Rumor central - where will they end up?

[gyb13]

From espn's rumor central, here are possible locations:

Kenny Lofton - DET, BAL
Pokey Reese - BOS, DET, LA, MIL
David Cone - NYY, NYM, CLE, TX, MIL
B.J. Surhoff - BAL
Ismael Valdes - TX, SEA
Rich Garces - ?
David Bell - SF
John Valentin - BAL, PIT
Ugueth Urbina - LA

Where do you think they will end up?

My guesses would be: Lofton to DET (Macias gets shifted to 3B/SS), Pokey to BOS (the only place he could get more than one yr), Cone with a NRI to NYY (George S pulls off another stunt like he did with Wells), Valdes to SEA (to replace Sele), Bell to SF (by trade or waiver), Valentin to PIT (they have to make one bad signing in 02), and Surhoff, Garces, and Urbina stay put. Why BAL wants to trade for Surhoff (who's 37 and hit 10 hr last year), I have no clue - must be that power and youth movement in town.

[Xanadu Dragon]

My guess:

Kenny Lofton - DET
Pokey Reese - LA
David Cone - TX
B.J. Surhoff - BAL
Ismael Valdes - SEA
David Bell - SF
John Valentin - BAL
Ugueth Urbina - LA

[sweaver]

Surhoff wants back to Baltimore because he has a sick kid who gets treatment at, Johns Hopkins, I believe. Not sure why El Guapo wants to leave, maybe he and Kerrigan had a falling out?

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by sweaver
Surhoff wants back to Baltimore because he has a sick kid who gets treatment at, Johns Hopkins, I believe. Not sure why El Guapo wants to leave, maybe he and Kerrigan had a falling out?

Garces already ran up tabs at all the restaurants in New England. He's probably looking for some Tex-Mex somewhere!

[gyb13]

Originally posted by sweaver
Surhoff wants back to Baltimore because he has a sick kid who gets treatment at, Johns Hopkins, I believe. Not sure why El Guapo wants to leave, maybe he and Kerrigan had a falling out?

according to espn:
"Upset that the Red Sox haven't followed up a promise to negotiate a long-term deal, Garces asked the team to be traded. It should be noted that while Garces is a solid middle reliever, his ERA has gone up from 1.55 to 3.25 to 3.90 since 1999. Garces claims to have lost 35 pounds this offseason, so maybe the Red Sox aren't paying him enough money. Garces is asking for $2.6 million in arbitration, while Boston is offering $1.8 million."

[hmrsf]

Originally posted by gyb13

according to espn:
"Upset that the Red Sox haven't followed up a promise to negotiate a long-term deal, Garces asked the team to be traded. It should be noted that while Garces is a solid middle reliever, his ERA has gone up from 1.55 to 3.25 to 3.90 since 1999. Garces claims to have lost 35 pounds this offseason, so maybe the Red Sox aren't paying him enough money. Garces is asking for $2.6 million in arbitration, while Boston is offering $1.8 million."

Globe reported the same thing. Some background info: he has been through arbitration (?)3x. Last year he flew to (?) AZ to find out that the Soxs matched his offer and did not need arbitration. Duquette promised to take care of Garces so that he would not have to go through that again. He is the only player that I have heard to admit......it has everything to do with the money. He would have been happy to pitch for Boston but his pride has been screwed over.

Since 1999, El Guapo has been 19-3 and a pretty decent ERA so I think the Mets may want to call him, presuming he doesn't mind batting.

It seems that George is talking to Cone, trying to do a David Wells thing w/o his "baseball people's" approval:

BOSS OFFERS CONE CHANCE TO RETURN

By JOEL SHERMAN
January 24, 2002 -- EXCLUSIVE

David Cone very well may pitch in New York next year. Yet, despite influential Met personnel pushing for it to be at Shea, Cone could end up a Yankee again, The Post has learned.

