SB Nation User Blog: DerekSTheRed

Whither Godzilla?

DerekSTheRed — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:45:17 -0000

Now that we are in the after glow of the World Series, the Yankees have to start to consider what to do with Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. John Harper of Newsday wonders if this is the last hurrah for Godzilla as a Yankee or could the World Series MVP be back in pinstripes again next year.

"I have no idea right now," he said with a smile through his interpreter after last night's game. "I hope so."

For weeks, even months, there have been whispers around the Yankees that there is no way the ballclub will bring back both Matsui and Johnny Damon, each of whose four-year contract is expiring.

GM Brian Cashman has made no secret of wanting to get younger overall, while also acknowledging a possible need to spread the use of the DH spot around, especially with catcher Jorge Posada turning 39 next season and Alex Rodriguez perhaps needing further hip surgery this offseason.

Of the two, Matsui always seemed more expendable because the condition of his knees has taken him out of the outfield and turned him into strictly a DH, one who doesn't run well anymore. Damon, meanwhile, can still be serviceable in left field, and, as we saw in Game 4, help win games with his speed as well as his bat.

If Matsui is indeed not resigned (~~and decides to continue to play in the U.S. which isn't a given~~), I would love to see the guy in a Ranger uniform and not just for his porn collection. The guy kills lefties to the tune of .282/.358/.616 last year and fits in with what the Rangers needs. He would be mainly a DH with a bit of OF or even first base in a pinch.

The question is of course price. Hopefully NL GMs will be smart enough to not give the guy a full time OF position. Hoping for smart GMs in the majors is always a hazard, but if the Yankees are not resigning him because they need to use the DH for Posada (eventually), that should set off some alarms to other clubs. If the NL teams stay out of the bidding, it's down to the 13 other AL clubs. ~~The wild card of course is the possibility he could go to Japan which would overpay to get Matsui back and where he would be treated as a super star.~~

UPDATE Matsui ruled out the possibility of going back to Japan.

I would think the Abreu deal ( 2 years, $19M) would be the model since both are the same age and play roughly the same position. Do the Rangers have that kind of cash? There's a ton of money coming off the books and the payroll will be lower if the Rangers don't do anything, even after raises, buyouts, and arbitration. If the team can get sold quickly (cross your fingers everybody) then the new owners will likely bring the payroll up to the league average (cross your toes now) and have money to spend on a bat.

Despite their money problems, there are still rumblings of the Rangers maybe paying for Marlon Byrd to stay even now. If the Rangers have the money to pay Byrd, then they have the money to pay Matsui. And really, who would you rather have? While Byrd can play the OF better than Matsui, he's not going to have as good a bat. Plus the Rangers have enough young toolsy outfielders that they can afford to lose Byrd's defense if it means an upgrade on offense.

I know this is all a pipe dream most likely, but hey, that's what the offseason is for right?

The Redskins' legal team are jerks

DerekSTheRed — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:27:54 -0000

So the economy is pretty tough right now on everyone. Most teams' season ticket sales are slipping. Teams like the Jaguars are in danger of having the entire season blacked out. As the economy affects the season ticket holders, many don't renew their tickets.

Some have purchased multi-year contracts in the past to get better deals. If these unfortunates are now broke, they have to renegotiate or risk defaulting on their multi-year contracts. Most teams will simply write off the contract and re-sell the tickets. The Redskins unfortunately appear to be kicking their fans while their down.

Hill is one of 125 season ticket holders who asked to be released from multiyear contracts and were sued by the Redskins in the past five years. The Washington Post interviewed about two dozen of them. Most said that they were victims of the economic downturn, having lost a job or experiencing some other financial hardship.

I personally think the NFL should suspend their blackout rules during the recession. But I REALLY think the Redskins need to lighten up on suing these people now that they can't afford it. It just doesn't seem fair that the Redskins can sue the customer for failure to pay AND resell the tickets. If the contract being broken doesn't lead to a loss (i.e. the seats in question were resold and the team is still making money selling the seats) how can you sue for damages? Moreover, it just seems like they are finding new ways to screw their fanbase out of money (something with which Jones and Snyder seem to be very good at).

