Orlando Hudson Agrees To Terms With Dodgers

Orlando Hudson agrees terms with Dodgers for 3.4 mil in base salary.

What are we paying Cora again?

9 months ago Ohpityme 38 comments 0 recs |

Comments

Stunning

but I am not so sure this is that much of a black mark against Omar. He couldn’t have known Hudson would be ignored and have to go for so cheap, Losing the draft pick would have hurt and I am not wild about Hudson as everyone knows thanks to Lou’s careful research on another thread. But still this contract is absurdly low. Hudson must be furious.

by Endys Game on Feb 21, 2009 10:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Surely its Omars(And every Gms)job to know this sort of thing?
But it is amazing he went for so little I’d have sacrificed a draft pick for Hudson THIS cheap(It would have been a 2nd rounder right??? Our first round going to the angels?)IMO Hudson for this cheap is worth losing a 2nd rounder.
I still cant believe hes getting paid this little(Relativley)
Maybe we can get Manny for 2 years $15 mil haha!

by Ohpityme on Feb 21, 2009 10:58 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Manny's gonna have to sign for something eventually

and it doesn’t look like anybody’s gonna up an offer over what the Dodgers initially offered. It’ll be interesting to see if the Dodgers will still pay him what they initially offered. Boras is losing his touch – Manny’s pretty much run out of bargaining chips – he either takes less money, or he doesn’t play.

by cjmulrain on Feb 21, 2009 11:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

upon further review

and reading the fine print, I am not upset at Omar at all on this one. With a full season, Hudson would make 8 mill, still not what he wanted but not chump change either. And we’d lose two picks correct? LA bit here but they were bidding against themselves. Plus what are they going to do with Blake DeWitt?

by Endys Game on Feb 21, 2009 11:33 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

IMO this is a poor deal for the dodgers

Considering they already had Furcal, Dewitt and Hu, they’re sacrificing the 17th overall pick for a very tiny upgrade. But as for as Omar and Cora he may not have known the market was going to crash but what was the reason to hurry and sign Cora when there was so many 2b/ss on the market, most of whom are better than Cora all around? I doubt Cora would have been offered more than a minor league deal if we hadn’t jumped at the chance to overpay him.

by Gina on Feb 21, 2009 12:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ah, Ned Colletti

At least there’s someone Omar can look down on.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 21, 2009 11:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Meh

For all his awful he’s at least managed to draft well, and help maintain the awesome farm system DePodesta started.

by Gina on Feb 22, 2009 1:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

But

he consistently signs old overpaid washed up guys to block his prospects.

by jasondg on Feb 22, 2009 9:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ned

has had a wonderful offseason….signing Hudson to that below market contract, re-signing Furcal and Blake, and getting rid of Andruw and spreading out the contract over 5 more years, and will more than likely sign Manny….soliod lineup he has put together over in LA.
You just keep hoping for Castillo and the LF platoon works out.
Minaya has a horrible record in trades.

raygu

by raygu on Feb 22, 2009 10:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

??

Are you maybe confusing “trades” with “free agency”? Omar has made some bad/debatable moves through trade but he also brought in Delgado, Maine, Perez, Castillo (good trade, bad contract), Santana and Putz. That’s far from “horrible”.

'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Feb 22, 2009 10:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

omar is a good trader. i don’t see how you can argue that. he turned an injured kris benson into john maine and el duque (back when he actually helped us) for god sakes. that alone is incredible.

by robcast23 on Feb 22, 2009 11:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sure, Colletti got rid of Andruw Jones

but he’s the one who gave him the contract in the first place. And he did that because he either realized what a lemon he’d bought the year before in Juan Pierre, or because he’s stupid enough to sign two center fielders to multi-year contracts.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 22, 2009 11:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Again, context is sorely needed.

When you’re the GM of a cheap team gems will fall into your lap if you’re lucky and the market tanks. They have a nice nucleus of young guys, but their rotation is going to be shaky. Losing Lowe was a huge blow for them.

by SQUAD on Feb 22, 2009 11:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

who exactly was on the market at 2B?

that would be a clear upgrade at a price the Mets would be willing to pay? I am as down on Castillo as anyone but I think at this point we have to give him a chance and hope he can bounce back a little bit. There is no sense in throwing more money after at best marginal upgrades or Hudson who certainly is better than Castillio but overrated. And we can’t get rid of Castillo’s contract. Omar screwed up royally in signing him to a four year deal but we are stuck with him for now.

by Endys Game on Feb 21, 2009 8:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Clear upgrades over Cora?

Craig Counsell signed for 1 million, plays ss, and 2b, and plays them both better than Cora, and is much better offensive player. Mark Grudz, and Ray Durham, both upgrades offensively & defensively are both still on the market. Felipe Lopez who is better and has some upside, signed for 1 million more.

But if you mean Castillo then I’d say most of the above are at least even, the ones with lesser offense generally play much much better defense.

by Gina on Feb 22, 2009 1:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You're leaving out some context.

Grudz and Durham probably want starting jobs since they’ve both been starters the majority of their careers.

Lopez signed with the Cardinals and is going to start for them.

As for Counsell, he had a -0.6 VORP last season to Cora’s 4.6. However, he also had 302 PA to Cora’s 179, so he received more playing time. But, Cora is also 5 years younger than Counsell. So I think there is an argument to be made for Cora.

The point I am trying to make is that there is no way that Minaya could have known that the market would tank and Grudz and Durham would still be hanging around. Minaya has always liked taking care of things quickly during the offseason and when he needed a backup MI, he signed Cora. Did he overpay? Sure, but I’m not convinced someone like Counsell is a clear upgrade over Cora.

by SQUAD on Feb 22, 2009 4:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The "no way he could have known"

argument is beginning to wear. Omar gets paid the big bucks, in part, to anticipate the market. Even in a “normal” market, the Cora deal is a huge overpay.

Counsell is no great shakes, but be fair and don’t cherry-pick Cora’s lucky 2008 stats.

by jasondg on Feb 22, 2009 9:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah Cora was better last year

But Counsell got incredibly unlucky last year and more than likely will bounce back next year, where as Cora put up numbers way above anything he’s every done in his career, and in an incredibly small sample size. And even last year Counsell’s defense was much much better. And Grudz and Durham might want start jobs but considering they’re still on the market I’d imagine they’re going to end up settling for less.

And it’s not just that these guys are upgrades over Cora it’s that we, seemingly at least, over payed for him for no reason. If Omar didn’t expect the market to be slow why was Omar so insistent on being patient with the starting pitchers because of the market. There just seems to be no explanations for signing a guy like Alex Cora so early in the off-season to a 2.5 million deal. Where there were so many players like him, and better, just sitting on the market.

by Gina on Feb 22, 2009 11:33 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree that he shouldn't have jumped to sign a utility IF, no matter who it was.

But, can you really say Counsell is more than likely to bounce back at age 38? I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, after the last two years I am wary of signing guys on the wrong side of 35.

Ultimately, I’m not happy we overpaid for Cora, but I just can’t kill Minaya for this. My main issue with him is his tactics. If he hadn’t been in such a rush to sign Cora, he likely would have found himself a bargain. This kind of stuff happens every year and in every market.

by SQUAD on Feb 22, 2009 11:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Either way, Omar overpaid.

Even if Cora was better last year, I’d take Counsell and his contract over Cora and his.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Feb 22, 2009 1:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Doesn't it seem obvious that Madoff is really a big factor?

by walkoffwalk on Feb 21, 2009 8:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

In what? Not signing Hudson?

Already having two players signed for 8Million at that position is probably a bigger factor.

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on Feb 22, 2009 2:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

in spending any money.

by walkoffwalk on Feb 22, 2009 5:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not completely sure

The wilpons have never wanted to go over the luxury tax. I’m not sure they would have been more willing to part with money regardless.

by Gina on Feb 22, 2009 6:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good riddance

orlando hudson has become this great white whale. listening to mets fans opinions of the guy makes him sound like the next hanley ramirez. i hate to break it to everyone but hes not actually that good. and the real kicker: castillo is better than hudson. yes i said it.

they’d both clearly play the “table setter” role for the mets so OBP is the key. and in the 2nd worst season of his career, castillo posted a .355 which for hudson would represent the 3rd highest season in his career. meanwhile according to every defensive metric hudson’s defense (which is supposedly his strength) has completely detiorated. yes he was awesome in toronto, and yes he sucks now. his UZR over the past 3 season is significantly lower than castillo’s along with most other fielding stats. and while both of them will hit single digit hrs, at least castillo can take bases whereas hudson steals about 6 a year while getting caught 3-4 times. castillo walks more and strikes out less. hudson has batted above .300 once and castillo’s done it 4x in that same span. yes castillo is 33 but hudson isn’t exactly young at 31 and of the 2, castillo is actually on the field more often. oh but hudson IS good in the clubhouse…

by robcast23 on Feb 22, 2009 12:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bravo. Well said.

by SQUAD on Feb 22, 2009 12:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If Orlando Hudson is a great white whale...

Manny Ramirez is the whale’s father. Or a colossal squid. Or whatever’s bigger than a great white whale

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Feb 22, 2009 1:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I totally disagree.

Manny Ramirez would instantly become the best hitter on this team if we signed him.

by SQUAD on Feb 23, 2009 2:05 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

Hudson would have been a marginal upgrade over what we have now, and no upgrade if Castillo’s offense can at least bounce back, and definitely not worth a draft pick. Manny on the other hand would be a pretty large upgrade over either of our corner outfielders.

by Gina on Feb 23, 2009 11:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Not that I wouldn't want him.

But tell me GET MANNY MR. WILPON doesn’t get on your nerves.
BTW, Wright, Beltran, and debatedly Reyes are more valuable than Manny. Johan too.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Feb 23, 2009 11:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think anyone would argue that they're not more valuable

Just that after those 4 there’s an insane drop off in value. We basically have those two, and 2-5 guys who could anything from mid-tier or replacement level. And then a bunch of guys we know are going to be right around replacement level, and hopefully not much lower.

by Gina on Feb 23, 2009 11:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly.

by SQUAD on Feb 23, 2009 4:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

right

the Metsblog crowd gets annoying, but they’re mostly right, Manny would be a huge upgrade to the offense, and IMO would make the Mets the clear favorites in the NL East (if not the whole NL). And just b/c Wright, Beltran, and Reyes are more valuable than Manny doesn’t mean Manny isn’t valuable, it just means that the Mets probably have the best 3-man core in baseball (4 if you include Santana.)

by cjmulrain on Feb 23, 2009 12:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah according to BTB I think

We basically have 4 of like the top 25 players in baseball, I don’t think any other team has close to that many. But then we also have an insane drop off in terms of value from them to our next players, I don’t think any other team is close to being as top heavy either.

by Gina on Feb 23, 2009 1:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs