cincykid wrote:

Cubs  To Sign Edwin Jackson

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 20, 2012  at  2:24pm CST]

The Cubs have agreed to sign Edwin  Jackson to a four-year, $52MM contract,  Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com reports (on Twitter). The deal includes a no-trade clause, Jon Heyman of  CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). The agreement between the Cubs and the Legacy  Sports Group client is pending a physical.

Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/cubs-to-sign -edwin-jackson.html#cAHvkuXqXOodJJM6.99

kots mentioned jackson in his trade thoughts, as a reason to keep an open mind on dealing homer, and this contract backs him up.  How is he worth this?  Hell, he has given up more hits than innings in all but 4 seasons and 2 of those 4 were call ups, early on in career.  I sure do not see the value at all.  If he is worth that homer or any of our staff would bring one hell of a haul.  I'm not into dealing arms now but if we stumble or can't get dudes extended man o man I'm slobbering at what we could reel in.  Now imo we are just not deep enough on the farm to deal starters.  I'd listen to offers though, have to with this dude getting 52 mill / 4 and no trade too.  Jeeeeeeeeeez.

cincykid wrote: I knew this kid was a good dude before he was drafted.  Anyone named buster posey is OK by me.  Older but is Good News.

It is simply amazing what Buster Posey has been able to  accomplish in his first three seasons in Major League Baseball with the San Francisco Giants.

A Rookie of the Year, a pair of World Series  Rings and a National League MVP…

But what Posey did this past week might possibly be the greatest feat of his  incredible young career.

For winning the NL MVP, Posey received either $10,000 in cash or $10,000  worth of equipment from Louisville Slugger.

And the first person he called was none other than his High School  Head Coach Rob Williams at Lee County High School in Leesburg, Georgia.

The phone call was a simple, “Hey Coach… Pull out the Louisville Slugger  catalog and start shopping…”

Williams is a legend in Leesburg and in Georgia High School  Baseball and is revered by Posey as the man who mentored him to where  he is today.

“This allows us to buy not only the need to haves, but it also allows us to  get a few of the would like to have items,” Williams said of the gift.

During a conversation with Williams back at the beginning of November, he  said that he gets an occasional text from Posey or a phone call here and  there.

But there is no doubt Williams was floored and elated with this conversation  with Posey last week.

With Posey, American Idol Winner and Musical  Superstar Phillip Phillips and Country Music Superstar  Luke Bryan all born and bred in Leesburg, Lee County and its high  school is now officially on the map.

And it is simply amazing to see Posey give back to his hometown and the kids  who are working to follow in his footsteps.

Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2012/12/10/buster-po sey-donates-mvp-bonus-to-lee-county-high-school/?C pBOfgG7izjcpGZx.99

Hanrahan  Trade Reactions: Bailey, Melancon, Grilli

Earlier today, the Red Sox and the Pirates finalized the trade that will send closer Joel  Hanrahan to Boston. The swap has Hanrahan and  infielder Brock  Holt joining the Red Sox with outfielder Jerry  Sands, right-handers Stolmy  Pimentel and Mark  Melancon, and Ivan  De  Jesus Jr. going to Pittsburgh. Here's a  look at some of the reactions to the trade..

Remaining  Free Agent Contact Hitters

With power becoming harder to find, lots of teams are shifting towards a  contact-oriented offense. They seek players who can hit for average and put the  ball in play to force the defense's hand, move runners over, all sorts of stuff.  Few players manage to be above-average at both hitting for power and putting the  ball in play, but Miguel  Cabrera, Adrian  Beltre, Robinson  Cano, and Albert  Pujols are among those who pull it off.

The league average strikeout rate in 2012 was 19.8% (of all plate  appearances). Marco  Scutaro had the lowest strikeout rate among  qualified hitters this year (7.2%) while Jose  Reyes was second (7.8%). Adam  Dunn, on the other hand, had the highest  strikeout rate at 34.2%. Only four other players (Pedro  Alvarez, Drew  Stubbs, Carlos  Pena, Chris  Davis) were over 30%. Strikeouts are not the  only way to identify hitters who can put the ball in play though, especially in  the age of PitchFX. Contact rate, which is available at FanGraphs and uses PitchFX data, is the percentage of  contact made with individual swings. The league average contact rate was 79.6%  this past season, with Scutaro (95.2%) and Josh  Hamilton (64.6%) representing the two  extremes. No other player was above 92.6% or below 66.9%.

Here are the remaining unsigned free agents who posted better than  average strikeout and contact rates in 2012 (min. 200 PA). The lists, as you'll  notice, are not identical.

Strikeout  Rate

1. Carlos  Lee - 8.0%
2. Casey  Kotchman - 9.8%
3. Juan  Rivera - 10.3%
4. Yuniesky  Betancourt - 11.0%
5. Johnny  Damon - 12.1%
6. Ryan  Theriot - 12.2%
7. Adam  Kennedy - 16.4%
8. Jose  Lopez - 16.5%
9. Travis  Hafner - 17.5%
10. Orlando  Hudson - 18.0%
11. Yorvit  Torrealba - 18.3%
12. Delmon  Young - 18.4%
13. Scott  Rolen - 18.8%
14. Rod  Barajas - 19.1%

Contact  Rate

1. Lee - 89.5%
2. Theriot - 89.3%
3. Damon - 89.2%
4. Kotchman - 87.7%
5. Betancourt - 85.3%
6. Rivera - 84.8%
7. Hudson - 84.6%
8. Kennedy - 84.4%
9. Rolen - 84.0%
10. Lopez - 83.7%
11. Bobby  Abreu - 82.9%
12. Jeff  Baker - 80.2%
13. Hafner - 79.7%

Damon and Rolen could retire before the end of the offseason, which would  further remove from the crop of available contact hitters.

While we complain about petty things, Clayton Kershaw is in Africa working at his orphanage

Getty Images

Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times gives us the heads up to Clayton Kershaw‘s offseason activities: he and his his wife are in Zambia working at an orphanage their charity foundation sponsors:

The small orphanage opened last year, and the Kershaws are there now with a team of 23, bringing additional donations, working on the site and interacting with the first eight orphans … The Kershaws are searching for additional sponsors for the orphans. They wrote that the current eight are sleeping in beds for the first time in their lives.

Kinda puts our complaints about the weather, our post-holidays weight, bowl games, the Hall of Fame and any number of other things in perspective.

If you want to follow the Kershaw’s activities and/or see what you can do to help them with the orphanage, go to their blog here, which is being updated by Ellen Kershaw.

Marlins listening to offers for right fielder Giancarlo Stanton

13 MLB players to watch in 2013

By Tyler Maher on January 2, 2013 12:03 am in American League, National League If Jacoby Ellsbury can stay healthy in 2013, expect him to put up big numbers for the Red Sox. (cbssports.com)

AL East Notes: Oliver, Price, Red Sox, Hendrickson

Jeff Frye, Darren Oliver's agent, was apparently not speaking for his client when Frye said earlier this month that Oliver wanted a raise to return to the Blue Jays or else the veteran southpaw would retire, Oliver said during a conference call with reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca). "I was out of town when that article was written, and I didn't say those things, that was coming from Jeff Frye," Oliver said. "Obviously if I had something to say, I would have said it a long time ago, not once did I ever demand anything from the Blue Jays or Alex [GM Alex Anthopoulos]." The Jays announced today that Oliver would return to pitch in Toronto in 2013.

Here are some more items from around the AL East...

