Off the Market: Lowe, Smoltz, Hoffman

by SC on Jan 13, 2009 7:10 PM EST in Free Agency Comment 10 comments

41-year old Trevor Hoffman signed a one-year, six million-dollar deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. He still gets dudes out pretty well, but we thought the same thing when the O's signed Steve Reed a few years ago. Not that I'm putting Trevor Hoffman and Steve Reed in the same class since Hoffman might make the Hall of Fame, but...well, but nothing. Steve Reed stunk.
John Smoltz, who turns 42 in May, finalized a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Red Sox. It will be damned odd for me to see Smoltz in anything but a Braves uniform, and he was the last of the Braves Big Three to look elsewhere for employment. Another guy with a Hall of Fame case.
Derek Lowe isn't over 40 and doesn't have a Hall of Fame case, but he's got a preliminary agreement with the Braves for a four-year, $60 million deal, just after the Mets balked at three years and $36 million. So you can take two things from this: (1) the Braves are not master negotiators, and (2) the Mets will probably be kicking themselves if Lowe has a good run in Atlanta. Frankly I thought a 3/$36 deal for Lowe seemed like a bargain, but whatever.

Around SBN for those teams: Brew Crew Ball, Over the Monster, Talking Chop

Also around SBN: Lone Star Ball and the Michael Young PR disaster

Elsewhere: Shots of the New Yankee Stadium, followed by a ton of ridiculous comments, some hilarious

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I clearly don't "get" Yankee Stadium

Probably because I’ve hated the Yankees for as long as I can remember, but I don’t understand the new Yankee Stadium. Do people find the 1970s renovation such an inspiring and classic aesthetic that it needs to be almost exactly duplicated at the cost of a billion dollars?

I guess it’s going to be the same Yankee Stadium that fans know and love, but with lots of new shiny amenities and hallways that won’t smell like piss until the third week of the season.

by PhilR8 on Jan 13, 2009 7:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

mallpark + historical BS

I agree with you 100%

by pipkin on Jan 13, 2009 11:48 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

rec'd for "mallpark"

by zknower on Jan 14, 2009 1:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

off topic

Does anyone have any free photoshop software recommendations?

by birdman on Jan 13, 2009 8:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I use GIMP (seriously, that's the name)

GNU Image Manipulation Program. It’s pretty solid.

by Brotz13 on Jan 14, 2009 11:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

awesome, thanks!

by birdman on Jan 14, 2009 1:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess it is some comfort to realize that some organizations

are every bit as fucked up as ours.

At least we have some small hope that McPhail has things headed in the right direction.

hakkaa päälle !

by timg56 on Jan 13, 2009 9:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The Smoltz Move

reminds me a bit of Brett Favre to the Jets. Without the fake retirement(s).

"AY STRANG, AT BOY MARLO SCOOPIN UP ALL THE FREE AGENTS"

by 2632 on Jan 13, 2009 10:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agree

I think Smoltz wants another ring and this salary squabble was the opportunity to leave….but sometimes we need a new challenge to reinvigorate ourselves. I think it works for both teams although Frank Wren is taking a lot of sxxx but signing two starters probably already put that in the past.

One nice benefit is we get to watch him pitch upclose. I would like to catch a game with him starting this year.

by sanders833 on Jan 13, 2009 11:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

2 things:

1. Steve Reed. Haha, SC, this is why you’re the right man for this job. I had forgotten that sorry contract already.

2. I think Smoltz is a HoFer if Eck is, which he is. I wish he’d retired with the other two, but those guys wouldn’t be the greats they are if they just laid down when the going got a little rough. I doubt I will ever be able to dislike the three of them, even with Smoltz as a PHN. I’m no Braves fan but those three are a huge part of my baseball childhood, along with Cal, Raffy Palmeiro, Harold Baines, Edgar Martinez, and, well, a bunch of others. Godspeed! Big Three.

by pipkin on Jan 13, 2009 11:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs