Getting Hot in Here

[MGrage]

Hmm, it looks like the Hot Stove is heating up. Thome going to the White Sox for Aaron Rowand. Delgado getting traded to the Mets for Jacobs and Petit. Then I just found out that Cameron was traded to the Padres for Xavier Nady last week.

I'd been so focused on football since the end of the World Series, I even missed Kenji Johjima signing with the Mariners last week (sorry Teddy).

I'm sure Little Nicky is trying to do cartwheels now that Thome won't be the anchor on his team's contending hopes in '06. It looks like Jacobs will be a fixture at 1B for the Marlins and Nady will lots of playing time in NY. He should get an offensive boost moving to Shea from Petco. How many times can you say someone will get a boost moving to Shea?

Using my handy 2006 Bill James Handbook that I got at Baseball HQ's AZ forums, here are some relevant stats:

Home Road Index
PETCO
RHB Ave .244 .263 93
RHB HR 44 91 51 (Yikes)

Shea
RHB Ave .253 .257 98
RHB HR 74 79 86

LHB Ave .264 .253 104
LHB HR 65 69 94

Dolphins Stadium
LHB Ave .263 .278 95
LHB HR 41 38 114

So Jacobs (L) will get a boost in HR and go down in Ave and Nady (R) should get a huge bump in HR and slightly better in Ave.

BTW, the Forcaster is being released 12/9 so I'll get my copy a couple days later. So when is Winter Waivers going to start? Like 40 more days? *ugh* Mahalo

Matt

[Copperfields]

I was going to start a thread called "Is it warm in here?", then noticed Matt had already done that about three weeks ago.

Wow - the hot stove is smokin'!

Lots of player movement, especially between leagues. More winter meeting action than I can remember in a long time.

By my count, every CFCL team has "lost" at least one player to the AL except for the Rebels and Ruffins. Not that they've escaped unscathed -- the Rebels appear to have lost their Home Town Discount rights on Brad Wilkerson and the Ruffins' .01 Ray King will be hurling in Colorado next season.

Some interesting talent coming over to the NL for Draft Day as well.

I know Matt G. would disagree, but I think it's been nice knowing that Winter Waivers are still a month away and we'll have time to digest and adjust to the moves before finalizing rosters.

[MGrage]

Good afternoon y'all,

Under the column of what were they thinking?, I'd put the Damaso Marte for Rob Mackowiak deal. The Pirates have made one head scratching deal right after another though the last week or so. For a bad MR, the Sox got a versatile backup with 20 HR power. My God, it's looking more and more like a dynasty down on the South Side. *sigh*

I just want to know when Kenny Williams decided to turn into John Schuerholtz all of a sudden. Getting back to the Pirates, you trade 2/5 of your starting rotation for Sean Casey and a prayer? Well, on the bright side, it looks like Ian Snell is a lock for the #4 spot now.

Aaron Rowand, Damaso Marte (how much do you want to bet the Meisters pick him up) , Soriano, Renteria all coming over from the dark side. Who knows how many more will sign as free agents or get traded here too? Looks like it'll be a fun draft as usual.

Ooops, the Tigers just signed Todd Jones, sorry Matt. Losing Marte has got to hurt Eric as I'm sure he was the lynchpin to the deal that brought him over from the Copperfields or Dogs, I can't remember which. I've been on pins and needles all winter wondering if and when those darn Mets are going to trade away Milledge for a used batting machine or something similar. Steve's going to miss trying to get Overbay back in the draft. I can't believe the swag the Brewers got for him. Both Bush and Jackson have the chance of being pretty good starters.

I lost Terrmel Sledge and Josh Beckett to the AL, but there have been some positives for me too. I've already detailed Nady and Jacobs, but it looks like Brian McCann will be the everyday catcher for the Braves. I hope he can handle the workload after riding the bench for most of the second half. And Wily Mo Pena looks like he should have a full time job now that Sean Casey is a Pirate. Snell could also be a full-time starter now as well. So all in all, it's been a good offseason for me so far.

The Commish got some good news too. He won't have to take that nickle hit from waiving Burroughs before the draft. The Padres did great in that trade too, getting Brazleton and Steven Andrade who the Rays drafted in the Rule 5 draft earlier today.

Take care y'all. Mahalo

Matt

PS. You're right Dave. I still think Winter Waivers should be held right after the World Series. It's been a long 6 months since I was officially eliminated from the race ...

PPS. Boy, it really is snowing hard today. I wonder if we'll really get half a foot.

[Copperfields]

mgrage said:

And Wily Mo Pena looks like he should have a full time job now that Sean Casey is a Pirate.

And not to mention that Wily Mo has more BB than K in winter ball...