In a chance meeting Tuesday at Jack Willie's, a Tampa restaurant Cone co-owns with Yankee executive Billy Connors, the veteran bumped into George Steinbrenner. Over lunch, The Boss offered use of the Yanks' minor league facility for Cone to work out and indicated the team would consider bringing him to camp if he remained unsigned.

[snip]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
Garces already ran up tabs at all the restaurants in New England. He's probably looking for some Tex-Mex somewhere!

With Crazy Carl and pickup-driving Rocker? I'd think twice about that if I were him.

[gyb13]

I think there are a couple of contending teams with whom Garces would be a good fit (looking strictly at their current relief corps)... braves and white sox come to mind

Originally posted by gyb13
I think there are a couple of contending teams with whom Garces would be a good fit (looking strictly at their current relief corps)... braves and white sox come to mind

Very valid. Lots of teams are in dire need of a good pitcher, especially one who's got his own catchy nickname. I even remember at a Yankee game, Sox fans wore "El Guapo" on the back, not "Garces".

What the naysayers conveniently forget about this guy is that his 1999 ERA of 1.55 is misleading, since he'd had only 30 games in 1999, opposed to 64 in 2000 (3.25 ERA) & 62 in 2001 (3.90 ERA). In a team when relief pitchers don't have great W/L records, 19-3 ain't bad in my book at all. He and his agent should choose wisely. Somewhere in the low $2M range should do nicely.

[Duque]

Surely Boston could get something nice in return for Guapo - he's been one of the league's better relievers over the past years. If I was Boston, I'd be leery of signing him longterm too, given his, err, "conditioning."

Originally posted by Duque
Surely Boston could get something nice in return for Guapo - he's been one of the league's better relievers over the past years. If I was Boston, I'd be leery of signing him longterm too, given his, err, "conditioning."

Isn't that what incentives and club options are made for? If they gave him a sliding scale, based upon IP or something else, that may work out fine. So long as he realizes he's gotta work his rather sizely glutes, I'd say it's a good deal f/Boston. He's not an FA so perhaps they can work out a deal to get in a position player that another team finds expendible.

I can't figure out why Ugueth Urbina's name is up there. Wasn't he their big stopper after the Rod Beck and Derek Lowe combo served up more marinara in their meatballs than Francesca's in Little Italy?

[gbarron]

For some reason Jeff Shaw's status has been removed from ESPN's Rumor Central. Do they know something? Does anyone know ANYTHING about what he's going to do? If he is going to retire, it would be nice for him to inform the fantasy community as soon as possible. . . .

For awhile there it seemed like he was going to head back to the Reds or come to Baltimore, but now it seems like no one is paying attention any longer. He *did* have 43 saves last year.

Anyone? Anyone? V-o-o. . . economics?

Graham

[Xanadu Dragon]

Must be nice to be able to leave millions on the table just because you don't want to work away from home for six months.

It I had a shot at $4 million or so, and it required being out for 6 months, I wouldn't even have to pack - - my wife would do it for me!

[gyb13]

Originally posted by Yogi#8Fan
What the naysayers conveniently forget about this guy is that his 1999 ERA of 1.55 is misleading, since he'd had only 30 games in 1999, opposed to 64 in 2000 (3.25 ERA) & 62 in 2001 (3.90 ERA). In a team when relief pitchers don't have great W/L records, 19-3 ain't bad in my book at all. He and his agent should choose wisely. Somewhere in the low $2M range should do nicely.

The dropoff from 2000-01 seems more significant than ERA would indicate:

El Guapo's ARP:
2000 20.1 (9th in majors)
2001 2.9

Still, 2.9 ARP is better than what Karsay did for the Braves or Embree for the ChiSox last year.

[gyb13]

The latest I could find was from sunday's Boston Herald:

http://www2.bostonherald.com/sport/b...ts01202002.htm

It boils down to:
Cincy and Pit said no.
O's and BoSox want him, but he doesn't want to pitch in the AL, because "Playing 3:30-4:10 ballgames just doesn't appeal to me.''