Possible 2009 Lineup and changes

[HollywoodLeo]

I just said his price might be lower.

[Kobe]

Who's available that you think would sign here regarding front line starters?

I doubt Sabathia's in our price range.

I doubt Sabathia would be in our price range as well.

But to answer a question with a question or a few questions rather.

How much money exactly is coming off the book this offseason?
(Edmonds, Maddux and..?)

Who is available?



Surely there is a guy available that we can pick up. Maybe a guy due for a big contract and their current team wants to "sell high". Like a Haren from Oakland to Arizona.

Personally, I feel like this team isn't too far away from contention again.

I think if we get a 1A, a veteran catcher who can platoon with Hundley (Pudge). a solid no.4 or 5 guy, and shore up the bullpen, I think we'll be a 85-90 win club.

I personally don't feel like LeBlanc is that good.. and that is purely from watching his first few ML starts. I think Geer is a serviceable 5 though.

I may be a minority with this, but I feel like our offense outside of Kouzmanoff Hundley and Greene is not that bad.

A full season of Gerut, provide Headley and Venable progress and not regress, we have a very capable line-up for contending in the NL West. Greene/Hundley/Kouz are serviceable bottom of the line-up guys though.

[Kobe]

2009 MLB Free Agents: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

Catchers
Brad Ausmus (40)
Paul Bako (37)
Rod Barajas (33) - $2.5MM club option for '09 with a $0.5MM buyout
Michael Barrett (32)
Henry Blanco (37) - $3MM mutual option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout
Johnny Estrada (33)
Toby Hall (33) - $2.25MM club option for '09 with a $0.15MM buyout
Jason LaRue (35)
Paul Lo Duca (37)
Miguel Olivo (30) - $2.7MM mutual option for '09 with a $0.1MM buyout
Mike Redmond (38) - $0.95MM club option for '09 with a $0.1MM buyout
Ivan Rodriguez (37)
David Ross (32)
Javier Valentin (33)
Jason Varitek (37)
Gregg Zaun (38)

First basemen
Rich Aurilia (37)
Hank Blalock (28) - $6.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Sean Casey (34)
Tony Clark (37)
Carlos Delgado (37) - $12MM club option for '09 with a $4MM buyout; can become $16MM based on awards points
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09 with a $5MM buyout
Wes Helms (33) - $3.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.75MM buyout
Eric Hinske (31)
Doug Mientkiewicz (35)
Kevin Millar (37)
Richie Sexson (34)
Mark Teixeira (29)
Daryle Ward (34)

Second basemen
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Jamey Carroll (35) - $2.5MM club option for '09 with a $0.15MM buyout
Craig Counsell (38)
Ray Durham (37)
Damion Easley (39)
David Eckstein (34)
Mark Ellis (32)
Mark Grudzielanek (39)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Orlando Hudson (31)
Tadahito Iguchi (34)
Jeff Kent (41)
Felipe Lopez (29)
Mark Loretta (37)
Nick Punto (31)

Shortstops
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Orlando Cabrera (34)
Alex Cintron (30)
Alex Cora (33)
Craig Counsell (38)
David Eckstein (34)
Adam Everett (32)
Rafael Furcal (31)
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Cesar Izturis (29)
Felipe Lopez (29)
Edgar Renteria (33) - $12MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Juan Uribe (30)
Ramon Vazquez (32)
Omar Vizquel (42) - $5.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout

Third basemen
Rich Aurilia (37)
Casey Blake (35)
Hank Blalock (28) - $6.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Aaron Boone (36)
Russell Branyan (33)
Craig Counsell (38)
Joe Crede (31)
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Wes Helms (33) - $3.75MM club option for '09
Chipper Jones (37) - $8-11MM vesting option for '09
Mark Loretta (37)
Fernando Tatis (34)
Ramon Vazquez (32)