Fortunately, I don't think JJ and the Cowboys are doing something like this, mostly due to the timing of the new stadium and the economic downturn if nothing else. Plus JJ has his own PR problems with the practice facility crash to risk pissing off the fanbase.

Snyder and his legal team however, just seem to take their loyal fanbase for granted which is a real shame. I hate the Skins and their fans, but I wouldn't wish this on any fanbase.

My fake trades

DerekSTheRed — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:04:39 -0000

Here's a list of trade ideas for the off season. I know that some of these are of questionable logic but I decided to have fun with ESPN's trade machine today.

Damp + Stack for Al Jefferson and Craig Smith and Madsen's corpse. Extra size = Mavs win. Minnesota gains a lot of roster room to re-sign their restricted FAs although they may not need any more now.
Damp + Stack + Wright for B. Haywood + Mike James + Caron Butler. Better center and Butler plays the 2 along with a backup PG in James. Pure salary dump for the Wiz. Substituting Jamison for Butler also works. I don't think the Wiz do either now after the Foye trade so how about number 3?
Damp for either Jamison or Butler straight up. The Wiz need more front court bodies after their Foye trade but still highly unlikely.
Stack + Wright +Williams for Kaman.
Stack + Williams for Camby. These two trades are similar and involve getting a center without trading Damp which I would only do if the Mavs trade Damp but don't get a center back like in number 3 above.
The obligatory Shaq for salary dump trade but I'm hoping the Suns throw in Tucker to help for depth purposes.

Meantime, in the what’s fair is fair department, it should be noted that over in Detroit on Sunday, ...

DerekSTheRed — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:33:14 -0000

Meantime, in the what’s fair is fair department, it should be noted that over in Detroit on Sunday, former Ranger Armando Galarraga did not make it out of the first inning, surrendering four hits and five runs while walking three. Last year, as Galarraga was winning 13 games for the Tigers while Texas’ pitching struggled, he was being held up as just one more example of Texas general manager Jon Daniels’ failures.

This isn’t to say that Galarraga won’t come back strong or that the Rangers’ current pitching success will continue to this magnitude. Things change in this game, and they’ve seen plenty of that in Arlington.

At last. Someone in the national media, in this case CBS Sports' Weekend Buzz, noticed Galarraga is sucking and gives JD a break on losing him.

Brewers sign Catalanotto

DerekSTheRed — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:05:53 -0000

Brewers sign Catalanotto

Gets a minor league deal and may join their bench later.

ESPN's Simmons and Berry discuss fantasy and the Rangers

DerekSTheRed — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:02:38 -0000

In Bill Simmon's latest 2 part podcast, he discusses fantasy baseball with Matthew Berry. In his part 1 podcast they discuss the AL West (starting at the 28 minute mark) and spend a bit amount of time on the Rangers. They basically conclude (and I know this isn't rocket science) that Ranger hitters are going to be great for fantasy baseball. Simmons seems to think the Ranger's bullpen will be good as well and mentions Guardado, Wilson, and Francisco as positives.

In addition, Simmons actually bet money on the Rangers to win the West at 10-1 odds (supposedly). Berry is an Angels fan and of course dismissed that possibility. I was struck with the amount of knowledge Simmons had on the Rangers minor league system. Apparently Simmons has a deep AL fantasy league that factors in minor league players and was able to name Smoak and Feliz as potential long shots to take a chance on late in the draft with a chance to contribute this year. Amazingly he didn't mention Holland.

Proposed Trade Thread for the Deadline

DerekSTheRed — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:23:21 -0000

This is a thread for any proposed trade ideas you can come up with and for discussion of said trades. The goal is to come up with some reasonable trades (which is somewhat subjective) using ESPN's trade machine or RealGM's trade checker. I personally prefer the ESPN one since it's a bit more user friendly.

Here's my proposed trade. I am assuming Phoenix to be in a cost cutting move and will want to get back to the "Six Seconds or Less" offense with their new coach. The Clippers have one too many centers and are looking to get value back.

