Someone get Francouer on a plane to Oswalts house with a gift basket now!

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/12/6/26...-oswalt-rumors

MLB Free Agent Contract Prediction: Roy Oswalt

By Grant Brisbee - Editor

What sort of contract will Roy Oswalt get, considering that he's a good pitcher with a lingering concern with his back?

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Dec 6, 2011 - There's a free-agent pitcher on the market who isn't going to require a huge, five-year deal for over $100 million. He has a career 3.21 ERA and 133 ERA+, and he's pitched more than 200 innings in six out of his last eight seasons.

Also, his back is made up of damp graham crackers, and those two seasons under 200 innings have come in the past three years. Still, where is the Roy Oswalt frenzy? He was ace enough to be one of the four aces, but now that the Phillies have the bespectacled magic of Vance Worley in the rotation, Oswalt is adrift in the seas of free agency, where he's only good enough to be the contingency plan for whatever team can't sign a pitcher to a crazy multi-year deal:

Oswalt camp waiting for CJ, Buerhle to sign to see exact market, most teams see Oswalt as fallback option
Did you ever see the Twilight Zone where there's a gremlin on the wing of an airplane, screwing with the wiring in front of William Shatner? That's going on right now with Oswalt's back. There are vertebrae flying out of there, tendons, small pebbles … but when he's healthy, he's a mighty fine pitcher. One of the best of his generation, really, and aside from those minor concerns about his back melting, he's only 34.

The risk/reward ledger for Oswalt is based entirely on what sort of contract he's seeking. Does he want a one-year deal, where he can showcase himself as a healthy ace-type, which would lead to a large multi-year contract after 2012? Or is he seeking that multi-year deal now, knowing that concerns about his health and durability will hurt the average annual value of the deal?

If he's looking for a one-year deal, he might be the best free-agent pitcher on the market. Pitchers are precarious, fragile things, and the good ones usually want a lot of guaranteed money for a long time because pitchers are precarious, fragile things.

But he's not looking for a one-year deal, according to Jon Morosi. He's going for the multi-year deal right now.

"His back feels great," (agent) Bob Garber told FOXSports.com.
"It literally feels great. I'm holding his spine in my hands right now," Garber said. "It feels smooth, yet sturdy. We're waiting for someone to invent some sort of robo-spine, and then he'll be unstoppable." Garber then pretended to bite into the spine as if it were a gold coin, completely missing the point of why old-timey people bite into gold coins.
The second blockquote might not be real, and maybe I should shut up about the back. If it feels good, then Oswalt is probably the Oswalt of old, which is one heckuva pitcher. But there can't possibly be a worse free-agent commitment to make than one to a pitcher who is dealing with some scary injury issues. Think it's overreacting to call the injury scary? Check out some of the quotes Oswalt gave to CSN Philly this year:

"You throw as long as you can and when you can’t throw anymore you don’t," the 33-year-old pitcher said after the game. "Hopefully it’s not to the point where I can’t throw anymore. If it’s at that point, you just have to accept it."
"Hopefully it's not to the point where I can't throw anym ...ssssssaaaaaay, is that a three-year deal for many millions? Fine and dandy, this back. Strong as an ox. Need help moving? I have a pickup truck we can load up, no problem."

Oswalt will get multi-year offers, I'm guessing. But with each year tacked on to the end, with each set of performance bonuses attached, the contract will be diluted to the point where a multi-year deal isn't going to be a huge windfall compared to a one-year deal and another shot at free agency next year. Is there a team that would gamble $30 million on Oswalt's back, even? I'm skeptical.

The teams that are interested in Oswalt are the teams that are looking for a pitcher. So, like, all of them, just about. The Red Sox would love to have him, and they could afford him. If the Nationals lose out on C.J. Wilson, they would be right to get excited about a Strasburg/Zimmerman/Oswalt troika leading off their rotation.

But I'll go off the beaten path for this one, because I'm getting a feeling that Dayton Moore is a man who is more confident in his offense than you might think.

