ty Cobb hit with his hands spread apart?So freaky.

Probably the same way Youkilis doeshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/bostonfaninmichigan/2850889561/

That's just his pre-swing routine, like Joe Morgan flapping his wing or Sammy Sosa tapping his front foot.Once he swings, the hands come together.

 

[Raider Nation]

Better question is why the #### is he flipping everyone off?

Optical illusion. It's just the cloth on the arm of his jersey not being completely flat. I thought what you did at first also.

 

[Raider Nation]

Theo Epstein traded for Adrian Gonzalez and signed Carl Crawford following pressure from Boston Red Sox owners to build a “sexy team,” according to a book co-authored by former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

Epstein, who left as general manager after the 2011 season to become a Chicago Cubs executive, said Boston owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president Larry Lucchino made the team’s image a priority, according to excerpts released Tuesday by Sports Illustrated.

Francona: The Red Sox Years is co-written by the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy and is scheduled for publication by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on Jan. 22.

“They told us we didn’t have any marketable players, that we needed some sizzle,” Epstein is quoted as saying. “We need some sexy guys. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. This is like an absurdist comedy. We’d become too big. It was the farthest thing removed from what we set out to be.”

On Nov. 2, 2010, a group gathered at Fenway Park to review results of that $100,000 marketing research project the Red Sox had commissioned following declining ratings of NESN, the regional sports network partly owned by the team.

The books stated the marketing report said: “Women are definitely more drawn to the ‘soap opera’ and ‘reality-TV’ aspects of the game ... They are interested in good-looking stars and sex symbols” — a reference to all-star second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

Gonzalez and Crawford were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer along with Josh Beckett after the Red Sox fell out of contention.

Regarding the bolded .... x1000.I'm not really in the business of checking out dudes, but Pedroia is a disgusting, grubby midget.

 

[the moops]

Yea, if that was the case they should have kept Johnny Damon. That guy is dreamy.

 

[Statorama]

In a move w/ possible longshot fantasy implications, the White Sox signed Matt Lindstrom.

Interdasting

 

[Annyong]

delmon young to phillies

 

[Doctor Detroit]

delmon young to phillies

1 $750kAt least they can play him in the OF and get the most out of his outstanding glove.

 

[Guest]

delmon young to phillies

Pair him with Domonic Brown and you have the outfield of unfulfilled potential

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Bobby Crosby signs a minor-league deal with the Brewers.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Bobby Crosby signs a minor-league deal with the Brewers.

Peter Gammons says this is the year!!

 

[RnR]

Bobby Crosby signs a minor-league deal with the Brewers.

Peter Gammons says this is the year!!

I was more than once by this guy.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Bobby Crosby signs a minor-league deal with the Brewers.

Peter Gammons says this is the year!!

I was more than once by this guy.

It's Not Your Fault

 

[TobiasFunke]

delmon young to phillies

1 $750kAt least they can play him in the OF and ot only will he be hilariously bad out there, but the heckling opportunities for me as a Jew withget the most out of his outstanding glove.

They say they're gonna actually try to play him in RF?I really hope they stick with that plan. Not only will he be hilariously bad out there, but as a Jew with seats along the 1B line the heckling possibilities are off the charts.

 

[Captain Hook]

They say they're gonna actually try to play him in RF?

That is what they are saying but don't forget there are interleague games every week so there are some days off for his pretty non-existent Glove

 

[Please See Mine]

They say they're gonna actually try to play him in RF?

That is what they are saying but don't forget there are interleague games every week so there are some days off for his pretty non-existent Glove

Not quite. Phils' last interleague game in 7/29.The 2nd series of the year will be interleague (4/5). Then they have a 2-game on 4/30 and 5/1, then they have a series every 2 weeks until 6/11-6/13. Then nothing for a month. Then a series 7/12 and the last one 7/26.Thanks for bringing this up, though. I had forgotten about this change and it's interesting to see how it is going to play out.

 

[SwampDawg]

delmon young to phillies

Obviously he under achieves but in a hitter friendly park worth a shot as a 4th or 5th OF if your could pick him up on a 1 year contract cheap for a 3rd or 4th round rookie draft pick ?

 

[Eephus]

delmon young to phillies

Obviously he under achieves but in a hitter friendly park worth a shot as a 4th or 5th OF if your could pick him up on a 1 year contract cheap for a 3rd or 4th round rookie draft pick ?

Maybe in an AVG league but definitely not in an OBP league. The big question mark is playing time. He also faces competition for ABs and can't rely on his glove to keep him in the lineup. He's also hurt and may miss spring training. Philadelphia doesn't have so much committed that they couldn't cut him for any number of Delmonesque reasons. I don't trust him but he could be worth a shot in a deep AVG league with a lot of bench slots.

