Yankees looking at Aurilia for 1B Sunday, November 19, 2006 BY ED PRICE Star-Ledger Staff NEW YORK -- Rich Aurilia grew up in Brooklyn rooting for the Yankees and now may have a chance to wear the pinstripes. The Yankees have expressed interest in the infielder, and agent Barry Axelrod said Aurilia could come home -- but not as a utilityman. Axelrod said Aurilia wants to still be a regular player, which he could be with the Yankees if they see him as filling their need for a right-handed-hitting first baseman. "It's intriguing," Axelrod said yesterday. "He grew up a Yankees fan." Axelrod said the free-agent process has gone faster than he anticipated with Aurilia and indicated he could sign relatively soon. "We've had conversations," Axelrod said of the Yankees, "and I would characterize it as sort of open-ended at this point." Aurilia, 35, last season made 47 appearances at first base for Cincinnati after having played there just once before in his career. He hit .300 with 23 homers and 26 doubles in 400 at-bats while starting games at all four infield positions (he was an All-Star shortstop in 2001). He was one of 12 NL players to bat .300 with 20 or more homers and was eighth in the NL with a .332 average after the All-Star break. Wes Helms, who signed with Philadelphia last week to play third base, could have been an option at first for the Yankees, but he told reporters he turned down more money from the Yankees to sign with the Phillies
The Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that the Phillies could bring in formet Met C Mike Piazza to replace C Mike Lieberthal behind the plate.
There are murmerings that the Cubs are prepared to trade Michael Barrett. I sincerely hope not. If we add two top-line pitchers to the rotation and a legit CF player then we have a shot to be competitive. Presumably they are prepared to spend the $150m in payroll for this year that it will take, otherwise it's just cheapskatery.
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Chicago Cubs aren't close to being done adding players this offseason. They plan on making an offer to P Gil Meche, he is believed to be seeking $8 million a year. The Cubs are also mulling over if they should make an offer to former Mets OF Cliff Floyd. Floyd, a Chicago native, was a Cubs target two years ago in the rumored trade for OF Sammy Sosa.
If Cashman's going to sign him, he better wait until the Reds decline offering him arbitration. Aurilia is a type A, and if Cashman gives up his first round pick for him (since he won't be getting one for Sheffield or Mussina), he should be fired on the spot.
http://yankees2000.blogspot.com/2006/11/y2k-interview-julian-casablancas.html http://deadspin.com/sports/baseball/hating-the-yankees-with-the-strokes-216056.php lol I wonder if Met fans read this blog.
The Mets have made a trade according to Daily News Live! on SNY. Supposedly RHP Henry Owens and RHP Matt Lindstrom are headed to Florida for LHP Jason Vargas and LHP Adam Bostick. The Marlins drafted Vargas out of Long Beach State with their second-round pick in the 2004 draft. Vargas went 1-2 with a 7.33 ERA for the Marlins and 3-6 with a 7.43 ERA for the Isotopes in 2006. Bostick went 1-2, 4.67 in five starts after his promotion to Triple-A Albuquerque, with a 30/13 K/BB in 27 innings. On the year, he went 9-9, 3.74 with a 139/80 K/BB in 142 innings between the Isotopes and Double-A Carolina. ===================== Mets Officially Sign Moises Alou by Anthony De Rosa on Mon 20 Nov 2006 05:47 PM EST Our buddy Matt Cerrone on MetsBlog reports that the Mets have officially announced the signing of Moises Alou. Alou will appear live with Mets GM Omar Minaya, Ron Darling and Matt Yalloff on tonight’s episode of Mets Hot Stove on SNY at 6:30 pm and will repeat again at 9:30 pm. The deal is a one-year, $7.5 million contract with a club option for 2008. Alou, 40, hit .301 (104-345) with 52 runs scored, 25 doubles, one triple, 22 home runs and 74 RBI in 98 games for the San Francisco Giants last season. "Moises Alou is one of the game's top hitters," Omar Minaya said about the veteran slugger "He'll add a valuable righthanded bat to our line-up." Here's a rundown on Alou's accolades from Mets.com... Alou is a six-time All-Star (1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2005) and two-time Silver Slugger recipient (1994, 1998). He has constructed a .301 (2,005-6,660) batting average with 400 doubles, 38 triples, 319 home runs, 1,229 RBI, with 102 stolen bases in 1,840 major league games with Pittsburgh, Montreal, Florida, Houston, the Chicago Cubs and Giants. Moises has a .368 lifetime on-base percentage and a .516 slugging percentage. In addition, he has compiled a .308 (593-1,923) career batting average with runners in scoring position. He is one of 19 major leaguers to hit .300 or better with 350 doubles, 300 home runs and 1,110 RBI (14 of the others are in Baseball's Hall of Fame). He finished third in the NL MVP voting on two occasions (1994 and 1998). Moises batted .339 (143-422) with 31 doubles, five triples, 22 home runs and 78 RBI in 107 games with the Expos in 1994 and hit .312 (182-584) with 34 doubles, five triples, 38 home runs and 124 RBI in 1998 with Houston.
Rotoworld: :rofl: Other than Tony Womack and Bubba Crosby, Juan Pierre might be the worst player ever. $9M per for garbage. A-Rod in October is more productive than Juan Pierre. Have fun with that, Dodgers.
Pierre came around last year after a slow start, and his 1.000 fielding pct. playing in all 162 games was impressive, but he has no arm, and when he's not getting on base he's not contributing.
Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, is reporting that free agent Gary Matthews Jr. has agreed to a 5 year, $50 million contract to play for the Los Angeles Angels. Matthews Jr. is coming off a breakout season in which he batted .313 with 19 homers and 79 RBIs and played great defense for the Rangers. For his career, he has hit .263 with a .336 on base percentage and a .755 OPS. Moving from one the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the league, its going to really hurt him. I would expect his average to drop significantly and his power to decrease also. He will provide quality defense for the Angels but i doubt he can have another year he had in 2006 with the Rangers. The 32 year old, has only once in his career finished a season with over 500 at bats, which was in 2006.
The market this off-season is becoming a huge problem. Gary Matthews Jr. was barely a major leaguer before he had a "decent" year this past season, and now he gets $10M per year for 5 years? Soriano's contract looks decent now compared to Pierre and Matthews Jr. contracts.
Jesus, I thought the prices were starting to come back into sane regions, and then this offseason blows it all to hell. I hope all the little moves Minaya is making are to bypass paying assloads for Zito.
Free agent Carlos Lee has an offer on the table of at least $70 million for five years, an AL club official told the Houston Chronicle. Another major league official who has negotiated with Lee's representative also has been told that one team has put a six-year deal on the table for Lee. The Astros apparently haven't improved their original offer, which was for at least $60 million over five years. However, GM Tim Purpura did talk with Lee's agent multiple times on Tuesday. The Astros, Orioles and Phillies are believed to be the strongest suitors for Lee. Nov. 21 - 10:42 pm et Source: Houston Chronicle
Hopefully the Astros miss out, would help the Cubs a lot if the Cards, Astros, Reds and Brewers were unable to significantly strengthen this offseason.
ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that a source told him that the Houston Atsros were set to announce Friday afternoon that they have signed the free-agent slugger to a six-year, $100 million deal. The only significant non-monetary clause in the contract is that Lee will have a complete no-trade clause for the first four years of the contract and a limited no-trade for the final two years. Lee batted .300 with 37 homers, 116 RBI and 19 steals with Texas and Milwaukee in 2006. Posted: 2:04PM
