baseball moves
 

Gonzalez to Bosox
Long rumored deal finally happens. Red Sox didn't give away much other than Casey Kelly who is still a question mark trying to convert to full time pitchers. Makes Beltre unnecessary. Hard to fault the deal from Bostons pov.

Dunn to White sox
The Sox desperately needed left handed power and a real bat as DH. Dunn fits the bill and if they resign Konerko (and keep Dunn off the field with a glove) this is a good deal for Chicago. They also resigned catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

Werth to Nats
If Jason Werth were 26 I would kind of like this deal. Otherwise they seemingly overpaid (and gave too long of a deal) Werth who is a good player but at 31 is a strange fit for a team still a ways away from being a contender.

Pettite to retire?
Cliff Lee's agent must just love this

No news on Kendrick yet, will keep you updated. :)

He is cheap innings. I will guess 1 year deal for 525k.

Next year he when he is arb eligible he may have a tougher time finding employment unless he has a lot better year.

Just get the feel that the organization has no credibility and the only way that they can attract/acquire any type of free agent is to grossly overpay for them.

I suppose that guys arent banging down the door to go there but this is simply way too long and too much for a late blooming, non-star player. This is the type of deals Steinbrenner would make. Fans arent flocking to see Werth. The fact that he turns 32 in May makes it even worse than just overpaying. he had his best season this past year but at age 32 in a theoretically lesser juiced era there probably isnt much more improvement coming.

The average Jason werth season is .280 with 25 HR and 90 Rbi's
He has some defensive versitility as he can play center adequately

Washington has some talented guys coming through the system and have done a much better job drafting like tampa did in their rise to promeninence. But they never made a terrible deal like this that 4 years from now when Washington may be good they will be saddled with a 36 year old guy with so so power in decline making 20+ million a year, and still have 3 years left.

Not to mention they just drafted the most hyped prospect ever who they claim they intend to move to RF. Obviously he wont be ready for the majors for a few years but what if he is ready in 2? Where do you play werth or the kid?

I tend to agree with you, but in this case he might put a few fans in the seats. You would think that the fan base wold be pleased that the Nats made a splash into the free agency waters trying to improve the club. Magnify the fact it's a guy that they have seen terrorize them the past few season and now they were able to take him away from a division rival.

Not sure how is numbers will play in a different stadium then the launching pad he has played in the last few seasons. Also you would think that he will offer some sort of protection in the lineup for Zimmerman.
I also think he is solid in the field.

The contract is ridiculous and reminds me a bit of the contract that Pedro Martinez signed with the Mets. The backend of that contract was a killer. But they needed to sign and establish a presence that they were going to be a competitive organization not afraid to spend some money. Now they have Werth (agreed that he's not a superstar), but he's still a presence that might be able to recruit other free agents in upcoming years. They needed to start somewhere and unfortunately they really had to overpay to get that first guy aboard.

Wow, I don't think it will happen. But it will certainly turn the pressure up on other teams in that division. Especially the Mets who are preaching patience while waiting for some big numbers to come off the books.

Umm, the Mets are awful. They can preach whatever they want. They are years away from contending, like 4 or 5 if they make correct moves.

for some reason i thought the phillies extended kendrick for a year.. and Ben Fransisco.

As of his wedding in mid-november that wasn't the case....The whole staff was there including Halladay. All very nice. Hamels is smaller than I thought.

I will disagree that Werths best season came in 2010. I think it was 2009. He put up his best stats in 2010, but he was really horrible with runners in scoring position. like .162 or even worse. He had a few streaks where he was awesome... like the first few weeks when he seemed to hit 3 doubles per game.. but he was the last person on the Phillies roster you wanted up to bat in crunch time this year.

no way on earth I'd want the phils to keep werth for 7 years 126 mil. I read they offered 3 years 54 mil, which is fine.

he is a very good outfielder though, and has a terrific arm. i believe he can also throw a 95 mph fast ball and play catcher quite well!

thought i read it last week.. i'll check philly.com

"The Phillies, meanwhile, did tender offers to outfielder Ben Francisco and righthanded pitcher Kyle Kendrick, both of whom are eligible for salary arbitration. Salary figures from both sides are scheduled to be exchanged Jan. 18."

"As for Kendrick, he figures to receive a raise over his $480,000 salary from last season after going 11-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 2010. He has a career record of 35-24 with a 4.69 ERA. Kendrick, 26, is expected to compete for the fifth spot in the Phillies' starting rotation next season."



Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/...#ixzz17RhepMyV



dont really know what "tender offers" are, but it looks like Kyle will be a Phillie next year.

Yeah just happened I guess.


Kendrick is expected to enter spring training as the favorite for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, but he should see some competition from rookie righthander Vance Worley. The Phillies have also left open the possibility of signing a low-cost free-agent starter to compete for the job.

Kendrick started 31 games last season, going 11-10 with a 4.73 ERA while averaging 4.2 strikeouts and 2.4 walks per nine innings. He earned $480,000 last season and should be in line to receive between $2 million and $2.5 million based on past arbitration cases.

The next step in the process is for both sides - club and player - to file a salary number (the filing period is Jan. 5-15). On Jan. 18, those numbers would be exchanged, and if the two sides cannot come to an agreement, the case will go before a panel of arbiters at some point between Feb. 1-21. The two sides can agree on a contract at any point before then.

by the way.. thats freaking awesome and I'm really jealous. Halladay is the man. Any position players there? utley or Howard or victorino?

Just pitchers. Met them and their wives. Could've played golf in the foursome with Blanton and Hamels but I stink and I didn't want to embarrass myself. My wife's friend hooked up with Jay Happ. Haha.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...or-contestant/

I like Vance Worley and there will be a lot of competition for that 5th spot.. hopefully Kendrick keeps on working hard and trying to mimic Halladay's work ethic.

whats up with Phillies and Survivor girls? Hamels wife is a Survivor also.. I wonder if hamels hooked up Kendrick with his wife. That picture in the article of Kendrick and his wife is priceless. Look at that grin on Kendricks face, he looks like the happiest man in the world.

Good for him and I hope they have a great marriage.

thats awesome about Happ.. love that kid.. good to see him gettin some!

was sad to see Happ go.. but Roy Oswalt is sweet & the trade was great for Philly.