Comments on: Diamondbacks reach three-year, $26 million deal with Cody Ross

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:11:26 +0000

Why yes, I have it right here….

By: stex52

stex52 — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 04:27:44 +0000

And the aside, for those of you under 60, was from “Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like HIm.” Firesign Theatre, circa 1971.

“This is Side Five.
Follow in your books as we learn our next three words in Turkish.”
“Towel. Bath. Border………..May I see your passport, please?”

By: sportsnut101

sportsnut101 — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 01:07:23 +0000

They overpaid big time. I love how teams over pay for so many average players.

He had a nice 2nd half n playoff run 2 yrs ago so what’s he getting rewarded for now

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:38:16 +0000

Vernon and his best friend Michael Young on the same team makes sense to me.

By: tashkalucy

tashkalucy — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:22:21 +0000

I read some interesting comments elsewhere that sounded logical…..

While Upton’s trade value was lower then Towers expected, Upton did have a good 2nd half last year. One theory is that the Backs hope he continues to play well and trade him in-season.

I’m thinking the Rangers still like him. It would make sense to me if the Rangers signed Bourn to be the CF they need (and a lead-off man wouldn’t hurt), then do a 3-way with a team that wants Kiensler (a number of teams are looking for a right-handed bat with some power) and will give some young players that Towers wants so the Rangers can get Upton. Of course, the Rangers could do the same thing without signing Bourn (giving the position to martin) and from all the Arizona and California guys on the backs roster, maybe the Backs would be happy to take Kielsler and have him pay 3B or move Hill there (are they really going to play Chavez there all year?)….obviously, other players would have to be involved.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:44:08 +0000

thalidomide Cuisinart

I take your meaning. There’s a couple of ways to read this, I guess. We could go with “Thalidomide Brand™, Cuisinart”. As in, “not a name you trust”. Or we can go with “That poor stadium! Someone gave its momma Thalidomide and it was born without…something Gator thinks it needs”. Personally, I think he means both at once. He likes to get a lot of mileage out of these things.

By: cackalackyank

cackalackyank — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:26:42 +0000

I am prepared for a barage of thumbs down here…but I think this is the precursor of an Upton trade. Dbacks are not going to be able keep him…so they will trade him if not sooner, then later

By: chacochicken

chacochicken — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:18:42 +0000

I’ve read the Gator’s musing before but never in the history of the English language have the words “thalidomide” and “Cuisinart” ever been used in the same paragraph much less the sentence. I, however, will look forward to his future rhapsodizing, thesaurus in hand.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:09:56 +0000

hammyofdoom, The Red Sox can hide him left field, just like they hid Crawford in left field? Just because there is that wall there doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easier to play. As I seem to recall Crawford was a darn good outfielder with the Rays, when he came to Boston he couldn’t get out of his own way in left field. Don’t underestimate that it may take more to play left field in Boston then you think. As for Victorino playing right field it’s been 6 years since he’s played any significant defense in right field that could be a problem for him as well.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:47:17 +0000

You just count your blessings. Only one word NOT in English, two spanglishisms, and he used italics for his aside. Balanced against the single period, two sets of ellipses, and the hyphen-ed parentheses, this is not bad. Wait till we get to in-season commentary. Bring a thesaurus.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:33:55 +0000

Yeah, that is exactly what the Phillies should have done…..signed a guy that can only hit LHP for his age 33, 34, and 35 seasons. That is exactly the type of move than an old and unathletic team needs to make.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:32:02 +0000

I think that would be a great deal for Philly….far better value and production than any of the FA options….and if they throw in Brown, they can probably get Chicago to eat even more of the contract.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:30:50 +0000

Ross has been roughly average for a corner OF throughout his career, can’t recall anyone actually calling him good. He’s not embarrassing out there, but his range is pretty bad. The thing is that most teams now totally punt on LF and RF defense, setting the bar very low for comparisons.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:26:49 +0000

The Rangers need a CF, not a corner OF.

By: hammyofdoom

hammyofdoom — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:26:20 +0000

Well I was just going off of the plain 2/10 3/26 comparison, not 3/15 versus 3/26. The big deal for the Red Sox was that they would never go 3 years and I doubt Ross would have gone for 2 so that’s why I said 16 as opposed to 10.

And I’m still 50/50 on Ellsbury being dealt. A package of Ellsbury, a couple bullpen arms and one or two prospects could probably fetch them a decent pitcher and it seems like they are gearing up for that

By: hammyofdoom

hammyofdoom — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:23:49 +0000

Is he really below-average defensively? I’m not saying your wrong, but the one thing I have always heard about Ross is that he is a rather great defensive RF.

