NakamuraUpdate: 12/1/09
Here's a December Update on everything baseball:
Roy Halladay - The former Cy Young award winner has announced that he will not accept any trade after the start of Spring Training. He does not want to deal with the media attention or the rumors mid-season. This lowers Roy's value considerably. The little leverage the Jays had to
create a trade in now gone and its unlikely they'll receive more than three medium to top prospects. Now, Halladay will be a Type A free agent after the 2010 season, so the Jays will only accept a trade if they feel that what they are getting is worth more than that. But otherwise, the Jays have a big decision to make.
Dustin Pedroia - The Red Sox second basemen has recently made a statement saying he would like to play short stop. He's not forcing a situation to occur, but merely assuring the club that if they don't have any options at the start of the season, they have an MVP award winner to turn to. The Sox have been unable to fill in the hole that Nomar left upon getting traded. However, with the amount of success Dustin has had at 2nd Base, (including a gold glove) it is
unlikely that he will play there. It is just a backup plan, in case all else fails.
Matsui and Damon - The New York Yankees declined arbitration to both of their free agent outfielders. An interesting move to not offer Johnny Damon arbitration. He was a Type A free agent and the Yankees allowed several draft picks walk away. Scott Boras is his agent and he prefers long term contracts. At 36, he most likely would have made one last push to get Damon a decent contract. With Melky Cabrera and possibly Brett Gardner, the Yankees will
pursue at least one free agent outfielder, most likely Matt Holliday.
Twins - The Twins seem to be having trouble with negotiations with their star catcher Joe Mauer. A free agent NEXT season, Minnesota has already gone to work to try and lock him up. Undoubtedly, Mauer will be expensive, probably over 21 million dollars a year. But Joe has already made it a priority to win. So can a small market team like Minnesota win when just one contract costs so much money?
-Written by: Nakamura. This article is copyrighted © by Nakamura and may not be reproduced, recopied, or used in any form without permission from Nakamura
Roy Halladay - The former Cy Young award winner has announced that he will not accept any trade after the start of Spring Training. He does not want to deal with the media attention or the rumors mid-season. This lowers Roy's value considerably. The little leverage the Jays had to
Dustin Pedroia - The Red Sox second basemen has recently made a statement saying he would like to play short stop. He's not forcing a situation to occur, but merely assuring the club that if they don't have any options at the start of the season, they have an MVP award winner to turn to. The Sox have been unable to fill in the hole that Nomar left upon getting traded. However, with the amount of success Dustin has had at 2nd Base, (including a gold glove) it is
Matsui and Damon - The New York Yankees declined arbitration to both of their free agent outfielders. An interesting move to not offer Johnny Damon arbitration. He was a Type A free agent and the Yankees allowed several draft picks walk away. Scott Boras is his agent and he prefers long term contracts. At 36, he most likely would have made one last push to get Damon a decent contract. With Melky Cabrera and possibly Brett Gardner, the Yankees will
Matsui Damon
Twins - The Twins seem to be having trouble with negotiations with their star catcher Joe Mauer. A free agent NEXT season, Minnesota has already gone to work to try and lock him up. Undoubtedly, Mauer will be expensive, probably over 21 million dollars a year. But Joe has already made it a priority to win. So can a small market team like Minnesota win when just one contract costs so much money?
-Written by: Nakamura. This article is copyrighted © by Nakamura and may not be reproduced, recopied, or used in any form without permission from Nakamura
