Zrebiec: At impasse with LaRoche; turning attention to Lee

[maybe2050]

Not to mention, his career.

Yeah, he'll be 35, but he has been a superior player for years. The really good players tend to maintain production longer than others. One mediocre half-season, while playing with injury, isn't a reason to write him off.

I guess the same could be said of Roberts huh?

[Tank]

Roberts' game relies more on speed so he might tail off a little quicker.

[maybe2050]

Roberts' game relies more on speed so he might tail off a little quicker.

True, I hope he rebounds this year. He says "He feels alot better", we are definitely gonna need him. Still one of the best leadoff men out there when healthy

[Ven6]

I will try to improve. In short, I do not think that an offer was made to Tex that they actually thought he would take. It was fair yes, but they had to know that for him to come here, that they had to do more than the next team. We underbid.

Yes, I know the diffrence between the quality of player you'd be getting from Tex, opposed to Laroche. I'm just so determined to not be watching Cantu or Russell Branyan that I'm almost ready to bust.

My rep here is already in the toilet, so improving that will be a task, but I'm a true O's fan, and I'm willing to try. If I can brave the cold for overnights at the warehouse for bleacher seats, I can surely, in the comfort of my own home, try to give a logical view, opposed to one a 3 year old could provide.

I want to start by saying that I am not a big fan of the new stats that rate a player, so although you guys might have to bear with me using older stats (even though they might not tell the entire picture), they are ones that still can determine good from bad, and I feel more comfortable using them. There's nothing wrong with using batting averages to rate consistency, HR's to judge power, and RBI's to show hitting in the clutch. I'll try to absorb a little more of what is laid out as useful knowledge.

Don't worry about conforming, Maybe Man. What you bring--a different perspective--is good in life and on this board.

Even if I rarely agree with you.

[Dagger420]

I feel like this is a race for the lesser of three evils. LaRoche is blah and adds even more strikeouts, Lee is old and I remember reading something about chronic back issues as he was on my fantasy team last year and Cantu is probably about an equalivalent to Wiggington, given his historical production and 3b experience.

Is anyone else just not really excited for this to play out?

I'd almost rather see what Reimold and Scott could do in a platoon.

[Sports Guy]

I feel like this is a race for the lesser of three evils. LaRoche is blah and adds even more strikeouts, Lee is old and has been injury-prone his whole career and Cantu is probably about an equalivalent to Wiggington, given his historical production and 3b experience.

Is anyone else just not really excited for this to play out?

I'd almost rather see what Reimold and Scott could do in a platoon.

Really? Since 2000, He has played 141 or more games in every season but one..and 8 of those years he plyed in 150 or more games.

Did you just make that stat up?

[Dagger420]

Really? Since 2000, He has played 141 or more games in every season but one..and 8 of those years he plyed in 150 or more games.

Did you just make that stat up?

Yeah, I changed it after I looked it up. I guess it seemed like he was hurt every year I picked him in fantasy.

I did read somewhere about back issues last year though which really scares me off. Ill try and find a link.

[Dagger420]

Lee back news:

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/03/cubs-lee-recovering-from-freak-back-injury.html

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100815&content_id=13482970&notebook_id=13496124&vkey=notebook_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb

The only thing holding up the deal is Lee's back problems. He had an injection in the epidural of his lower back to ease discomfort from a bulging disk on Monday and missed the last two games.

Quote From:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/08/report-braves-close-to-acquiring-derrek-lee-from-the-cubs/1

Bulging Disks on 35 year olds are not necessarily a good sign. But I guess we'll see how the season plays out where ever he lands.

[DrungoHazewood]

Roberts' game relies more on speed so he might tail off a little quicker.

There's some indication that fast players age a bit better than others.

[Going Underground]

I think the article was to get LaRoche to make up his mind. Almost like setting a deadline but not pushing it. The thumb issue has to be out there. Everyone says Lee should be ready by Spring Traning. Key word= should.

[Dipper9]

We're all sitting here waiting on LaRoche like its Albert Pujols or something. I'd like to have a decent first baseman, whether it be TheRoach or Lee or Moose's mom, but the games these guys are playing with us is ridiculous.

[Moose Milligan]

We're all sitting here waiting on LaRoche like its Albert Pujols or something. I'd like to have a decent first baseman, whether it be TheRoach or Lee or Moose's mom, but the games these guys are playing with us is ridiculous.

Or is it the games we're playing with them?

[Dipper9]

Or is it the games we're playing with them?

Good point.

:thumbsup1:

[NCRaven]

Or is it the games we're playing with them?

If we have a 3 year, $21 million offer on the table for LaRoche, any game we're playing is with Monopoly money. I don't see how anyone who wants LaRoche can complain that we were "playing" games with him. This is a player who screwed himself out of $3mil in salary last year because he misread his market and now it looks like he's trying to make the same mistake again. I'm not going to criticize AM for sticking to his guns on this one. He's right, there are other options.

[Os84]

MLBTradeRumors has a new post summarizing Olney's latest insider article.

O's stuff:

The Orioles have been talking to Adam LaRoche's agents about a three-year deal in the $21MM range, though it was said yesterday they're at an impasse. LaRoche had a near-miss on a multiyear deal with the Giants last offseason, though that offer came with undesirable options attached. Olney says the Orioles are in the one-year, $8MM range with Derrek Lee, which should be close to enough. Failing those options, Olney suggests a platoon involving Troy Glaus and Russell Branyan or Jason Giambi