Prediction: Royals, one year, $15 million. No option. Think of it as the money they were planning to give to Gil Meche.

I don't see how he'd choose KC over Boston or NY.

Up front money talks

I like Giavotella but unproven at this point. Utility infielder for now.

Boom.....we need this.

Compared to Getz both offensively and defensively, Johnny G. is a huge upgrade and should be the starter.

There were a flurry of tweets naming several teams who did not bid for Yu Darvish, but no one said anything about KC. (hopefully we at least put in a reasonable token bid with no expectation of winning)

However, to those Royals fans who were delusional enough (ie, a few on the royals report) to think the Royals were going to not only bid, but win the bid for Yu Darvish, the winning bid is reportedly "sky-high", and his Japanese team is reportedly excited about the amount of the highest bid, and will accept it. Rumors say the Rangers put in something north of $40MM (again, this is just a payment to his Japanese team for the right to negotiate with him), and Toronto reportedly made a "whopper of a bid". The Yankees reportedly made a modest bid.

Most baseball executives also think Darvish will have a lot of leverage because he may be fine with playing in Japan another year if he gets low-balled, so by this time in January we may be reading about a team (the rangers or blue jays?) paying well over $100MM for him.

**** Darvish I couldnt care less about his overhyped ass

Oswalt is a country boy.

sigh...another season of what if?

He'll be great once Frank White can start working with him on his defense.....








Oh wait.....

Again. Hunting trip with Jeff Francouer

Mostly a fluff piece but oh well


Gordon primed to improve on breakout season


Left fielder won Gold Glove in '11 while hitting .303, with 23 HRs
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com | 12/16/11 5:12 PM EST




KANSAS CITY -- There's no doubt that the Royals' Alex Gordon will miss Melky Cabrera roaming beside him in center field and hitting just behind (or just ahead) of him in the batting order. But Gordon saw the wisdom in the deal that sent Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez.

"We knew we had depth in the outfield and it was kind of the same way with the Giants. They had some pitching they could give up, and they needed some outfield help," Gordon said. "So it was a good trade for both teams. I've seen Sanchez in Spring Training a couple times, and he's got some great stuff, so we get a top starter out of it."

In fact, general manager Dayton Moore's moves for 2012 get a thumb's up from Gordon.

"It's been great -- strengthening our bullpen a little bit more with [Jonathan] Broxton. He's a two-time All-Star with some veteran leadership," he said. "And Sanchez has incredible stuff. We're really sad, we're really going to miss Melky -- he was a big part of our team last year, but it is what it is. What we needed was some starting pitching so it's good to see what [Moore] has been doing."

It was good for Moore to see what Gordon was doing last summer for the Royals, too. He had a breakout, breakthrough season, going at a breakneck pace until manager Ned Yost put him on the bench for the last six games of the season, giving September callups Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson some playing time.

Gordon was one of just five Major Leaguers last season with a .300 average, 45 doubles and 20 home runs. By hitting .303 with 45 two-baggers and 23 blasts, he put himself in an exclusive club with Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, Boston's Adrian Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury and the New York Yankees' Robinson Cano. The only Royals who have done it before were Hal McRae in 1982, Mike Sweeney in 2001 and Billy Butler in 2009.

Gordon also scored 101 runs, swiped 17 bases and notched a Major League-high 20 outfield assists. He was named the Royals' Player of the Year and won an American League Gold Glove for defensive excellence in left field.

Can he top that in 2012?

"We'll see. Just go in with the same mindset. Play hard every day and whatever happens in the game happens and we'll see at the end of the day what the results are," he said.

He'll have a different center fielder beside him, presumably Cain, who won the Frank White Award as the year's best defensive player in the Minor League system. Cain will fall under the guidance of outfield coach Doug Sisson, who gets credit for helping the Royals' 2011 outfield pile up 51 assists and discourage opponents' daring on the bases.

