[新聞] Winners and losers from Las Vegas

[appshjkli (Red Spider Lily)]

  http://0rz.tw/b258U


  LAS VEGAS -- Rather than the beautiful five-star Bellagio hotel, perhaps the

  just-concluded baseball Winter Meetings should have been held a few blocks

  south on Las Vegas Boulevard at the not-nearly-as-luxurious Big Apple-themed

  New York, New York.

  Because unless you live in Bronx, Queens or any of the other three boroughs,

  you might well consider this year's gathering to have been a glamorous and

  glitzy waste of time.

  "It's amazing to me how many people can spend time, money and resources and

  get nothing done,'' said Barry Axelrod, the agent for Padres star Jake Peavy,

  who remains a Padre in limbo after their latest trade talks went nowhere.

  "Baseball moved lock, stock and barrel into that town, and nothing happened.''

  Well, not quite nothing. The Yankees got started revamping their starting

  rotation by beating the Brewers to the year's biggest free-agent pitching

  prize, CC Sabathia, and the Mets went a long way toward remaking their

  incendiary bullpen by acquiring not one, but two closers, Francisco Rodriguez

  and J.J. Putz.

  But as for the majority of the other 28 teams, well, they mostly crapped out.

  Here are this year's winners and losers ...

  Winners


  1. New York Yankees


  General manager Brian Cashman flew to the Bay Area to secure Sabathia, the

  pitcher the Yankees had to have, in a $161-million signing that appears to be

  a prelude to a Yankee-dominated offseason. On Friday, the day after the

  meetings ended, they further upgraded their rotation by agreeing to a

  five-year contract with A.J. Burnett, and they remain in serious negotiations

  with Derek Lowe and have Ben Sheets and old Yankee Andy Pettitte in their

  sights. They are also considering big-time first baseman Mark Teixeira or

  slugging savant Manny Ramirez, meaning they could wind up signing as many as

  four of the five big players on this year's market (Sabathia, Teixeira,

  Ramirez, Burnett and Lowe are the big five). Plus, they still might fill

  their centerfield hole with Mike Cameron.

  There was a lot of muttering in the half-empty casino about the Yankees

  supposedly bidding against themselves for Sabathia, to go up $21 million from

  $140 million. But in reality, they were bidding against Sabathia's desire to

  play on the West Coast, play in the National League, avoid spring in Florida

  and New York at almost all costs. To the contrary, they actually played it

  well, setting the market early at $140 million and scaring away all

  California comers. Bully for them, with "bully'' being the key word there.


  2. CC Sabathia


  Sure, he didn't get to go home to play in California, he has to go back to

  spring training in Florida (a place he is said to have hated as a Cleveland

  Indian training in Winter Haven), he won't be doing his beloved batting as

  often and he'll have to face generally better hitting. But he's the only

  $161-million winner in Vegas.


  3. New York Mets


  They came here needing to acquire a closer, and they got two. Unlike

  Sabathia, Rodriguez craved the big city and wanted the biggest stage he could

  find. He's got the name and game to make it there, and the switch of leagues

  can only help. And Putz (pronounced "puts"), one of the game's best closers

  in 2007, could become one of the game's most dominating set-up men. The Mets

  were thrilled not to surrender any of their "core'' players or prospects, but

  the trade did not come without cost or risk. Aaron Heilman has value (maybe

  not to the Mets, but to others), hard-throwing pitching prospect Maikel Cleto

  has potential and Putz has a small but still worrisome elbow question.


  4. Mark Teixeira


  No, he hasn't signed anywhere yet, but his price just went up. The re-entry

  of the Yankees into the bidding can do nothing but cause the Red Sox to press

  to sign its one and only marquee free-agent target. Boston has a very nice

  team (it is favored here in Vegas to win the 2009 World Series) but it craves

  to provide David Ortiz with a middle-of-the-order mate. With Teixeira's old

  Angels team plus his two hometown teams, the Orioles and Nationals, in the

  bidding (Teixeira hails from Severna Park, Md., between those two cities),

  the price will surely top Sabathia's and could even hit Teixeira's

  $200-million target figure. Recession, what recession?


  5. A.J. Burnett


  His well-timed hot streak (8-2, 2.86 in the second half) is going to pay off

  big-time. As his agent, Darek Braunecker, said all along, Burnett has a

  five-year option if he wants it. The Yankees are out there, at $80 million

  for five. He can go there, or the Miami resident can choose to play closer to

  home in Atlanta. The Braves are believed to have offered four years for $60

  million plus a vesting option, and could come up from there.


  6. Seattle Mariners


  New Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik was said to have been very reasonable in his

  dealings, as he surrendered the original idea of insisting on young Mets

  left-hander Jon Niese. However, Zduriencik, who earned his first GM job this

  offseason by out-scouting all of baseball, came up with some gems here,

  including Cleto and speedy centerfielder Ezequiel Carrera, in the deal for

  Putz. They aren't saying it aloud, but Seattle primarily sees Heilman as a

  starter. Their outfield defense improved with additions of Franklin Gutierrez

  and Endy Chavez, and so did their depth. Nice work.


