Power Pros Forum

Actually, Beltre is only 31 I believe. Also, if you look on Fangraphs.com, they say he would actually be worth $10-15M, although I agree the Red Sox would have to get rid of Lowell first.

Still, I wouldn't want Beltre even if he truly is 31. He's lost most of his power. On the defensive side of things though, he is good but. . . I'd rather move Youkilis to third and platoon Kotchman/Lowell at first. It makes 1000 times more sense to me than spending ten million (minimum) on someone we know won't perform up to that.

Beltre's lack of power is probably just his home park's large dimensions. If you look at some of his road numbers, they are much better.

True, true. We still have to worry about his injury though. Will it occur again? Stats don't tell the whole story, unfortunately. And I'm a bit partial because I hate Scott Boras, so that's one of the reasons I'm against signing him.

Boston's picks because of the Bay signing:




Thanks bb for correcting me.

Well, the Red Sox have an agreement with Beltre; it looks like a 1-year, $9M deal with a $5M option and a $1M buyout. Personally, I think this is a great deal for the Red Sox (looks like Lowell's time is up), although I am mad at the Phillies for not picking him up instead of Placido Polanco. Beltre is likely the best defensive third baseman in baseball. He is an ok hitter with a poor OBP but good power, and it will show in Fenway. Plus, he is only 30. If I were Ruben Amaro I would have offered a 3 year deal at $8.5M per year. I think he would have accepted it. Beltre is much, much better than Polanco (who is definitely not worth $18M over 3 years. 1 year, $6M with an option is more like it.).
From a different point of view, this signing is interesting because it looks like the Red Sox are also picking up on the defense, having replace Jason Bay with Mike Cameron (a very good defensive fielder) and Lowell with Beltre. I'm interested in seeing the effect this has on the team's pitching and run prevention.

ANDRE DAWSON ELECTED TO HALL OF FAME

Seriously? Andre Dawson but not Roberto Alomar? This is outrageous! Dawson was a very good player, borderline Hall of Fame but Alomar is clearly 100% Hall of Fame material. Every internet writer that I have read agrees that Alomar deserves the Hall of Fame.

I think this year had more "borderline" candidates than any other year: Dawson, Blyleven, Parker, Murphy, Morris, etc. However two players stood out as obvious Hall of Fame quality, among the top 10 at their position: Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin. I would have voted for Alomar, Larkin, maybe Blyleven, but Andre Dawson? Certainly, he's a great player, and he might be Hall of Fame quality, maybe, but to have him selected over Alomar and Larkin is ludicrous.

In other news:
Matt Holliday signs with Cardinals for 7 years, $120M.
Randy Johnson retires.
Red Sox say they will use Ellsbury in left field and Cameron in center.

agreed with your HOF analysis

Alomar, Larkin, even Blyleven before Dawson. Dawson is another Rice pick - and I liked Rice, being a Sox fan, but still felt a bit iffy about it.

I don't know how or why the writers vote as they do, or why they don't get their rights revoked for voting in unjustifiable, ridiculous ways.

The writers are so stupid! GAH! Blyleven deserves to get in already.

It seems like the reason is because some voters don't feel that Alomar and Larkin don't deserve to be "first ballot" inductees. I also don't understand this sort of "growing support" where the player gets more votes each year. If you think about it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The player isn't adding to his numbers, so how can he gain more support? I understand some things, like a statistical renaissance, but other than that, if he's going to end up in the Hall of Fame later on anyway, why don't you vote for him now? Do we really have that many voters who change their no's to yes's? It makes me wonder what these people are seeing that makes the players "better" each year.

Well, I have 2 things:

1) Randy Johnson has officially retired from baseball after 22 years.

2) Should we start a MLB 2010 topic?

Can't sjax just change the name of this thread to "The 2010 MLB Season"?

Like that?

Man, I don't think the Giants have signed anyone...

They've signed Mark DeRosa, but they also released Ryan Garko (the player they gave up Scott Barnes for), so Brian Sabean still fails.

The Kansas City Royals have agreed to a $7 million, five-year contract with Cuban left-hander Noel Arguelles.

Arguelles, who turns 20 on Jan. 20, defected with Boston Red Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Edmonton, Alberta. He likely will start in the lower minors to work on command of his fastball, which is in the low-90 mph range.

A solid 6-foot-4, Arguelles pitched for the La Habana Vaqueros in the Cuban National Series and was the winning pitcher in the gold medal game of the Pan American Junior Championships in 2007.