DBacks sign Roberto Alomar

[BC867]

Originally posted by AZZenny
This is just... weird. Someone called radio today about the Suns deal and said it seems like the Colangelos have found a new drug, because they are making some real befuddled moves recently. It's like they can't decide - or remember - what the current plan is.

Could they possibly think one washed up gold-glover is going to somehow rescue this infield defensively? And you know - a million here, a million there, and pretty soon you could have kept Schilling, or gone after someone with the real goods, not a bunch of tired old farts.

I've been saying for years that Jerry Colangelo is, and always has been, a mediocre General Manager. Whether he has the title or not, he calls the shots and Brian and Joe, Jr., do the legwork.

Over the past 35 1/2 years, Jerry has been the most influential figure in Arizona; he's done a good job rebuilding downtown Phoenix; he's made the Valley a major sports area; and he's been a pretty good promoter.

But, as General Manager, he's absolutely mediocre.

The Suns had one early Cinderella year with a lightweight team -- couldn't quite beat the Celtics -- and have clung to that approach ever since. Not one Championship in 36 seasons. (Bryan screwed up tonight, and referred to the Suns on TV as a lottery team. And this season isn't half over.)

The D'backs had one early Cinderella year without a set lineup -- did beat the Yankees -- and now cling to that approach as our record gets worse each year. (At least Joe, Jr., hasn't referred to us a last-place team yet.)

And nothing is going to change until Jerry steps out, Bryan gets a real job, and Joe, Jr., goes back to being a sports agent. And knowledgeable basketball and baseball people are brought in by the majority owners to run the Suns and the Diamondbacks.

'Til then, it's going to get worse before it gets better. And when you add Bill Bidwill and his son, it is worse. Major we're not such a major sports area, after all.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

This is another in a series of good moves for the DBacks this off season.

I like it at least.

 

[mark1]

This is a no brainer. If you can sign a guy with Alomar's credentials for 1 year at 1 million while Hairston ripens in Tucson you do it. He is taking alot less money because he wants to play here. A happy Alomar is a productive Alomar. He hated playing for that large black hole called the Mets. He is good buddies with Baerga and knows he is close to making the hall of fame. Roberto should be highly motivated this year. I think this signing could be a steal. The East Valley Tribune suggested Alomar would leadoff. They should bat Finley leadoff and put Alomar in the 2 hole in my opinion. Is this signing worth the risk? Absolutely.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Originally posted by mark1
This is a no brainer. If you can sign a guy with Alomar's credentials for 1 year at 1 million while Hairston ripens in Tucson you do it. He is taking alot less money because he wants to play here. A happy Alomar is a productive Alomar. He hated playing for that large black hole called the Mets. He is good buddies with Baerga and knows he is close to making the hall of fame. Roberto should be highly motivated this year. I think this signing could be a steal. The East Valley Tribune suggested Alomar would leadoff. They should bat Finley leadoff and put Alomar in the 2 hole in my opinion. Is this signing worth the risk? Absolutely.

Ah a voice of reason amidst the Colangelo bashing. Nice

 

[Lefty]

Originally posted by mark1
This is a no brainer. If you can sign a guy with Alomar's credentials for 1 year at 1 million while Hairston ripens in Tucson you do it. He is taking alot less money because he wants to play here. A happy Alomar is a productive Alomar. He hated playing for that large black hole called the Mets. He is good buddies with Baerga and knows he is close to making the hall of fame. Roberto should be highly motivated this year. I think this signing could be a steal. The East Valley Tribune suggested Alomar would leadoff. They should bat Finley leadoff and put Alomar in the 2 hole in my opinion. Is this signing worth the risk? Absolutely.

I totally agree. Kata is not a proven every-day player and I think Hairston is the future.

 

[moviegeekjn]

Originally posted by Chris_Sanders
This is another in a series of good moves for the DBacks this off season.

The ONLY way to view this as a "good move" is to believe that the D'backs are serious about contending for a championship THIS year... and can afford to scatter a few million on the scrapheap, hoping to catch "lightening" in 2004.

While the team's stated goals have been to get "younger and cheaper" and to field a "competitive team" as the team builds for the future ... signing veterans well past their prime accomplishes none of these objectives.... NONE! To think otherwise, relies far too much on delusional folly. Even the Cubs have abandoned that non-plan the past couple of seasons.

 

[mark1]

To call the signing of a future hall of famer for one year and one million "delusional folly" is ridiculous in my opinion. As early as 2001 Alomar hit .336 for the tribe with 20/100. There is no long term commitment and very little risk here. Whether we agree or not, the Dbacks feel that Kata is not an everyday 2nd baseman and they don't feel comfortable giving the full time job to Hairston yet. Alomar is a bridge to Hairston in 2005, nothing more.

You can argue the merits of the Schilling and Sexson trades all you want. I don't think they got enough for Schilling and gave up too much for Sexson but, those deals are done and we can't take them back. In the position they are in right now, signing a veteran that has a career average of .301 with 10 gold gloves is very low risk, IMO. It's obvious that the Dbacks believe they can win a watered down West this year.

Does Alomar improve the team? Yes.
Will he put up numbers like he did earlier in his career? Probably not, but, if he can play solid defense and hit .280 or so, the Dbacks more than got their money's worth.

On a side note: I wrote Ed Price of the Tribune and asked him about his comment this morning about Alomar leading off. I thought they were set on Finley leading off.

Here is his response.

"Thanks for the e-mail.

I think Brenly would prefer not to hit Finley leadoff. I could see something
like Alomar, Cintron, Gonzalez, Sexson, Finley, Hillenbrand, etc."

 

[mark1]

ESPN is saying the deal is done. KDUS radio is also reporting it as done. One year, One million.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1701247

Nice job Joe Jr

 

[wierwolf]

I like the signing. It gives us depth at aa position that was thinned due to the departure of Spivey. gives more time for Hairston to come around. good move. We are definately building our depth back up this year. I too would like to see the return of Sanders and let go of bautista.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Originally posted by BC867
I've been saying for years that Jerry Colangelo is, and always has been, a mediocre General Manager. Whether he has the title or not, he calls the shots and Brian and Joe, Jr., do the legwork.

Over the past 35 1/2 years, Jerry has been the most influential figure in Arizona; he's done a good job rebuilding downtown Phoenix; he's made the Valley a major sports area; and he's been a pretty good promoter.

But, as General Manager, he's absolutely mediocre.

The Suns had one early Cinderella year with a lightweight team -- couldn't quite beat the Celtics -- and have clung to that approach ever since. Not one Championship in 36 seasons. (Bryan screwed up tonight, and referred to the Suns on TV as a lottery team. And this season isn't half over.)

The D'backs had one early Cinderella year without a set lineup -- did beat the Yankees -- and now cling to that approach as our record gets worse each year. (At least Joe, Jr., hasn't referred to us a last-place team yet.)

And nothing is going to change until Jerry steps out, Bryan gets a real job, and Joe, Jr., goes back to being a sports agent. And knowledgeable basketball and baseball people are brought in by the majority owners to run the Suns and the Diamondbacks.

'Til then, it's going to get worse before it gets better. And when you add Bill Bidwill and his son, it is worse. Major we're not such a major sports area, after all.

wow, you're pretty bitter considering that the dbacks are still considered a fledging organization, have multiple division titles, multiple playoff appearances and a WORLD SERIES TITLE, and the suns have two western conference championships, numerous playoff trips, and year after year seem to make the drafts and good trades. so the colangeli haven't had the fortune of having a high enough selection to land jordan, duncan, shaq or hakeem. they haven't had the fortune to win the coin flips for kareem or david robinson. so the colangeli don't have a team in LA to lure a shaq. can you honestly say they are worse at putting teams together than the majority of other owners at the pro level? you're nuts. and your expectations are waaaaaaaaay outta whack and unrealistic.

 

[KingLouieLouie]

The signing is official and the live press conference will be airing on 1060 KDUS at 4 p.m. AZ time....


I admitted that I reacted rather abruptly to this signing.... If he did revert back to his earlier form, this definitely would be a steal.. Also, he could help with the developement of both
Kata and Hairston (who is the 2B of the future).....


I didn't know they still have all that money available, so they might still sign that RF they desperately need.....

I just feel that Baerga deserves an opportunity to be the every day 2B, but with him and Colbrunn coming off the bench, this gives the deep several more options than they've had in awhile...

 

[Phill11]

Originally posted by KingLouieLouie

I just feel that Baerga deserves an opportunity to be the every day 2B, but with him and Colbrunn coming off the bench, this gives the deep several more options than they've had in awhile...

Now we just need DD in RF or the bench.

 

[CatBoxBackFan]

Originally posted by Phill11
Now we just need DD in RF or the bench.

Dellucci signed with Texas on Dec 30th

 

[sly fly]

Originally posted by Ouchie-Z-Clown
wow, you're pretty bitter considering that the dbacks are still considered a fledging organization, have multiple division titles, multiple playoff appearances and a WORLD SERIES TITLE, and the suns have two western conference championships, numerous playoff trips, and year after year seem to make the drafts and good trades. so the colangeli haven't had the fortune of having a high enough selection to land jordan, duncan, shaq or hakeem. they haven't had the fortune to win the coin flips for kareem or david robinson. so the colangeli don't have a team in LA to lure a shaq. can you honestly say they are worse at putting teams together than the majority of other owners at the pro level? you're nuts. and your expectations are waaaaaaaaay outta whack and unrealistic.

beautifully said. if i could condense it, i would use it as my sig. (and, that wouldn't be fair!)

 

[Lefty]

I like what Alomar said at his press conference today. He said he had not worked out hard the past two years but he is working out very hard this offseason.

I really like this signing. His defense(10 Gold Gloves) is better than Kata's and has a 301 lifetime batting average. For one million dollars this is a great get.

 

[JerkFace]

Originally posted by Zona90
I like what Alomar said at his press conference today. He said he had not worked out hard the past two years but he is working out very hard this offseason.

I really like this signing. His defense(10 Gold Gloves) is better than Kata's and has a 301 lifetime batting average. For one million dollars this is a great get.

 

[BC867]

Originally posted by Ouchie-Z-Clown
you're nuts. and your expectations are waaaaaaaaay outta whack and unrealistic.

No need for name-calling just because you disagree.

Yes, my expectations for the Suns has been more than 2 (0-2) Championship series in 36 years. If you have to hope for 'fortune', rather than skilled leadership, that's what happens.

And now I'm hoping that the D'backs don't follow that same path.

Perhaps it is unrealistic as long as the existing management continues calling the shots.

 

[WaywardFan]

Is this the guy with the spitting incident years ago?

 

[Dback Jon]

Originally posted by WaywardFan
Is this the guy with the spitting incident years ago?

Yes - in Baltimore.


And - welcome back, Wayward - long time no argue

 

[WaywardFan]

Originally posted by Dback Jon
Yes - in Baltimore.

Thanks.

Ugh. Bad form.

 

[az240zz]

Originally posted by Phill11
Well don't forget, Danny hit .325 before he got injured.

ya 2 years ago. He really was bad last year.

az240z

 

[Zeno]

Old Team

I am not sure how good the DBacks minor league system is but I sure hope that they have a lot of talent on the farm. This team is counting on old/past their prime player to make signifcant contributions. RJ, Luis, Baerga, Alomar, Dessens, Sparks, Reynolds, Finley etc are all well past their primes and will never put up all star numbers again(and some never have to begin with).

I suspect that the Dbacks will lose 100 games this year...I just don't see them as being very competitive. Maybe in 3 or 4 years when most of their stupid deferred contracts are up they can be real players in free agency.

 

[mark1]

No way the Dbacks lose 100 games. They should play .500 ball at the very least.

 

[AZZenny]

The other day someone on radio said:
Finley
Alomar
Gonzo
Sexson
Hillenbrand
Cintron
Hammock
Bautista
- has a decent ring to it. I'd rather have Tracy than Hillenbrand in there.
And I have to agree, I'm warming a bit to Alomar the player - he's cheaper than Spivey, weirdly enough, should have much better defense than our other options, and probably won't hit any worse than Kata or Spivey over the course of the season. And I do love good defense, and we weren't going to be seeing much of that otherwise.
It's more the inconsistent philosophy (I almost called it bait-and-switch, but that's a little harsh. Inconsistent, or capricious, will do.) that really drives me nuts, but watching the Suns and DBacks awhile is making me realize this IS the Colangelo notion of having a plan. Like me, they reserve the right to change their minds at any time and for no particular reason.

 

[mark1]

Switch Hillenbrand and Cintron and you got what Brenly is thinking. Brenly loves the right, left, right thing. Hillenbrand has more power than Cintron but, Cintron is a much better contact hitter. Brenly wants Cintron in a RBI position and out of the two hole, another good reason to sign Alomar. Robby has been a two hole hitter most of his career. Some people think it's stupid to bat Finley leadoff and put Cintron in the 5 hole, not me. Alex is going to have a monster year, IMO.