The 31-year-old Drew had opted out of his contract with the Dodgers. He had three years and $33 million left on his deal. The executives believe the Red Sox will give him a more lucrative offer.

According to the Boston Globe, which cited unnamed sources, Drew’s asking price is at least $14 million a year.

Drew, who has been criticized for being injury prone throughout his career, hit .283 with 20 home runs and 100 RBIs for the Dodgers in 2006.

I would have welcomed him back to the Birds on the Bat.

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This from MLB Trade Rumors

I think it is well written. 

From a Cubs fan point of view: I love the Alfonso Soriano signing.  As fans often say to justify insane contracts: “It’s not my money; I just want to win.”  I agree with that philosophy.  The Yankees might take some heat for the way they throw around cash, but I think that’s rooted in jealousy.  One has to think Red Sox fans will back off on the Evil Empire stuff now that their team just bid $51.1 mil to talk to a pitcher.  Fans just want to win, right now.  Doesn’t matter if Soriano is a $17MM bench warmer in 2014. 

I don’t think anyone can believe it took eight years, though.  Six, for sure.  We figured the seventh year from someone might be the clincher.  But eight?  No one saw this coming.  But is this the worst contract ever, or whatever various blogs are claiming?  Of course not.  Todd Helton?  Even Darren Dreifort?  This is not the worst contract ever or anything close to that.  This is an athletic player who will probably age well.  Soriano has proven quite durable, and he’s not anchored to first base.  This is premium offense for a position where a .440 SLG is above average.

Is Soriano one of those players who learns to take a walk as he enters his early 30s?  The Cubs are rolling the dice on that one.  A player doesn’t nearly double his walk rate by accident, true, but one season doesn’t necessarily indicate a trend.  If Soriano throws up a .310 OBP for the Cubs in 2007, well, this deal will look considerably worse.  We just don’t know yet.

The second gamble for the Cubs is that Soriano can play a decent center field.  I think he can.  The tools are there; he should be above average by 2008.  Of course, I’m no scout, but it’s not like someone is wishcasting Carlos Lee as a CF. 

Is the money really that crazy?  I don’t think so.  Soriano may not be “worth it,” but the supply of 40 HR center fielders consisted of only him.  The demand was huge, the dollars and desperation were there.  Comparing this to the Beltran and Guerrero contracts is silly.  To do so implies that the market has remained the same for three years.  What?  Come on now.  We all thought Derek Lowe at four years, $36MM was absurd.  All of us except Paul DePodesta.  Pitching exploded and it’s a bargain now.  Manny’s contract is looking OK now.  Soriano will never be a bargain.  But Andruw Jones could snag a contract next year at, say, $175MM over eight years.  Baseball is changing.

For once in this Cubs fan’s life, the team appears to be pulling a 1997 Marlins: just going for broke.  Better living through free agency.  It’s not a brilliant plan, and it’s not an efficient way to build a long-term winner.  And yes, desperation is a large factor.  But there’s no going back; the Cubs should drop another $15-18MM for two solid starters.

Bartman, the goat, Prior/Wood/Sammy – this crap is over.  Maybe Derrek Lee‘s wrist, Aramis Ramirez‘s “laziness”, Soriano’s OBP, and Zambrano’s wildness will converge next year to make the Cubs a pricey 80 win team.  But even so, at least we can say for once that the Cubs are trying.

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As we await the announcements of the NL and AL MVPs, let’s look back on the Sabermetric Triple Crown for batters.Since the NL MVP is first on-deck (to be awarded Monday), we’ll start with them:

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Good job, STL.   good job, STL.

Birds hold line on prices Cardinals’ ownership will not raise ticket prices for the 2007 season. (J. B. Forbes/P-D) The Cardinals have decided to follow a championship in October with Christmas in November. Flush with the franchise’s first World Series title in 24 years as well as the most successful fiscal campaign under the current ownership, the Cardinals will not raise ticket prices in 2007. The club will begin notifying season-ticket holders of the price freeze Monday via a mailing that includes a letter from team president Mark Lamping. “We are not increasing ticket prices anywhere next season … not individual tickets, not any packages, none,” Lamping said.

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The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have re-signed infielder/outfielder Scott Spiezio to a two-year contract through the 2008 season that includes a club option for 2009.

I will post $$$ when it becomes available and let you know if it is a good signing or not.

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From the MLB press release:

A full share for the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals is a record total of $362,173.07, surpassing the previous high of $324,532.72 per full share for the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox, Major League Baseball announced today. A full share for the American League Champion Detroit Tigers is $291,667.68.

The players’ pool, formed from 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first three games of the Division Series and 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the League Championship Series and the World Series, was divided among 12 clubs: the World Series participants, the League Championship Series and Division Series runners-up, and the four regular season second-place clubs that were not Wild Card participants.

The club-by-club breakdown follows:

World Series Champions
St. Louis Cardinals (Share of Players’ Pool: $20,016,735.81; value of each full share: $362,173.07) – The Cardinals awarded 48 full shares, 7.133 partial shares and 16 cash awards.

American League Champions
Detroit Tigers (Share of Players’ Pool: $13,344,490.54; value of each full share: $291,667.68) – The Tigers awarded 39 full shares, 6.67 partial shares and nine cash awards.

League Championship Series Runners-Up
New York Mets (Share of Players’ Pool: $6,672,245.27; value of each full share: $124,429.60) – The Mets awarded 40 full shares, 13.333 partial shares and six cash awards.

Oakland Athletics (Share of Players’ Pool: $6,672,245.27; value of each full share: $140,624.90) – The A’s awarded 41 full shares, 5.80 partial shares and 14 cash awards.

Division Series Runners-Up
Los Angeles Dodgers (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,668,061.32; value of each full share: $27,035.00) – The Dodgers awarded 50 full shares, 11.478 partial shares and three cash awards.

Minnesota Twins (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,668,061.32; value of each full share: $37,538.99) – The Twins awarded 39 full shares, 4.25 partial shares and 15 cash awards.

New York Yankees (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,668,061.32; value of each full share: $28,598.24) – The Yankees awarded 45 full shares, 13.24 partial shares and three cash awards.

San Diego Padres (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,668,061.32; value of each full share: $27,339.86) – The Padres awarded 52 full shares, 8.50 partial shares and 21 cash awards.

Second-Place Finishers (Non-Wild Card Clubs)
Houston Astros (Share of Players’ Pool: $556,020.44; value of each full share: $10,285.70) – The Astros awarded 43 full shares, 11 partial shares and eight cash awards.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Share of Players’ Pool: $556,020.44; value of each full share: $10,154.79) – The Angels awarded 50 full shares and 5.25 partial shares.

Philadelphia Phillies (Share of Players’ Pool: $556,020.44; value of each full share: $10,909.50) – The Phillies awarded 36 full shares, 14.417 partial shares and six cash awards.

Toronto Blue Jays (Share of Players’ Pool: $556,020.44; value of each full share: $11,830.22) – The Blue Jays awarded 33 full shares and 14 partial shares.

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I hope Jocketty sits on the sidelines this offseason and picks up players off the scrap heap again.

Peter Gammons said that contracts are going to be crazy high and gave these estimates he’s hearing from GM’s for the following free agents:

Alfonso Soriano-$18M+/Yr
Carlos Lee-$13-15M/Yr
Julio Lugo-$32M/4yrs
Vincente Padilla, Jeff Suppan and Gil Meche-$10M/yr 

Here is the tentative Spring Training schedule for 2007 

February 26 1:05 p.m. Florida Atlantic University Roger Dean Stadium
February 28 1:05 p.m. Florida Marlins Roger Dean Stadium
March 1 1:10 p.m. New York Mets Tradition Field
March 2 1:05 p.m. New York Mets Roger Dean Stadium
March 3 1:05 p.m. Florida Marlins Roger Dean Stadium
March 4 1:05 p.m. Florida Marlins Roger Dean Stadium
March 5 1:05 p.m. Houston Astros Roger Dean Stadium
March 6 1:05 p.m. Baltimore Orioles Fort Lauderdale Stadium
March 7 1:05 p.m. Los Angeles Dodgers Holman Stadium
March 8 1:05 p.m. Minnesota Twins Roger Dean Stadium
March 9 1:05 p.m. Florida Marlins Roger Dean Stadium
March 10 1:05 p.m. Baltimore Orioles Fort Lauderdale Stadium
March 11 1:05 p.m. Atlanta Braves Roger Dean Stadium
March 12 1:05 p.m. Atlanta Braves Roger Dean Stadium
March 13 1:05 p.m. Minnesota Twins Hammond Stadium
March 14 1:05 p.m. Washington Nationals Roger Dean Stadium
March 15 1:05 p.m. Los Angeles Dodgers Roger Dean Stadium
March 16 7:05 p.m. Atlanta Braves Ballpark at Disney’s Wide World of Sports
March 17 1:05 p.m. Atlanta Braves Ballpark at Disney’s Wide World of Sports
March 18 1:05 p.m. New York Mets Roger Dean Stadium
March 19   OFF DAY   
March 20 7:05 p.m. Los Angeles Dodgers Holman Stadium
March 21 1:05 p.m. Baltimore Orioles Roger Dean Stadium
March 22 1:05 p.m. Florida Marlins Roger Dean Stadium
March 23 1:10 p.m. New York Mets Tradition Field
March 24 1:05 p.m. Washington Nationals Space Coast Stadium
March 25 1:05 p.m. Baltimore Orioles Roger Dean Stadium
March 26 1:05 p.m. Florida Marlins Roger Dean Stadium
March 27 1:05 p.m. Los Angeles Dodgers Roger Dean Stadium
March 28 1:05 p.m. Baltimore Orioles Fort Lauderdale Stadium
March 29 1:05 p.m. Florida Marlins Roger Dean Stadium
March 30 7:10 p.m. Memphis Redbirds AutoZone Park
March 31 TBA TBA TBA All times local. Home games are in bold.ss = split-squad. The team is broken into two squads.This is a tentative and incomplete schedule