Yankees sign Teixeria

Sorry I haven’t been able to update my blog but I’ve been so busy.  The New York Yankees have signed Mark Teixeria and now have one of the infields in MLB history.  Think about this infield, 1B Mark Teixeria one of the best all-around players today who contends for a MVP and Gold Glove and Silver Slugger every year this guy is a MLB teams dream player.  Then at second Robinson Cano a guy who plays small ball, defense, and runs well and will toss in about 15 homers.  At short the team leader, a perfect number two hitter, and a future hall of famer, DerekJeter.  And at third Mr. MVP himself, A-Rod who is a manager’s dream player and plays every part of the game well.  Teixeria will hit at least 35 homers and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hit more and more because the New Yankee Stadium has dimensions that are a dream for a hitter.  And throw in Manny might be a Yankee soon and tell me this isn’t murder’s row.  The Yankees have there best shot since their last World Series to win it this year, especially with this big signing.  Teixeria will be a Yankee for years to come and the Yankees better enjoy one of the best and most exciting players in the whole MLB because he is a once in a lifetime player and the Yankees are going to be a once in a lifetime team this year.

Angles First Baseman

The Angles have dropped out of the Mark Teixeira running, now they need a new first baseman.  Since the free agent market is so bad the Angles will have to look to there minor league system.  Kendry Morales is a guy who is familiar with power and RBI production wouldn’t be a bad solution, he is also a decent defensive first baseman who hits for a nice batting average.  Mark Trumbo is another okay solution he will put up 25 homers in the majors most of the time.  He had a bad year in 2006 so it is hard to tell how consistent he is but he will hit homers and RBIs in bunches for years to come.  He is in the top 5 Angles prospects and the best first baseman, he will do an okay job as a major league first baseman.  Some cons about him are that he is terrible defensively and like I said he isn’t the most consistent person in the world and he is a slower runner, like most first baseman.  Neither would be an upgrade from Mark Teixeria but that’s the best they have.  The Angles had a good first baseman, Casey Kotchman but he was gone in the Teixeria deal as well as a nice future reliever. Kotchman who is a 20-90-310. hitter is one of the top up and coming first baseman in the whole MLB and is now on the Baves. When the Angles made this deal they obviously had a win now attitude and now they find themselves looking all around for a first baseman because they threw out there future plans which you should never do unless you have a back-up plan.  So now the Angles don’t have one the most important positions in baseball filled.

Tigers analysis: Treanor a Tiger

The Tigers made a move to bring aboard a back-up catcher Matt Treanor a great defensive catcher who has a limited bat.  Gerald Laird and him will make up the catcher’s squad in ’09.  Matt Treanor sort of reminds me of Vance Wilson with better defense a a bigger whole in his stick.  In 2006 Treanor caught 16 out of 18 base stealer’s in there tracks which is an above excellent number.;  His errors are up a little but he is still a great defender and always will be.  Treanor got signed to a one year deal which is smart for the Tigers because they have Dusty Ryan waiting in AAA.  Treanor will put up a projected 4 homers and 27 RBI in 2009, I think the Tigers found a great back-up catcher Treanor.  He will be a good back-up in 2009 and is one of the best back-up catchers.  Good or Bad move?: Great move by the Tigers.

Beimel not interested?:  According to some sources Joe Beimel was interested in being a Tiger, but now some people are saying he’s not.  If Beimel were to sign with Detroit he would take turns with Bobby Seay, another good reliever, with the specialist role and the lefty long man.  Beimel had a 2.02 ERA in 2008 along with 1.44 WHIP and only 11 Earned Runs an amazing number.  This would be a good sign for the Tigers, if Beimel will regain interest it will help him too, by being in a pitcher’s park.

How Good is Porcello?:  Rick Porcello will make a great starter, is he this year’s David Price, though?  I think he will be the only shaky number in his ’08 stats were his strikeouts, 72.  But last year he was working on getting hitters out without his strikeouts, the mission was a complete success and his strikeouts or any other number is not be worried about.  He’s got great stuff and a great pitch selection he will be a hall of fame caliber player.  He only got 11 walks in 125 innings last year, I don’t care if it’s high A that number is absurd!  He kept his ERA and WHIP low, too.  His ERA was 2.66 and his WHIP was 1.19 those are great numbers.  He is one of the best MiLB players and I can’t wait to see him pitch.

Edwin Jackson’s future as a Tiger

Edwin Jackson is a good player who’s stats don’t show, here’s why.  Jackson has great stuff and has had tons of great games.  But his ERA is 4.40 plus, just because he had a couple bad starts.  Some people look at stats a lot but they aren’t everything you have to scout a player and I don’t mind Jackson and think he is a good back of the end starter and Bondo, Verlander, Porcello, Galarraga and him should be good in Motown for years to come.  There has also been some speculation that he might be a setup man or even a closer I would say he might be nice out of the bullpen with good stuff and a great pitching ability but he’s better off a starter and still has time to improve before going down as a bust prospect, if he doesn’t and Joyce does average this deal is a steal for the Tigers and they won’t regret it at all.  I can’t wait to see jackson pitch and think a 4.16 ERA, 15 Wins, 123 strikeouts, and a 1.38 WHIP and I also think that those numbers will keep coming down.  Everett and laird are like this too.

BULLPEN:These signings would make the 09 Tigers bullpen one to remember: Juan Cruz, Joe Biemel, Takashi Saito, and Chad Cordaro they are all sign able and they would be great with current Tigers reliever’s especially Joe Biemel

Treanor?: The Tigers want to sign Matt Treanor as a back-up catcher this deal would be better on the defensive side again but Treanor does bring a little bit of a stick with him, this would be a good deal for the Tigers plus Treanor has already hit an a pitcher’s park his whole career.

