Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 20, 2004
Central Cents

John Bonnes at TwinsGeek.com notices how the entire AL Central has been pretty much shut out of the free agent market.

The Twins took some heat last week (justifiably) for losing Corey Koskie. I suspect they will take some heat this week (not justifiably) for non-tendering Jacque Jones. But the migration of top level player towards big money teams this offseason - the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, etc. - has affected the Twins' AL Central brethren just as much. The difference in those towns is that the criticism isn't about who they have lost, but who they haven't gained.

When the Indians got close to the AL Central title last season I expected them to make a deal. None happened. I expected them to make a deal this winter to try to push the team over the edge. Again, nothing. Was it the money, or did deals just move faster than these teams thought they would?


Posted by David Pinto at 07:02 PM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

As an Indians fan I think the problem we encountered this winter is the price of mediocre went up more than expected. Average pitchers with losing career records like Benson and Clement are getting contracts that make no sense. If Clement was a #2 pitcher I could see the $$$'s but he is a #4 at best.

Posted by: LargeBill at December 20, 2004 07:37 PM

The Tigers have wanted to give money away, but nobody wants to take. They all either want to play for winners (Renteria, Pavano), stay on the west coast (Beltre, Finley, Glaus) or go home to Canada (Koskie).

Oh yeah, and what LargeBill said, the "affordable" talent isn't affordable in this market. Detroit's 2/12 contract with Percival doesn't seem nearly as ridiculous now.

Posted by: billfer at December 20, 2004 08:04 PM

Orlando Cabrera just signed with the Angels - 4 years, $32M!!! That's insane! He's a good fielder, but he's not that great a fielder. Check out my entry on the other remaining free agents.

Posted by: shawn at December 20, 2004 11:06 PM

Wait - at what moment did the Braves become a "big money" team? Schuerholz is handcuffed at $80 million down here, if you haven't been reading the news the last two years.

Posted by: Joe at December 21, 2004 10:19 AM

It has been a very quiet off-season in the AL Central. From the reports the Indians have been active on the market -- as the other teams as well -- but just not getting the "breaks" to get a pitcher to come to town.

I keep waiting for a pitcher to suplement Sabathia and Westbrook.

Posted by: Toby at December 22, 2004 12:19 AM
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