All Entries in the "Hot Stove" Category
Red Sox Pitching for 2012: An In-Depth Look
Introduction This article is a follow up to the one published here on Monday, December 12th. In this article I will delve in more detail into the Red Sox current Pitching situation. Here we will break things down by talking about the current list of injured pitchers and the effect that has on the team, [...]
Stealth Mode: With Mike Ilitch’s Money Dave Dombrowski Snatches Prince Fielder
The Detroit Tigers were silent long enough. An offseason that had so far peaked with the weak uneventful signing of reliever Octavio Dotel and plummeted with the news of Victor Martinez tearing his ACL just got a lot more exciting. Prince Fielder joins Miguel Cabrera to form the best middle of the lineup in baseball [...]
Texas Rangers News Round-up
The Texas Rangers have been very busy in the last couple of weeks. Right now the Rangers are still trying to negotiate a deal with Yu Darvish but there is a limited amount of information and insight on the negotiations. Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports reported earlier this week that The Texas Rangers are [...]
GMs Talking About Their Teams Needs Going Into The Winter Meetings + Jim Crane
The following is a list of 5 MLB GMs (and 1 video of new Astros owner Jim Crane) that were all recorded before the winter meetings this past week (Monday through Thursday). Of these GMs, which ones stuck to their plan and which ones did not execute thier plan this past week? Reds GM [...]
Angels Stun the Baseball World
In what can only be described as stunning, the Angels shook the baseball world today in a way normally reserved only for earthquakes on Southern California’s notorious San Andreas Fault by announcing they have reached an agreement on a 10 year contract with first baseman Albert Pujols and a 5 year agreement with starting pitcher [...]
Fish make a big splash…in a shallow pool
It makes some sort of ironic sense that the biggest splash of baseball’s offseason signing season so far is made by the Fish. The newly crowned Miami Marlins made a big move in reshaping the image of their franchise by stepping up to the plate and landing shortstop Jose Reyes on Sunday night. The Marlins [...]
Dear Ruben, Just Say No to Carlos
Attention Ruben Amaro and anyone of the Phillies top brass: DO NOT BRING CARLOS BELTRAN TO THE PHILLIES I beg you, please don’t bring Carlos Beltran to the Phillies Trading for Carlos Beltran would be an awful idea for the Phillies. Would adding him to the roster help the Phillies this year? Probably. Is he [...]
The Brewers High-StaKes Gamble
With their recent acquisition of Francisco Rodriguez, the Milwaukee Brewers further solidify their bullpen and continue to push all their chips onto the table for a 2011 playoff berth. The Brewers bullpen to date has offered them a steady 1.4 WAR according to Fangraphs, which is in the middle of the pack in MLB. K-Rod, [...]
A’s Trade Ellis to Rockies
Midday Thursday, just about 12 hours before the calendar turned to July, we finally witnessed the first significant trade since the start of the 2011 season. The Colorado Rockies acquired second baseman Mark Ellis from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for pitcher Bruce Billings and a player to be named later. Colorado will also receive [...]
The Other Side of Free Agency
Ever since a federal arbitrator ruled that baseball’s reserve clause was too restrictive in a 1975 ruling the players have seen their average salary soar higher than a launched projectile. As late as 1986 the average salary was $413,000. Today it is $3 million and climbing. There’s no doubt that this historic ruling has made [...]
A Review of the Josh Willingham Trade from Washington to Oakland
The Washington Nationals sent Josh Willingham to the Oakland Athletics for Henry Rodriguez and Corey Brown. This is in response to the Nationals getting Jayson Werth as a free agent earlier in the winter. Willingham will be a free agent after next year, so there isn’t that much risk. He could be up for a [...]
Is Jayson Werth it?
Wow is all I can say right now. I knew Jayson Werth’s new contract was ridiculous but I had no idea how ridiculous it was. Let’s examine the 18 million dollar man. After going through some numbers of the greatest players in baseball history the player who closest resembles Jayson Werth is….Paul Konerko. Also, please [...]
Potential Free Agent Signings for the Red Sox
The Position Players Here’s a list of the only worthy players (in my opinion) that the Red Sox should consider for either 1B/3B or in the OF. The spreadsheet below lists the player’s age and whether or not he is a type A or B free agent. I would have considered Pena if he did [...]
Should Anyone Sign Derek Jeter?
Seems like a perfectly asinine question. Of course, most teams should be after Derek Jeter. He has great leadership qualities and is one of the top ten hitting shortstops in the history of the game. The trouble is that there is so much more about the game. Even when you include the hitting, he is [...]
Baseball Reflections to Host BBA Baseball Talk
First, I hope that all of our readers & writers had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! About the BBA Baseball Talk radio show on Blog Talk Radio… When: Tomorrow Night (11/30) at 9:30pm EST Co-Hosts: Kenn Olson, contributor here at Baseball Reflections who has his own site at Going Yard & professional (female) umpire Perry Lee Barber [...]
