Are you satisfied or not with what your team's GM has done this winter?

[Mattingly]

For the Yanks, I'm pretty comfortable that Brian Cashman has assembled a good team without either going for broke on the countless free agents that had been available, many of whom came at prices well beyond their recent capabilities, and for years beyond which they would often be serviceable.

The only two major FA signings were our own Hideki Matsui, at a price ($52m/4 yrs), since he brings in the Japanese and other Asian market, both here and in Japan, and Johnny Damon, also at a price, since he filled multiple roles of a need in CF, leadoff, and someone who's proven to not only survive, but to thrive in the heated rivalry at the top of the AL East. Flip side, one certain other AL East team no longer has his services. (*ducks & hides*)

For the so-called "bridge to Mo" (Rivera), while setupman Tom Gordon was allowed to walk, going to Philadelphia, and after having seen previous favorites Scott Eyre sign with the Cubbies and BJ Ryan ink with the Blue Jays, the Yanks got Kyle Farnsworth to set up, Ron Villone and Mike Myers in the pen. Tanyon Sturtze, who was re-signed, is also an option in the pen, as are Aaron Small and Jaret Wright.

Most of all, unlike in prior years, he wasn't ambushed by the Boss, aka, The Big Stein, into trading away RHP/SP Chien-Ming Wang and/or 2Bman Robinson Cano. The fact that those two young guys were kept at least shows his faith in the barren Yankee farm system.

Bernie was brought back, will be the backup for Damon in CF and possibly in LF for Matsui, and Bubba Crosby, who plays all 3 OF spots, was kept and can backup Gary Sheffield in RF.

Now then, about your own GM and team, what are some of the things that were done which could've been done better, what are the holes on the team, and how many of them were filled? Did the GM overpay for players, to ensure that the deal would be finalized?

Please explain how you feel about the job your team's GM has done so far this winter.

Thanks.

[Brian McKenna]

orioles are sinking fast - there is no talent in the farm system and none at the top of the front office either - the team let a lot of players go from last year and have not replaced many - no significant pitcher pickups - picked up jeff conine as a utility but could have kept surhoff for the same - brought in catcher Ramon Hernandez to displace javy lopez without even letting lopez in on the joke - the team's best player, tejada, wants out because he sees no end in sight to the club's losing ways - sorry to say niether do i

[Mattingly]

Originally Posted by bkmckenna

orioles are sinking fast - there is no talent in the farm system and none at the top of the front office either - the team let a lot of players go from last year and have not replaced many - no significant pitcher pickups - picked up jeff conine as a utility but could have kept surhoff for the same - brought in catcher Ramon Hernandez to displace javy lopez without even letting lopez in on the joke - the team's best player, tejada, wants out because he sees no end in sight to the club's losing ways - sorry to say niether do i

Nice reply.

Who's your GM, Jim Duquette? I do know that Palmeiro and Sosa were allowed to walk. Who were the others, and what were the most glaring holes that needed to be filled this offseason?

For the farm system, have they made in trades at all in which they've acquired a minor leaguer as part of any deal, such as trading one guy for another, and receiving a farm guy also?

I'm curious, why do you prefer BJ Surhoff over Jeff Conine, who you're telling me is recently acquired? They both play 1B/DH/corner OF, but BJ hit .257/.282/.356 last season at age 40, whereas Conine hit .304/.374/.403. Is it their defensive differences?

For Hernandez and Lopez, was Javy given an expensive contract with some kind of "trigger" that if reached, guarantees him for 2007? What I'm asking is, are they trying to insure, by bringing in Hernandez, that Javy does not reach a certain number of games, at bats, etc, which would make the contract more lucrative for him?

Has the GM or anyone else in the front office done anything to appease Tejada? Do you see him returning in 2006, since it's a 6-year deal he signed?

