Like Neifi, Only More Expensive

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:18am
Buried in a Sun-Sentinel article, this gem:
"The Braves and Cubs are among the teams that have contacted Marlins free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez."
Yes, by all means let's have the Cubs' fallback position be one of the few shortstops Neifi looks good against. Gonzalez, career: 896 G, 245/291/391 Neifi, career: 1,262 G, 270/301/380
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Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:27am  
I do not buy that, and if they did call him Gonzales is probably no more than to make Furcal's camp think they have a "backup plan".

Submitted by Brad  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:31am  
It's weird how similar Florida Alex is to ex-cub Alex; good glove, some pop, not much contact, hardly ever walks. I would rather go with Cedeno-Walker-Neifi than bring A-Gon II into the mix.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:33am  
A friend of mine just called me and said that he heard the Yankees don’t think that they’ll get anything done with Matsui and that the Cubs are negotiating a deal for him right now! He's going to call me right back with more details.

Submitted by big lowitzki  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:33am  
Too be fair to Gonzalez...many of Neifi's ab's came in Colorado. Not that I am justifying the Cubs even thinking about Gonzalez, but I am not convinced that he is worse than Neifi! :)

Submitted by nate  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:36am  
crunch, who's this "friend" with inside information? i would love to see hideki in the of at wrigley. the cubs could use some WA.

Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:52am  
Crunch, How relible of a source is your friend. I just checked some NYY blogs and there quiet. I am guessing we would trade Cpat and Walker who would fill in NYY 1st base problem.

Submitted by nate  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:53am  
why would we have to trade anyone? Matsui is a free agent.

Submitted by jacos  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:54am  
Godzilla or Beernutz? BANZAI!!!

Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 11:02am  
Nate, Matsui is still under contract. Since he has fewer than 6 yrs of MLB service time he can't become a free agent. According to AZ Phil if he did not come to terms w/ the Yanks he would then become a FA because a guy w/ a "no trade" clause cannot be claimed off waivers. The contractual dealine for a deal was Today, however according to the NY papers they can push back the deadline. I think he will re-up W/ the Yanks. I was throwing out that trade idea if what Crunch said was true. If Matsui can not come to a deal and if the NYY traded him I think he would refuse to sign a contract W/ that team and go on the market. Unless Matsui and not Nomar was the reason for Hendry's and Tellem's meeting during the GM meetings.

Submitted by billy  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 11:04am  
I don't think that was really Crunch reporting that. I think it was someone trolling as Crunch to get us all worked up. Congrats! I've checked out Matsui three times at work and am already dreaming of him in pinstripe blue.

Submitted by nate  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 11:05am  
ahh... thanks Chifan

Submitted by cubfan65  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 11:12am  
The Tribune Sports section today said the Yankees and Matsui are close to agreeing on 4yr $50 million deal. Here are other sources: http://www.prosportsdaily.com/mlb/yankees/rum...

Submitted by riverboat gambler  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 11:12am  
for what it's worth - yesterday's news said: Nov 14 The Associated Press reports the New York Yankees and OF Hideki Matsui are near agreement on a four-year, $50 million contract.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 11:50am  
someone's using my name up there fraudulently. if you're gonna try to be me at least try to look like i type.

Submitted by billy  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 11:52am  
I was afraid that was the case, Crunch. Too bad...

Submitted by Jim Nelson  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 12:03pm  
Okay, so they have Ronny Cedeno, but given that Dusty is managing the team, that means that a mediocre veteran will beat out a potentially good younger player. But on the other hand, they already have a mediocre veteran in Neifi!, so why the deuce would they need another mediocre veteran? I like a good hot stove rumor as much as the next guy, but I think this one might be in the same category as the "Yankees want Furcal to play CF" rumor. In other words, I suspect this story is the work of an agent trying to goose the asking price.

Submitted by Chad  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 12:17pm  
I don't come here for high end discourse but I do expect a little more maturity than posting under some one else's name. Can't you grow up, Mr. Posts Under Crunch's Handle?