Ibanez signs with the Phils

The Phillies signed 36 year old outfielder Raul Ibanez to a three year contract worth 30 million bucks.  Ibanez is an above average outfielder who will put up 20/100/290. years for right now, he is getting older now but will be productive throughout this contract.  Ithink next year he will put up 27 homers and 113 RBIs with a 296. batting average and a 367. on base percentage.  Ibanez will help on defense to because he gets around 10 assists a year, though he has around five to seven errors in the outfield every year I think a smaller outfield could help with that.  He might struggle with NL pitching this year but I don’t think he will struggle as much as most hitters do.  In every wat exept home runs this is a bit of an upgrade for the Phillies.  Ibanez’s player rating is 6.3 out of 10, which is an above average player.  Pat Burrel is not as good as a player as Ibanez so Phillies fans can be happy.

Burnett a Yankee

The Yankees have signed A.J. Burnett to five year deal.  It was a good deal for both sides, for now.  A.J. is a good pitcher but his consistencycomes and goes and Yankees fans might not like him if he throws a couple of bad games in a row but he does strikeout over 200 batters and has a good fastball and goes after hitters.  Burnett might get older and wear down during the end of his contract but he also might pitch effectively for a while.  He will post a 3.70 to 4.00 ERA which isn’t that bad for a number two starter.  While were talking about number two starters when A.J. pitches effectively he is the perfect number two guy for this club when he doesn’t pitch good though he pitches worse than a number five starter.  A.J. is also the type of pitcher to get a lot of wins which the Yankees like as you can see with Wang, he is a win getter and will post a lower ERA and WHIP and that’s it.  This might have been a good signing but Burnett will have to find his consistency.  Good or bad move?: Neither

Bonus: A.J. knows the AL East really well which will help him and his fantasy value, now that he is behind a better offense.

Arias for Clevlen

I was thinking of a good minor trade for the Tigers, but it has to be a fair trade here it is.  The Texas Rangers get outfielder Brent Clevlen and the Tigers get infielder Joaquin Arias.  The Rangers would be taking a chance on a good younger outfielder with power who is a fourth or fifth outfielder plus he got nine outfield assists last year which is a great number to have.  He also hit 22 homers and could help them in quite a few ways including base running and he will steal around five bases.  Arias has had defensive troubles in the past but is getting better and will put up a decent average with a lot of speed he will knock a few out of the park but that’s defiantly not his specialty he is an overall good player.  I’m not sure who would get the edge of this as it is helping both sides in different ways.

Tigers aquire Edwin Jackson for Joyce

The Tigers acquired a right hander with great stuff who just needs to develop consistency, Edwin Jackson they gave up a streaky hitter with power, Matt Joyce.  It was a good deal for both sides they both got there needs in this deal the Rays needed a platoon outfielder with Gabe Gross unless they sign Abreu to a two year deal, a reasonable offer for them since Booby is getting older and less productive.  And the Tigers needed a back  of the end starter which Jackson is and he could live up to his potentialif he get more consistency, he has great pitches too.  Jackson is also a streaky pitcher who could make a mark on the Tigers if he just does what I said, it was a great deal for both teams.  Edge: Tigers and Rays

Mets get Putz, Mariners get Heilman, Indians give up Gutierrez

The Mets made a head scratching move today by acquiring J.J. Putz  from the Mariners along with Reliever Sean Green and Outfielder Jeremy Reed the Mariners got Aaron Heilman a reliever, Endy Chavez an outfielder, another outfielder Franklin Gutierrez, an infielder Mike Carp, pitcher Jason Vargas and minor leaguers Maikel Cleto and Ezequeil Carrera.  the Indians got reliever Joe Smith who is like the left handed Chad Bradford and Luis Valbuena.  The Mets got a top five MLB closer and he will have to be a setup man?  The Mets made a god deal and have a great bullpen now but why waste so much talent?  Maybe what they were thinking was that Putz could be an all-star setup man and also bailout K-Rod or use him as a spot closer or use him when K-Rod is tired they got a good deal but is a head scratcher about what they will do with all of there talent.  It might hurt Putz learning a totally  new role.  The other two players the Mets got will help them too Jeremy Reed is an upgrade from Endy Chavez on offense but a down grade on defense and Sean Green is an okay player who can help the bullpen.  The Mariners got Mike Carp a kid with 40 homer potential, Endy Chavez a defensive genius, Aaron Heilman one of the best setup men around, who wants to be a starter, Franklin Gutierrez a kid with 30-30 potential, Jason Vargas a nice pitcher who just needs some time but could be a decent reliever at some point, Maikel Cleto is is an okay pitcher and Ezequeil Carrera who looks like a nice outfielder.  The Indians got Joe Smith is a pretty good lefty side armer and will come in handy in quite a few situations they also got Luis Valbuena who is a 300 average-10 homer-15 stolen base kind of player who plays above awesome defense not a bad pick by the Indians.  Edge: Mariners  Loser: Indians  Okay:Mets

Bonus: The Indians only wanted in this deal to not have the Tigers aquire a great closer J.J. Putz, they gave up Gutierrez one of there future players

Tigers and Smoltz

The Tigers have expressed interested John Smoltz.  This would be a good deal for the Tigers and Smoltz who will be happy close to home.  He could get 40-45 saves in this bullpen and he could pitch full time, he is an all-star closer, Smoltz has great stats all around and would fit this team very well.  Smoltz would be a big pitcher in the Tigers bullpen if they could sign him. The Tigers would give him a one year deal and that would give future closer Ryan Perry some time to develop.  Smoltz is a tgreat pickup if the Tigers can sign him.  Would this be a good or bad deal?: Good