So, if we were to sign Felipe Lopez and Rocco Baldelli...

[Zomby Woof]

Baldelli's career OPS vs. LHP is .831, he's a plus defender in CF and his 2009 salary was just $500,000. For $1M or less, I think he'd be a good acquisition.

I wouldn't want both Lopez and Lugo on the squad, and I'd rather have the guy making the minimum. Plus, I want Freese to get a real opportunity to show us what he's got.

Smoltz and Calero still interest me.

whatever happened to Calero signing with the Cubs? the last Id read on the guy, mlbtraderumors.com(i know its not the most credible source, and the guy's a Cubs freak), he was close to getting a deal done. did they check his medical and not find it satisfactory?

EDIT: The Marlins didnt want to take a chance on resigning Calero, due to shoulder issues...



OT: i dont think this was mentioned in the thread, but it has been mentioned on this board--> stay away from 'the Glass Man' Russ Springer. the guy is done. he wasnt even able to carry his fair share of the workload when he was here a few years ago. i cant imagine hed be able to give us much now, even if he comes at the league minimum..

[Fan_In_NY]

No offense but I'd rather take the risk and go with Craig over Baldelli. Sure Baldelli has proved he's a major league player, but he's about as good of a player now as he's ever going to be. The upside of Craig is much higher and in the long run can get more out of Craig. Especially since we'll have control of Craig's career for the next 5 years. Craig could potentially be a 30 HR, 90+ RBI guy when at most Baldelli is a solid bench player and 4th Outfielder.

The big advantage that Baldelli has over Craig is that he has the ability to play all 3 outfield positions. Craig has trouble playing two.

[Eephus Speed]

No offense but I'd rather take the risk and go with Craig over Baldelli. Sure Baldelli has proved he's a major league player, but he's about as good of a player now as he's ever going to be. The upside of Craig is much higher and in the long run can get more out of Craig. Especially since we'll have control of Craig's career for the next 5 years. Craig could potentially be a 30 HR, 90+ RBI guy when at most Baldelli is a solid bench player and 4th Outfielder.

Baldelli's advantage is that he's a plus defender in CF. If the club is confident that Ludwick can play a good CF, that doesn't matter so much. Otherwise, Baldelli provides quite a bit of value (for the $1M or less that he'll likely cost).

What I don't get is the fascination with Lopez. He's spent very little time at 3B and only 86 innings there since 2004. He sucks at SS. The little time he's spent in the outfield wasn't pretty. Lugo (90 wRC+) is projected to be worth a similar amount on offense, and Gotay (100 wRC+) is actually projected to be worth slightly more than Lopez (97 wRC+). Not to mention Freese and Greene.

[Eephus Speed]

OT: i dont think this was mentioned in the thread, but it has been mentioned on this board--> stay away from 'the Glass Man' Russ Springer. the guy is done. he wasnt even able to carry his fair share of the workload when he was here a few years ago. i cant imagine hed be able to give us much now, even if he comes at the league minimum..

Springer's pitched 50+ innings each of the last 5 seasons and he had 2 excellent seasons with us in his 2nd go-around with St. Louis ('07-'08). I'd rather have Calero, but I'd take Springer. I do wonder if there are questions about Calero's health, because I can't understand why he hasn't signed after the season he had last year.

[Zomby Woof]

OT: i dont think this was mentioned in the thread, but it has been mentioned on this board--> stay away from 'the Glass Man' Russ Springer. the guy is done. he wasnt even able to carry his fair share of the workload when he was here a few years ago. i cant imagine hed be able to give us much now, even if he comes at the league minimum..

Springer's pitched 50+ innings each of the last 5 seasons and he had 2 excellent seasons with us in his 2nd go-around with St. Louis ('07-'08). I'd rather have Calero, but I'd take Springer. I do wonder if there are questions about Calero's health, because I can't understand why he hasn't signed after the season he had last year.

i know the stats he had with us. i know he was practically the epitome of Middle Relief while here. but the 'real deal' behind his use should be the most telling sign: he had to be coddled/protected from back-to-back use, and sometimes he wouldnt throw for days on end. Hes the main reason, IMO, KMac got over-exposed his 1st year in MLB.

[Eephus Speed]

Springer's game logs from the last 3 seasons show regular use, and they show that he was used on consecutive days on 15-20 different occasions each of those years.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &year=2007
http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &year=2008
http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &t=p&year=

[Zomby Woof]

Springer's game logs from the last 3 seasons show regular use, and they show that he was used on consecutive days on 15-20 different occasions each of those years.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &year=2007
http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &year=2008
http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &t=p&year=

TLR used to cherry-pick easy situations for Springer.

In 2008, he was horrendous for the 1st 2 months. he found his legs and got better the rest of the way. but was mostly given sub-par opponents. In June, he faced some good opponents on b2b days, but the rest of the way he was given cakewalk appearances or losing situations. also was used mostly after 1 days rest..

2009 he was used alot more liberally in Oakland for some reason. his use on 0 and 1 days rest were about even(24/22). May through July was a pretty forgettable time for him, and while he picked it back up for the end of the season, still wasnt impressive enough for me to want to sign a 40+ year old reliever.

[haltz]

On average he appeared in high leverage (1.15) situations in 2008.

In 2009 he got unlucky with balls in play and balls flying out of the park (probably), but struck out over a batter an inning with a 3.41 K/BB.

He'd be a great guy to pick up on the cheap if possible.

[Eephus Speed]

Small samples for relievers are especially problematic.

Over the last 3 seasons, Springer has pitched 173+ innings with an ERA+ of 153, a K/9 of 8.8, a K/BB of 3.13 and a HR/9 of 0.8. I don't think it's necessary that we add another reliever, but Springer would more than likely make our bullpen stronger.

[Fan_In_NY]

Looks like the Cards won't be signing Baldelli...and he might not end up playing anywhere.

Baldelli To Serve As Special Assistant For Rays

Rocco Baldelli will return to the Rays with a special assistant role, working with minor leaguers and other young players, reports Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. Baldelli is "not ready to retire," but has a shoulder issue currently. Topkin notes that Rays exec Andrew Friedman didn't make the deal with the idea that Baldelli would later play for the Rays, but said "anything's possible."

Baldelli, 28, signed a $500K deal with the Red Sox in January of '09 and hit .253/.311/.433 in 164 plate appearances. He dealt with foot, hamstring, and hip injuries, but also has a type of channelopathy, which has caused muscle fatigue.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/03/b ... -rays.html