Edit: If you want to link a trade using ESPN's Trade Machine, click the save trade button and it will show you the direct link. Use the direct link in your post here. Otherwise it just takes you to the first page. For RealGM trades, it will display a Trade ID number with a direct link to the specific trade.

SI.com: Crucial stretch for Stars and Pens

DerekSTheRed — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:43:48 -0000

Darren Eliot at si.com lists the Stars and Pens as two teams that currently sit out of the playoffs but that could jump in down the stretch. Here's what he says about the Stars.

In the case of the Stars, their ability to scrap and claw into playoff contention will depend on how successful they are before the March 4 trade deadline. They currently trail Edmonton, Vancouver and Anaheim by four points, with one game in hand on the Oilers, three on the Canucks and four on the Ducks. The Stars must take advantage of that scheduling cushion.

The other side of that equation, of course, is that the Stars will have a more rigorous sprint to the end of the regular schedule. But beginning next week, their sprint to the deadline will include playing 11 of 14 games at home. For all of their ups and downs to this point, the Stars have been much stronger on home ice (11-6-4) than away (9-12-3). So the importance of the upcoming home sequence is obvious.

Less obvious -- and the danger in thinking that the Stars are a lock to ascend due to those home games -- is the manner in which those 11 wins in Dallas came about. Of the 11 victories, five were in shootouts. The Stars struck three times in the overtime period as well. That leaves just three home wins in regulation. Are the Stars' skinny margins a sign of fortitude or fortune? Time will tell and the time is now.

My man-crush on DeWitt aka Proposed Michael Young trade

DerekSTheRed — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:24:30 -0000

I have a fondness for a certain type of player that I would like to see the Rangers pursue. For the past few years, I've been wanting the Rangers to acquire a lefty power bat with reverse splits. Why? To offset the weakness of the Rangers lineup to hit left handed pitchers and to take advantage of the jet stream and short home run porch in right field. If this player could play third base, then he would be perfect for the Rangers and solve many of the myriad team problems

For years my obsession was for Casey Blake when he was with the Indians and then the Dodgers. Once Casey re-signed with the Dodgers, that dream died. It did get replaced by a new dream and his name is Blake DeWitt.

Blake DeWitt is 23 and was the starting third baseman for the Dodgers until they traded for Casey Blake. This trade was due in part to his struggles at the plate during June and July. He moved to second base at the end of August and began hitting again.

With young players there is always the possibility of a regression, but I'm hoping that Rudy will be able to keep the kid hitting if the Rangers get him. Now about those splits, DeWitt has a 286/402/452 versus lefties and a 257/326/363 versus righties. An 852 OPS versus lefties will absolutely help balance out the Rangers lineup. His defense at third base is only ok but it's better than the guy he got replaced by in Casey Blake

In order to get him in a Michael Young trade, the Rangers would have to take back salary. The Dodgers have two atrocious outfield contracts they would like to move in Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. Jones recently deferred money (interest free) on his contract to facilitate a trade and would be the one the Rangers want back since his contract is up at the end of the year (though you would still keep paying him).

My first thought is a straight up MY+Byrd for Jones+DeWitt where DeWitt moves to third base and Young moves to second. I am assuming Young will agree to be traded to a contender near where he grew up in Santa Clara. The Rangers would then have money to add to add to the Sheets kitty.

Unfortunately I could see the Dodgers playing hard ball and wanting a MLB ready pitcher as well. I would be loathe to throw in McCarthy, Harrison, or Hurley since the Rangers are needing them. The other alternative is send Millwood or Padilla, but the Dodgers would likely require the Rangers to eat some of the salary, which takes money out of the Sheets kitty. Would the Dodges accept Kason Gabbard as the throw in? He's a lefty nibbler that could find success in the NL where he couldn't find it for Boston or Texas.

Any chance this happens? Will Young sulk in the dugout all year? Or will another team trade for him?

BTB Likes Laird trade

DerekSTheRed — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:29:58 -0000