August 2006

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Twins Trade For Phil Nevin

Given that the Twins rank second from the bottom of the AL in home runs, they acquired a DH type with some pop: Phil Nevin. Nevin's had his ups and downs this year between the Rangers and Cubs, but he is slugging .456 in 355 ABs. Twins' DHs have been a void this season so Nevin can only help. Minnesota currently trails the White Sox by a half game for the AL wild card. Nevin's $10MM salary ranks second on his new club, though the Cubs are footing some of the bill in hopes of receiving a decent prospect   Continue Reading

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Heyman: Aramis Ramirez May Become A Free Agent

It seems that SI's Jon Heyman has a different take than the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan on the Aramis Ramirez situation. As you recall, Sullivan mentioned ten days ago that the Cubs believe Ramirez won't exercise his out clause and become a free agent this winter. It seemed curious, as Ramirez could easily top three years and $33.5MM for his age 29-31 seasons on the open market. Yesterday afternoon, Heyman commented: "Aramis Ramirez is telling friends that he plans to exercise an option to opt out of his contract with the Cubs. Ramirez...is also telling people he'd love to go..   Continue Reading

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Trade To Padres Likely For David Wells

As you well know, the Padres are the frontrunners to acquire David Wells by midnight tonight. The name that's been bandied about is catcher George Kottaras. Keep an eye on tonight's 7:05 contest between the Portland Beavers and the Fresno Grizzlies to see whether Kottaras starts for the Beavers. If not, he's probably the guy. He went 0 for 4 last night. According to the Boston Globe, the Dodgers could have Wells if they would step in with one of Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, or James Loney. Here's the tricky part. Based on info from a Steve Phillips article a..   Continue Reading

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Oswalt Cashes In

Given the possibility of Roy Oswalt leaving the Astros after the 2007 season, the club decided to lock him up for a very long time. Oswalt's five-year, $73MM deal averages $14.6MM annually with a complete no-trade clause. It's backloaded, of course, with salaries of $15MM in 2010 and $16MM in 2011. The concern with Oswalt is his size and workload. Last year he threw 269 innings, and it was 256 in '04. At least this year Houston should miss the playoffs and give him a bit of a break. Baseball Prospectus says Oswalt should be worth about $11.3MM in '07,..   Continue Reading

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Minor Moves: Diaz, Ardoin

A couple of small deals came over the wires recently. The Rangers acquired outfielder Victor Diaz for catcher Mike Nickeas. Diaz, 24, is having big-time problems with Triple A this season (.606 OPS). It's surprising because he hit Triple A pitching pretty well as a 22 year-old. He earned 280 ABs with the big club last year and managed to slug .468. Back in the summer of '03, Diaz was sent from the Dodgers to the Mets in the Jeromy Burnitz deal. He's not known for his defense, and has been tried at 1B, 2B, 3B, C, LF, and RF..   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Ask For Matt Kemp In David Wells Deal

According to both the Boston Herald and the Los Angeles Daily News, the Red Sox have asked for 21 year-old outfielder Matt Kemp in exchange for David Wells. Tony Jackson of the L.A. paper actually suggests that the Red Sox requested a package of prospects including Kemp. As in, more than just Kemp. Jackson states that the request "probably makes the deal impossible unless Boston general manager Theo Epstein reduces his asking price." That's an understatement. Six years of Matt Kemp for a month or two of David Wells? That'd be even worse than two or three months of an..   Continue Reading

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Smoltz Chats With Schuerholz

One thing I forgot to mention when quoting John Smoltz a couple of days ago was his reference to Schuerholz as "the homeboy upstairs." Didn't seem newsworthy. However, there has been some minor debate within the Braves community. Was it offensive, was it part of an agenda, stuff like that. To see Smoltz and Schuerholz's take on that, check out David O'Brien's blog for the AJC. More importantly, O'Brien mentions that "the Braves are surely going to pick up the option." As I mentioned before, it's a no-brainer. The more interesting question is whether the two parties will hammer out..   Continue Reading

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Red Sox May Trade David Wells

Buster Olney has the word: the Red Sox are shopping southpaw David Wells. The 43 year-old has a deserved reputation as a big game pitcher, and any contender would love to have him. Olney speculates that the Mets, Twins, D'Backs, Padres, Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals, A's, and Reds could get involved. I suppose the White Sox, Giants, or even the Marlins could be interested as well. Did you know Florida is just two games out of the wild card? UPDATE: Padres, Dodgers, and Cards are frontrunners according to Nick Cafardo   Continue Reading

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2007 Free Agent Market: Closers

Updated 1-9-07 There's nothing left on the closer market   Continue Reading

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Smoltz Could Leave Braves

It seems like every couple of years, the Braves go through contract negotations with John Smoltz. He's been a Brave for all these years, it just seems inevitable that they'll work something out. However, a recent quote from Smoltz makes this offseason sound a little different: All I know is, after these last two years and with my desire to work out, I've got two or three more years, easy. I used to always be of the mind-set that if it's not here, it won't be anywhere else. But that's not the case any more. I'll pitch somewhere else. Smoltz,..   Continue Reading

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