The Red Sox released Jeremy Giambi. Call me stubborn, but I still think he can hit, and he’d certainly be a better bat off the bench than Mabry was last season. Heck, I’d take him over Ibanez at this point as well, and Giambi’s likely to come much cheaper to boot (no, that wasn’t a pun about his defense).
In our effort to become U.S.S. Yankee, we’ll link to the Paul Quantrill signing. If you’ll recall, Quantrill was one of my targets, and at just under $3.5 million per season, he’s a good deal. Flipping draft picks for relievers isn’t a good idea, though, and the Yankees have now forfeited their 1st-3rd round picks in next year’s draft.
Its an unfortunate commentary on Mariner fans that the vast majority want Shiggy re-signed and Arthur let go. Here’s to hoping Bavasi makes the right call, letting Hasegawa go sow his 86 MPH fastballs elsewhere and brings back Rhodes for a hopefully healthy 2004.
Winter meetings next week. Things could get interesting for the M’s there. They have their irons in quite a few fires, and things might move quick.