 

[Don Quixote]

Great headline: Delmon Young has incentive to eat less

 

[Dr. Awesome]

Braves making a strong push for Justin Upton. Still not understanding why they're so hellbent on dumping the kid.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Braves making a strong push for Justin Upton. Still not understanding why they're so hellbent on dumping the kid.

Because Cody Ross is a superstar?

 

[MAC_32]

Braves making a strong push for Justin Upton. Still not understanding why they're so hellbent on dumping the kid.

Management doesn't seem willing to deal with 'head cases,' see Trevor Bauer. What characterizes a head case? Beats me, but I think good teams understand they have to/can deal with a few of those types on their roster. Special athletes are just wired differently than most.

 

[bigmarc27]

Hoping the Braves don't have to trade Teheren if they move on Upton. We'll see. Braves fans already rolling with "Up, Up, and J-Hey!" for the outfield nick name.

 

[Brady Marino]

Hoping the Braves don't have to trade Teheren if they move on Upton. We'll see.

Looks like you'll get your wish.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_RosenthalSource: Randall Delgado is part of package going from #Braves to #Diamondbacks for Justin Upton.

Rosenthal also says deal is close to done.

 

[MAC_32]

Delgado as the feature piece for J Up? Really?

 

[Don Quixote]

Delgado as the feature piece for J Up? Really?

Rosenthal also tweeted that Delgado not the biggest piece.

 

[Brady Marino]

Delgado as the feature piece for J Up? Really?

Rosenthal also tweeted that Delgado not the biggest piece.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_RosenthalTold Delgado not biggest piece going from #Braves to #Diamondbacks for Upton. Also told Teheran not in deal.

 

[Don Quixote]

@mlbbowmanSource: Braves get Justin Upton & Chris Johnson from D-backs for Prado, Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.

 

[shadyridr]

stupid dbacks trading away Bauer & Upton in one offseason.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

@mlbbowmanSource: Braves get Justin Upton & Chris Johnson from D-backs for Prado, Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.

SO basically they just gave Upton away?

 

[TobiasFunke]

Delgado as the feature piece for J Up? Really?

Rosenthal also tweeted that Delgado not the biggest piece.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_RosenthalTold Delgado not biggest piece going from #Braves to #Diamondbacks for Upton. Also told Teheran not in deal.

Deal appears to be Upton and Chris Johnson for Prado(!), Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.Dealing Prado confuses me. Seems like the Braves plug one hole but create another. If the idea is to "go for it" during the term of JUpton's deal and before his brother starts regressing, why deal such an important piece? Why not push more prospects, as many as it takes?As a Nats fan I'm not nearly as bummed about this deal with Prado gone.

 

[Brady Marino]

@mlbbowmanSource: Braves get Justin Upton & Chris Johnson from D-backs for Prado, Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.

SO basically they just gave Upton away?

Prado's a nice, versatile bat. Delgado's a live arm. Spruill is probably Bob Tewksbury reincarnated. Ahmed is an intriguing guy, but a ways away.Eh, not the biggest fan of the deal from the D-Backs side, but it's not what the Mariners were offering either.

 

[whoknew]

@mlbbowmanSource: Braves get Justin Upton & Chris Johnson from D-backs for Prado, Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.

SO basically they just gave Upton away?

Prado's a nice, versatile bat. Delgado's a live arm. Spruill is probably Bob Tewksbury reincarnated. Ahmed is an intriguing guy, but a ways away.Eh, not the biggest fan of the deal from the D-Backs side, but it's not what the Mariners were offering either.

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal Source: Trade is 5-for-2. Class A 1B Brandon Drury also going from #Braves to #Diamondbacks. D-Backs excited about getting Prado to play 3B.

 

[RnR]

Delgado as the feature piece for J Up? Really?

Rosenthal also tweeted that Delgado not the biggest piece.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_RosenthalTold Delgado not biggest piece going from #Braves to #Diamondbacks for Upton. Also told Teheran not in deal.

Deal appears to be Upton and Chris Johnson for Prado(!), Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.Dealing Prado confuses me. Seems like the Braves plug one hole but create another. If the idea is to "go for it" during the term of JUpton's deal and before his brother starts regressing, why deal such an important piece? Why not push more prospects, as many as it takes?As a Nats fan I'm not nearly as bummed about this deal with Prado gone.

