AmateurGm.com

The chase for the elusive defensive and offensive star catcher is a constant issue for most teams. Usually a GM doesn’t have a choice and elects to take the defensive back stop. This offseason there will be some interesting options on the table. The first name that jumps off this list is Mike Napoli. He has a reputation of being a poor defensive backstop. Mike Scioscia, a good defensive catcher in his own day, had the option of holding onto Napoli when he was with the Angels back in 2010. Scioscia cited Napoli’s durability and injury history as a main source for choosing to go a different direction. There is no argument that when healthy Napoli is a top tier [...]

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• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Free Agents, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as A.J. Pierzynski, Brian McCann, Carlos Ruiz, Chris Iannetta, David Ross, Humberto Quintero, Jeff Mathis, Miguel Olivo, Mike Napoli, Ronny Paulino, Russell Martin, Wil Nieves, Yorvit Torrealba

Respected ESPN baseball insider Buster Olney created quite a buzz in the Phillies and Cardinals’ camps this past weekend. Olney reported his sources were telling him that the Philadelphia Phillies were having internal discussions about a blockbuster trade of Ryan Howard (1B) for Albert Pujols (1B). While Olney said the Phillies were not prepared to approach the Cardinals with the proposal, the mere thought of these internal discussions being reported has raised some eyebrows in both camps. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro was adamant that these discussions have not taken place and questioned who Olney was getting his information from. When questioned by reporters on the topic, both Pujols and Howard didn’t put much stock into the rumor and expected to [...]

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• Category: Fantasy, Free Agents, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Rumors, St. Louis Cardinals, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Buster Olney, Matt Holliday, roy halladay, Ruben Amaro, Ryan Howard

With the football season now in completion, the sports world is starting to turn its attention back to the great game of baseball. This week has seen the return of fantasy baseball as many sites are rolling out leagues for the 2010 campaign. Now is a great time to start getting prepared for your drafts and trying to get that extra edge on your fellow league members. In the first part of our fantasy preview, I want to take a look at some potential breakout candidates from the American League. Last season had its fair share of breakout performances in the AL with such names as Zack Greinke, Kendry Morales, Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, and Ben Zobrist making great strides [...]

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• Category: Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Fantasy, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Aaron Hill, Adam Jones, Adam Lind, Ben Zobrist, Billy Butler, Franklin Gutierrez, Gordon Beckham, Kendry Morales, Matt Wieters, Zack Greinke

There is an old adage in baseball that “good pitching beats good hitting”. In this series I want to look at the starting rotations from each division and see how they match up with others. The American League East has always been a case of the haves and the have nots. At the top you have the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox who seem to have an endless amount of cash at their disposal to sign whom ever the top free agents are on the market. At the bottom you have the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays who have a hard time “keeping up with the Jones”. Who has the best Pitching Staff of [...]

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• Category: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Free Agents, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Brad Bergesen, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil, Brian Matusz, C.C. Sabathia, Chris Tillman, Clay Buchholtz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dana Eveland, David Hernandez, David Price, David Purcey, Dustin McGowan, James Shields, Jason Berken, Javier Vazquez, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Guthrie, Joba Chamberlain, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Kevin Millwood, Marc Rzepczynski, Matt Garza, Phil Hughes, Ricky Romero, Scott Richmond, Shaun Marcum, Tim Wakefield, Wade Davis

In a bold and surprising move the Cincinnati Reds scooped up the young fire baller Aroldis Chapman in a reported 5 year $30 million deal. Cincinnati general manager Walt Jocketty has yet to return phone messages to comment on the reported acquisition of Chapman. But it still comes as a surprise if it’s the Reds who signed Chapman, as the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees and Angels were believed to be the front-runners for the lefty’s services, according to recent reports. Chapman’s fastball has been clocked around 100 mph and he made a splash for the Cuban national team during the most recent World Baseball Classic. Chapman had been one of the best free agent starters that was available this [...]

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• Category: Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Free Agents, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Rumors, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Aaron Harang, Aroldis Chapman, Bronson Arroyo, Edison Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Walt Jocketty

The MLB Network is back at it again with their Top 9 lists of the decade. The shift focuses to the offensive side of the game as the Top 9 first basemen were ranked. Let’s get to it: 9. Jim Thome – Despite primarily being a DH since his trade to the Chicago White Sox after the 2005 season, Thome finds his name on this list due to being a consistent power hitter over the decade. As an everyday first basemen with the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies, Thome averaged 45 home runs a year and set the stage for his entrance into the 500 home run club in 2007. He finished the decade  as one of the premier sluggers [...]

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• Category: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Teams, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Albert Pujols, Carlos Delgado, Cecil Fielder, Jason Giambi, Jim Thome, Justin Morneau, Mark Teixeira, Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, Todd Helton

The second installment of the MLB Network’s Prime 9 players of the decade list focuses on starting pitchers. In my opinion, this list contains a few obvious omissions and one pitcher that shouldn’t find his name on the list. Here are your top 9 starting pitchers of the decade in descending order: 9. Javier Vazquez – Vazquez is a surprising choice for the No. 9 spot on the list. Over the decade, he went 128-116 with a 4.01 ERA for 5 different teams. Vazquez led the majors in “quality starts” for the decade and finished second to only Randy Johnson for the most strikeouts with 2,001 in 2,163 IP. He was selected to the All-Star Game in 2004 and enjoyed [...]

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• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Andy Pettitte, C.C. Sabathia, Curt Schilling, Greg Maddux, Javier Vazquez, Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, roy halladay, Roy Oswalt

SI.com’s Jon Heyman tweeted that the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, and Seattle Mariners have agreed to a blockbuster three-team trade involving aces Roy Halladay (RHP) and Cliff Lee (LHP). As part of the trade, the Phillies would receive Halladay with Lee going to the Mariners.  Todd Zolecki of MLB.com verifies Heyman’s report and says it is not known yet what each team will receive in the deal. I expect the Blue Jays will receive a few top prospects in the deal in return for a pitcher of Halladay’s caliber. The Phillies are rumored to be working on a contract extension with Halladay, as he is due to become a free agent after this upcoming season. Ironically enough, the Phillies were interested [...]

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• Category: Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Rumors, Seattle Mariners, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Alex Anthopoulos, Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Hideki Matsui, John Lackey, roy halladay

The 2009 Winter Meetings came to an end on Thursday. The last day of the meetings is typically the slowest as teams head back home after the Rule 5 Draft is held in the morning. However, there were still a few noteworthy items that made their way through the league on Thursday. Roy Halladay Update – Jordan Bastian of MLB.com says that trade discussions are ongoing for Roy Halladay with the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies the current leaders for Halladay. SI.com’s Tom Verducci sources tell him that the Phillies are “very aggressive” and even willing to find multiple teams to meet the Blue Jays asking price. The Phillies pursued Halladay last July but eventually landing Cliff Lee (LHP) [...]

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• Category: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Free Agents, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Rumors, San Francisco Giants, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Barry Bonds, Bengie Molina, Brett Gardner, Chris Iannetta, Cliff Lee, Curtis Granderson, Hideki Matsui, Jason Bay, Johnny Damon, Mark DeRosa, Mark McGwire, Melky Cabrera, Miguel Tejada, Pablo Sandoval, Pedro Feliz, roy halladay, Yorvit Torrealba

Day three of the Winter Meetings was filled with plenty of activity. Many rumors and signings were reported on Wednesday as teams started to accomplish things before heading home tomorrow. Here is a rundown from a busy day from Indianapolis. Astros sign Brandon Lyon – Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Brandon Lyon (RHP) has agreed to a 3-year deal worth $15 million with the Houston Astros. Lyon is a possible option for the closer’s role  for the Astros should Jose Valverde leave via free agency. Roy Halladay Update – According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Los Angeles Angels sent the Toronto Blue Jays a trade proposal on Wednesday for ace Roy Halladay (RHP). The Angels offer is rumored [...]

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• Category: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Free Agents, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Rumors, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Adrian Beltre, Andy Pettitte, Bengie Molina, Brandon Lyon, Chris Ray, Dan Uggla, Derek Lowe, Erick Aybar, J.J. Putz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Jesse Chavez, Joe Saunders, Johan Santana, John Lackey, Jose Valverde, kenny williams, Kevin Millwood, LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Lindstrom, Max Ramirez, Michael Young, Mike Lowell, Milton Bradley, Peter Bourjos, Rafael Soriano, Randy Wolf, Rich Harden, Roberto Clemente, roy halladay, Rule 5 Draft, Shane Victorino, Taylor Teagarden, Trevor Hoffman