Nomar a Dodger

[Dobro]

1YR/$6M base

The Link

[cougar]

I guess Nomar wanted *snicker* to go *laugh* to a contender *falls off his chair laughing*.

Have fun at first Nomahhhhh.  Hope you get a good stretch before each game to pick all the bad throws you'll be digging out/jumping for/running down in foul ground.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

He picked the worst team of the four; worse by a good margin. I guess his competitive desire to turn around a team that finished 20 games under .500 was too much for him not to take the challenge... Or maybe it was the playing close to home and pleasing his wife reason.

[ASTROCREEP]

Or maybe Purpura is just a TERRIBLE negotiator.

god...I hope that's not why.

[jasonact]

There were few of good reasons for him to choose LA. Playing close to home, Dodgers on paper look much better than last year when a lot of key players were injured (and in the NL West, it's not like they don't have a chance)-- to name two. Frankly, when it was reported that he was choosing between 4 teams, one of which being the Dodgers, I thought they probably had the best chance of signing him.

Oh well. Move on and make him regret it.

[Jacksonian]

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Or maybe Purpura is just a TERRIBLE negotiator.

god...I hope that's not why.

Or maybe, he's brilliant.  If the Astros had signed Nomar to a min $6 mil with incentives to over 8 when the likelihood of him playing an entire season is next to nil, I would have been pissed.  Nomar went down early last season, not playing the field but leaving the batter's box.  Not running out a grounder, not legging out a double, leaving the damned batter's box.  IMO, the Astros should have not offered more than $4 mil with incentives.

[Dobro]

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If the Astros had signed Nomar to a min $6 mil with incentives to over 8 when the likelihood of him playing an entire season is next to nil, I would have been pissed.

Why do you have a problem with how much Nomar is making? Do you think that paying him will mean they cannot pay someone else? When has Drayton ever refused to pay a reasonable price for a player who could help because of what he's paying other players?

[Jacksonian]

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If the Astros had signed Nomar to a min $6 mil with incentives to over 8 when the likelihood of him playing an entire season is next to nil, I would have been pissed.

Why do you have a problem with how much Nomar is making? Do you think that paying him will mean they cannot pay someone else? When has Drayton ever refused to pay a reasonable price for a player who could help because of what he's paying other players?

$6 mil is not reasonable for Nomar, IMO.  The chance Nomar has of playing an entire season without significant injury is low when playing everyday.  If he did not have a recent history of serious and long-term injury, then maybe.  Because of that I question how much Nomar would truly help the Astros.  And, how much Drayton's paying other has nothing to do with it.

[Dobro]

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$6 mil is not reasonable for Nomar

Let me guess...but you think $4M is reasonable for Ausmus?

[MikeyBoy]

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Or maybe Purpura is just a TERRIBLE negotiator.

 Purpura said that the Astros' offer to Garciaparra was close to the reported figures on the deal ? $6 million base with incentives that could push the deal to $8 million....

 
 ...Garciaparra was born and raised in Los Angeles County, though, and he'll return to the part of the country where most of his relatives still live.

But the Dodgers' new ties to his former Boston Red Sox roots may have proved the biggest factor.

Grady Little, who managed the Red Sox in 2002 and 2003, was hired as the Dodgers' manager earlier this month. Third baseman Bill Mueller, who signed as free agent with the Dodgers last week, also played in Boston with Garciaparra....



It sounds like the Astros made a similar offer to Nomar, but factors outside of Purpura's control influenced Nomar's final decision. What could have Purpura done different in your mind that would have closed the deal?  Link

[David in Jackson]

The thing I never understood about Nomar was: What position will he play?  I've read he'll play OF or 1b for LA (though I thought Kent would be playing a lot more 1b).  He's expensive and an injury risk and on the backside of his career and still highly thought of because he was a SS.  If he's not playing SS or 3b, he's much less valuable, IMHO.

There are other fish in the sea.

[Jacksonian]

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$6 mil is not reasonable for Nomar

Let me guess...but you think $4M is reasonable for Ausmus?

One is likely to be healthy and contribute as a starter all year and the other is not.  And, considering the contracts being doled out to other free agent catchers this off-season, yes.

[Limey]

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One is likely to be healthy and contribute as a starter all year and the other is not.  And, considering the contracts being doled out to other free agent catchers this off-season, yes.

Also, one is to a long-time Astro - one who is widely considered to be one of the very best at his position.  The other is a short-term contract to a money whore, clubhouse trouble-maker, who will be playing out of position and who isn't the most annoying hitter to watch in the batter's box solely because of the existence of Sean Casey.

[pravata]

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Or maybe Purpura is just a TERRIBLE negotiator.

god...I hope that's not why.

Or maybe, he's brilliant.  If the Astros had signed Nomar to a min $6 mil with incentives to over 8 when the likelihood of him playing an entire season is next to nil, I would have been pissed.  Nomar went down early last season, not playing the field but leaving the batter's box.  Not running out a grounder, not legging out a double, leaving the damned batter's box.  IMO, the Astros should have not offered more than $4 mil with incentives.

The Indians offered generally the same thing the Dodgers and the Astros offered.  The difference seems to be that the Indians and Astros wanted him to play in the outfield. That and LA likely gives him more exposure for his push for a multi-year, multi-dollar contract.  

White had a physical when he left Houston last week.  If the Astros don't sign him soon I will begin to expect something is up.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

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Or maybe Purpura is just a TERRIBLE negotiator.

god...I hope that's not why.

Or maybe, he's brilliant.  If the Astros had signed Nomar to a min $6 mil with incentives to over 8 when the likelihood of him playing an entire season is next to nil, I would have been pissed.  Nomar went down early last season, not playing the field but leaving the batter's box.  Not running out a grounder, not legging out a double, leaving the damned batter's box.  IMO, the Astros should have not offered more than $4 mil with incentives.

The Indians offered generally the same thing the Dodgers and the Astros offered.  The difference seems to be that the Indians and Astros wanted him to play in the outfield. That and LA likely gives him more exposure for his push for a multi-year, multi-dollar contract.  

White had a physical when he left Houston last week.  If the Astros don't sign him soon I will begin to expect something is up.

I suspect the only thing holding up a White deal is Purpura wanting see who is non-tendered (the deadline, I believe, is Wed?).  The probability of someone better than White made available by the non-tender process is unlikely but it's prudent to at least wait and see when you essentially have 1 roster spot open for a free agent.  

I don't understand all the griping about White.  Sure, he has a weak arm and a history of injuries.  But 1, there's a decent chance he won't be a starter, and 2, if he does start, he'll probably be in some a-typical platoon situation that Garner showed a tendency for last year.  I say a-typical because playing time is not solely dicated by Lefty/Righty matchups but rather who's hot and/or who hits more effectively against a particular pitcher, or type of pitcher (power v. finesse), they are facing.  

The one positive, IMHO, is that a White signing indicates the end of Burke starting in LF!!  Solid defense in LF is less important than getting some decent offense out of who ever mans that position, that's just my opinion....

[Arky Vaughan]

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One is likely to be healthy and contribute as a starter all year and the other is not.  And, considering the contracts being doled out to other free agent catchers this off-season, yes.

Also, one is to a long-time Astro - one who is widely considered to be one of the very best at his position.  The other is a short-term contract to a money whore, clubhouse trouble-maker, who will be playing out of position and who isn't the most annoying hitter to watch in the batter's box solely because of the existence of Sean Casey.

I disagree -- I think he would've been a valuable pick-up, but not worth getting into a bidding war with the Dodgers, particularly given that he seemed predisposed to head that way given where he and his family live.

[Limey]

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I disagree -- I think he would've been a valuable pick-up, but not worth getting into a bidding war with the Dodgers, particularly given that he seemed predisposed to head that way given where he and his family live.

A nice pick-up, sure.  But not on a high-value, short-term contract.  And if he's going to be playing the outfield, you have to temper any enthusiasm for his hitting - he has lost power in later years - because it's compared to Berkman's and Lamb's rather than Everett's.