Stoking the Hot Stove (A Poll)
TOWER GROVE — Tonight baseball returns you to your regularly scheduled programming live from Philadelphia with a 2-2 tie, 3 1/2 innings to play, a Phillies pinch hitter coming to the plate and beer sales about to close.
It will be the first abbreviated World Series game, a vacuum-packed sprint of late-game strategy with a championship on the line. Perfect for sitcom-sized snacking.
It’s already been good for a few laughs.
But as the World Series sputters and wades to a finish, the Hot Stove is simmering. The San Diego Padres were kind enough to fill the first few rounds of the playoffs by shopping ace Jake Peavy around a select few teams in the National League. LA Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti called hogwash on reports his team was preparing to offer Manny Ramirez a two-year, $60-million deal to remain in Hollywood. This really could be the year that Colorado trades slugger Matt Holliday, the Phillies will kick those tires, and Rocky Mountain News columnist and friend Dave Krieger has a suggestion for what they should command in return. (Hint: It’s Garza-esque.)
The New York Yankees have an option on Bobby Abreu to consider, and don’t you think the lefty-hungry Chicago Cubs will be watching that decision? Toronto is working to keep righthander A.J. Burnett from exercising his right to hopscotch off to free agency. Even Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder will find his way into trade conversations. (Talked before about how a connection with Kansas City makes a bunch of sense.)
Every winter reminds us: It’s not the biggest deals that usually have the biggest impact.
Turns out last year’s swap of Delmon Young for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett helped thrust the Rays into the World Series by landing not only the ALCS MVP but also their everyday shortstop. Ditto with free agents. Jayson Werth sure looks like a free-agent find for Philadelphia from two winters ago. Two of last winter’s big financial winners — Andruw Jones (2 years, $36.2 million) and Kosuke Fukudome (4 years, $48 million) — didn’t elevate their teams much at all compared to former St. Louis Cardinals reliever Troy Percival (2 years, $8 million), Octavio Dotel (2 years, $11 million) and Texas outfielder Milton Bradley (1 year, $5 million). Bradley will be a free agent again, but is he the one who will have the most impact?
Or will it be the team that gambles on pitcher Ben Sheets‘ health?
Again, flexing the power of the poll, below is a list of players — free agents and trade baits — who may be on the move this winter. The list is by no way comprehensive. That’s what the comment section is for …
Loading …Don’t recognize the name with the asterisk? Jack Zduriencik was recently hired as the general manager of the Seattle Mariners. But that’s only part of the reason he’s on the list. Zduriencik has spent the past 10 years as the director of amateur scouting for the Milwaukee Brewers, and that means he’s directed drafts that scored players like Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy and the bat that scored Sabathia, Matt LaPorta. Still wonder why his name is on the list? He’s bringing some scouts with him.
There are still several hours before baseball resumes tonight, and there is already plenty percolating on the Hot Stove. The New York Daily News has started a position-by-position look at the available players. And SI.com Jon Heyman stirs the stove daily, dropping Tuesday that the Yankees are, of course, intrigued by Holliday. Plenty to chew over while we wait for the answer of today’s burning question:
Will there be a seventh-inning stretch six outs into tonight’s game?
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
CC? Seriously? While a nice SP is great to pick up in the off season, a guy who plays one every five games can’t really be considered the biggest impact player of the class, can he? K-Rod be a more legit pick here, as he can appear in 90 games if he had to. Imagine the impact he could have had on the Cardinals this year with their 25 or so blown saves. They would have ran away with the central if the had a pitcher with 1/2 his talent.
Personally though, I vote for Texieria. You’re getting a .300+ switch-hitter who’ll give you Manny type HRs and RBIs all while playing world-class gold-glove 1B.
Pitching, pitching, pitching! While one wouldn’t think one starting pitcher would make much of an impact, the ace sets up the rest of your staff. The starting rotation & the bullpen are greatly affected by the presence of an ace or lack of one, just ask the Cardinals.
I agree, for the same reasons but also consider this: Sabathia has been absolutely awful in the past two years’ playoffs. Consider also the huge amount of innings & times pitching on three days’ rest late in the season & you start to question whether the signing team will be glad they signed him at all! He also got off to a slow start last season, didn’t he? And it’s hard to imagine having quite as hot a start as he had when traded to the National League, anyway. A few months isn’t a very good indicator of performance. Manny will indeed be Manny, wherever he goes, & he’ll be very good this year–maybe nto two, three years down the road, but the biggest impact player of ‘09.
Sabathia, apparently, is staying in the National League. That is certainly where his impact would be the biggest…
The question is who will have the biggest “impact” on they’re team. I think clearly manny has had more of an impact(negative and positive) than any other player in recent memory. The NL pitchers should hope he signs back with an AL team for the sake of all their era’s.
Everybody research Jack Z.’s picks. None of them are surprises. When you consistently pick in the top 10 every season for 15 seasons in a row, you will get good players. He hasn’t made a “genius” pick yet. I think his best pick was a 4th rounder. Start showing me you can choose a ML contributor in the 8th-18th rounds and I’ll start to drink the Kool-Aid. This is like saying the Rays scouting director is a genius for choosing Evan Longoria or David Price. Those picks are made FOR them, see Ryan Braun, Fielder, LaPorta, etc.
While it is a valid point, I ask … Where then is Drew Stubbs (taken by Cincinnati two spots ahead of Tim Lincecum)? Or Ricardo Romero? He was the lefty taken between Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki. Where is that Matt Bush?
Manny is 36 years old. He can’t hit 30+ homers, and drive in 100 runs every season much longer. Eventually his production will start to decline. He was wanting A-Rod type money, but the Dodgers weren’t willing to match the years Manny wanted with his contract, correct?
In some ways it is tough to see why Manny would be given a multiyear contract.
For 2009 the player with the most “impact” will be Manny. However, who ever signs Manny will most likely be stuck with him well past his prime and will have to pay him a lot of money after he stops producing runs like he has his whole career.
DG, do the Brewers have any shot at bringing back C.C.? It certainly wouldn’t appear so based on how they used him for his time as a Brewer in 2008. He threw 130.7 innings in his time with the Brewers in 17 starts. That averages out to about eight innings per start. I just got the sense that it was all or nothing with C.C. in his short stint in a Brewer uniform…
Sabathia is dominating this poll like it’s from the National League West. Sheesh. Milwaukee ownership recently told the media up there that they would make a run at Sabathia, and there is some indication that his time there will help them in their bid. It will be interesting to watch the pressure that develops in Milwaukee.
Was getting to the playoffs in 2008 good enough? Will the fanbase accept another down cycle before building up for another run in two, three years?
What other is getting all of these votes? Sheets? Furcal? Milton Bradley?
Jeremy Affeldt?