"Sisson is going to put him right to work. That's what Doug was all about," Gordon said. "Every day we were out there throwing to the bases and stuff like that and it helped us. So Cain, Mitch Maier, [Jarrod] Dyson are all going to be in the mix so we still have a solid outfield even though Melky's gone."

A bit uncertain is where Gordon will bat in the 2012 order, because last season Yost had him first 89 times, third 51 times and fourth nine times. Cabrera usually was in the No. 2 slot.

"I like first," Gordon said. "At first it was a little uncomfortable just because I hadn't done it but I got used to it and toward the end of the year I really felt comfortable in the one-hole. So anywhere that Ned wants to put me -- I know a couple times he's come up to me and said, 'You're batting three, is that OK?' or 'You're batting four, is that OK?' and the same with the leadoff spot. I've been OK with all of it and wherever he wants me it's best for the team and that's where I'll be."

Gordon's winter has included a couple of charitable events. Along with teammate Aaron Crow, he helped distribute goods to low-income families at the Johnson County Christmas Bureau's annual Holiday Shop at Olathe, Kan. After that, Gordon and his wife, Jamie, were hosts for a Playing for Pink Casino Night at Lincoln, Neb., that raised funds for the American Cancer Society and to send the Nebraska Diamond Dawgs boys team to a Cooperstown, N.Y., tournament in 2012.

"It was a great turnout. It was the first year of doing it and we really didn't know what to expect but we had guys like Billy [Butler], [Luke] Hochevar, [Jeff] Francoeur, [Kevin] Seitzer -- those kind of guys came and helped us out," he said. "My wife did a lot of work and you could see with the turnout and how it played out that it was well-prepared with good results. We reached the goal [$100,000], so they're going to go to Cooperstown, and we also raised money for the fight against breast cancer, so it was a good thing all around."

Now Gordon can look forward to a season in which the fast-maturing Royals are supposed to be markedly better. At least, that seemed to be the indication during September when the Royals had a 15-10 record and average home attendance jumped to 26,532 for the last 11 games from the previous 20,465.

Kansas City was getting excited.

"The thing that I noticed the most is that when I went out in the city, people came up to me and said, 'It looks like you guys are having fun,' and that means a lot," Gordon said. "I've never heard that before, and that's probably why people came out and watched us."

Being five games over .500 for the month didn't hurt, either.

"We were having fun -- and winning," Gordon said.

Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

A minor note and a major story around baseball.

First, Zack Greinke fired his agent, again. Hard to keep him happy, I guess.

2nd, The Padres and Reds made a pretty big trade today, on first glance it is tough to call a winner, because it seems it could work well for both sides. The Padres have pitching prospects to spare but many, many needs and are probably more than 2 years away, the Reds could really use another good pitcher to make a push next year.

Reds get: RHSP Mat Latos
Padres get: INF Yonder Alonso, C Yasmani Grandal, RHSP Edinson Volquez, and RHRP Brad Boxberger

Reds gave up a lot (however a couple of those prospects were blocked, so good trade candidates), but Latos is a good young pitcher who won't be a free agent for another 4 years. If he helps them win the division, the Reds are happy.

The Padres gave up one of their best pitchers, but got a really big haul in return, very good value. First, lets dispense with Volquez, probably the least-valuable player in the haul. He had a great rookie season in 2008, injured in early 2009, was shut down for Tommy John surgery, and did not have a good comeback season at all in 2011. It would be nice for the Padres if he rediscovered his 2008 magic, but he's probably a broken-down below-average pitcher at this point.

The three serious prospects: Alonso is not a good defender, a DH prospect in the AL, probably an all-bat corner infielder or maybe left fielder in the NL. Some people are speculating that the Padres are giving up on Rizzo, if so, then he becomes their new power-hitting 1B. Grandal was a 1st round pick in 2010 who raced up the minor leagues to triple A in just 2 seasons. He is one of the best catching prospects in baseball and becomes SD's catcher of the future. Brad Boxberger has the potential to be a very good relief pitcher with crazy-high strikeout numbers and was thought of as a closing candidate.