DMVol

Unfortunately, you can't jettison the Pujols and Hamilton deals, for many years to come....

Maholm or Capuano....that's where we are in the Pujols/Hamilton era of nibbling around the edges with no money to spend on pitching...let's hope it works out better than Blanton and Hanson....

+1....that's the reality, whether we like it or not...

If true, not surprising....

The Rays rarely make a bad trade....Kazmir to Halos being a good example....

They are, historically, hard to read and follow on FA's....They tend to appear out of nowhere sometimes---Hamilton, Pujols, Torii Hunter....but I wonder if the Garza comments weren't more of a preemptive strike on him and the "we're not interested" stories regarding Tanaka this week might actually be true....we'll see....

Probably rather have Tanaka, in a perfect world....but in the world of payrolls and budgets, Garza and Balfour, if they are reasonably priced, make more sense...

^^^This^^^.....If we could squeeze Garza and Balfour into the budget, that's a pretty solid staff.....

Garza has been my prediction all along....I will add that I am frequently wrong....

Which is it? First, ARod tells WFAN that he didn't do anything with Bosch but now his people are going the Canseco route (I did it but so did a lot of others)....have to make your mind up, can't have it both ways....

I've thought for some that we'd go after Garza...75 million is less than 120+ million...We'll see where it goes...

Tanaka's wife prefers the West Coast....sorry if already posted but I haven't looked at this entire thread... http://fansided.com/2014/01/13/masahiro-tanakas-wife-prefers-west-coast/

My apologies to Stoneman, if true...but a dumb move whether it was Stoneman or Taveras...same as Bourjos, whoever called that shot...

Then he should have held on to him until the trade deadline in July, rotated the 4 OF'ers through the DH spot until you get a better package ....dumb move, by a GM who was otherwise very successful.....and while I don't think Bourjos is going to be another Edmonds, it has the same feel to it....very mechanical thinking--we have 4th OF'ers so we have to trade one....no, you don't...at least not until you get a decent package in return...Freese is Kent Botenfield Part 2....veteran guy who had an otherwise mediocre career except for one career year (and one postseason, in Freese's case).....

What Junky said....except I still don't think Bourjos for Freese makes any sense....hold on to Bourjos and you might make a better deal later, when the FA market thins out.....very much reminds me of Edmonds to the Cards---we have an extra OF'er so let's make the best move we can....if the best move isn't a good one, don't do it.....wait.... Otherwise, I agree with Junky...other than Hanson and Blanton, not much I'm critical about...

He lands on his feet more often than not....but he overplays a weak hand occasionally too....he may have with KMo....

I get that but I would have still rather given those DH AB's to a younger guy.....don't think the odds are good he puts up another good season, at 41....

Not necessarily mediocre....if Smith duplicates his recent numbers, he will be solid....and if Burnett is healthy, his numbers have been consistently good....Frieri is inconsistent but, overall, has been pretty good....That's a pretty good start for the best pen we've had in awhile...

I expect he'll make it to spring training but, with the guys we've added this week and at least one more starter, absent some injuries or unexpected ineffectiveness, he's not going to make the team, even as a mop up guy....Maybe he impresses somebody in the spring and we can dump him with a little salary relief....

Absent a lights out spring or lots of ineffectiveness or injuries amond other bullpen arms, I don't see where Jepsen will fit in.....Frieri, Burnett (assuming he's healthy), DeLaRosa, JSmith are pretty much locks...Kohn, Rasmus and now Moran are all in the mix...assuming we sign another starter, Santiago could be in the pen...

Kind of odd that we've traded away slot money a couple of times (once to the Mets last year as I recall)....our history with international players isn't too bad---Aybar, KRod, Benji, ESantana....

We're not signing anybody that costs us a draft pick...

He seems to always land on his feet but Boras really screwed up with KMo....should have worked out something with Seattle...good fit for both.....

Or, as we say in the south, if a frog had wings, it could fly....

Those with concerns would have included me...I thought, and still think, that the Bourjos trade was a stinker and I had concerns that the DiPoto might trade Trumbo, Kendrick or Aybar (or all of them) for Kent Bottenfield types, pushing us back even further into a black hole with limited options to improve..I'm happy to admit that he proved me wrong, though we obviously have to see how Santiago and Skaggs progress...