October 2006

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Tribune: Cubs After Heilman

According to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs have interest in acquiring Aaron Heilman to be their fifth starter in 2007. Heilman will be 28 next season. Sullivan notes that Jim Hendry hopes to bring in one or two frontline starters not including Heilman. He doesn't mention what the Cubs have that the Mets would want...Eric Patterson   Continue Reading

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Unfounded Rumor: Aramis Ramirez

I have debated about posting this one because I can't verify the source. Some folks have confirmed that this is indeed in the ballpark, so I'm going to go with it. As you know, MLBTradeRumors doesn't pretend to be a newspaper, so I am just going to post this info under Unfounded Rumors because I can't get multiple sources to confirm. The beauty of a self-owned blog I guess. I am told that Aramis Ramirez's agent Paul Kinzer is asking for six years at $15MM per or seven years at $14MM annually. Jim Hendry's counteroffer: five years, $70MM guaranteed (11/12/15/16/16),..   Continue Reading

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Mariners Backing Off On Matsuzaka?

Larry Stone has an excellent article for the Seattle Times outlining the process for Daisuke Matsuzaka. He mentions two baseball sources who indicated that the Mariners will make just a token bid for the coveted hurler. To me this info only cements the Yankees' status as the frontrunner. Instead, Stone mentions that Bill Bavasi might focus his money to acquire Jason Schmidt or Barry Zito. It's expected that Seibu will post Matsuzaka in the first or second week of November. After that teams will have four days to submit bids. MLB will notify Seibu of the winning bid amount but..   Continue Reading

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10 Moves I'd Make

I heard that Buster Olney was going to do a column with this topic soon. Before I read his here's my two cents. 1. Padres: Sign Akinori Iwamura for third base. The Phils would be a fine fit as well. Japan produced bargains like Kenji Johjima and Takashi Saito last year; Iwamura should come at a reasonable salary as he's something of an unknown. He'll play good defense and could even spell Khalil Greene at shortstop if needed. I'd give him $7-8MM annually. 2. Cardinals: Trade Chris Duncan to the Cardinals for Mike Gonzalez. Both clubs need to capitalize on..   Continue Reading

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Sheffield And The Mets

Word from Gotham Baseball's Mark Healey is that the Mets might be a good fit for Gary Sheffield. Apparently the team's COO Jeff Wilpon is quite fond of Sheff. There are several other reasons why this could work; check out Healey's post. On a related note, Newsday reports that Brian Cashman has a Sheffield deal in place but has yet to pull the trigger. A trade is described as "inevitable," with the Cubs, Phillies, Rangers, Indians, Padres, Giants, Braves, and Astros as possible suitors. The Cubs would have to find a new spot for Jacque Jones; perhaps he would be..   Continue Reading

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2007 MLB Free Agents: Ted Lilly

Today let's take a closer look at free agent southpaw Ted Lilly. Lilly made $4MM this year, failing to hit any of his innings pitched incentives. He'll turn 31 in January and should be able to snag a three-year contract without a problem. 2006 was not his best season despite the career high 15 wins; Lilly's 2004 effort was better and included an All-Star appearance. He's said publicly that he'd like to return to the Bay Area to play with the Giants or again with the A's. The Jays have some interest in retaining him at the right price. Performance-wise..   Continue Reading

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White Sox Exercise Options

The White Sox made four no-brainer moves today, exercising options to retain Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye, and Tadahito Iguchi while declining an option for Dustin Hermanson. Hermanson could still be re-signed at a lesser price. Two needs are clear for Kenny Williams this offseason: he'll have to import an outfielder and a reliever. He'll probably try to unload Scott Podsednik for something useful. Other possible trade bait could include any member of the 2006 rotation or third baseman Joe Crede   Continue Reading

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Aramis Ramirez Opts For Free Agency

It's been reported by Bruce Levine on ESPN 1000 in Chicago that Aramis Ramirez has opted out of his contract and filed for free agency. Daily Herald sportswriter Bruce Miles calls it a formality, reminding Cubs fans that the Cubs still have the exclusive right to sign him for a while   Continue Reading

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Hiroki Kuroda To Stay In Japan?

Japanese free agent and ERA leader Hiroki Kuroda is leaning towards playing for the Hanshin Tigers in 2007. Kuroda was said to be on the Cubs' wish list. Should Kuroda join Hanshin, the likelihood of Kei Igawa being posted increases because Hanshin would have their ace. However, Kuroda could still be convinced to play in the U.S. and will take about a week to decide   Continue Reading

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Japanese Players In MLB

Nerd that I am, I decided to compile a spreadsheet of all 28 Japanese players who have played in Major League Baseball. You can Download japanese_players_in_mlb_102906.xls here. Some highlights and fun facts: You might think that a Japanese player first played in MLB in 1995, when Hideo Nomo took the Majors by storm. Not true. The first Japanese player to play in MLB was reliever Masanori Murakami back in 1964 for the Giants. There's an interesting story behind that. Not only was Murakami the first, he was the youngest at 20 years old. The next youngest was Mac Suzuki, who..   Continue Reading

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