• David Price's one-year deal with the Rays was structured in a way that both saved Price several hundred thousand dollars in taxes and also gave the Rays the ability to potentially save $4MM in salary deferred to Price in 2014 if the southpaw is dealt by then, reports Jon Paul Morosi for FOX Sports.
• The Red Sox talked to the Nationals about Mike Morse but Washington's asking price was too high, reports Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Now that Morse has been dealt to the Mariners, Abraham wonders if Mike Carp is now expendable in Seattle and could fit as left-handed bench depth in Boston.
• Xander Bogaerts is "as close to untouchable as any player in the Boston organization," writes CSNNE.com's Sean McAdam in an interview with the highly-touted Red Sox prospect. Sox GM Ben Cherington reportedly turned down several trade offers involving Bogaerts this winter.
• Mark Hendrickson looked good during a tryout at the Orioles' minicamp today and will pitch again for the team on Friday, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. We heard earlier this week that Hendrickson is trying to return to the Major Leagues as a sidearm pitcher.
• In AL East news from earlier today, the Orioles extended Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette, the Yankees avoided arbitration with Phil Hughes and the Red Sox made progress with Mike Napoli.

Managers And GMs Entering Their Contract Years

After a surprise playoff berth in 2012, the Orioles definitely wanted to keep manager Buck Showalter and executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette in the fold, today announcing that both men had been signed to extensions through the 2018 season. As Showalter's previous deal only ran through next year, his extension removes him from this list of managers and general managers who are entering the final year of their current contracts and will be looking to earn themselves some Showalter-esque job security. This list could be partially incomplete, as some teams don't release terms of front office executives' contracts. Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for many of these details.

* Dodgers. No manager in baseball is under the pressure that Don Mattingly faces in 2013. Though the skipper has led Los Angeles to a pair of winning seasons while the club was going through the turmoil of the McCourt ownership sale, Mattingly will be expected to deliver a playoff appearance (at minimum) given how much money the new Dodgers' owners have poured into the franchise. As respected as Mattingly is, the Dodgers could easily make an early managerial change if the team doesn't get off to a strong start.

* Rockies. A team known for its unusual management moves (ex-manager Jim Tracy's "handshake deal" and the current split of GM duties between Dan O'Dowd and Bill Geivett) made another one in hiring new manager Walt Weiss, who is serving under just a one-year contract. While this theoretically puts Weiss on the hot seat from day one, you'd think the rookie skipper would be given some rope given that the Rockies are coming off a last-place season and don't look anywhere near contention in 2013. The Denver Post's Troy Renck examined Weiss' unique contract, a situation that Weiss himself embraces.

* Cardinals. GM John Mozeliak is entering the last year of his current deal, while manager Mike Matheny is entering his last guaranteed year, though the Cards have a team option on Matheny for 2014. You have to figure that neither man is going anywhere given Cardinals' recent success. Mozeliak is a good bet to receive an extension before Opening Day and Matheny could also receive a new deal given how well the team performed in his first year taking over from Tony La Russa on the St. Louis bench.

* Pirates. It's essentially a winning season or else for Clint Hurdle, as the Bucs' collapse down the stretch in 2012 extended the team's streak to a record 20 straight seasons with a sub-.500 record.

* Mets. Terry Collins is entering his last season under contract at Citi Field but while the Mets have yet to crack the .500 mark in his two years as manager, one can hardly hold Collins responsible given the team's tumultuous payroll situation. Collins is probably in no danger of being fired and I'd guess he'll be extended through 2014 unless the Mets' performance really craters.

* Braves. Fredi Gonzalez is going into his last guaranteed year, though the Braves hold a club option on the skipper for 2014. One would think it would take a real collapse for that option to not get picked up, as Gonzalez has a 183-141 record in his first two years as Atlanta's manager. Of course, the team did famously collapse in September 2011 but the Braves rebounded to grab a playoff berth last season.

* Phillies. Before Charlie Manuel signed his last extension, he said that he wanted to manage until he turned 70 and then would discuss his future with Phillies management. Manuel's advancing age may be the excuse the team needs to make a change at manager, especially if the Phils have another underwhelming season. If the Phillies are successful, Manuel and the team could choose to pursue Jim Leyland-style one-year contracts for 2014 and beyond if Manuel has doubts about how much longer he wishes to manage.

