Team Discussion

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 Post AL PLAYER RANKINGS

The 2007-08 American League rankings, compiled by the Elias Sports Bureau by the standards established jointly by the Player Relations Committee and MLB Players Association, to determine what draft choices are used as compensation for free agents under the 1981, 1985, 1996, 2002 and 2006 labor agreements between the Major League Baseball Players Association and the major league clubs.

Type A players are among the top 20 percent at their grouping, and a team losing a Type A free agent to another club receives an amateur draft pick from that club as compensation. Type B players are among 21-40 percent in their grouping, and a team losing a Type B free agent to another club receives a "sandwich" pick between rounds of the amateur draft as compensation:

MLB.com Selig cautions GMs about economy

"For any of us to believe that eventually all this isn't going to affect us in this business, you have to have your head in the sand," said Kenny Williams, the GM of the White Sox. "People are struggling. And what does that mean? People who spend their discretionary dollars on sports and other forms of entertainment have got to make some decisions about what they want to do."

The Brewer exodus continues

padres.com Padres name hitting, bench coaches

"I am excited to welcome Jim Lefebvre and Ted Simmons to our staff," Padres manager Bud Black said in a release. "Their knowledge and experience will help every player on our team, and the familiarity they have with the players and organization as a whole will allow them to smoothly transition into their new roles."

Simmons, 59, served most of this past season as the bench coach in Milwaukee as part of manager Ned Yost's staff. When Yost was dismissed on Sept. 15, Simmons was reassigned to an advisory role with the team.
The Padres were granted permission by Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin to talk to Simmons last month, as Simmons' contract with the Brewers expired on Oct. 31

Man everybody is bailing on the Brewers. Jack Z, probably all his crew, and now Mike Maddux? I'd say it's karma for firing the manager with a few weeks to go. The Brewers had their shot, and they blew it.

Now they can go back to being NL doormats for the next 15 years. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!!

MLB.com Sources: Maddux new pitching coach

Mike Maddux is joining the Rangers as their pitching coach, according to Major League sources. An announcement is expected at some point this week.

Maddux, who has spent the past five seasons as the Brewers' pitching coach, was interviewed by the Rangers this weekend and is expected to be hired. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Maddux told the Brewers that he was leaving to join the Rangers.

BostonHerald.com Meeting of the GM minds

The club’s free agents - The chief priority will be to talk with agent Scott Boras about catcher Jason Varitek [stats]. Before Epstein leaves Thursday morning, he should have a pretty good idea about Varitek’s contractual demands. If Boras indicates that Varitek is looking for something longer than a two-year deal, the Sox will begin looking at other options.

The Sox won’t pursue many of their own free agents, including veteran pitchers Mike Timlin [stats] and Bartolo Colon, and first baseman Sean Casey. Outfielder/first baseman Mark Kotsay, a late-season acquisition, would be welcomed back but will probably go elsewhere for a chance to play more.

STLtoday St. Louis Cardinals make offseason plans:

Tom Verducci SI.com: How the Phillies beat the Rays to win the World Series

On Sept. 10 the 79-67 Phillies were 3 1/2 games out of first place, had the same record as the Houston Astros and were only one-half game better than the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays, three teams that didn't sniff the playoffs.But the Phillies became yet another team to prove what makes world champions in the era of six divisions and three rounds of playoffs: Staying in contention and then getting hot at the right time.

Philadelphia, including the postseason, finished 24-6 -- the first time any Phillies team in franchise history won 24 of its final 30 games. The Phillies rode ace Cole Hamels (6-1 in that stretch) and a lockdown bullpen (7-0) for more than half of their wins during that run to the championship.

It was a classic late-season formula, especially when you essentially remove the fifth starter, middle relievers and most of the bench from the playoff equation. Philadelphia played 14 postseason games over 31 days, an entirely different pace from the regular season.

The Phillies had 16 days off to play 14 games in October (accounting for Game 5, which took two days) after having 19 days off to play 162 games in the regular season.

WOW! just ... WOW!

I've always liked Kenny Williams .. How can you not.

whitesox.com: White Sox to begin youth movement

just drag on the timeline at the top, to pick any point of the season.

Salary versus Performance