Saturday Bird Droppings

by Stacey on Dec 5, 2009 7:00 AM EST in Open Threads Comment 70 comments

First, your hot stove news, including a few stories that were linked in the comments of yesterday's Open Thread. The Mariners and Chone Figgins have agreed on a 4 year, $36M contract and the Orioles have re-signed Chad Moeller for the 2010 season. Marco Scutaro is now a Red Sox, having agreed to a two year, $12.5M contract with an option for a third year, and Placido Polanco signed with the Philles for three years, $18M.

Throwing Strikes With Brad Bergesen
The Bowie Baysox caught up with Bergy to ask him a few questions about Thanksgiving, his leg, and his toughest opponent. -Stacey

WSBA-AM talking with Orioles
Don't fear, York County residents, the O's will be on the radio in 2010. -Stacey

Nets beat Bobcats to snap record 0-18 run
The O's 1988 record is safe for another year as the Nets defeated the Bobcats 97-91 for their first win of the year. -Stacey

Keys President Named Minor League Executive Of The Year
Ken Young, President of the Frederick Keys and owner of several other minor league teams, oversaw improvements to the Keys stadium and that, combined with the young prospects, led to the Keys leading the Carolina league in attendance in 2009. -Stacey

Jeff Fiorentino: 2010’s Ryan Langerhans?
FanGraphs thinks that Jeff Fiorentino could be a league average center fielder and that a team would be smart to sign him over Scott Podsednik or Rick Ankiel. -Stacey

Baltimore Orioles Top 20 Prospects for 2010 - Minor League Ball
John Sickels rates the top 20 prospects in the O's minor league system. A very fair assessment, I think, though my favorite comment is about Steve Johnson (ranked #12): "Might get overlooked because of his boring name." -Stacey

Jorge Says No! | Hypothetically Speaking: The Adam Jones Contract Extension
Even though we're only in December, Adam Jones has to be one of the offseason's biggest losers so far. Jones narrowly missed out on being arbitration eligible, losing the final "super two" spot to Mike Fontenot of the Cubs. ...This sets up the ideal scenario for Jones and the Orioles to come to terms on a contract extension. The Orioles can lock up Jones before his price tag becomes too large and Jones can get a raise in 2010 and a nice amount of guaranteed money for the future. (hat tip to Dempsey's Army for finding this) -zk

Holiday announcements from the Shorebirds All kinds of holiday goodness at Arthur W. Perdue stadium today from 10 a.m. to noon, including pictures with Santa AND Sherman the Shorebird. -Stacey

Old Mill rides backup running back to Class 4A state title
Ok, so it's not O's related. It doesn't have anything to do with baseball, even. But Old Mill Senior High, my alma mater, took home the its first state football championship last night at M&T Bank Stadium against Wise High School. Old Mill won 17-16 in a hard fought game that saw their star running back injured in the first quarter. Congrats to the Patriots! Go red, white, and blue! -Stacey

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First State Football Title!

Hahaha, mines won 5 in the last 6 years all while setting the the second longest winning streak in New Jersey High School Football History, but maybe we hear Jersey are just a little bit spoiled..

"I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow...'Cause I Get Better Looking Every Day" Joe Namath

by Civardi on Dec 5, 2009 8:11 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

well bully for you

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Dec 5, 2009 8:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Your former high school

Beat my former high school, Sherwood, last week :-\ Sherwood was up 13-12 with less than two minutes left, but the Olde Mill drove down the field to score. It was heartbreaking.

But good for Olde Mill! Congrats

by cjatud2012 on Dec 5, 2009 3:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I believe...

the year yours didnt win, mine did. You’re Wayne Valley I guess?

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 10:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Or is it Wayne Hills?

I forget…

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 10:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ah, it was hills...

You guys beat us for the championship last year. Bastards… We won in 2004 (as I was graduating college).

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 11:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What is it with NJ and hills vs valley?

My friend is a teacher at a high school up there that is valley and their “rival” is the same name but hills.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Dec 5, 2009 11:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The only 2 I can think of

are Wayne and Pascack, but I guess we just have a lot of hills, which in turn creates a lot of valleys.

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 11:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ha ha

well if there are only two, I guess I inadvertently gave away where she teaches. Nobody stalk her!

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Dec 5, 2009 2:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm on my way there now

i’ll be waiting come Monday morning. don’t warn her, I want it to be a surprise!

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 3:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now when you say yours won 5 in the last 6 state titles?

Is that really the entire state or is it the entire state at a certain school size?

Jersey high school sports are weird. It seems like every single baseball player gets named all-state – to the point where the all-state team seems like it must have 300 guys on it.

by O'sFan21 on Dec 5, 2009 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

another reason fangraphs is totally bullshit

they think screech is good.