[redlegsfan21]

GM Dave O'Brien hasn't done anything good. He traded fan-faavorite Sean Casey for another "Eric Milton" and signed another speedy second baseman in Tony Womack (He won't get playing time with Freel in the lineup). Chris Hammond could go either way and so far is the best move this offseason.

[sandlot]

I agree with much of what Mattingly says, but I can't help thinking that NY is not done making adjustments, and I'm not entirely happy with what has been done so far. Last year proved (again) the maxim that pitching wins titles, and right now the Yanks look excellent on the hitting side but very suspect on the mound. Multiple options for Mo, yes, but which of them is not going to pan out? And how long can Mo keep being Mo? I would have preferred to see them forego Damon and focus on getting one more quality starter with durability, because the staff right now has too many question marks (age, injury) hanging over it, IMHO. So while I think Wang is safe, the same can't be said for Cano. If NY needs to trade for pitching, and I fear they will, he's the guy.

[VTSoxFan]

HA!

First of all, the Red Sox have no GM. Oh sure, a couple little figurehead "co-GMs" who seem to perpetually have a deer-in-the-headlights look. Lucchino's sticking his fingers in and has gotten rid of pretty much everyone on the Sox he dares to at the moment. We have no CF, no leadoff hitter, no bona fide SS, and no bona fide first-baseman. We have 2 or 3 second-basemen, 2 third-basemen, a desperately unhappy leftfielder, and, with a few exceptions, an EXTREMELY disgruntled fan base which is rapidly lapsing back into our pre-2004 emotional state, in which we pretty much expect to be eliminated by Memorial Day.

[Mattingly]

Originally Posted by sandlot

I agree with much of what Mattingly says, but I can't help thinking that NY is not done making adjustments, and I'm not entirely happy with what has been done so far. Last year proved (again) the maxim that pitching wins titles, and right now the Yanks look excellent on the hitting side but very suspect on the mound. Multiple options for Mo, yes, but which of them is not going to pan out? And how long can Mo keep being Mo? I would have preferred to see them forego Damon and focus on getting one more quality starter with durability, because the staff right now has too many question marks (age, injury) hanging over it, IMHO. So while I think Wang is safe, the same can't be said for Cano. If NY needs to trade for pitching, and I fear they will, he's the guy.

For the Yanks, I think that there was better relief pitching available through free agency than starting. BJ Ryan and Scott Eyre certainly seemed like worthy additions to many clubs, but it's not like there's Johan Santana, Chris Carpenter or Dontrelle Willis available anytime soon. If they were available, I wouldn't be the least bit coy in hoping that Cashman could snare one of them.

As to Mo being Mo, that was the big thing about BJ Ryan, since he's an established closer and could also be seen as his heir apparent, just like Mo was to John Wetteland. Interestingly, Cleveland's Bob Wickman was also on that 1996 team.

Without focusing too much attention to the Yanks, I've heard several names mentioned for CF, such as Jeremy Reed, Brad Wilkerson, Coco Crisp, and even Milton Bradley. Of all of them, only one person who was immediately available had some tenure in the hotly-fueled AL East, and that was Johnny Damon, noodle arm and all. It remains to be seen if Damon still has his talent, and whether or not shearing his locks did to him what Delia did to Samson.

There's no doubt we need Wang. Cano, I'm not sure will be traded. Who else is there to take his place from AAA? From the AAA Columbus Clippers, there's John Thurston and John Urick, both at 2B.

Depending upon how good a pitcher you're talking about, I can see touted prospect (I may not be totally accurate on that) Eric Duncan, 3B of the AA Trenton Thunder being auditioned this spring. That's all I can think of right now.

[steveox]

Im very disatisfied what the orioles done so far!

[Mattingly]

Originally Posted by steveox

Im very disatisfied what the orioles done so far!

For example, please? Instead of just "everything" or "overall", if you can give us good examples of your dissatisfaction, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

[rompus]

I'm really liking what the blue jays are doing with the club. Their first 3 big moves this season should really benefit the team.

Firstly they brought in BJ Ryan, who will provide them with a good bonefied closer. My favourite thing about this guy is his strikeout to innings ratio that he's put up over the last 2 years. I do believe that they overpaid for him....but i'm sure he wouldn't have come to Toronto if they didn't.

Secondly they signed AJ Burnett. AJ has great stuff and along with Halladay will give the blue jays the best 1-2 starting punch in the AL East(IMO). My only real problem with this guy is his attitude and the fact hes prone to injury. I'm sure he will be happy in Toronto though with Arnsberg(his former pitching coach).

Their 3rd pickup of Lyle Overbay is a perfect fit to the jays lineup. He's a contact hitter who hits alot of doubles, a perfect number 5 hitter for the jays lineup.

Jays are also supposedly gonna pick up Troy Glaus for Batista and Hudson...this guy will give them a big power bat in the middle of the lineup, something they need bad.

[steveox]

Originally Posted by Mattingly

For example, please? Instead of just "everything" or "overall", if you can give us good examples of your dissatisfaction, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

Sir there still no pitching,,, Cant do crap without pitching.

[KCGHOST]

Allard Baird is simply a disaster her in KC. Any decision higher than signing minimum wage players is beyond him and the farm system is still a desert. Locals usually refer to him as the Bag of Hammers (as in dumb as).

[Perseas]

I'm quite happy so far with John Schuerholz. Filling in the void of Furcal was done with a great move of signing Renteria. If he does something about that depleted bullpen of ours, I'll put up a picture of him in my room and praise it all day... You have to acknowledge his great work so far, with an ever shrinking payroll and now with the ownership uncerainty... So hats off to you JS!!!

[Mattingly]

Originally Posted by steveox

Sir there still no pitching,,, Cant do crap without pitching.

Starting or relief? No help from the AAA team via call-up or spring tryouts?

What about the bench, the outfield, the infield, catching?

[insanefishpossay]

Terry Ryan improved the Twins already awesome offensive lineup by bringing in Luis Castillo, Tony Batista, and Rondell White.

I like the addition of Castillo. It makes the top of our lineup pretty solid. Stewart/Castillo/Mauer should make for a decent 1-3.

I don't like the pickup of Tony Batista. The idea that someone could lead our team in HR's, yet have the lowest OBP at the same time isn't really comforting.

Rondell White could be a good pickup for the Twins if he can stay healthy. Unfortunately, staying healthy doesn't appear as something he's good at.

Our pitching is solid, we just need offense. It was just unbelieveable the amount of 1-run games we lost last season.

[trosmok]

The lovable losers are not going to have an easy time in the expectations department after finishing behind the Brewers in the division, and last place in the hearts of the Chicago baseball fans in '05. How can the White Sox be the World Champions before the Cubs? No mo Nomar, nuts! I really like the guy and think he should get one more shot, at least if it will keep him from going to the you know who's.

The moves Hendry has made so far is still a work in progress; his latest comment was that it is still a long way to opening day. I'm filled with tempered enthusiasm for the totally revamped outfield of Jaque Jones, Juan Pierre, and ROY candidate to be Matt Murton. If the front office of the Trib team signs Patterson, I hope they keep him in Iowa for the first month of the season; last year he couldn't drive home Miss Daisy, and much like my famous venison chile he needs a little more seasoning.

The offense must do better scoring runs, I think my northsiders were second in homers but ninth in runs scored, meaning a whole lot of D. Lee's dingers were solo shots. Ramierez and Barrett are returning and will provide some needed offense to go with their passable defensive performances.

Off season pick-ups include reliever Scott Eyre and utility man John Mabry, and I know only a little about these two so I'll just remain cautiously optomistic. Bob Howry I remember from his Red Sox days, I'm not sure how he fared in Cleveland, but he is certainly a nice addition in the set-up or even as a closer if Dumpster, er Dempster struggles early on.

As usual, the starting rotation looks formidable on paper, and suspect in the injury plagued real world. Latest news is Wood should start throwing in Jan., Prior and Maddux are expected to be their usual flirt with twenty wins selves, Rusch and Williams are pencilled in as the four and five guys, and my favorite young fireballing hothead, Carlos Zambrano looks more and more like the ace of the staff. The guy is so emotional he makes me believe he'd go out and play for a six-pack of polish sausage, and he swings the bat as well as any pitcher not named Willis in the league.

The best addition though, is very likely the construction of 1800+ more bleacher seats that is right on schedule. Just that many more garden partiers in Wrigley is just what the Cubs need to make more money, but makes no change in the won-loss column that I fear may be a repeat of the dismal '05 season. Instead of worrying if their glass is half empty, or half full, it seems the vibe from Wrigley is to get a smaller glass, make it look fuller, and lower our expectations so that an over .500 season in '06 will be palatable. Whew! Did you get all that McPhail, or was I typing too fast for you to keep up?

[steveox]

Originally Posted by Mattingly

Starting or relief? No help from the AAA team via call-up or spring tryouts?

What about the bench, the outfield, the infield, catching?

Well they got the bats! nothing wrong with fielding its their pitching cant stay out of big inning rallies.And their bullpen is gonna need help means BJ Ryan is gone.

[Sean Casey]

I am one of the growing number of disgruntled Red Sox fans who are completely confused as to what the front office is doing. Ever since Theo left, there has been no apparent direction for any of the moves they are making.

Firts, they trade three of our best prospects for an injury-prone pitcher who has had one good season and a third baseman who can't hit. Then, they trade away Renteria, who, while he had an off year in 2005, it was still better than your average SS. In exchange, they get an untested prospectwho certainly won't be ready to play full-time in 2005. Also, while I'm glad they didn't sign Damon, I'm very disturbed by the fact that they were completely blindsided by his decision to sign with the Yankees.

Plus, they have made no moves to sign any free agents of any value; in fact they have stood by while everyone else in the division except TB has made major (or at least significant) signings.

Finally, the whole co-GM idea still seems like someone's idea of a bad joke; I can't see much getting done when two guys have to agree on everything that happens. It's for that exact reason why we only have one president, why states only have one governor, and why cities only have one mayor.

The only thing that the Red Sox has done right is trading Mirabelli for Loretta; I still have no idea why the Padres agreed to that deal, but, as much as i like Mirabelli, I'm glad they did.

[ndistops]

The Cubs have:

- Acquired two pretty decent relievers (Eyre and Howry) for contracts that now seem like bargains compared to some of the reliever signings
- Re-upped Dempster at an absolute robbery compared to closer salaries this off-season (and Dempster was better than most of these closers in 2005)
- Picked up a solid leadoff hitter for a craptastic pitcher in Mitre and two minor leaguers unlikely to make a big splash
- Upgraded the bench significantly by adding John Mabry and dumping Jose Macias
- Despite many thinly veiled references to doing so, have yet to trade Todd Walker

On the other hand, the Cubs signed a very mediocre RF in Jacque Jones, re-signed the awful Neifi Perez and overpaid him significantly, and have set an outfield rotation that will make it difficult for future star Felix Pie to break in to the majors when his time comes (he is 20, and 2 of the 3 projected OF starters are signed for 3 yrs or more, with Pierre rumored to be getting locked in soon as well).

I'm not the biggest Hendry fan, and he certainly could have done a better job this offseason, but the 2006 Cubs do have a good chance to be better than the 2005 version, so I can't say I'm entirely dissatisfied.

[insanefishpossay]

Originally Posted by ndistops

On the other hand, the Cubs signed a very mediocre RF in Jacque Jones...

Jones could be a fantastic player if he could just learn plate discipline. There have been times as a Twin where he just seems determined to hit the ball, regardless of whether it's a foot outside, down in the dirt, or flying up over his head.

He's capable of hitting .300, He has decent power(25-30HR's), aswell as decent speed. He's not quite gold-glove material, but he wont disappoint you with his defense. I believe the only thing holding him back is learning the difference between a ball and a strike. Maybe the Cub's hitting coach will be able to help him with that, seeing as the Twins hitting coach has been virtually non-existant.

[Solair Wright]

I believe that Walt Jocketty has yet again failed to disappoint me. Signing mediocre 2B Junior Spivey (may not be as good as Grudz in defense and is very prone to injury), RF Juan Encarnicion, LHP-r Ricardo Rincon, and a few others that I can't think of.

In addition, I hope we can trade minor leaguers Brendan Ryan, (43 games played down in AA-Springfield, not known for offense) Travis Hanson (hit 20 home runs and batted in 97 RBIs, but committed 36 errors; he was also at AA-Springfield), Juan Mateo (don't know much about him, but he looks like trade bait), for a well-needed replacement for Reggie Sanders, and in fact, a Left Fielder at that. Once that is done, we Cardinals have filled the void for LF.

[SeaverGooden]

I think Omar Minaya has done a very good job of setting up this team for a chance to win now. With Pedro and Glavine at the head of our rotation, the window of oppertunity with those two pitchers in our rotation is very small, and I believe Omar would like to thank Pedro and Glavine for what they have done for the Mets by applying a win now attitude towards this particular team. I personally feel we may have given up too many young prospects in the process.

Gaby Hernandez (who was moved in the Lo Duca deal) I felt was the best pitcher in the Mets minor league system. We also traded away Yusmerio Petit to the marlins in our deal for Delgado. I never like trading away prospects, especially to a team within the division. I hope these moves give the Mets an immediate chance to win now, but I believe that if we do not succeed this year of the next in making it to a World Series, everyone will look back on the past two seasons as a quick fix last ditch effort to secure a quick championship, and the future of the orginization may suffer the consequences by trading away top-notch pitching prospects within the same division.

The moves Minaya made this off-season on paper give us the best chance to take the division from Atlanta that we've had their entire 14 year run. Not until after the season can anyone really evaluate the moves and decisions made by their team general managers. How many White Sox fans were ecstatic about the moves Kenny Williams made prior to last season?

If I were to give Minaya a letter grade for the off-season it would be a B+. I think the signings and trades but us in a great position for this year and the next 2-3 years, however I feel that we still need help solidifying the starting rotation before this team can truly take the next step in being a serious World Series contender.

[Mattingly]

SeaverGooden, excellent post, and thanks for joining this thread!

Now then, if Omar Minaya and the Mets do complete the deal with Tampa Bay for Danys Baez, sending them Jae Seo and Aaron Heilman, will you be a happy camper? I'm thinking this will do lots to shore up the bullpen a bit.

Also, about Kazuo Matsui. Do you think that Minaya has done enough to trade him, or do you think that it's mostly a case of playing him and hoping for the best? If there's more to it than this, please feel free to give your opinion, and this goes equally for any other Met fan reading this.

[Big_Mac]

i think if i were to give jp riccardi a letter grade it would be an 'A'.

being a jays fan all my life, we have been very non-existen in the FA period for a while now. we have shelled out a ton of money that our owner finally gave us to get burnett and ryan and traded for overbay and glaus who will helps us tremendously. add a healthy roy halladay and i'm very excited about maybe contending finally. if the jays go to the playoffs or even if they win the al east with the talent the have aquired and drafted, i think riccardi's name should be mention as a top gm in baseball.

[ndistops]

Originally Posted by insanefishpossay

He's capable of hitting .300...Maybe the Cub's hitting coach will be able to help him with that, seeing as the Twins hitting coach has been virtually non-existant.

Don't bet on it. Dusty-managed players always draw even fewer walks than they did before they came to the Cubs, and Jacque did not get many last year. And I highly doubt he's going to even sniff .300, considering he hasn't done it since 2003 and has hit .253 and .249 the last couple of years. On the bright side, we're one away from the all-French outfield.