Rumors

Francisco Rodriguez is a great closer, there's no question about that, but there are already a ton of miles on his shoulder, and some teams may be shying away from the guy because of that. At the minimum they would like to drop his value a tad before signing.

So the "drop in velocity" rumors have started making the rounds, so much so that his agent has had to come out and defend the guy, in arguably his greatest season yet.

The Mets are of course the heavy favorite for Rodriguez's services, and their was even a story from a Venezuelan newspaper yesterday, that Francisco Rodriguez wass on his way to New York for a physical exam, in advance of signing a contract with the Mets. But a person within the Mets organization tonight said "it's not true."

Give it a week or two. He will be a Met.

What is it with the Dodgers and ballplayers in their decline phase? I thought they brought in Joe Torre because he was supposed to be kid friendly. Yet the front office keeps bringing in free agents, way, way, way, past their prime.

Friggin Colletti, spreading the Sabean play book around is what it is. When is that thing hitting the New York Times Best Sellers list. ..

"45 year old Ballplayers, the New Market Inefficiency".

the latest on employee #44.

Union Tribune Young still in shock over the possibility of Hoffman leaving

Jake Peavy was in Puerto Rico last week with Hoffman, Young and several other ballplayer friends, including the Brewers' Ryan Braun and the Yankees' Derek Jeter. Another friend called Peavy to ask if he had heard that Peavy soon might be dealt to the Braves.
Peavy's response left one person present to conclude that Peavy, whose consent is needed for a trade, will not be going to Atlanta anytime soon, even if the Padres and Braves were to agree to a trade.
“I think he wants to go to Chicago,” the friend said.

Music to my ears

Union tribune GM tries to create bidding war with the precious few bidders

“As of right now, there hasn't been a deal that's been presented to us that we could accept,” Towers said. “The next thing is (for) Barry to sit down with Jake and say, 'Doesn't look like anything's happening with L.A. Nothing's more than likely happening with the Cubs and as of now not with the (Braves). As of now, you're probably going to remain a Padre.' ”

The way this front office is treating a San Diego legend is disgraceful. Props to you guys, for pissing off 95% of your fanbase, and alienating your greatest asset.

I think what they should do is give themselves promotions. and raises.

no way in hell the padres are “BETTER” because of this crap ..

fools

ESPN Trevor Hoffman still miffed by treatment from San Diego Padres

"You don't really want to deal with people who handle their business that way... To come home and to hear the comments, and hear how they're spinning lies to do damage control, I feel like I have to stand up and set the record straight a little bit, and say how things happened."

I am sorry Kevin, you don't get that choice. You have a number of fans that you are accountable to.
this is unacceptable.

SD Union Tribune Organization pulls Hoffman contract offer from the table

Asked if he made the withdrawal at Moores' request, Towers said, "No comment."
Towers added: "I really don't want to get into anything other than we withdrew the offer."

Bronx Spenders FanGraphs Baseball

With Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, Bobby Abreu, and Ivan Rodriguez all having their contracts expire, the Yankees lost about $86 million in committed salaries from the end of the ‘08 season. $86 million.

Some of that will get redistributed to players already on the roster, such as raises for Alex Rodriguez, Xavier Nady, Robinson Cano, and Chien-Ming Wang. However, even if the Yankees just maintain a $205 million payroll (a $5 million decrease from 2008), they’ll still have about $65 million to spend even after taking care of the guys already under contract.

New York Times Blog The Book on Oliver Perez, by Scott Boras

Chapter Three is titled: “Perez Is One of Baseball’s Top 5 Left-Handed Starting Pitchers.” It puts Perez in a grouping with C.C. Sabathia, Cole Hamels, Ted Lilly and Johan Santana, who was Perez’s teammate on the Mets in 2007. Two charts are included to show that in each of the past two seasons on the Mets, Perez was the youngest left-handed pitcher in the majors to have an earned run average of less than 4.25 while accumulating at least 170 strikeouts and 10 victories.

The Cubs appear to have taken the lead in the Jake Peavy hostage crisis. Oh Joy. The Cubs should be right behind the Dodgers, when it comes to disavowing trading partners. 1984!! But hey, if the friars can use the lovable losers as tools to pry starting pitcher Tommy Hanson from the Braves filthy little fingers, all the better. Right?

The Dodgers were sure busy today. a $75m offer to Manny, Penny gone, Kent gone.

Those of you that wanted big bucks tossed at Manny, there you go. I bet Manny turns it down though. Manny won't sign anything without hearing the Yankee offer first. Scott Boras inc. would never let it happen. His is 10 days away from true free agency, and Scott Boras dreams of days like this. Its why Manny asked out of Boston in the first place, or so we have been told.

Glad to see Jeff Kent isn't hanging them up yet. Second basemen are in demand right now, and Kent has another year or three left in him.

Maybe a return to San Fransisco is in order?