Late Breaking Baseball News

[tcfrogs]

According to multiple sources:

Cubs acquire Orlando Cabrera from Expos for Alex Gonzalez & Francis Beltran, trade Cabrera to Boston for Nomar Garciaparra

Yankees trade Jose Contreras to White Sox for Esteban Loaiza

Padres acquire Steve Finley from D-Backs, undetermined players yet

Dodgers DO NOT get Randy Johnson, nor does anyone else

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1849875

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2626402

[Catholic Sensation]

1. jose contreras for loaiza

the white sox fans should do to their gm what judas did to himself (if you prefer doing the Gospel of Matthew, you can hang him; if the Acts version, disembowel the GM).

[tcfrogs]

2. Yeah, that move made me think

WTF?????

[OneBlueSky]

4. what can you tell me about Loaiza? . . .

I don't know a thing about him . . . as for Contraras, he has awesome stuff, but you never know if he's going to bring it with him to the ballpark on any given day . . .

[Catholic Sensation]

6. Esteban Loaiza was a former reliever

who then became a starter. He's been an all star for two or three straight seasons, and while maybe not having the lowest ERA in the league, he still wins games, and in the end, that's the most important thing. If he can win like 20 games with the White Sox behind him, he can win a ton with the Yanks.

I love how ESPN said "the Yankees won't make a big move this trade deadline."

Jose Contreras is flakey, and since his wife escaped successfully from Cuba he's been very inconsistent.

[tcfrogs]

10. The enigma Esteban Loaiza

Loaiza was always supposed to have great stuff, put never fulfilled his promise until he came to the White Sox last year. A steal, IMHO, for the Yankees. Ken Williams (White Sox GM) should be flogged for this deal.

[No2W2004]

19. Steady

He eats up innings, will very occasionally have a blow up. Yankees did good. This trade isn't what it looks like though. Loaiza is a FA next year and the White Sox NEVER NEVER NEVER pay big bucks for pitching. They were going to lose Loaiza anyway, so they got rid of him.

[St. Jarvitude]

3. NOMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

The Cubs won't win the Central, but they will make it to the playoffs and to the World Series. I Guarantee It(tm).

And the Cubs get $$$$ to boot. :party:

[Catholic Sensation]

5. this is why i think boston fans should rebel

this move is beyond idiotic. Orlando Cabrera is nowhere near as good a player as Nomar. Theo Epstein should be executed in the same manner as the White Sox GM.

[Jackhammer Jesus]

8. It was pretty much common knowledge that Nomar wanted out,

and he wasn't coming back after his contract ran out this season. Better to get something for him than just let him go. Granted, we didn't get much out of the deal, though.

Edit: We also got Twins' 1st baseman Doug Mientkiewicz (sp?) out of the deal.

[Catholic Sensation]

9. i'd rather have nomar for the rest of this season and let him go

at the end, than get some mediocre montreal short stop for two years or however long cabrera stays. The Red Sox aren't afraid of spending money either, they could have replaced him through free agency with the money they saved on his contract.

This was an idiotic move. Maybe next year for the Sox...

[The Spirit of JFK]

11. Sad to see him go but,

I LOVED the way the guy plays, really, but I am SO disappointed with him as a team player. I think he behaved really poorly when it came to reacting to the pre-season offers and I think it has spilled over into his playing and his injuries. He held a grudge to the point where I would almost call him juvenile. His heart wasn't in it all season and it would have been less so for the last 2 months (if he played that much at all with his injuries) knowing he wasn't coming back.

Yeah, I would have been happier if we did it earlier in the season...maybe we COULD have gotten something in the pitching department...but at this point nobody was going o give us a Clement for a guy ho was going to be free in 60 days. And I would MUCH rather have the guys we got for him then Nomar at 70% physically and 25% mentally and a couple off draftees next season.

In 2003, Cabrera finished second among National League shortstops in batting average, slugging and RBI. He also finished second in stolen-base percentage among all players who snagged at least 20 bags.

Even though he plays in Montreal, Cabrera gets league-wide recognition for his superb defense. He has excellent range, good hands and a strong arm, though he is capable of both the truly spectacular play and the two-base throwing error. His instincts as to when to go for the great play and when to pocket the ball are improving. Cabrera is a significant basestealing threat, having swiped at least 19 in each of the last three seasons, with a high degree of success. Twice in the minors he stole at least 30 bases, including one season in which he stole 51, so he could become even more dangerous.

And when he's in THIS lineup...he will get some good pitches. And defensively he's...wait for it...better than Nomar. Sorry...it may be sacriligious, it's true. But the thing that does it for me is that he is acutally going to be IN the lineup and his heart will actaully be IN it as well.

And THAT's how much Nomar has disappointed me. (man my brother is gonna kill me when he reads this)

[Bombtrack]

12. Hello? He's hitting fucking 321.

THIS IS A FUCKING SHITTY MOVE.

[The Spirit of JFK]

13. .321 but In only 37 games...

He's only played in 37 games this year. He's got nagging "injuries" and/or really just doesn't want to play here in the worst way. For God's sake, he basically declined to play in the July 1 Sox-Yankees game. That should tell you something about his psyche. Not playing against our biggest rival. That sends a really bad message.

Plus, the Sox aren't lacking for offense. The defense is just killing them. We lead the league in runs scored and era...we have been only a .500 team this month mainly because we are 12th in the AL. defensively. Cabrera and Mientkiewicz are big upgrades. And while Cabrera's offensive numbers are down at the moment, he DOES play in Montreal where nobody is hitting .300 or better (their team batting average is .243) so he is certainly not going to see any good pitches. Last year, when he had great hitters around him (but still on a lousy team) his numbers were: .297 17 hr 80 rbi. Plus he stole 24 (out of 26 bases), had a .347 on-base percentage. Yeah, Nomar's power numbers are better but he does play half his games at Fenway and his on-base percentage is not as good.

I'm not saying I'm not going to miss Nomar or that he didn't contribute anything to this team, but THIS year we did pretty well through a good chunk of the seaon without him. And it was apparent that he just wasn't with us when he DID return. And at this point and in this market, we were really not going to get anything more.

It IS shitty, really shitty...but Nomar wasn't coming back and it IS better for all parties...except for the fans.

[No2W2004]

20. Yea, that's JUST what the Tribune Co. needs....

More $$$$$

[RetroLounge]

7. Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs!!!!!!!!

Maybe a wild card? Maybe...

RL

[WindRavenX]

14. As a Yankee fan living in Boston, I will miss Nomar

Nomar was the only Sox I could stand.

[flamingyouth]

15. And the Mariners are still doomed

Just thought I'd toss that out there. :(

[Mojambo]

17. That was pretty brutal today

I bet they're REAL happy they didn't trade Guardado. :eyes:

[mvd]

16. Those Phillies!

:grr:

They got a solid reliever in Felix Rodriguez, but Steve Finley is the one I wanted most. The Phillies never do enough to make a run. I think the real curse in Philly is the curse of the owners and GMs that don't care enough.

[bigwillq]

18. This Yankees fan is very happy

that we got Loaiza.

Contreras is too inconsistent and his personal issues seemed to overshadow that.


Hopefully, Nomar will like his new home and start swinging the bat better. I think he was unhappy in Boston and new a trade was on the way so that's why I think he had a rough go of it this year. The injury didn't help.

I may not like the Red Sox but for some reason I liked Nomar. I wish him well.
I'm glad his family made it to America but that didn't help him pitch better.