after Season news 2012

First topic message reminder :

I thought I'd start a thread to put down all baseball news & trades that happen between 2012/2013, so if anyone hears of any trades/news please feel free to put them here.
BOSTON
Have appointed John Farrell as new team manager.

MIAMI
Have dismissed team manager Ozzie Guillen.

OAKLAND/ARIZONA/MIAMI

Oakland have signed center fielder Chris Young from Arizona, as well as cash, Arizona received Infielders Cliff Pennington and Yordy Cabrera. Arizona then Instantly passed Yordy Cabrera onto Miami in exchange for reliever Heath Bell.

Happy Christmas tiger, teassoc, Dave et al,

tigerrobins wrote:Kiwi, Teassoc.

I hope you both have a good and enjoyable Christmas & New Year. And wish you all the best for 2013.

And to you both too.

Merry Christmas guys!!!

Happy New Year:
Hall Of Fame announcement next Tuesday, pitchers and catchers in seven weeks, Opening Day just three months away! Happy indeed!!

I see the Indians are taking a flyer with a couple of one-time top starters: Brett Myers and Scott Kazmir. If either could return to form they would strengthen any rotation.

Tampa inks David Price to an additional year.

And Ugueth Urbina has been released from the Venezuela pokey after 7 years of incarceration - at his best, Ugey was a terrific closer, watched him several times during his Expos career. But can he make a comeback? The sort of "project" that just might work.

So who is the most improved team for the new season?

MLB.com thinks it's Anaheim but Detroit and Toronto have other ideas.

New York and Boston previous big spenders have been rather quiet.

I'd like to say Toronto but there are a few question marks including where Romero will line-up given his awful form in 2012.

Providing he passes a physical (which given he only played 32 games this year could be a big ask), Lance Berkman has signed a contract with the Texas Rangers for 2013.

As most improved team, could I also throw the Phillies into the mix,

At this moment I would say Most improved is Toronto, but given how bad they were last season any big signings were going to improve them. start well and they could go all the way, Still think the Yankees will make 1/2 big signings.

Hall Of Fame announcement early Wednesday afternoon; scuttlebutt says that Bonds, Clemens, Piazza, Sosa, Bagwell and Palmeiro will be dissed due to their alleged association with PED's. Agree as far as the rest are concerned but Bonds and Clemens will surely get in sooner or later just as the odious A-Rod surely will.

For today there's the very real spectre that no-one woill be voted in, though I would say Tim Raines, Biggio and Jack Morris are all deserving, more so even than one or two already in Cooperstown.

LaRoche to Nationals? Upton from D'backs to Baltimore??

EaRache has re-signed for the Nationals on a 2 year $24 million deal, with an option for the 3rd.

Agree Kiwi about Bonds and Clemens, sooner or later they will get in due to there phenomenal success, even though they cheated. Has Pete Rose got in yet?
Do you really think A-Rod will get in? I'm not sure he deserves it as there have been better players.

Increasing speculation that no-one will be voted in today - only 2 1/2 hours to go to find out for sure!

I'm no fan of A-Rod, tiger, but he was a fabulous baseball player for the first dozen years of his career. If the voters determine he gets a free pass from PED's sanctions, he'll be a first ballot certainty, no doubt.

I hope Morris makes it. Really do.

That's that then, no-one receiving more of the votes than Craig Biggio with 68.2%, short of the minimum 75% required.
Jack Morris just behind Biggio with 67.5% in his second-last year.

With Glavine and Maddux due up for the first time next year, Happy Jack Morris has his work cut out for him.

Hmm. I was disgusted by Curt Schilling's comments about how they were all guilty, even the ones who didn't take roids as they didn't do anything to stop it. I don't think they could.

Please don't tar the innocents, Curt.

Schilling is an ass. Hope the Rhode Island authorities force him into bankruptcy.

He does comes across as an attention seeker......and didn't seem to be that good in the clubhouse......

Schilling also doesn't come close to the minimum accepted thresholds of performance normally associated with a bona fide HOF Member - only 216 wins, for instance.
There'd be questions in the House if he got in and blokes like Jim Kaat, Jack Morris, Lee Smith etc missed out.

Rafa Soriano to take his 40+ saves to the Gnats.

The Boston Red Soxs have agreed a 1 year $9 million contract with Jacoby Ellsbury.

Bad day for Baltimore fans with the death announced of Earl Weaver - good manager, great character . . . . . . . funny pic of him being embraced by Eddie Murray, little and large.

Really bad day: Not just Earl Weaver, but Stan The Man Musial, dead at 92.

An all-time great among all-time greats.

Lovely tributes for Stan The Man.

Justin Upton to the Braves, playing with his brother now . . . . . . they must be getting ready to ship someone out, I would think.

Baseball taking a time-out right now for the Alex Rodriguez Show.

Quite clearly implicated in the latest stories coming out of Florida including being injected with PED's, all amid stories the Yankees have no interest in him wearing pin-stripes ever again.

"Implicated" certainly doesn't mean guilty but this story seems to have legs and will keep on running for quite a while, no doubt.

The New York Yankees have agreed a 1 year contract with free agent Travis Hafner, who is expected to fill the DH role for the Yankees.

tiger,
"The DH role for the Yankees" has a lot of candidates!

Hafner was a terrific player in his prime, but the Yanks have so many guys they'll need to rest (Jeter obviously, but Cano, the third baseman, Youk say, Teixera etc, etc) it's difficult to see where Hafner gets his at-bats.

Interesting to read Teixera's comments over the weekend to the effect that his career is on the downslide (think we noticed that too Tex) and that he'll never match his numbers of five years ago, let alone be worth his $20M per year for the next four years.

Love his play at first base though, reminds one of Mattingly and Hernandez at their best (which in their case was every night for their respective Teams).

From what I read Kiwi, they're expecting him to face right handed pitchers in the DH role.

Oakland A'S and the Houston Astros have been involved in a 5 player swap.
The A'S have signed infielder Jed Lowrie, and also got Pitcher Fernando Rodriguez.
Sending power bat Chris Carter, and highly rated prospects Pitcher Brad Peacock and catcher Max Strassi to the Astros.
Seems to me that the A'S have paid a very high price to sign Lowrie, who is in my opinion nothing more than okay.

Detroit have re-signed pitcher Max Scherzer on a 1 year $6.725 million deal.

Speculation from the St.Louis Cardinals suggests the great Chris Carpenter may have thrown his last pitch.
The Team said yesterday that he'd suffered a recurrence of the nerve injury that kept him out most of the 2012 season and he's definitely out for all of 2013.
One of the great pitchers of the past dozen years, sadly injured though for much of that time. He'll be missed, and now the Cards have a big hole to fill.
"Kyle Lohse, Can we talk?"

Catchers and pitchers will start "reporting" this week.
Lots of eyes on Peoria, Arizona, spring training centre for the Seattle Mariners with the speculation that concerns about King Felix's elbow have put negotiations about a new $175M contract.

Michael Bourn to Cleveland, and don't look now but Francona has put together the makings of a pretty decent team.