Not really sure it creates a hole. Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson seem capable of handling 3B and hitting 7th. Prado: .301/.359/.438 , 10 HR in 690 PAJohnson: .281/.326/.451 , 15 HR in 528 PAFrancisco: .234/.278/.432, 9 HR in 205 PAIf you subscribe to the idea that J-Up has top 5 OF upside, acquiring him at 25 years old and plugging him in the middle of the order is worth that 3B production trade-off.The interesting question is what do they do at the top of the order. They have a killer line-up, but not a single guy that really fits the prototypical lead-off mold.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

@jasoncollette: x100 RT @jay_jaffe: I'd rather have Justin Upton and Trevor Bauer than the package Arizona got for either, and it isn't even close.

 

[TobiasFunke]

Delgado as the feature piece for J Up? Really?

Rosenthal also tweeted that Delgado not the biggest piece.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_RosenthalTold Delgado not biggest piece going from #Braves to #Diamondbacks for Upton. Also told Teheran not in deal.

Deal appears to be Upton and Chris Johnson for Prado(!), Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.Dealing Prado confuses me. Seems like the Braves plug one hole but create another. If the idea is to "go for it" during the term of JUpton's deal and before his brother starts regressing, why deal such an important piece? Why not push more prospects, as many as it takes?

As a Nats fan I'm not nearly as bummed about this deal with Prado gone.

Not really sure it creates a hole. Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson seem capable of handling 3B and hitting 7th. Prado: .301/.359/.438 , 10 HR in 690 PA

Johnson: .281/.326/.451 , 15 HR in 528 PA

Francisco: .234/.278/.432, 9 HR in 205 PA



If you subscribe to the idea that J-Up has top 5 OF upside, acquiring him at 25 years old and plugging him in the middle of the order is worth that 3B production trade-off.

The interesting question is what do they do at the top of the order. They have a killer line-up, but not a single guy that really fits the prototypical lead-off mold.

Well sure, it's worth the tradeoff. But it's not nearly as good as it could have been if they hadn't been forced to include Prado, who gives them decent fielding at 3B or a corner OF who doesn't strike out much. I'm not a big believer in Chris Johnson, who will be moving from a career in two extreme hitters' parks in relatively weak divisions to Atlanta and who Ks a lot and will be moving to a division with a lot of strikeout pitchers.Like I said, the Braves are clearly better off now than they were before, but not as well off as I thought they'd be when I didn't think the deal included Prado.

 

[bigmarc27]

Prado wasn't going to be a Brave in 2014 regardless - being reported he wanted $11-12M annually next offseason and that would never happen in ATL. I'm pretty happy about the entire thing. Simmons likely moves to the front of the order with Heyward, Upton, Freeman, Upton behind him.

 

[RnR]

Delgado as the feature piece for J Up? Really?

Rosenthal also tweeted that Delgado not the biggest piece.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_RosenthalTold Delgado not biggest piece going from #Braves to #Diamondbacks for Upton. Also told Teheran not in deal.

Deal appears to be Upton and Chris Johnson for Prado(!), Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.Dealing Prado confuses me. Seems like the Braves plug one hole but create another. If the idea is to "go for it" during the term of JUpton's deal and before his brother starts regressing, why deal such an important piece? Why not push more prospects, as many as it takes?

As a Nats fan I'm not nearly as bummed about this deal with Prado gone.

Not really sure it creates a hole. Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson seem capable of handling 3B and hitting 7th. Prado: .301/.359/.438 , 10 HR in 690 PA

Johnson: .281/.326/.451 , 15 HR in 528 PA

Francisco: .234/.278/.432, 9 HR in 205 PA



If you subscribe to the idea that J-Up has top 5 OF upside, acquiring him at 25 years old and plugging him in the middle of the order is worth that 3B production trade-off.

The interesting question is what do they do at the top of the order. They have a killer line-up, but not a single guy that really fits the prototypical lead-off mold.

Well sure, it's worth the tradeoff. But it's not nearly as good as it could have been if they hadn't been forced to include Prado, who gives them decent fielding at 3B or a corner OF who doesn't strike out much. I'm not a big believer in Chris Johnson, who will be moving from a career in two extreme hitters' parks in relatively weak divisions to Atlanta and who Ks a lot and will be moving to a division with a lot of strikeout pitchers.Like I said, the Braves are clearly better off now than they were before, but not as well off as I thought they'd be when I didn't think the deal included Prado.

That's fair. I'm sure the Braves would have preferred to keep Prado and send more prospects, as he seemed well-liked there and held an important role for them. You can't blame the DBacks for insisting on at least one proven MLB commodity to go along with the prospects.

