2011-2012 MLB Off-Season Thread

[Ramp]

go to baseball ref, type in "sausage" in the search

[Fritz]

I did it.

I joker smiled.

[jOOj]

I fully expected that and was pleasantly surprised.

[MiamiHomer]

This is like the baseball fan's version of that time Beyonce went to Cheeseburger Baby.

I was in the courthouse district an hour or so ago when I saw the strangest thing: Baseball superstars David Ortiz and Jose Batista strolling down Northeast 1st Avenue, in full baseball uniform. It was extremely surreal-- if I dreamed of walking into David Ortiz and Jose Batista in Miami's Jewelry district, they would probably be wearing their baseball uniforms. It took about half a second to register that they were not animatronic wax sculptures.

Turns out, they were on break from a commercial shoot.

It was a shoot for Majestic sports apparel. The production commandeered a defunct Payless Shoe Source, turned it into a baseball jersey store, and then had Ortiz and Bautista stand at the window like mannequins while a fellow wearing a Red Sox uniform with Ortiz's number 34 rode another man's shoulders and looked through the window at them.

Maybe it will make more sense when it airs?

A couple of local luminaries ran into a (real) sporting goods store and bought Blue Jays and Red Sox hats, which they then had Ortiz and Bautista sign. One of them is the dude in the yellow shirt in these photos I took with my crappy cell phone camera.

Screw Punxsutawney Phil-- you know it's almost Spring when you're running into uniformed baseball superstars on the sidewalk.

David Ortiz and Jose Bautista Are Currently Wandering Downtown Miami In Full Baseball Uniform

[jOOj]

The new old Toronto jerseys are so cute.

[Ramp]

Sandy Alderson is now my favorite GM:

Getting ready for Spring Training-Driving to FL but haven’t left yet. Big fundraiser tonight for gas money. Also exploring PAC contribution.

[DColts]

The Pirates are stupid.

The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to talk with the New York Yankees about right-hander A.J. Burnett, with most signs pointing to a trade. But as of early Sunday, the two sides were still haggling about the money and players in the deal.

The Yankees likely will pay $19 million to $23 million of the $33 million remaining on Burnett’s contract and receive multiple minor leaguers in return, according to one source with knowledge of the discussions. Those minor leaguers would not be players on the Pirates’ 40-man roster, the source said.

For clubs that trade high-salaried players such as Burnett, the more money they include, the better the quality of the players they receive. The sliding scale makes the discussions fluid and capable of changing at any time.

The Pirates are one of four clubs pursuing Burnett, but one of those clubs is on his 10-team no-trade list, sources say. The Yankees are exploring all possibilities, as are the Pirates. But the Yankees view the Pirates as the partner that “makes the most sense" for Burnett, a source said.

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/m...?new_post=true

[Ramp]

why are they stupid? getting a major league arm at a fraction of the cost and he'll probably pitch better in the NL and Pitt to begin with?

morans.

[Beef]

Also, they haven't done anything yet.


But they are probably dumber than Hubie Brown

[DColts]

They're dumb because AJ is awful. They could've gotten an arm like him for much cheaper.

[Ramp]

Should the deal go through, they will be paying Burnett about $5-6mil per season. He still has a live arm and the Pirates could use an inning-eating vet at the back of the rotation.

[Swifty]

If a pitcher became a free agent after averaging 33 starts, 195 innings and 171 K's over the last three years, he'd cost a hell of a lot more than what the Pirates will end up paying AJ Burnett. It's amazing to me that people think he's a worthless pitcher. Overpaid, sure, but far from worthless.

[DColts]

Yeah he'd probably cost more than 5 mil if he was a free agent. I'm just glad we are possibly able to move him for something.

[Bobbob1313]

At 35 with a 4.79 combined ERA over that time span, he definitely wouldn't get much more than $6 mil.

Look at Javier Vazquez's previous three years. More than a half run lower ERA combined and he got 1/7.

[MiamiHomer]

Vazquez also has questions about his velocity which was a big concern.