Left fielders
Moises Alou (42)
Garret Anderson (37) - $14MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Milton Bradley (31)
Emil Brown (34)
Pat Burrell (32)
Carl Crawford (27) - $8.25MM club option for '09 with a $2.5MM buyout
Adam Dunn (29)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Luis Gonzalez (41)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Raul Ibanez (37)
Gabe Kapler (33)
Kevin Mench (31)
Jason Michaels (33) - $2.6MM club option for '09
Craig Monroe (32)
Greg Norton (36)
Jay Payton (36)
Wily Mo Pena (27) - $5MM club option or $2MM player option for '09
Manny Ramirez (37)
Juan Rivera (30)
Fernando Tatis (34)

Center fielders
Rocco Baldelli (27)
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Mike Cameron (36) - $10MM club option for '09 with a $750K buyout
Jim Edmonds (39)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Gabe Kapler (33)
Mark Kotsay (33)
Corey Patterson (29)
Scott Podsednik (33)

Right fielders
Bobby Abreu (35)
Casey Blake (35)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Brian Giles (38) - $9MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Ken Griffey Jr. (39) - $16.5MM club option for '09 with a $4MM buyout
Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Gabe Kapler (33)
Jason Michaels (33) - $2.6MM club option for '09
Fernando Tatis (34)
Brad Wilkerson (32)

DHs
Milton Bradley (31)
Pat Burrell (32)
Adam Dunn (29)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09 with $5MM buyout
Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Raul Ibanez (37)
Manny Ramirez (37)
Juan Rivera (30)
Mike Sweeney (35)
Frank Thomas (41)
Jose Vidro (34)

Starting pitchers
Kris Benson (33)
A.J. Burnett (32) - can opt out after '08 season
Paul Byrd (38)
Roger Clemens (46)
Matt Clement (33)
Bartolo Colon (36)
Ryan Dempster (32)
Shawn Estes (36)
Josh Fogg (32)
Freddy Garcia (33)
Jon Garland (29)
Tom Glavine (43)
Mike Hampton (36)
Mark Hendrickson (35)
Livan Hernandez (34)
Orlando Hernandez (43)
Jason Jennings (30)
Randy Johnson (45)
John Lackey (30) - $9MM club option for '09 with a $0.5MM buyout
Jon Lieber (39)
Kyle Lohse (30)
Braden Looper (34)
Rodrigo Lopez (33) - club option for '09
Derek Lowe (36)
Greg Maddux (43)
Pedro Martinez (37)
Jamie Moyer (46)
Mark Mulder (31) - $11MM club option for '09 with a $1.5MM buyout
Mike Mussina (40)
Carl Pavano (33) - $13MM club option for '09 with a $1.95MM buyout
Brad Penny (31) - $8.75MM club option for '09 with a $2MM buyout
Odalis Perez (32)
Oliver Perez (27)
Andy Pettitte (37)
Sidney Ponson (32)
Mark Prior (27)
Kenny Rogers (44)
Glendon Rusch (34)
C.C. Sabathia (28)
Curt Schilling (42)
Ben Sheets (30)
John Smoltz (42)
Tim Wakefield (42) - perpetual $4MM club option
Kip Wells (32)
Randy Wolf (32)

Closers
Brian Fuentes (33)
Eric Gagne (33)
Eddie Guardado (38)
Trevor Hoffman (41)
Jason Isringhausen (36)
Todd Jones (41)
Brandon Lyon (29)
Francisco Rodriguez (27)
Salomon Torres (37) - $3.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout
Kerry Wood (32)

Middle relievers
Jeremy Affeldt (30)
Luis Ayala (31)
Joe Beimel (32)
Joe Borowski (38)
Doug Brocail (42) - club option for '09
Shawn Chacon (31)
Juan Cruz (30)
Alan Embree (39) - $3MM club option for '09
Scott Eyre (37)
Kyle Farnsworth (33)
Casey Fossum (31)
Keith Foulke (35)
Tom Gordon (41) - $4.5MM club option for '09 with a $1MM buyout
LaTroy Hawkins (36)
Mark Hendrickson (35)
Matt Herges (39) - club option for '09
Bob Howry (35)
Jon Lieber (39)
Jason Johnson (35)
Damaso Marte (34) - $6MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Trever Miller (36) - $2MM club option for '09 with a $0.4MM buyout
Guillermo Mota (35)
Will Ohman (31)
Darren Oliver (38)
Chan Ho Park (36)
Horacio Ramirez (29)
Al Reyes (38)
Dennys Reyes (32)
Arthur Rhodes (39)
Juan Rincon (30)
Glendon Rusch (34)
Rudy Seanez (40)
Brian Shouse (40)
Russ Springer (40)
Mike Timlin (43)
Ron Villone (39)
David Weathers (39)
Kip Wells (32)
Matt Wise (33)
Jamey Wright (34)

[Kobe]

out of that list who would you guys take a shot at?

Say we have the budget to maybe sign 3 players. Theres a lot of players on that list that are coming off of injuries that we may be able to have for cheap. A low risk/high payout type of deal (ala Mark Prior).

I could see Matt Clements going for cheap, how about a guy like Rocco Baldelli in case Venable isn't exactly ready for a full season?

Maybe a AJ Burnett could be had at what we save from Maddux? would you pay a guy like Burnett 10 mill a year to be your 1A?

Sabathia is definitely out of our price range, but I'm curious if you guys think someone like Burnett is as well (assuming Toronto doesn't pick up his option)

[Kobe]

Matt Clement
Mark Prior
Bartolo Colon

3 pitchers on that list thats coming off of a injury or two. Definitely no to Prior, but what about someone like Clement or Colon?

[Kobe]

Paul DePo loves his Paul Bako. There's your veteran catcher.


You mean like Milton Bradley, except that Towers failed to re-sign him?

Bradley signed with Texas for what.. 500 k more than what we had offered him? I'm not sure if we were even given the option to match the offer.

The thing is, Bradley was coming off of an ACL injury, even if he HAD signed with us he would've been sitting for a majority of april if not may.

While I would've been ecstatic to have Milton back, it was clear at this point of his career, the better choice for him would've been Texas. For several factors

1) Ballpark, hitter friendly. Is it a secret that he's having his best season as a big leaguer?
2) DH, he knew he wasn't going to be playing any OF for at least 2 months into his season, (he's played 97 games as a DH this season for Texas).

Even if we were given the option to match the offer Texas gave him, I doubt he would've signed with us unless we gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. And paying someone 10 mil or so to sit on the bench for 2-3 months of the season is an absolute terrible investment.

[love_that_reefer]

I think Ben Sheets would be a good fit for that ballpark right behind Jake Peavy. he would be the true 1A.

[Kobe]

I think Ben Sheets would be a good fit for that ballpark right behind Jake Peavy. he would be the true 1A.

I agree, but I'd imagine Milwaukee resigning either him or Sabathia.

Either way, I believe both will come with a 20 mil + price tag.

[love_that_reefer]

Sheets' price will come down due to the lack of reliability but he may still be out of range.

[realmofotalk]

An option to match offers? This isn't the NHL. You guys lost Bradley to Texas because Towers believed he could take his sweet time with Bradley. It backfired and Towers, in a desperate move, traded for the even more expensive Jim Edmonds, who is, you know, the definition of health.

[Kobe]

even at that, with this current market, regardless of his reliability he will get 20 mil + I'd imagine.

[Kobe]

An option to match offers? This isn't the NHL. You guys lost Bradley to Texas because Towers believed he could take his sweet time with Bradley. It backfired and Towers, in a desperate move, traded for Jim Edmonds, who is, you know, the definition of health.

The Edmonds trade was pretty much a panic move, I thought everyone knew that?

Took a shot in the dark, and it didn't pay off. Simple as that.

It was documented that our offer to Bradley was on the table for quite a while. Texas jumped in and offered 500 k more and he signed right away.

It was a better situation for him, and I don't blame him for taking it or Towers not trying to over bid.

[padrefanforever]

Edmonds was about our 4th choice.... it is what it is....the only problem I had with taking this chance was who we moved for him........David Freese is a good 3bag prospect who just tore up AAA.......StL got the better of that deal w/o question.

[padrefanforever]

even at that, with this current market, regardless of his reliability he will get 20 mil + I'd imagine.

Who will get 20m+ ?

[padrefanforever]

Dodgers may not bring Penny back..........how 'bout him for the #3 spot ?