A Solid Week for the AL East
Pretty good week to root against the Yankees. These last couple of days have been HUGE for the AL East.
Late last night, the Blue Jays resigned Beltran North, Vernon Wells, to a 7YR, $126 mil contract. Heading into the offseason it did not appear that the Jays had a shot to sign Wells, next year's top free agent and likely the next recipient of a $20 mil/per year contract.
Fortunately for them, their wise GM J.P Ricciardi jumped the gun and locked up one of baseball's top 10 players for what should be the prime of his career. Well done, JP.
It has been a huge week for the Sox.
We all know about Daisuke Matsuzaka. If this guy lives up to the hype, he will be a very interesting player to watch in '07.
I'm not sure what would be better than watching Matsuzaka shut down the Yanks in the Bronx.
What I do know is that it will be a great thing for the game of baseball, on a global level, the first time Matsuzaka faces down with Hideki Matsui in Yankee stadium.
But later in the week, the Sox made two very nice little pickups.
They acquired Brendan Donnelly, a right handed setup man from the Angels for a minor leaguer and signed JC Romero, a left handed setup man, as well.
Donnelly, (6-0, 3.94 ERA in 2006) has been one of baseball's best setup men for the last five years.
Romero, coming off a weak '06 (1-2, 6.70 ERA), was maybe the premier lefty setup man in all of baseball in '04-'05 for the Twins. Things weren't always sunny in California, though.
And it is quite possible that Romero was a juicer, no coincidence that he had a down year during Year 1 of Steroidgate, the same year that saw his good friend and fellow Twins' penmate Juan Rincon hit the sidelines for 50 games.
Still, this guy is nasty against lefties (Damon, Giambi, Mastui) and could be an integral part of the Sox pen.
The Sox pen innings 6-8 looks pretty damn solid. Add these guys to young studs Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen and the vet Mike Timlin and the Sox may have the best middle relief in the game.
Still, no closer.
It kind of shocks me that there has been ZERO talk of closing with Papelbon again in '07. The rotation goes 5-deep without him (Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Lester, Wakefield). I don't know if another year in the pen could permanently fuck him up as a starter, but if not, it seems like a pretty good way to be rid of a pretty huge problem.
Even the D-Rays had a decent week.
They signed their Japaneese import Akinori Iwamura to a 3yr, $7.7 mil after posting $4.5 mil for him.
Like the Yankees, the Rays won the posting for a shitty Japanese player.
Unlike the Yankees, they are going to pay him $12 mil over 4 YRS, while the Yanks will pay Kei Igawa about $10/mil per over 5 years, or so it could shake out.
As for the NFL, no picks this week. I have week 1 of my fantasy playoffs this weekend and when compounded with this must win for the men in blue, there is no room for gambling. A hardy Y2K thank you to Frank Gore for his solid performance on Thursday.
I am oozing at the thought of Bruce Gradkowski going to Solider Field and taking on my beloved New Bears D'.
Boerigter for Prez '08.
VCD,
Sip
(Pics courtesy of Allposters.com, bestsportsphotos.com, R-am.Co)
Late last night, the Blue Jays resigned Beltran North, Vernon Wells, to a 7YR, $126 mil contract. Heading into the offseason it did not appear that the Jays had a shot to sign Wells, next year's top free agent and likely the next recipient of a $20 mil/per year contract.
Fortunately for them, their wise GM J.P Ricciardi jumped the gun and locked up one of baseball's top 10 players for what should be the prime of his career. Well done, JP.It has been a huge week for the Sox.
We all know about Daisuke Matsuzaka. If this guy lives up to the hype, he will be a very interesting player to watch in '07.
I'm not sure what would be better than watching Matsuzaka shut down the Yanks in the Bronx.
What I do know is that it will be a great thing for the game of baseball, on a global level, the first time Matsuzaka faces down with Hideki Matsui in Yankee stadium.
But later in the week, the Sox made two very nice little pickups.
They acquired Brendan Donnelly, a right handed setup man from the Angels for a minor leaguer and signed JC Romero, a left handed setup man, as well.
Donnelly, (6-0, 3.94 ERA in 2006) has been one of baseball's best setup men for the last five years.
Romero, coming off a weak '06 (1-2, 6.70 ERA), was maybe the premier lefty setup man in all of baseball in '04-'05 for the Twins. Things weren't always sunny in California, though.And it is quite possible that Romero was a juicer, no coincidence that he had a down year during Year 1 of Steroidgate, the same year that saw his good friend and fellow Twins' penmate Juan Rincon hit the sidelines for 50 games.
Still, this guy is nasty against lefties (Damon, Giambi, Mastui) and could be an integral part of the Sox pen.
The Sox pen innings 6-8 looks pretty damn solid. Add these guys to young studs Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen and the vet Mike Timlin and the Sox may have the best middle relief in the game.
Still, no closer.
It kind of shocks me that there has been ZERO talk of closing with Papelbon again in '07. The rotation goes 5-deep without him (Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Lester, Wakefield). I don't know if another year in the pen could permanently fuck him up as a starter, but if not, it seems like a pretty good way to be rid of a pretty huge problem.
Even the D-Rays had a decent week.
They signed their Japaneese import Akinori Iwamura to a 3yr, $7.7 mil after posting $4.5 mil for him.
Like the Yankees, the Rays won the posting for a shitty Japanese player.Unlike the Yankees, they are going to pay him $12 mil over 4 YRS, while the Yanks will pay Kei Igawa about $10/mil per over 5 years, or so it could shake out.
As for the NFL, no picks this week. I have week 1 of my fantasy playoffs this weekend and when compounded with this must win for the men in blue, there is no room for gambling. A hardy Y2K thank you to Frank Gore for his solid performance on Thursday.
I am oozing at the thought of Bruce Gradkowski going to Solider Field and taking on my beloved New Bears D'.
Boerigter for Prez '08.
VCD,
Sip
(Pics courtesy of Allposters.com, bestsportsphotos.com, R-am.Co)
posted by Sippy Momo at 12:13 PM
3 Comments:
Hey, since when is Akinori Iwamora a shitty player. He bat like .389 or something insane in the World Baseball Classic and has won a lot of Gold Gloves over in Japan. Come June or July I think you might want to rethink that statement.
The Sox can't count on Lester, because of the cancer treatments, who knows how strong he will be.
Papelbon's shoulder is an issue when he has to pitch back to back. Starting may be better for him. A Sox fan I work with says they may consider it, but they do not want to ruin him.
Where was the reference to the Orioles signing Chris Gomez? I mean he's arguably the best utility player in all of baseball...The guy was riding an 18-game hit streak in September before he broke a bone in his left hand..If not for that broken bone we would of had a great story to start the '07 season...ohh yea he hit .341 last year...and ohh yea we signed him for $850K.
While the Redsox are buying expensive foreign luxury goods that hurt our economy, the O's buy American b/c they are for the people...
Orioles baseball 2007...WHY NOT?
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