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2009 10:43 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

also...i love that the moeller signing is thrown in between three good signings

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2009 10:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Polanco is a ridiculous signing

not a “good” one.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Dec 5, 2009 11:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

its not that ridic

i would have taken him. 6 mill a year might be a little high, but you can do that when your team makes the playoffs

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2009 12:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd have taken him to play second

But his bat at third at that price is pretty ridiculous.

by James F on Dec 5, 2009 12:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i'd take it

beats melmo

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2009 1:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

you're aiming waaay too low

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Dec 5, 2009 1:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They need a lead-off/#2 hitter

And Polanco is arguably the best in baseball and moving runners up.

by Dr Orpheus on Dec 5, 2009 9:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think it's an awesome signing.

They got to sign a Type A FA without giving up any draft picks and signed him for the same per-year money as freaking scutaro, and one less year and half the money Figgins got.

As far as whether his bat at 3rd is weak, the Phils don’t give a shit about that. They hit more HRs than anybody except for the Yankees – what they need is guys who get on base and Polanco is a gigantic upgrade over Feliz in that regard.

by O'sFan21 on Dec 5, 2009 2:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

When you have Utley at 2nd

you can afford below-average offense at 3rd.

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's no excuse

And again, just because Polanco is better than Feliz or Melvin Mora doesn’t mean it was a good idea to sign a 34 year old to a not-cheap three year deal and then move him to third when there were plenty of options that were better than Polanco.

And yes, the Phillies’ offense is very, very good so they can afford to put a defense-first player at third whose bat probably doesn’t play particularly well there. Except they didn’t, they put someone whose bat won’t play well at third and whose glove is not as good as who they just got rid of.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Dec 5, 2009 3:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

really?

how many options were better than polanco at a cheaper price?

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2009 4:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We don't know yet

the market has hardly set itself, and the Phillies ran head first and gave Polanco what could IMO look to be an overpayment relative to what the other options might get. It seemed a tad foolish to me.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Dec 5, 2009 4:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And they got a great bargain for their efforts.

by O'sFan21 on Dec 5, 2009 7:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah also

did you miss the point about getting a good player for a good price without having to give up any draft picks? Giving up first round draft picks for a marginally better, but dramatically more expensive player (like Figgins seeing what his deal looks like now) is absolutely huge.

by O'sFan21 on Dec 5, 2009 7:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Meh

They could have had DeRosa or Beltre without giving up a pick as well. Comparing him to Scutaro, the top SS in a thin market, isn’t apt.

Polanco’s a top defender at 2b, but there isn’t much reason to believe he is as good with the glove at third. Beltre offers as much defense and more offense to boot. DeRosa offers more offense and versatility. Heck, Pedro Feliz offers better defense and similar offense.

by James F on Dec 5, 2009 3:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

pass

beltre would NOT be cheaper than polanco and for what he provides, he’s not worth it. (slightly different story for the o’s since we need a lot more offense than the phillies do). derosa is a glorified utility player and really shouldn’t start. i’d rather have polanco for everyday use.

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2009 4:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

derosa

remember when all the cubs fans said they didn’t need BRob because they had DeRosa?

ahahahahahaha.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Dec 5, 2009 6:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

oops

their bad

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2009 9:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

sure those guys offer better offense or better defense, etc depending on who you pick but for the price? i think not.

IMO, i agree Polanco got overpayed – initially. Then when you compare him to what else is available at the position and what they’re asking for, then the Phils got a great price on a player who’s a versatile veteran.

I also have learned to defend Phils moves because, well weren’t the same negative things said just last year about the Raul Ibanez signing? what about the Pedro experiment? Lee trade over Halliday? That’s a FO that knows what it’s doing.

by bigity b on Dec 5, 2009 4:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Eh

I don’t get the fascination with price here. Polanco is getting paid six million per for three years; Chone Figgins is reportedly signing for nine million over four years.

Let’s assume that Beltre will end up with something in between those numbers. How much difference does the cost really make? Philly is a profitable club which has generated lots of extra funds from consecutive World Series appearances. Their core of Howard, Utley, Rollins, Hamels and Werth has two to three years left on their contracts. They have top prospects in Michael Taylor, Domonic Brown and Kyle Drabek, who should be ready to cheaply replace Lee, Ibanez, and Werth when their contracts expire. They didn’t have a 2009 first round pick to pay for, and their 2010 pick will be affordable at the end of the first round. We’re not talking about a Holliday or Jason Bay contract which is going to be huge and be an albatross if the player bombs.