Submitted by Mr. Posts Under...  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 12:39pm  
It was just for kicks, dudes. All in good fun. Settle down! It's not like I just told you I killed your dogs or something...though I might tell you that later...

Submitted by Chad  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 12:46pm  
Settle down Handleboy and act like a contributing member of a blog. Or go back under the bridge you came from and feast on the bones of wandering travelers who answer questions incorrectly.

Submitted by jacos  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:12pm  
What about Matsui?

Submitted by jacos  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:12pm  
What about Matt Suey?

Submitted by The Rock  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:16pm  
Chad, Why do you take it so personally that someone floated a bogus rumor? Did it ruin your day? Your life? Will you be able to move forward after the atrocity that has taken place on this blog this afternoon?

Submitted by nate  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:20pm  
hey, i think i know who posted under crunch's handle...

Submitted by The Rock  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:25pm  
Who? Me? Just because I find it to be relatively sad that Chad take such offense to a bogus rumor? Therefore it must be me? Yeah, Ok!

Submitted by Chad  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:29pm  
Whom ever smelt it, dealt it. Nuff said.

Submitted by Chad  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:30pm  
And let me clarify: Post all the bullshit you want. Just be man enough to put your own name to it.

Submitted by The Rock  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:32pm  
And if someone doesn't put their own name by it do you really need to get so upset? Did it really ruin your entire day like you make it seem like?

Submitted by nate  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:32pm  
Rock, don't you find it interesting though, that you take such offense to Chad taking such offense in a bogus rumor? chad, nice troll imagery, by the way!

Submitted by The Rock  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:33pm  
Good point, Nate. Not interesting, but rather stupid on my part I must admit.

Submitted by Jim Hendry  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:38pm  
Obviously you guys obvioulsy didnt obviously the obviously before you obviously said that. Obviously.

Submitted by Chad  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 1:40pm  
Once again: I don't care about a bogus rumor. I just don't like trolls. Are we clear?

Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 2:02pm  
On the real Matsui stuff I am surprised they have not offically annouced a deal yet. Tellem is supposed to be going to Rome to attend some Vatican event Thursday. If they do not get a deal done by tommrrow night they will have to wait about a week to get a deal done.

Submitted by cubswinthepennant  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 2:33pm  
The latest AP story (5:29 PM ET) says the Yankees expect to sign Matsui this evening.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 2:34pm  
We currently don't have a system to register your username, thus we rely on old-fashioned honesty. Start abusing it, we start banning folks. And knock off the bogus rumor crap, there's no reason for it.

Submitted by X  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 2:35pm  
I don't believe there is any reason for either side to rush. It isn't true that they have to have him done by some November date, right? So if they take a few more weeks - no big deal. By all accounts, he wants to be a Yank. This will get done. Oh, and he has a huge porn collection - it appears he used to swap tapes with the Japanese media back home - no joke!!!!

Submitted by nate  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 2:38pm  
X - i heard that about Matsui's porn collection too... and of course you know why he's really called Godzilla, right? (acne scars)

Submitted by Ranch  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 2:51pm  
X that November date is today. But both sides can agree to extend the date, and it appears that they will if nothing is announced today. How could anyone tell that Godzilla had acne?

Submitted by MikeC  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:13pm  
Why does this need to be gone over every time Matsui is mentioned. He HAS to be signed by midnight tonight or he is placed on waivers the next morning or whatever. He will not be a free agent. This is how his contract is written. He also has a complete NO-TRADE clause in his contract. I expect Matsui to be signed at the 11th hour or else the Yanks lose him forever.

Submitted by Ranch  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:22pm  
MikeC is right. The following is from today's Trib on-line by Ron Blum of the AP @ 5:11pm: "Matsui's agent, Arn Tellem, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman hoped to reach an agreement by the end of the night, meeting the Nov. 15 deadline contained in Matsui's first contract with the Yankees. That deal stated that if there is no agreement by then, New York must place the outfielder on unconditional release waivers, which would mean the Yankees could not re-sign him until May 15." May 15 would effectively equal forever as MikeC said above.

Submitted by MikeC  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:26pm  
Brian Cashman hoped to reach an agreement by the end of the night, meeting the Nov. 15 deadline contained in Matsui's first contract with the Yankees. That deal stated that if there is no agreement by then, New York must place the outfielder on unconditional release waivers, which would mean the Yankees could not re-sign him until May 15. No extension of a few days to work out a deal. Must be completed tonight, and again he will not be a free agent.

Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:26pm  
Mike C, While your right that he has to be put on waivers if he can not agree to a deal w/ the Yanks. He will be a free agent because as AZ Phil said this the other day: "The Yankees must place Hideki Matsui on outright release waivers if he does not sign a new contract by November 15th, but because he has a "no trade," he CANNOT be claimed by another club off waivers. So if the Yankees can't sign him, he will be an absolute unrestricted free-agent once he clears waivers and the Cubs would have as good a chance as any other club to sign him, presuming (of course) that he would be interested in playing for the Cubs (which he might not be)."

Submitted by MikeC  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:27pm  
Ahhh Ranch beat me to it, I should of refreshed the thread before I posted. Ahh well good job my man. You get a cookie.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:30pm  
http://www.nynewsday.com/sports/baseball/yank... "The latest bid should raise hopes on both sides that an agreement can be reached before Tuesday's self-imposed deadline. Matsui's original three-year, $21-million contract allows him to become a free agent if a new deal is not reached by Nov. 15, although that deadline can be extended. " http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005_01_03_m... "If Yankees & Matsui do not agree to a new contract by Nov. 15, 2005, the club must request release waivers, allowing Matsui to become a free agent." I think he avoids the waiver wire and chances are they'll just extend the deadline, at least that's my understanding.

Submitted by MikeC  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:30pm  
No Chifan. He has a complete No-Trade clause when he is being paid his 3 year deal. His 3 year deal is up at midnight tonight. He could be traded tonight but it is unlikely he would grant the Yankees the right to do that. No deal in place by midnight he goes to waivers. That is what his contract says and this is exactly what will happen. That would be effectively be the last action of his orginal contract.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:34pm  
as the trib article points out and a number of others now, they all claim that nov. 15th is a hard deadline. Who do you believe?

Submitted by MikeC  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:37pm  
RobG. I know I am not shocked to see a reporter get the basic facts wrong about something. But whoever wrote that for NY News Day never looked at Matsui's contract because he can't be a free agent. And it can not be extended. It is a pretty cut and dry issue. He is either signed or he goes to waivers. I don't know where alot of you are getting they can just ignore parts of his contract just for the hell of it. The MLB players union would raise holy hell if that happened. And it is not like the Yankees have had no time to talk with Matsui. They have had plenty of time.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:37pm  
all the reports state Matsui is a free agent if he doesn't sign, no way in hell Tellem negotiated a deal where Matsui could be claimed off waivers by any team.

Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:40pm  
Rob G, I am not a law expert but I do believe that if both parties of a contract want to change the terms of a contract that is their right just like a contract extension.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:41pm  
granted, so far I've only found one story that backs up that the deadline can be extended, so I'm not putting a lot of faith in that. anyway rotoworld is now claiming a 4/52 deal to be agreed upon tonight. Mute point. Tellem's going to Rome tomorrow as is, he wasn't going to let it linger. I'd prefer Brian Giles anyway.

Submitted by shawndgoldman  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:43pm  
Three questions: 1.) Is it possible that if both sides agree to change the contract such that the deadline is extended, what would they have to do to get that done? Get Gene Orza on the horn? Selig? Who/what? 2.) Is it possible that the extension is unofficial? Could it be that Matsui will grant the Yanks exclusive bargaining rights until the extension runs out? 3.) Since when did a complaint imply a ruined day? I've had lots of days where i called people out, told them they were doing something wrong, and asked them to stop doing it. Many of those days were fabulous... not because of the interactions described above, but in spite of them.

Submitted by Bogey  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 3:45pm  
haha, I heard Keith Olbermann talking about Matsui's extensive porn collection on Dan Patrick's radio show and how the Japanese fans and media think that's the coolest thing in the world. I think that's the real reason Hendry/MacPhail want him so bad. They seem like the kind of guys that would need that sort of "entertainment". Plus Hendry and MacPhail just bought new BMWs from a friend of mine's dealership so they're going to need to save some money. I guess Hendry feels pretty confident that he's going to get extended here or will have offers floating in next season.

Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 4:04pm  
Shawngoldman, To anwser your 1st two questions. 1. The contract is between Matsui and the Yankees. If they agree to change the terms of that contract that is their right. The only way the MLBPA could get invloved is if the value of the contract went down. 2. If your asking if they can fake a contract agreement the answer would be no. The would have to file the contract w/ selig.

Submitted by shawndgoldman  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 4:19pm  
No, i mean just do it unofficially. It could just be that Matsui is going to tell Tellem not to pick up the phone unless its Brian Cashman calling, until the extension is over, at which point they would begin negotiating with other teams.

Submitted by chifan3887  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 4:32pm  
ShawnGoldman, No they can not do that. The reason is because Matsui does not have 6 years of service time so he has no right to free agency. The only way he can get FA status is by clearing waivers. Once you put him on waivers you can not get him back for awhile I do believe. On your point about taking other offers I am sure when Tellem has talked to GM's about his other clients (Nomar) he has asked how much would you pay for Matsui if he were a FA so he could have a sense of Matsui's worth would be on the open market.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 5:48pm  
matsui crap aside...he'll pull his 12+m from someone (paid for more reasons than just his baseball worth...its nice to be the premiere power guy standing alone as a face of MLB only peered by ichiro to a 1st world nation full of expendable loot).... matsui can pretty much only play LF...and not too well. as much as some people may want to believe murton could play RF...well...cliff floyd could technically play RF, too, but i doubt anyone would want that glove/arm in RF. so you got a guy who's gonna draw 12+m easy for 4-5 years who can only play LF, pretty much.

Submitted by Bogey  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 6:04pm  
Doesn't matter folks, NY Times just reported that Matsui just signed a 4/$51 deal.

Submitted by Horatio  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 8:04pm  
Alex Gonzalez?!?!?! Why do I waste my time cheering for this turd sandwich of a baseball team. Why did I have to be born a Cub fan?

Submitted by MikeC  on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 9:52pm  
I am surprised no one is suggesting Alex Gonzalez was a former steroid user. 2003 (18 HR) and 2004 (23 HR) he looked on his way to developing his power. 2005 when every man and his brother are looking for illegal substances and he goes back to hitting 5 HR a year. If there is a prime suspect for speculation, Alex Gonzalez would be exhibit #1.

Submitted by cubster  on Wed, 11/16/2005 - 3:56am  
today's chatter is the price of free agent outfielders...what are they worth? With Matsui getting $13M for 4yrs the bar is being set, or is it? This is making BGiles look like a bargain! My only hope is he's not a Cardinal when the smoke clears, but of course that's were he will land. Sigh. Matsui $13M Damon $12M (asking is one thing, getting another) Giles $10M from Newsday: The Yankees were discouraged by Scott Boras' asking price of $84 million over seven years for Johnny Damon, so they will look seriously at signing Brian Giles with the thought of using a rotation in centerfield. The Yankees are thinking about offering Giles, 34, close to $30 million for three years

Submitted by cubster  on Wed, 11/16/2005 - 4:55am  
Jayson Stark on ESPN (Mike & Mike) this am said the Cubs will offer Furcal a 5 yr deal and believes that Atlanta won't offer that long a contract. I doubt the Tribsters will offer 5 yrs. Remember, the Tribune motto is: "Avoid Risk" Alex Gonzalez? what's next Jeff Conine in RF? Ugh.

Submitted by Borowski4Life  on Wed, 11/16/2005 - 9:09am  
Bill Mueller is very quietly on the market. He took some 2B reps in Boston. Why isn't this being considered as a possibility so they can blow their cash wad pursuing a Damon or Giles?

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