November 2006

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Zito, Boras Meet With Rangers

T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports that Barry Zito and agent Scott Boras came to Dallas today to visit with Rangers owner Tom Hicks and GM Jon Daniels. Zito is fond of new manager Ron Washington. The Cubs, also in need of a big-name starter, seem focused on Jason Schmidt currently. Rumors of their three year, $44MM offer were debunked, but Jon Heyman's sources indicate that the Cubs are indeed trying to convince Schmidt to come to Chicago   Continue Reading

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Newspaper Blogs

Baseball beat writers blogging is all the rage these days, and I love it. It's great that these guys can post news the second they get it without editors and that most of them engage in lively conversation with fans in the comments. I thought it would be cool to compile a list here of all the newspaper columnist blogs that are updated regularly. Here are a few; I will update the post with more as we come up with them. On The Yankees Beat - by Jim Baumbach of Newsday The LoHud Yankees Blog - by Peter Abraham of..   Continue Reading

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Crasnick: Cubs Make Offer To Lugo

A rumor from yesterday that I neglected to mention: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reported that the Cubs have made Julio Lugo a multi-year offer. We all know how Lou Piniella loves Lugo, and that he'd be willing to play center field now that the market for shortstops is shrinking. Today's Chicago newspapers - the Tribune, Sun-Times, Daily Herald, and Southtown - made no mention of an offer to Lugo   Continue Reading

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Brian Bannister Available?

Word from my Mets source is that the team is in a holding pattern until Tom Glavine makes his decision. He feels that the club will end up with either Glavine or Barry Zito and fill the other spots internally. There is a chance Brian Bannister is traded for a solid reliever to replace Chad Bradford. Interested parties include the Rockies and Mariners. He mentioned the D'Backs as well, but their interest may have waned now that Doug Davis has been acquired   Continue Reading

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2007 Kansas City Royals

It wouldn't be kind to ignore the Royals in my 2007 Team Outlooks. Dayton Moore's contract obligations: C - Jason LaRue - $2.5MM C - John Buck - $0.38MM 1B - Ryan Shealy - $0.38MM 2B - Mark Grudzielanek - $4MM SS - Angel Berroa - $3.25MM 3B - Mark Teahen - $0.38MM IF - Esteban German - $0.38MM LF - Emil Brown - $1.775MM CF - David DeJesus - $2MM RF - Reggie Sanders - $5MM OF - Joey Gathright - $0.38MM DH - Mike Sweeney - $11MM SP - Odalis Perez - $1.7MM SP - Luke Hudson -..   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Sign Okajima

Many of you have emailed me with the news that the Red Sox have signed a LOOGY, 30 year-old Hideki Okajima from Japan. It is a two-year deal with an option for 2009. The Boston Herald says that while he does not throw hard, his curve is nasty. Looks like he'll rack up plenty of Ks and will be a good weapon against guys like Jason Giambi, Robinson Cano, Lyle Overbay, Johnny Damon, and Nick Markakis   Continue Reading

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Yankees Roundup

The New York Daily News reports that Brian Cashman has spoken to the agent for Craig Wilson, as Wilson remains an option to play first base for the Yankees. Talks will continue during the winter meetings. Beyond that, Cashman can go for Phil Nevin or Shea Hillenbrand via free agency. He could also make a trade or get creative by chasing someone like Ray Durham, as Buster Olney suggests. The New York Times suggests Eduardo Perez as a lesser option that is being considered. According to the New York Times, the Yankees have interest in starters Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte,..   Continue Reading

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Latest On Manny Ramirez

Found via RotoWorld - Curt Schilling yesterday confirmed that Manny Ramirez "wants out of Boston." So that's one roadblock out of the way - at least the does in fact desire a trade. Meanwhile, Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe has a full update. He expects that Manny is going to want more money whether via his options exercised or just a contract extension. Theo Epstein is mum, but Edes says that the Sox have not spoken to the Dodgers on the topic. Edes mentions that the Padres are interested. Murray Chass at the New York Times brings up the..   Continue Reading

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Doug Davis Projection

For those of you interested in fantasy baseball, I run another website called RotoAuthority.com. Check it out! Today I projected the 2007 performance of new Diamondback starter Doug Davis. This projection is an example of what you'll find in my 2007 RotoAuthority Fantasy Baseball Guide. I spent many hours on these last year and am currently about 1/3 done with the '07 version. Customers were very happy with the $9.99 product and I hope you'll check it out when it becomes available sometime around January   Continue Reading

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Jays Sign Clayton

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Blue Jays signed Royce Clayton today to be their starting shortstop, at a price of $1.5MM. As Rosenthal suggests, Clayton's main skill, defense, has been deteriorating. He isn't much range-wise and probably shouldn't be starting for anyone. At least when the Red Sox went with Alex Gonzalez last year, he truly was saving runs with glovework. While I don't love the signing, the Blue Jays will still field a fine club in 2007 once they add some starting pitching   Continue Reading

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J.D. Drew Deal Details

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports that J.D. Drew will receive four guaranteed years from the Red Sox at $14MM annually. The fifth year is expected to be an option. That is a lot of money for a player with Drew's health history. The contract will take him through his age 34 season   Continue Reading

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Phils Deal With JoBo Nixed

The Phillies were about to seal a multiyear deal with Joe Borowski, but they are reconsidering after giving him a physical. That Borowski may have been pitching with some shoulder issues does not surprise me; he always seemed to have a "tough it out" mentality with the Cubs. Borowski will be 36 next season. A rotator cuff surfaced in his right shoulder way back in the summer of 2004, but Dr. Lewis Yocum suggested rehab at that time. A three-year, $12MM deal or something similar could be bad news   Continue Reading

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Gotham on Zito, Glavine, and More

Check out Mark Healey's latest Rumor Mill over at Gotham Baseball. Some highlights: Currently Healey's sources don't have any indications that Barry Zito will end up in New York. San Diego remains a possibility. Healey mentions a Bill Shanks report for Scout.com that indicated Tom Glavine is close to returning to Atlanta for $7-8MM with an option   Continue Reading

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Dontrelle Willis Yankees Rumor

Are we really going to resurrect this one again? We already have the Manny and Clemens storylines repeating themselves; it's only fitting that silly Dontrelle Willis proposals are bandied about. George King of the New York Post remarks that the Yankees "could put together a package headed by Melky Cabrera and Humberto Sanchez to lure the Marlins into moving Dontrelle Willis out of Miami." Those are two pretty good young players, but the Marlins could do better. Sanchez is interesting but untested, and Cabrera doesn't seem like the center fielder the Marlins covet. At least not at that price. An..   Continue Reading

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Counsell Signs With Brewers

Baseball Digest Daily reports that the Brewers have inked Craig Counsell to a two-year deal with a club option for 2009. Did Doug Melvin really put out this kind of commitment to a utility infielder? Counsell could see a lot of playing time if Rickie Weeks or J.J. Hardy fall out of favor or are hurt again. Hardy in particular will see his playing time drop   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal: Phillies, A's After Piazza

A deal cannot be described as close, but Ken Rosenthal indicates that the A's appear to be the frontrunners for the services of catcher/possible DH Mike Piazza. If Oakland could snag him for the speculated price of one year and $7MM, they could have another fine free agent bargain. In addition, the A's have spoken to the agents for Alan Embree and Cliff Floyd. An Embree acquisition would allow Joe Kennedy to replace Barry Zito in the rotation   Continue Reading

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Cards Still Looking For Starters

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a roundup this morning of Walt Jocketty's remaining agenda. With one starter (Kip Wells) and a second baseman (Adam Kennedy) now in tow, the mission is to find two more starters and an affordable outfielder. Goold names Jason Schmidt, Jeff Suppan, Jeff Weaver, and Mark Mulder as players whom Jocketty has contacted or will contact soon. As Larry Borowsky of Viva El Birdos has told us, the Cards always target a top flight starter before settling for less (see Burnett, A.J. last year and many more). The outfielder of choice seems to..   Continue Reading

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Olney: Rangers Closing In On Padilla

Just noticed a nugget from Buster Olney's blog yesterday morning: "The Rangers lost out on Adam Eaton; I'm hearing that they are closing in on a deal to re-sign Vicente Padilla." If true, this is a positive for Texas. Padilla is a much better choice and will probably require one year and a few million more annually. The Jays, Mets, and Cubs may be on the outskirts depending on where various free agents fall   Continue Reading

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What'd I Miss?