 

[shadyridr]

Heyward would be a good leadoff hitter, no? (I know this will never happen)

 

[derek245583]

Gonna be a lot of strikeouts and HR's in Atlanta this year

 

[TobiasFunke]

Prado wasn't going to be a Brave in 2014 regardless - being reported he wanted $11-12M annually next offseason and that would never happen in ATL. I'm pretty happy about the entire thing.

Simmons likely moves to the front of the order with Heyward, Upton, Freeman, Upton behind him.

I didn't know that. With that in mind, absolute coup for the Braves. Thank God I'm not a D-Backs fan. Their offseason has been brutal- both the moves themselves and how stupid they were in publicly driving down Upton's trade value.

 

[Card Trader]

Prado wasn't going to be a Brave in 2014 regardless - being reported he wanted $11-12M annually next offseason and that would never happen in ATL. I'm pretty happy about the entire thing.

Simmons likely moves to the front of the order with Heyward, Upton, Freeman, Upton behind him.

I didn't know that. With that in mind, absolute coup for the Braves. Thank God I'm not a D-Backs fan. Their offseason has been brutal- both the moves themselves and how stupid they were in publicly driving down Upton's trade value.

Really? I'm thrilled to be rid of Upton, the guy turned into a locker room cancer and now that his best buddy Young isn't part of the team it was just going to get worse. We've been hearing about Upton's potential for years now, at some point you realize that or you don't, he is what he is...Average to slightly above average player. He's not a great fielder, but looks like he has the potential to be, he's not a great power hitter, but looks like he has the potential to be. The P word comes up too much with him, until that turns into production instead of potential, I'm glad he's gone.

 

[shadyridr]

Prado wasn't going to be a Brave in 2014 regardless - being reported he wanted $11-12M annually next offseason and that would never happen in ATL. I'm pretty happy about the entire thing.

Simmons likely moves to the front of the order with Heyward, Upton, Freeman, Upton behind him.

I didn't know that. With that in mind, absolute coup for the Braves. Thank God I'm not a D-Backs fan. Their offseason has been brutal- both the moves themselves and how stupid they were in publicly driving down Upton's trade value.

Really? I'm thrilled to be rid of Upton, the guy turned into a locker room cancer and now that his best buddy Young isn't part of the team it was just going to get worse. We've been hearing about Upton's potential for years now, at some point you realize that or you don't, he is what he is...Average to slightly above average player. He's not a great fielder, but looks like he has the potential to be, he's not a great power hitter, but looks like he has the potential to be. The P word comes up too much with him, until that turns into production instead of potential, I'm glad he's gone.

didnt it turn into production in 2011?

 

[Eephus]

Shaun Marcum to the Mets pending physicalTony Plush to Japan

 

[Good Posting Judge]

The D-Backs turned down Olt for Upton, preferring Martin Prado. In Prado's walk year. But seriously, at least they got a nice haul of prospects.

 

[Bogart]

I have no rooting interest, but there is something cool about brothers playing in the same outfield.

 

[Guest]

The D-Backs turned down Olt for Upton, preferring Martin Prado. In Prado's walk year. But seriously, at least they got a nice haul of prospects.

They wanted to show that trading Bauer was no fluke?

 

[TobiasFunke]

Prado wasn't going to be a Brave in 2014 regardless - being reported he wanted $11-12M annually next offseason and that would never happen in ATL. I'm pretty happy about the entire thing.

Simmons likely moves to the front of the order with Heyward, Upton, Freeman, Upton behind him.

I didn't know that. With that in mind, absolute coup for the Braves. Thank God I'm not a D-Backs fan. Their offseason has been brutal- both the moves themselves and how stupid they were in publicly driving down Upton's trade value.

Really? I'm thrilled to be rid of Upton, the guy turned into a locker room cancer and now that his best buddy Young isn't part of the team it was just going to get worse. We've been hearing about Upton's potential for years now, at some point you realize that or you don't, he is what he is...Average to slightly above average player. He's not a great fielder, but looks like he has the potential to be, he's not a great power hitter, but looks like he has the potential to be. The P word comes up too much with him, until that turns into production instead of potential, I'm glad he's gone.

Even if we accept that he's only a slightly above average player with potential, why would you be thrilled to be rid of him? What did you get in return that is better than having a slightly above average major league player? Delgado? A year of Prado followed by $ savings in 2014 and 2015? One of the lower tier prospects jump out at you? I'll take three years of the guy who's already "slightly above average" even without tapping his potential over that package. And even if you disagree with all of that, don't you think they could have done better than this package if they hadn't made it public knowledge that they were desperate to deal Upton?