  7. Cleveland Indians


  Joe Smith comes from the Mets to bolster their questionable bullpen, and once

  the deal is done, the 98-mph-throwing Kerry Wood will help even more. The

  expected price of close to $20 million over two years isn't too bad for

  someone with his stuff.


  8. Los Angeles Dodgers


  They came to Vegas with multiple needs and only half an infield but leave

  with solid third baseman Casey Blake, who did well for them last summer, for

  $17 million over three years, and good-hitting backup Mark Loretta, an L.A.

  product who went home for $1.4 million. Plus, with Rafael Furcal rejecting

  Oakland's four-year offer, they still have an outside chance to keep their

  multitalented shortstop (though they want to give him two years, not his

  preferred four). Oakland is back in the game, and Kansas City probably will

  be the high bidder, but the Dodgers remain in contention.

  Plus, on the off chance the Yankees actually stun everyone and lure Teixeira

  away from the favored Red Sox, New York will presumably pass on signing

  Manny, meaning the Dodgers won't have to try to outbid the Yankees, whose

  cash supply appears almost endless.


  Losers


  1. San Diego Padres


  After failing to send Peavy to the Braves, their efforts to trade him to the

  Cubs ended here with Chicago GM Jim Hendry walking away and other Cubs

  executives complaining about San Diego's negotiating style and a perception

  of leaks. The Cubs were less than thrilled that it was revealed everywhere

  which of their players were expected to be in the deal (third-base prospect

  Josh Vitters, young right-hander Kevin Hart and many others were mentioned

  often). "These guys have feelings and families,'' one Cubs executive griped.

  And the penny-squeezing Padres still have Peavy, who has $63 million to go

  over four years. Peavy now apparently wants out. But does he want it bad

  enough to expand his list of five preferred teams? Not necessarily. "There

  won't be any more lists,'' Axelrod told SI.com. "We're done with that.''


  2. Jake Peavy


  Poor guy. I am almost starting to feel sorry for him. Looks like he's going

  to spend the winter waiting and wondering where he's going to go. One saving

  grace: His full no-trade clause gives him the right to veto any deal,

  assuming the Padres can actually make one.


  3. Milwaukee Brewers


  They made a valiant effort to keep Sabathia but saw themselves outbid by $61

  million by the Yankees. Now it looks like they'll consider finding new homes

  for some of CC's friends, starting with centerfielder Cameron, who could be

  headed to the Yankees for young centerfielder Melky Cabrera. Aggressive owner

  Mark Attanasio did his best to keep Sabathia by offering nine figures (an

  unheard-of figure for a small-market team) but isn't about to start

  sprinkling that cash all over town for a bunch of free agents who won't add

  up to CC. They are said to be focusing on a few starters and looking at

  dependable reliever Brian Fuentes. At least they still have a superb corps of

  kids. So all is not lost.


  4. Relief pitchers


  When K-Rod took almost exactly half what he sought (he got $37 million

  guaranteed when he wanted $75 million), the bottom dropped out of the closing

  market. Of course, the disastrous economy is the main culprit. And, in a way

  it's admirable what Rodriguez did, as he wanted to go to a big market to show

  off his great skills and accomplished that in a closing market almost bereft

  of big-market choices. But his reasonable rate was seen as a "panic'' play by

  other free-agent relievers who watched their market capped. Wood should wind

  up with close to $20 million, and Fuentes should still land a three-year deal

  for about $30 million, but he's going to have to work to get it.


  5. Outfield market


  It looks ugly so far. Pat Burrell reportedly couldn't get the Phillies to

  bite on a three-year request and he's looking at a steep pay cut from the $14

  million he made in 2008. Beyond Raul Ibanez, who's reportedly headed to the

  Phillies and is seen as a "late bloomer,'' other stars also will likely have

  to reduce their expectations. Even the best player in the group, Bobby Abreu,

  may have to settle for less, and Abreu is a star who's one of three players

  to have 100 RBIs each of the past six seasons (Alex Rodriguez and Albert

  Pujols are the others) and one of three alltime to have 200 career home runs,

  300 steals and a .400 on-base percentage (Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson

  are the others).

  Simply put, there's just a glut of great-hitting, average (or worse)-fielding

  outfielders, including Adam Dunn and oft-injured Milton Bradley, who, while

  primarily a designated hitter in 2008, can defend better than the others but

  brings other risks, such as the attitude controversies that have plagued him

  in the past.


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推 lanver1220:跪求 翻譯官
推 kevinloo:indeed, recession? FA market is actually at booming
推 Aldousphyx:喔 這很多 光用看的就花了5分鐘 翻譯大概要很久..
→ appshjkli:其實看重點就很快
→ Aldousphyx:而且新聞有點舊了..AJB還沒簽之前的..
→ appshjkli:就是只看Yankees的部份就好
→ appshjkli:主要是看有在評論Winter Meetings的成果
推 kevinloo:大概就是除非你是紐約球迷 不然你會覺得這次會議是浪費
推 kevinloo:時間 再來就是幾個身價高的贏家
推 Aldousphyx:我覺得鐵爺才是大贏家..這個不管誰簽都已經overpay..