Here's some commentary on deals and signings I missed while I was off in Cancun. - Yanks win Kei Igawa bid for about $26MM. Ugh. This is ugly. Why are the Yankees so enamored of this guy? Just because he's a fresh face? I'm going to reprint Keith Law's scouting report. But I've made one minor substitution, see if you can find it. "John Smith, who is not from Japan, is primarily a two-pitch pitcher, with a below-average fastball in the 84-88 mph range with a little run, and a plus 74-79 mph curveball with a late two-plane break." Not..   Continue Reading

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2007 MLB Free Agent Starting Pitchers

I just updated the list of free agent starting pitchers, which can be found at this link. I will keep this and the other free agent position links found on the sidebar up to date as players sign this winter. Think of it as my own primitive free agent tracker   Continue Reading

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Round Of Applause

Hi everyone. I'm Tim, the owner of this site. Remember me? I'm back from my honeymoon, which was phenomenal. Just a perfect week in Mexico. The extent of my baseball monitoring during that time: - Went on Internet for 15 minutes. Saw that Juan Pierre signed a five year contract. Winced and made my way back to the beach. - Paid three bucks for a day late special "Cancun edition" of the Miami Herald. Learned that the Astros signed Carlos Lee at an average of $16.6MM annually. Winced and made my way back to the beach. Good times. I'll run..   Continue Reading

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Yankees win Igawa bid

Looks like the Yankees won the bidding to negotiate with Japanese lefty Kei Igawa for $25 million. It was only a matter of time before Cashman threw some money around. In other news, the Brewers are closing in on a deal with Craig Counsell. (I'm not a fan: once around was enough for me.) That's right on the heels of hearing that Counsell was destined for San Diego; now, it would seem that Counsell's original deal-two years of playing second base for the Padres-now will go to Tony Graffanino, who Doug Melvin had wanted to bring back to Milwaukee as..   Continue Reading

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Cardinals get Wells, Kennedy

The Cards finally made their first moves: they signed Adam Kennedy, brought in Kip Wells, resigned Gary Bennett, and gave Eli Marrero a minor-league deal. No monetary details, but Bernie Miklasz guesses $15M for three years, while Rosenthal thinks it's three years for $10M. With Kennedy, Bennett, Scott Spiezio, and Jim Edmonds on board for 2007, the Cardinals appear to have their position players mostly set. They'll probably still add an outfielder, but that would seem to be a low priority. Wells is a nice addition to fill out the rotation, but even counting on Adam Wainwright in the rotation,..   Continue Reading

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Pitchers on the move

Jason Schmidt has been offered $45 million over three years to join the Cubs. If that offer has been leaked already, $60M/4 seems within the realm of possibility. Strangely, Schmidt has already said he's not interested in the East Coast-you'd think he'd wait until Cashman made an offer and drove up his price before saying no. Once Schmidt signs, it'll be fun to watch Scott Boras conduct the sure-to-be-insane bidding for Barry Zito. Some team (to be announced tonight) won the bidding for Kei Igawa for $25 million. Hanshin has accepted. That's the second largest posting fee ever-somebody must think..   Continue Reading

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General Chit-Chat

How about this headline at ESPN: "MLB Official: Ramirez might be dealt by Saturday". Official, what? Can somebody please define what a "big league official" is to me? Anyone? Bat boys are officials - they have the 'official MLB" ID cards.. the Reds cheerleaders have them too. With that kind of a headline, I'm guessing Manny goes nooooooowhere by Saturday. Sorry Buster, I had to bust your chops (no pun intended). Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports blatently told Mark McGwire today that he won't get his HOF vote this year. I refuse to comment.. How many places did I read..   Continue Reading

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Manny on the move?

For real, this time! Or not. First off, Buster Olney thinks that Manny could be moved this week. Maybe for a less-than-perfect package. The team that keeps coming up is the Giants, but...how? I can't imagine the Red Sox would be very interested in the Bay Area chapter of the AARP. I've heard speculation that the Giants rumors persist because the Red Sox want to up the bidding from the Dodgers, but I haven't seen or heard any details about that deal. I'd imagine it would include either James Loney or Andre Ethier, as one of those guys would end..   Continue Reading

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Lots of signings

Adam Eaton is going to the Phillies for $24M over three years. It's an interesting harbinger of the contracts to come-that isn't far out of line of all the $21/3 contracts that have been signed in the last couple of years. Eaton is a bit of an injury risk, I suppose, but there's nothing else keeping his value down. Aside from the obvious cases-Barry Zito, Andy Pettitte, and Jason Schmidt-the only pitchers on the market who may get bigger deals that Eaton are Gil Meche and Ted Lilly. It would be fascinating if the market for pitching remained as people..   Continue Reading

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Wolf, Baez to new homes

Looks like Randy Wolf is about to become a Dodger. Apparently LA is set to sign him to a one-year deal with an option for 2008; I'd guess it's in the $6-7M range. The same article speculates that Greg Maddux is looking for a raise on his $9M salary from last year-a two-year deal for Mike Mussina money. I guess I didn't realize quite what a stud he was after the trade last year, but I don't know who's going to give him that kind of cash. I've been a Maddux fan since the first time he was with the..   Continue Reading

