MLB Transactions for 2005 season.

[rjxsapri®]

You are beating me at updating this....good job...it means that no only I am interested in this board...

Anyways, the Cubs will still suck...no matter what.

[Gohan]

^^Probably........i don't think signing Burnitz was really a good idea. I mean he is 35 and he probably isn't going to have the same year he had last year.
Even though he was injured last year i think getting Magglio Ordonez would have been a better move.

[glow=red,2,300]The Dodgers sign Norihiro Nakamura. [/glow]

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers reached an agreement Wednesday with Japanese third baseman Norihiro Nakamura on a one-year minor league contract and will introduce him at a Dodger Stadium press conference Thursday.
Nakamura trained with the Dodgers last spring while healing from a knee injury and will receive an invitation to Major League Spring Training.

Nakamura has long desired to play in the Major Leagues and backed out of a tentative two-year, $7 million deal with the New York Mets before the 2003 season. He is a five-time Japanese All-Star and four-time Gold Glove third baseman.

A right-handed hitter, Nakamura slugged 46 home runs in 2001 and 42 more in 2002, but those numbers dropped to 23 and 19 in 2003 and 2004.

Having lost Adrian Beltre to free agency, the Dodgers signed left-handed hitter Jose Valentin to play third base and expect right-handed-hitting youngster Antonio Perez to see time there, too.

Nakamura would compete with Olmedo Saenz for a role as a backup corner infielder and right-handed pinch-hitter, although Saenz's $650,000 salary is guaranteed. Because of his defense, Nakamura also could become a Plan B at first base should Hee-Seop Choi struggle offensively.

Info from [glow=red,2,300]http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=la[/glow]

[Son Goshin]

yea, the white sox were supposed to get nakamura, but passed on him becuase he wanted too much or something.

also about ordonez, he might be a good fit on the cubs, but they're ain't a chance he'll get there. for one, they won't match the tigers deal of about $65 million. plus, maggs wants a long term deal, not the 2 year deal the cubs were seeking.

and like rjxsapri said, the cubs will STILL SUCK!

[Gohan]

I don't know why maggs wants to sign with the Tigers.

[Son Goshin]

i guess it's because they offered him so much money. also, i think other teams feel apprehension to sign him because they think he's still unhealthy. i personally think he's fine and i think the white sox made a HUGE mistake

[Gohan]

[glow=red,2,300]Detroit Tigers sign Magglio Ordonez.[/glow]

DETROIT -- For the second consecutive year, the Tigers plucked the last prominent free agent off the market, introducing Magglio Ordonez as their new right fielder at a Monday press conference.
Ordonez agreed to a five-year contract over the weekend that could extend to seven seasons should his options be picked up or vest with incentives. By offering the four-time All-Star the long-term contract he had been seeking, Detroit found the middle-of-the-order hitter the team had been seeking all offseason.

"I'm looking for Magglio to be our cleanup hitter," manager Alan Trammell said.

It was a mutual match that took nearly a month of talks, meetings and medical reports to sort out, much like the Tigers' deal last year at this time with All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez, another Scott Boras client who lasted well into the offseason. He was the next-to-last major free agent left on the market a year ago before the Tigers signed reliever Ugueth Urbina with little more than a week to go in Spring Training.

Neither of those deals, however, were worth as much or as long as this one. Ordonez will earn a reported $75 million over five years and as much as $105 million should he reach his option years and incentives. The contract includes an injury clause that would allow the Tigers to void the remaining years should Ordonez miss more than 25 days to the disabled list this season with specific left knee problems similar to what he suffered last season.

Ordonez was limited to 52 games and 202 at-bats last year due to two meniscus tears in his left knee, one of which wasn't discovered until later in the season when he visited a doctor in Austria. That doctor also took care of a condition known as bone marrow edema in the same area.

Those conditions made Ordonez the biggest question on this winter's free agent market. Unlike Rodriguez a year ago, Ordonez was expected to remain unsigned late into the offseason. He wasn't cleared to resume baseball activities until January, and he didn't work out for any team until last week. While several teams were interested, and the Mets made a late push to gauge their chances after the Tigers were the only team left, Detroit was the only team willing to take a long-term chance.

"We're all aware of the injury Magglio had last year, and at some point in the wintertime we asked for the medical records, which were supplied to us," general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "We reviewed them with our team doctor, and we had some further steps we needed to take to have further examination. We continued to realize that even though there were concerns, we felt very good about where Magglio's progress was in rehab. The doctors believe he will be fine, and be ready for the beginning of the season, as do we."

When healthy, Ordonez's ability is unquestioned. Ordonez, who turned 31 on January 28, posted five consecutive .300 seasons with at least 29 home runs and 99 RBIs before his injury-shortened 2004 season. His 135 RBIs placed him second in the American League in 2002, while his .320 average that year ranked fifth and his 38 home runs, sixth.

"I'm really excited," Ordonez said. "I'm glad that I'm here. I look forward to playing here in Detroit, and I'm going to try to do my best and bring in a championship team over here."

Detroit is the only division rival against which Ordonez does not own at least a .300 average, having hit them for a .287 clip instead. His 14 homers and 56 RBIs are also division lows for Ordonez, though he's played in fewer games against the Tigers than against other AL Central clubs. He's a .259 hitter at Comerica Park with nine doubles, one home run and 13 RBIs in 34 games. Just nine of those games, however, have come since the Tigers brought in the left-field fence.

Since the Tigers and White Sox didn't play each other in 2004 until after the All-Star break, Ordonez did not play in any games at Comerica Park last year.

Info from [glow=red,2,300]http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp[/glow]