The Activity Begins
The best part of the hot stove season is anticipating player moves. This first real week of movement was no exception. It’s like playing those silly scoreboard games to guess which hat the ball is under, although anyone with a good set of eyes or a good seatmate can guess this. Not so with player [...]
Can the Phillies’ payroll afford Jayson Werth?
In our last article examining the Phillies payroll, we found that allowing Jayson Werth to walk essentially maintains the same payroll of $141 million next season. Re-signing Werth would simply ADD Werth’s salary on top of the $141 million. It originally seemed like $15 million would be enough to keep J-dub. But after listening to [...]
Warm Up the Stove
The Hot Stove is starting to heat up and here are 10 questions that will be answered soon. 1. Where will Cliff Lee go? Lee is in the enviable position of being the most sought after free agent this year. He will be able to choose his team and his pay. It’s obvious that one [...]
What will the Phillies payroll look like in 2011?
Mere moments after Ryan Howard struck out to finish the Phillies season, the focus quickly shifted to Jayson Werth and the Phillies’ payroll. Will or won’t the Phillies keep Werth? Before even considering re-signing Werth, we need to examine the Phillies payroll. A quick look at the payroll provides a clear answer. According to USAToday.com, [...]
The Houston Astros Free Agency Primer
As most baseball fans know, free agency officially began on Sunday (11/7). That in of itself is unique. Usually, the waiting period after the World Series is a few weeks. On the one hand, it’s hard to catch your breath when free agency starts five days after the end of the World Series. On the [...]
The Hiring of New Mets GM Sandy Alderson Brings Optimism to this Citi
Image by Getty Images via @daylife It’s a new beginning for the Mets with the hiring of Sandy Alderson as general manager. It was a great choice – he is a strong leader and disciplinarian, which is exactly what this team needs. New beginnings are always nice – they always bring hope, optimism and promise. [...]
Out With the Old And In With the New in Arizona for the D-Backs
Have you lost track of who is doing what for the Arizona Diamondbacks these days? You are not alone. In the month since Kevin Towers has been named the new general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Towers has certainly put his stamp on the ballclub. In addition to removing the interim tag from manager Kirk Gibson‘s [...]
2010 Mets: Disappointing Season Leads to Regime Change
On the Bright Side The 2010 season was far from a total disaster for the Mets. The team won 79 games, up from 70 the year before. David Wright and Jose Reyes rebounded from disappointing seasons marred by injury. Mike Pelfrey won 15 games and established himself as a solid starter. Unheralded outfielder Angel Pagan [...]
Baseball Managers On The Move in MLB
Here is an overview of the managerial transactions that have recently taken place… During the Season… Former Tiger and Dodger OF Kirk Gibson took over for the Diamondbacks when A.J. Hinch was fired and has recently been signed to a two year contract to manage the team going forward. In LA, Joe Torre made it [...]
Two Great Baseball-Related Causes
With the AL East and the NL West yet to be determined, with the looser in the AL taking the Wild Card while the NL West looser might be watching from the couch if the Atlanta Braves have anything to say about it! That would be a fitting way to end Booby Cox’s managerial carrer, [...]
2010 MLB Trade Deadline Fantasy Baseball Impact
With MLB’s non-waiver Trade Deadline in the rear-view, there were several moving parts which altered the value of players, created a number of opportunities for young players to fill holes at the Big League level – and also reduced the roles of others. Here is a look at some of the players who stand to [...]
MLB Baseball News, Tweets and More
Image by mikeleeorg via Flickr Monday Afternoon Edition After a long break, this feature will resume even if only for a day… @MLB : Buck Showalter on #Orioles manager job: “I don’t think there is a prouder organization in baseball.” http://tinyurl.com/2aspzpu & Corey Hart & @Brewers make 3-year commitment http://bit.ly/aayJAX | Watch his 2-run HR [...]
Cliff Lee NOT Traded to the Yankees, but IS now a Ranger!!!
Biggest Trade of 2010 Season Occurs With Added Drama From the words of Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels, the Rangers, not Yankees, are the winners of the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. They will be sending star 1B prospect Justin Smoak, and minor leaguers RHP Blake Beavin, RHP Josh Lueke, and utility man Matt Lawson to the [...]
Cliff Lee (Almost) Traded to Yankees?!!!
Lee becomes 9th Yankee on AL All-Star team Mariners receive prospect package with Jesus Montero as the centerpiece The most talked-about sweepstakes at the trade deadline this year is coming to a close. THUH-UH-UH-UH—YANKEES WIN! Despite missing the first month of the season with an abdominal strain, LHP Cliff Lee places 4th among pitchers in [...]
Russell Branyan traded for Randy Johnson… Kind of (includes FLOW CHART)
About a week ago, on the heels of winning 6 of their last 7, a few days ago Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik was quoted “I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet.” Now, he has absolutely no incentive to say the opposite (“Fire Sale!” shows your hand and gives away your leverage), [...]
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