Well, it looks to me like my astute partner picked up on something. Now that the Red Sox substantially overbid for Daisuke Matsuzaka they will be under that much more at the mercy of Scott Boras for whatever he wants. Clearly the Sawx have committed to spending too much money on D-Mat, but the problem is that they have also shown some interest in J.D. Drew — another Boras client. So now Boras will use there pre-contract investment in D-Mat to extract maximum money for 2 of his clients.
Somehow this feels like it shoould be wrong. It is the Japanese posting system that seems a bit crooked. Boras is simply playing by the rules in place. Really if this all blows up in the Sawx’ face, if they find themselves in mid-August with a mediocre Japanese pitcher struggling to adjust to life in the US of A and a 4.5 ERA and BOTH of their corner outfielders are taking themselves out of the lineup because they just don’t care that much, they have no one to blame but themselves.
What happened to the Sox front office anyway? I thought it was a shrew move to assess a dollar and year value on both Pedro and Damon and not be bullied into changing their minds by big NYC money. But after subsequent moves didn’t seem to work out they have reversed course entirely and are on track to upstage King George in the role of Evil Empire.
If I were Prince Theo I would very publicly deny any interest in Drew until long after D-Mat is locked up. The truth is that if I were any GM I would avoid JD Drew like the plague. I think he is soft and I wouldn’t want him on my team.
I am pretty much glad that the Mets ended up losing out on what I expect will end up being a train wreck for the Red Sox. I just wonder how much the D-Mat deal will drive up Zito’s price. He knows exactly how much the Mets were willing to spend to try to get Matsuzaka. He will clearly be able to leverage their savings on the posting fee to up Zito’s value.
So if the rumors are true that the Red Sox posted a bid between 38 and 45 million for Daisuke Matsuzaka expect Scott Boras to use their desire to acquire J. D. Drew as leverage to actually sign Matsuzaka having the whole theory of they made the insane bid price to prevent the Yankees from getting him blow up in their faces. I can only hope that this will prevent the Padres from obtaining him for their newfound need of a left fielder in which some think that it could be Drew.
If there was any justice in the world J. D. Drew won’t be overpaid by another team and will ruin the confidence all players have in Scott Boras creating once again a better market for teams not willing to overpay for premium talent. Unfortunately Drew fits the description of what the Padres want in a left fielder, but I’m hoping they give a chance to Ben Johnson rather then overpay with the new found money they have found with Klesko & Park no longer eating up 30 million. The problem with Drew in my opinion is his seemingly lack of desire to play. I read an article in mid September where Drew was talking about how he was banged up and needed a break. While he was spouting this hurt the team a little help them a lot later mentality, Kent and Garciaparra were being massaged and taped ready to hobble out and play. There would be no breaks for them if the Dodgers were going to have a chance to win the West or the Wild Card. Who knows if Drew toughed it out maybe they would have won the west and had home field for the first round at least. The other thing and this is why I take more of a management stance, they get paid well. They get paid well to do something I would almost do for free. I could live off of the per diem they give out alone and have no problem flying on private charters and first class hotels. They don’t deserve to get paid as much as they do with perks included. I do think they should be compensated well enough where they don’t need to take on a winter job and can train year round, but when you’re as uninterested in the game as Drew seems to be, why should you even be allowed to play much less have raked in 11 million last year. I hate my job and probably won’t make that in my lifetime. Drew you want to trade jobs?
I’m liking the d-backs new color scheme, it’s about time, but with all the money teams pay out to designers you think they could have done a better job then a cross between San Diego State University Aztecs and the Washington Nationals. Thank god they got rid of their previous colors and those stupid sleeveless jerseys. Something tells me though their fans will be wearing them again in 20 years like me and some Padres fans I know.
I’m batting a thousand! So the Padres acquired Bud Black and I’m excited to see what he can do. I’m not having any of this “a pitcher doesn’t know how to manage” b. s. either.
I am however bummed about the Barfield trade . I liked that kid. I envision shades of Alomar. Now I know Mets fans could care less, but before he got there he was a pretty fine ballplayer, which seems to be lost on Mets fans. I remember when he was traded and always held out hope that when he was a free agent he would re-sign with the Padres but no such luck. I will always hate Joe McIlvaine for that trade. It seems however this regime is taking the same approach that it’s easier to find a second baseman then a third baseman according to Sandy Alderson. It’s also been said because he’s a Scott Boras client that that may have had something to do with it. Note to Padres if you don’t want Scott Boras clients on your roster don’t draft them. I can’t really blame them, I think the game will be a better place when that guys out of the game. None to soon in my opinion, but that’s a rant for another day. I’m also thinking they may have made the trade with an idea of flipping the pitcher they got (Andrew Brown) in a trade for Sheffield. that might be wishful thinking, but I am a Padres fan after all.
Is anyone else getting tired of the Amos and Andy show? It was bad enough when Clemens would be play the will he won’t he game with us. Now we’ve got his buddy Andy in the act too. All the rhetoric about family and being close to home. If I were an Astros fan I’d be really annoyed that these two guys are using the threat of retirement and the ghost of the Yankees to drive theior price up when they clearly want to play in Houston. And then there are the reports of Petitte’s religious connection with Drayton McClain. And the Jason Grimsley accusations. Uggh. I hope they both retire and we won’t have to hear about it.
Not much to write about today. Still a few days before the free agent world starts to heat up. There is talk of a Jake Peavey for Heilman/Milledge/Owens package floating around. Joel Sherman had it then the Metropolitans dissected it. I’m not really going to spend any more time on it because there isn’t much more to be said. Besides, we all know that its just the kind of thing that fills an early November baseball column.
The only other news I have to report, and I have a good source on this, is that Omar Minaya was overheard trying to get someone to waive a no-trade clause over the phone while at Willie Randolph’s daughter’s wedding. Also notable was Wade Boggs chewing tobacco and using his champagne glass as a spitoon. Classy. Also in attendance, Yogi, Torre, Mariano, and Mazzilli.
I’m now excited about the possibilities of the manager search for the Padres.
Personally I’m hyped for either Bud Black or Trey Hillman. With the success of bringing what was an apparent joke of a franchise to a Japanese title he might just be the man we need. However for some reason I really like the possibility of Bud as the new manager of the 2007 Padres. I don’t know what it is, I just think being one of the right hand men to Mike Scioscia for the past half dozen years or so he’s ready for the hot seat.
As much as I like Ron Washington something tells me he won’t be the ideal candidate for the Padres. Ron seems to be the type of manager that’s not too keen on being told by upper management on how to run the game on the field and won’t be a token figure on filling out the lineup card and handing it to the umpires before each game. I think his likely destination will be the Texas Rangers where management gives the impression that they know their job is to supply the players and allow the manager to move the pieces. I just don’t see the new Sandy Alderson run Padres taking that approach.
Which brings me to ask that I’m not sure why the Padres are interviewing Dusty Baker as impressive as his resume is, he seems to be a more expensive and dare I say it, better field manager then Bochy. It must be a token interview to appease MLB’s preference for a minority higher. But he also doesn’t seem to be the type that will take to the behind the scenes string pulling of upper management.
So I’m thinking the choices boil down to Bud or Trey and with Trey’s recent success in Japan giving him a little leverage in salary, the new manager will be Bud Black. Let’s hope that whomever it is that the Padres do the unthinkable and finally bring a championship to a city that hasn’t had it’s fair share of sporting success.
