Some movement a few days before the winter meetings.
BJ Upton signed with the Braves today, 5 years for $72.25 million. There are several top tier outfielders out there for the taking. Shane Victorino, Michael Bourn, Josh Hamilton and Angel Pagan come to mind. Where will the surface? It is reported that the Phillies were close to landing Upton. Watch for them to make a blockbuster move and land a superstar like Hamilton. Jerry Crasnick predicts via tweet that he believes Hamilton will be a Phillie by the end of the winter meetings. If they don’t land Hamilton, I think Pagan might be in Philadelphia next season.
Take this with a grain of salt, but a co-worker of mine that has known Shane Victorino since they were kids in Hawaii tells me that Victorino would like to stay on the west coast, closer to his Las Vegas home and a short flight from Hawaii. Since the Dodgers are no longer a fit for a starting job for Shane, he is seriously considering signing with the Giants next year. I trust this source because he was spot on with his prediction in July, stating that Victorino was L.A. bound a few days before the deal was finalized.
Brian Wilson in Dodger Blue? (and this ain't the Beach Boy)
Get this, Brian Wilson, who will likely be a free agent by this Friday is rumored to be interested in signing with the Dodgers. The Giants will not be offering him arbitration after coming off Tommy John surgery. Andrew Baggerly at CSNBayArea.com is reporting this as true speculation, based on Wilson’s off-season L.A. home and flamboyant lifestyle that is more conducive to Los Angeles living. With Colletti’s history of snatching up anything ex-Giant, would we really be surprised?
There’s a very interesting post by Eric Stephen at TrueBlueLA.com in which he breaks down Bill James’ 2013 offensive projections for the Dodgers. Take a look, I think you’ll be very pleased. he says the Dodger lineup will score 123 more runs than last year. If they do that, count on them winning 95-97 games next year.
A few baseball transactions of interest the past few days:
November 28th
The Seattle Mariners announced that Chone Figgins has cleared waivers and he is now released.
The Kansas City Royals announce that RHP Chris Volstad has cleared waivers and elected for free agency.
November 26th
The Boston Red Sox announced that Ivan DeJesus Jr. has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the minor leagues.
Look for next weeks winter meetings to produce some deals and for the Dodgers to be engaged more than in previous years. I predict a free agent pitcher or two, (Greinke?), a third baseman and a surprise signing or trade. Could that surprise be the bearded one from the Giants?
Brian Wilson in Dodger Blue will make me sick.
ReplyDeleteJust say "NO!!" Brian has been stellar and is certainly full of life. I like that, but the Dodgers already have a number of players coming out of the MASH unit for 2013. Wilson coming off his second TJ surgery certainly won't be ready at the start of the season. Plus, I just think we get snake bit every time we take on a Giant.
ReplyDeleteeg. Jason Schmidt, Juan Uribe. I just want to be out from under the curse of the Giants.
I think if we add another reliever from outside of the system he will be a lefty capable of pitching in the middle innings as well as an occasional LOOGY.