By: hammyofdoom

hammyofdoom — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:19:39 +0000

I have nothing to add other than I love this post. Kudos sir, well played

By: dkphilly1122

dkphilly1122 — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:14:54 +0000

As a Phillies fan I couldn’t be happier with Ross signing anywhere else but Philly. They will get someone by the trade deadline, not old bums Soriano or Wells. They are gonna let Ruff play and prove everyone against him wrong saying he isn’t good, hasn’t done anything and “he is 26 and just getting into the bigs”. He obviously has power and a short swing for contact too. In the short time he came up at the end of last year he didn’t look bad at all, regardless of what his critics thing or assume. I would rather him over Brown any day.

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:08:43 +0000

Although, I did read that the a source in the Red Sox front office has asserted that they’d be comfortable with Kalish/Nava in LF taking AB’s vs vs RHP.

By: phillyphanatic77

phillyphanatic77 — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:03:38 +0000

Absolutely. I heard RAJ wasn’t happy with Ross’ pricetag. $8.67 Mil/year? Are you kidding me?? For a guy that could hit 20-25 homeruns at CBP, that’s a steal. Seriously RAJ you couldn’t offer him 3 years $27 mil? I find that ridiculous. The Phils brass keeps telling us that their number one priority this off-season was a power-hitting, corner outfielder. Then they come out and offer $20 mil less than the Braves for BJ Upton (who was supposedly their #1 target), refuse to offer more than 3 years to Josh Hamilton (may or may not be smart, we’ll see), and apparently weren’t even in on Cody Ross. Vernon Wells and Scott Hairston are somehow better fits in the Phils lineup than those guys? It’s mind boggling. I was completely on board with Amaro making low cost maneuvers with Revere and Young, and I like adding Mike Adams, but c’mon Ross would’ve fit in well in Philly.

By: hammyofdoom

hammyofdoom — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:00:53 +0000

Bwaha thanks Bigleagues. I can definitely tell that finals are over with… my grammar keeps getting worse and worse in my posts, soon I’ll just be typing guttural noises with the occasional stat thrown in

By: timpaz

timpaz — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:56:11 +0000

What are the DBacks thinking? This guys no better than any of the other outfielders they have, and to overpay him, Towers is a proving to be another bad GM hire

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:52:00 +0000

The market could be big enough, considering the Rangers gaping hole and the Red Sox obvious need for another LH power bat.

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:43:49 +0000

$16M?

If they kept Ross they’d have to pay in the same range that he is getting now in AZ.

So at most the difference about $10M.

Never-the-less, your point is valid and we shall see. I will reiterate that Victorino at least hedges their bets in CF in the vent that Ellsbury is dealth or walks and they need to buy time for Bradley to develop further. So that has a value as well.

By: chacochicken

chacochicken — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:38:04 +0000

Is this word salad? It has been a traumatic 2012 for the Marlins.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:38:03 +0000

He’s actually getting $9M/year (with the $1M buyout). Just a really strange signing. Doesn’t fill a need (unless they consider that need to be a RHB, which is odd, since 75% of pitches are thrown by LHP) or upgrade at a position. Even if their plan is to trade Kubel, they’ve just undercut their bargaining position….and the market for Kubel won’t be particularly large either.

By: bricktop02

bricktop02 — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:36:22 +0000

Being a phillies fan I couldn’t be more unhappy. Ruf is unproven & Brown is a horrible fielder with a weak bat & potato chip knees. Ross would have been a good fit.

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:30:20 +0000

Yeah, also what Hammy said

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:28:47 +0000

On the surface, I can’t disagree with what you said.

However, Victorino still provides speed and defense that is superior to Ross. And the Flyin Hawaiian’s career OPS (.770) and OPS+ (.102) is a virtual wash w/ Ross OPS (.783) & OPS+(.107) and they will both be 32 years old.

Also Ross was no All-star vs RHP. Just like Gomes, Ross’ 2012 #’s were propped up greatly by his LHP #’s. And again their comparative 2012 OPS vs RHP is a virtual wash.

I think people are underestimating the danger presented by a lineup that includes Ellsbury/Pedroia/Victorino (although Ellsbury seems likely to be traded by July 31).

And that’s another thing, Victorino hedges their bet on Ellsbury buying them additional time to develop Bradley.

The more this team comes together, the more clear – and smart – the plan becomes.

The addition of a solid LH bat could upgrade this lineup to fearsome.

But, depending on what happens with Napoli, this would already be a deeper team in terms of MLB talent than they had last year.

By: illcomm

illcomm — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:24:59 +0000

paperlions. close. but it will be soriano starting in left field. Phils picking up 2/16