* Nationals. Unlike many managers on this list, Davey Johnson is entering his last year as manager by choice, as his extension with Washington will only keep him on the bench through 2013 and he will continue as a team consultant in 2014. It seems likely that this will be Johnson's last year of managing as he obviously could have gotten a longer deal had he wished, given the Nats' run to the NL East crown last season. One of the top storylines of the 2013-14 offseason will be who gets the coveted job of Nationals manager, as few jobs in baseball have as much long-term potential.

* Mariners. Eric Wedge and Jack Zduriencik are both going into the last year of their deals and following consecutive losing seasons, Seattle may have to see significant improvement on the field if either man is to be retained. The announcement that Safeco Field's fences are being moved in could buy Zduriencik a little time, as he could be given another season to attract hitters to Seattle if it becomes clear that Safeco is no longer an extreme pitchers' park. Zduriencik has been bold in his pursuit of hitting talent this winter, acquiring Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse on top of trying to trade for Justin Upton and going after free agents like Nick Swisher and Josh Hamilton.

* Twins. Ron Gardenhire has won six division titles as Minnesota's manager but only has one playoff series victory to his credit and now has suffered back-to-back last place seasons. That said, now-permanent GM Terry Ryan said last August that he didn't plan to fire Gardenhire, so we could see the Twins skipper get something akin to a one-year extension during Spring Training just so Gardenhire can avoid lame-duck status. It may seem odd to extend a manager coming off seasons of 99 and 96 losses, respectively, but I'd guess that Gardenhire's track record has earned him some leeway.

* Tigers. Jim Leyland signed another one-year extension following the World Series, which is how he prefers it at this stage of his career. He and the Tigers seem content to handle things on an annual basis, and obviously the team is pleased with Leyland's recent results.

* Royals. The pressure will be on Ned Yost as Kansas City has legitimate hopes to contend for the time in years. The Royals exercised Yost's 2013 option last February and if the team gets off to a slow start, Yost could very well be fired as soon as late April or early May. Conversely, Yost could be an early extension candidate if K.C. starts out playing well and management decides they're on the right track.

* Yankees. Because the Yankees generally don't pursue extensions before contracts expire, manager Joe Girardi has little room to negotiate, no matter how much his record with the team may make him seem like a no-brainer extension candidate. Hypothetical scenario: if Mattingly is fired by the Dodgers after a winning (but non-playoff) season and the Yankees don't at least win the AL pennant, just imagine how heavily the New York media will push the idea of the Yankees bringing Mattingly back to the Bronx as the team's new manager.

ChrisSabo wrote: 

Adios douche. First God's favorite LB and now this. What an absoultely great sports week.

DocBuc wrote: Craig signed for $31 millon/ 5 years with the Cards...geezus that sounds cheap to me.

Poll: When Will Giancarlo Stanton Be Traded?

The Marlins' Giancarlo  Stanton hit 93 home runs in his first 371 games, leading MLB in slugging percentage last year as a 22-year-old.  He's under team control through 2016 and hasn't gotten expensive yet.  The Marlins sliced payroll drastically in the November blockbuster with the Blue Jays, but Stanton won't even be arbitration eligible until after this season.  If we look at the examples of Miguel  Cabrera and Josh  Beckett, they were traded with three years of big league service time, a point Stanton will reach after this season.

The 2005 Marlins were trying to win, however, and that's probably why Beckett was dealt after the season rather than during it.  Cabrera was not dealt as part of the team's fire sale during the 2005-06 offseason, but rather after the '07 season.  So, Cabrera stayed with the club for two full post-fire sale seasons.

When star shortstop Hanley  Ramirez had two years of big league service, the Marlins signed him to a record-setting six-year extension.  He remained with the team for the first three-plus years of that deal, and was traded to the Dodgers after a notable decline in performance.

Your turn to weigh in: with nearly every team in baseball wanting to get their hands on Giancarlo  Stanton, when will he be traded?