I’m willing to admit that the Phillies front office knows what it is doing and to agree that this might be the best move for them. But I don’t see it as a good move just because they saved two million a season by not pursuing Beltre. The value of a win changes when you are a world series contender. If Beltre is one win better than Polanco, that is a valuable thing to the Phillies.

by James F on Dec 5, 2009 5:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Beltre is represented by Boras

and there are still a few clubs looking for 3B. By signing Polanco (who is good enough) now, the Phillies can avoid playing Boras’ extortion game, particularly for a player who had a down year, and who is suspected of having been juiced in his best year.

Why hold out for Beltre only to see Polanco go and have to either overpay Beltre or settle? Sometimes the safe bet is a good bet.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Dec 5, 2009 6:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's a fair point

The attitude I’m fighting against is the one where getting the best bargain outweighs getting the most value. I want the Orioles to spend money wisely of course, but that doesn’t mean that I want them to try to bargain shop for the sake of getting a bargain.

by James F on Dec 5, 2009 7:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

well said.

by bigity b on Dec 6, 2009 11:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't even think so.

Marco Scutaro is making more per year than Polanco. That’s absurd.

by O'sFan21 on Dec 5, 2009 7:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No - they could not have.

Beltre has been offered arbitration – so that’s draft picks.

by O'sFan21 on Dec 5, 2009 7:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Beltre and DeRosa are Type Bs

You only lose a pick if you sign a Type A. If you sign a Type B, the team just gets a supplemental pick.

by James F on Dec 5, 2009 7:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I've always wondered

why people say things like " Marco Scutaro is now a Red Sox". You wouldn’t say “Chad Moeller is now an Orioles”, right? Just because they are lame and used an “x” instead of a “cks” doesn’t negate the rules of singular and plural.

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 10:56 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

C'mon, she meant "Marco Scutaro ARE now a Red Sox."

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 5, 2009 11:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know

It sounds wrong to say it out loud, but Red Sock just looks wrong to me.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Dec 5, 2009 11:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Red Suck

acceptable work around

by b_duardo on Dec 5, 2009 7:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yuh jus' cain't stop 'em

“It’s hard to believe that Wakefield has been a Red Sox since 1995.” —SportingNews.com

“Jason Varitek has been a Red Sox since he debuted in 1997.” —myteamrivals.com

“The case for Boomer is simple…he was a Red Sox for more games than anyone else on the list (150 more games played than Mo Vaughn),”— deweyhouse.com

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 5, 2009 11:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thats what I'm sayin'

I wasn’t trying to call Stacey out personally. It just caught my eye and I never got why people always do that. I guess because it doesn’t make sense to take off an ‘X’ and replace it with “ck”, but whatever. They made their own foul-spelling bed.

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 11:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And Scutaro's data are not that good anyway...

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 5, 2009 11:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

standford cardinal

both singular and plural.

go figure.

also, the harvard crimson. red sox and white sox are no different.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Dec 5, 2009 1:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

But "Cardinal" and "Crimson" is their team name

they chose a singular name, so thats why its singular. “Sox” is plural, even if it’s spelled incorrectly. Every other team that has a plural name (like “Orioles”) uses a singular version when talking about a player or other single member of the organization, mainly because saying something like “Nick Markakis is a Baltimore Orioles” would be dumb. Why would it be different with the Sox teams?

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 1:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Because they obviously don't see it as only a plural.

You’re saying “Crimson” and “Cardinal” are both singular but also used as plural. They’re saying “Red Sox” is plural, but also used as singular. I don’t really see the difference. In all of these cases, one term is used in both cases.

Why don’t the Stanford players call themselves the “Cardinals”. It’s not like they can’t pluralize it.

I think using Sox in the singular is a little startling, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Dec 5, 2009 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Snow!

How much you guys got?

Cry havoc and unleash the Esskay hot dogs of war! - The Wayward Oriole, Opening Day 2008

by Eat More Esskay on Dec 5, 2009 12:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

0"

Isn’t NJ supposed to get snow before MD? We haven’t even gotten a flurrie yet.

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 12:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It even snowed in places like Baton Rouge and Chattanooga today

Cry havoc and unleash the Esskay hot dogs of war! - The Wayward Oriole, Opening Day 2008

by Eat More Esskay on Dec 5, 2009 1:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I know

my gf’s dad called and said its snow and sleet by him (New Orleans area). Wtf?

by daveh873 on Dec 5, 2009 1:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's G-Dub's fault!

Don't let the sunshine fool ya. - Townes Van Zandt

by BPinOK on Dec 6, 2009 12:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Isn't MOSCOW s'posed to get snow before MD?!?

We ain’t had jack since Nov. 1. Nuttin. Last week: two record highs, 8’ and 10 ’ C.

How warm is that? Mushrooms started sprouting in the outlying woods, and the bears in the city zoo are on a hibernation strike, in effect. Somebody’s going to have to dart-gun them with Sominex or something. Or maybe start showing them Matthew McConaughey movies.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 5, 2009 2:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs