2011-2012 MLB Offseason

[kab21]

Every time I see the Phillies sign a player I think that their mini-dyansty is going to horrifically collapse at some point. A lot of money tied up long term in 30 somethings.

A lot of money tied up in pitchers.

30+ pitchers, a closer, Utley, Howard and Rollins. That's scary but they will be good this year.

[SpecialFNK]

the Garza/Rizzo trade speculation doesn't/didn't make sense to me. the Padres just traded away Latos, why would they now want to trade for a pitcher making more money and not as good? trading Rizzo is fine, but if you're building for the future rather than now I would think you should be trading for prospects.
maybe Garza is someone the Padres would be hope to get compensation pick if/when he signs elsewhere as a free agent?

the Diamonbacks signed Jason Kubel.

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Diamondbacks have signed Jason Kubel to a two-year deal.
According to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, the two-year contract is worth $15 million and also carries an option for 2014. Kubel drew only mild free agent interest this winter after batting .273/.332/.434 with 12 homers and 58 RBI over 401 plate appearances in 2011 for the Twins. He's expected to see regular playing time in left field for the Snakes next season, pushing Gerardo Parra to the role of fourth outfielder.

he could have some nice numbers playing in Arizona.

[MasterX1918]

Because they'd essetially be turning Latos+Rizzo into Garza, Volquez, Alonso, Grandal and Boxberger. Not that bad of a return.

[A man in a box]

Padres have a deep system but lacked star power. Grandal looks to be the key of this deal, if Volquez has a great first half who knows what they can get for him. Hell they may be good enough not to trade him. Don't sleep on San Diego they could be better than people think.

[Tavish]

Padres have a deep system but lacked star power.

I think the Padres and A's are following a new organizational building method. Call it the "How many 1B/DH players and prospects can we acquire and hope someone can play LF" approach. It is close right now, but you have got to give the slight edge to the Padres.

Alonzo, Rizzo, Blanks, Guzman
Barton, Allen, Carter, Ka'aihue

[A man in a box]

Padres have a deep system but lacked star power.

I think the Padres and A's are following a new organizational building method. Call it the "How many 1B/DH players and prospects can we acquire and hope someone can play LF" approach. It is close right now, but you have got to give the slight edge to the Padres.

Alonzo, Rizzo, Blanks, Guzman
Barton, Allen, Carter, Ka'aihue

San Diego is looking like a sneaky team. Would like to see what Kyle Blanks could do in a change of scenery.They get rid of Latos but are now a better team. With a weak NL West who knows? The only two putrid teams in the National League are the Mets and Astros, everyone else has a visible scenario where you could see a playoff run.

[Tavish]

The Padres are still pretty putrid.

[SpecialFNK]

weak NL West? Arizona and San Fransisco IMO are easily better than San Diego, and both Los Angeles and Colorado are still better than San Diego.
PETCO is good for pitching, but IMO their starting staff is weak.
they have no front line starter.
Tim Stauffer pitched 85.1 total more innings in 2011 than he did in 2010. that's a lot of innings.
I think they NEED another quality starter, and that would just to be an average team.
right now offensively they don't have anyone who would be all star caliber.

I don't think San Diego should even be trying to compete in 2011. forget Garza. they have players they can move, build for 2-3 years from now at least.

[A man in a box]

weak NL West? Arizona and San Fransisco IMO are easily better than San Diego, and both Los Angeles and Colorado are still better than San Diego.

I'm not saying that they are favorites to win the West but every team in the West has holes. San Diego is the 5th place team in the division on paper, but they won't lose 90 games closer to .500. Rockies have a young pitching staff but dynamic players in Gonzalez and Tulowitzki. Dodgers have a good rotation but it's Matt Kemp(Either against righties) and scrubs on offense. San Francisco still lacks a power bat that makes pitchers run away. They can't spend on Prince, oh that Barry Zito god bless him. Arizona has to hope their young pitchers continue to progress. My only argument is you could see a scenario of 14 NL teams(however slim) making the playoffs except for the Astros and Mets.

[Tavish]

weak NL West? Arizona and San Fransisco IMO are easily better than San Diego, and both Los Angeles and Colorado are still better than San Diego.

I'm not saying that they are favorites to win the West but every team in the West has holes. San Diego is the 5th place team in the division on paper, but they won't lose 90 games closer to .500.

Not that it couldn't happen, but I would be pretty surprised if they came within 10 games of .500. It might come down to how many moves they have left to see just how bad they will be this season. Losing Latos, Harang, Bell, Adams, and Qualls and replacing them with only Boxberger and Street so far is a pretty strong downgrade. Volquez is probably a fairly even swap in the rotation for LeBlanc. Offensively they are bound to be at least somewhat improved, but fitting any of those additional offensive pieces into the mix is going to very likely be at the cost of defense (and outfield defense to boot which can be scary in that park).