News and Notes: “Rafael Fur-real?”

Furcal continues to spin his agent's wrong doings (Malingering/Flickr).

• The Pittsburgh Pirates have reached a three-year deal with catcher Ryan Doumit that will lock him up through his arbitration years. Last year Doumit had a fantastic year out of nowhere hitting .318/.356/.501 with 15 homers and 69 RBI. While my former MVN co-worker Cory Humes at Pirate Revolution believes the Pirates should trade Doumit (or hear his podcast about it), I personally believe that Doumit is an example of the type of player they need to begin to build around. With players like Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez coming up through the system as well other bright youngsters the Bucs need to start now rather than continuing to hit the “reset” button. I do however agree 100% with Humes that the Pirates should sign slugger Adam Dunn as part of the solution.

You know what you will get with Dunn (SD Dirk/Flickr).

• Speaking of the giant slugger Adam Dunn, why aren’t more teams interested in bringing him aboard this winter? Yes I know he had a strikeout rate of 25.9% last season and yes I know he won’t be winning any Gold Gloves in the outfield any time soon, but who couldn’t use his presence in the lineup? While his career average is .247, more importantly his career on-base is .381 and career slugging at .518. Plus you know he will be healthy and you will get 40 homers and 100+ RBI. So why do I keep hearing about teams not too interested in him or preferring a player who is a head case and will most likely miss 20-40 games a year? I would personally rather have Dunn or Pat Burrell over both Bobby Abreu and Milton Bradley. Call me crazy.

• I’ve already covered the Mark Teixeira saga enough on here by discussing where his options are as well as my annoyance about all the back and forth about who’s in and who’s out. I really hope Jon Heyman’s report on Teixeira’s decision coming by Christmas day is true as I can’t take much more. I think the scorecard has the Orioles, Nationals, Red Sox, Bears, Knicks and three teams from the WNBA as the top contenders.

• The New York Yankees and pitcher Chien-Ming Wang have avoided salary arbitration and agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract thus insuring the Yankees the first ever 11-man starting rotation heading into the 2009 season. Awesome.

• And finally more on the Furcal vs. Braves situation as Furcal continues to lie about his agent’s dirty tricks. Even our poll on this site last week showed 100% of people believe Furcal and his agents screwed the Braves. Just stop talking about it Furcal, we know its not true.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | thefranch15e

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News and Notes – “Jack the Ripper”

Wilson voiced his frustrations for thousands of Bucs fans everywhere (urbansaddle/flickr).

As a new feature here on “The Diamond Cutter” we will be reviewing some of the things that are happening in baseball and around the blogosphere. You’ll see this pop up from time to time as I come across items in the news. It’s also a quick way to voice my opinions and ideas on topics without writing an entire column. So without further ado…

· As eager as I am to see where Mark Teixeira ends up, I’m getting a little tired of the whole hoopla around it. Now I know this is a big decision for him as its planning out where he will play for the next 7 or 8 years, but I really wish he’d hurry up and decide. I talked about his options earlier this week along with reasons why he should or shouldn’t sign with these teams. And of course ESPN chimed in yesterday saying Boston is out and today saying Boston may still be in. Please pick soon, Mark.

Furcal better watch himself in Hot-lanta (dizzy-eyed/flickr).

· The Atlanta Braves are furious with Rafael Furcal’s agents calling them “despicable” for the way they handled things. Brave’s Blog also chimes in on the status of the Braves and their need to reassess their team. Personally I have to agree with the Braves. It does sound as if Furcal’s agent pulled a screw job on Atlanta and threw a HUGE wrench in their off season plans. It was lining up to look as if the Braves had the ability to trade Yunel Escobar to the Padres now for Jake Peavy. This was especially important after losing AJ Burnett to the Yankees. Even if they didn’t trade the shortstop they still would have had another good bat in their lineup and burner on the base paths. I feel for Braves fans, I really do as they have had a giant disappointment this winter after having such high expectations.

· Jack Wilson let his frustrations be heard regarding the Pirates’ lack of competition for the past 17 seasons. His actions voiced frustrations of Pirates fans everywhere as well as indirectly asked the question of “why the hell haven’t you people traded me yet?!?!” The Bucs Dugout chimes in on Wilson’s rambling with a funny twist.

As a life long Twins fan, I'd love to see DeRosa in Minnesota (chicagoenergy/flickr).

· In the yearly quest to fill in a huge hole at third base, the Twins appear to be still showing interest in bringing in free agent Ty Wigginton to plug it until some prospects are ready. Both La Velle E. Neal III and Nick Nelson discuss this option and Nick brings up Mark DeRosa’s name as a potential trade target (which I would love). All I know is the Twins need to figure something out as this has been a problem for years ever since Corey Koskie left after the 2004 season.

That was a quick recap of some of the happenings around baseball and the internet. Let me know your thoughts on these stories and this new feature too. Also make sure to chime in on our poll below on the Braves/Furcal situation.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | thefranch15e

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Where Oh Where Will You Go?

His new home isn't as black and white as you may think. (Rod the Rabid Rodent/Flickr)

Before the ink could even dry on C.C. Sabathia’s new monster contract from the New York Yankees, teams immediately turned their attention to the best bat available in this year’s free agent frenzy. In what has become one of the most memorable winters in recent years, Mark Teixeira’s name has been on the lips of many suitors. But it appears as if it is all about to come to an end as WEEI reports today that Karl Ravech of ESPN says we are nearing a dramatic conclusion.

Ravech also reports that the main five players in the Teixeira sweepstakes from the beginning – the Angels, Orioles, Nationals, Red Sox and Yankees – are the same ones who are in it today as they continue trying to one-up themselves with their offers. These offers are landing Big Teix in the $22 – $28 million a year range. So no matter where he chooses, he’ll be doing pretty well for himself.

So with all the offers essentially the same, I thought we’d look at all the teams involved as well as the pros and cons for each of them. Below is a look at these options and we’ll wrap things up with my final analysis of what I believe will happen. These are listed alphabetically and in no particular order:

Angels Reported Offer: 8 years, $160 million
The Angels may be the most desperate of the group as if they lose Teixeira, they lose the biggest piece of their offense. They are able to offer him a very strong chance at the post season as they have dominated the AL West for many years. Of course on the down side, Teixeira has said he wants to play out east as he is originally from Maryland. But again, the Angels need to sign him or they will be in trouble.

Nationals Reported Offer: 8 years, $160 million
Really all the Nationals have to offer Teixeira is money (that I’m not quite sure where they are getting from), the fact that it is near where he grew up and hope. Distant, far away hope that someday (hopefully within the 8 years of his contract) the Washington Nationals can put together a winning club. Of course this leads into the con and the fact that the Nationals can’t really show any progress towards ever winning.

Orioles Reported Offer: 7 years, $140-$150 million
While the Orioles may not be able to offer themselves as an instant contender in 2009, they can offer something none of the other teams can: home. Teixeira grew up in Maryland rooting for the Orioles and has said numerous times how he would love to play where he calls home. As a con they won’t be an instant contender but they do have a great base of youngsters who they can use to build around Teixeira.

Red Sox Reported Offer: 8 years, $160-$200 million
The biggest pros for the Red Sox are they have a great chance for the post season as well as most likely having the deepest pockets of all the teams. The Red Sox can dangle the fact that Teixeira will have a lot of protection in the lineup with the likes of Ortiz, Youkilis and Drew. Of course what happens in Interleague play or even the World Series when the Sox have to choose between Big Papi or Big Teix at first base against NL squads?

Yankees Reported Offer: 8 years, $160-$200 million
Their case is pretty much the exact same as the Red Sox have regarding a chance at the post season, a ton of money and lineup protection. Another thing both these clubs have in common is a less than patient fan base. Teixeira is a notoriously slow starter for the first month or two of the season and it would be interesting to see how Yankee and Red Sox fans treat their club’s newest addition. Not that this is a deterrent, but it’s something to think about.

Now that we’ve taken a peek at all the clubs involved as well as a few pros and cons for each, I believe that we can narrow Teixeira’s choice down to a team that is the best fit for him. In my opinion we can eliminate the Nationals based on the fact that they are going nowhere and probably won’t have a sniff of the playoffs within Teixeira’s potential 8 year contract. That leaves the three heavy hitters and Baltimore. If we go based on playing for a contender we would eliminate Baltimore but if we go based off playing out east we eliminate the Angels.

That brings us down to Boston and New York. It’s funny, it seems as if we always come down to Boston and New York. Both are contenders every season and both seemingly have an endless money tree planted somewhere in the front offices. With that being said, I am going to go out on a limb and say that Mark Teixeira will sign with the Baltimore Orioles. I know many of you probably disagree, but he keeps on mentioning how he wants to go home and play for the team he cheered on growing up. Plus the fact that he would instantly become the franchise player the Orioles have been searching for ever since Cal Ripken retired. He would be the center piece of a great young franchise that has a fan base begging for a chance to reach the playoffs again. It’s a perfect fit.

Now if I were Andy MacPhail, I would be doing everything possible to tug at Teixeira’s heart strings. I’d have current players like Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora and Nick Markakis and legends like Cal Ripken and Jim Palmer on the phone with him as much as possible. They should have courted him and courted him hard.

After all, franchise changing players like Mark Teixeira aren’t always available. When you have a chance to acquire them and beat out giant markets like Boston, New York and Los Angeles, you have to do it.

The Orioles have to do it.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | thefranch15e

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