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Drew, Roberts, Aurilla, and Dunn

SI reported yesterday that the Red Sox are close to signing JD Drew. Are sign's of desperation starting to appear? Gregg Zaun's agent has been in 'consistent' contact with Cashman and Julio Lugo has already talked to the Cubs and agreed to play CF. Speaking of Zaun, Mercury News is reporting that Zaun's agent is having 'consistent' contact with the Giants, that the Giants are close to signing Dave Roberts and Rich Aurilia, and that they haven't closed the door on re-signing Pedro Feliz or second baseman Ray Durham. I hope Zaun's agent gets paid by the hour. The Pittsburgh..   Continue Reading

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Brewers finally making some noise

Doug Davis was known to be on the trading block...Johnny Estrada was known to be on the trading block...but I don't think anybody expected the two of them to switch places. The Brewers traded Davis, lefty starter Dana Eveland, and center fielder-with-an-attitude Dave Krynzel to the Diamondbacks for Estrada, starter Claudio Vargas, and reliever Greg Aquino. It's an interesting move for the Crew: apparently Doug Melvin wasn't comfortable going into spring training with Damian Miller as his starter and Mike Rivera and JD Closser as possible backups. Estrada will, presumably, split time with Miller. The fascinating part of the deal..   Continue Reading

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Roberts to the Giants, and more

It looks like Dave Roberts is going to be a Giant. This will save San Francisco fans from self-immolation over their front office's apparent inability to make stupid deals, and ensure that the Giants theme of "oldsters in the outfield" remains intact even with Steve Finley and possibly Barry Bonds on their way out. In other news: Woody Williams got a two-year deal with the Astros for $12.5M. That seems remarkably sane, though I wouldn't plan on drafting Woody for your fantasy team. He had an okay year in Petco, but he's moving to one of the unfriendliest parks in..   Continue Reading

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Free Agent Spending By Team

I've had a few people ask how much money has been spent so far on free agents so I compiled a list at my blog showing the values for the first 28 players that have signed. Here's the link: http://buccoblog.mlblogs.com How's your team doing? Sinking, swimming, or not even close to the water yet? By Jake at Bucco Blo   Continue Reading

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Lee, Williams, Catalanotto, Barajas, and Roberts

Tim sends his best from Cancun and wishes everyone was with him. Not! They are still trying to find their honeymoon hotel so he's not quite sure when he'll be back. And, no, he didn't send any Cancun beach shots. Dang.. Speaking about vacations, how about the Astros signing Lee at $100m/6? Wow. My take is this - the power starved Astros obviously felt they were one player away and Lee happened to be available. He'll probably hit 40 home runs despite all the talk about his lack of power after April last year. Don't forget Minute Maid is full..   Continue Reading

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Carlos Lee to Houston

Baseball Digest Daily is reporting that Carlos Lee has agreed to a six-year deal with the Astros. The last dollar amount I saw for this deal was $73M, and that was a five-year deal. I figure we must be up to at least $85M now. Back in July, it seemed ridiculous that Lee would reject a four-year, $48M deal out of hand. Back then, I was glad the Brewers didn't spend that much on him! But after the Juan Pierre and Gary Matthews Jr. signings, this deal doesn't look that crazy. Now the market for bats is a much slimmer..   Continue Reading

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Turkey Day Tidbits

Happy Thanksgiving from MLB Trade Rumors! Grab your shopping list - Bucco Blog has posted the Pirates top 10 prospect list. I initially thought one of the collateral consequences of the increased market value of players this year would be that arbitration values would go up over the next few years, but Jim Callis at Baseball America said he doesn't think that will happen since arbitration contracts are compared to people with similar service time. Interesting. Did anyone else see ProTrade's reaction to the 2006 MVP awards? Talk about blowing out the industry - whew! USA Today has a couple..   Continue Reading

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McDonough to Shed 'Interim' Tag

Cubs people tell me the mysteriously lingering "interim" tag on Cubs President John McDonough will be dropped after the New Year. Apparently, that's when Andy MacPhail's "handshake deal" expires. No worries, Cub fans. McDonough will be keeping the job for good (and possibly shelling out more dough). Also, here is the most recent fantasy scouting report on Juan Pierre, as well as some other things. -Koch at CubDum   Continue Reading

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Gotham Baseball: Bowden Calling Big Apple for Help

Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden got the guy he "really wanted" in Manny Acta, and now he's hoping that the former third base coach for the Mets can help figure a way to convince his former employers to send Lastings Milledge to RFK for 2007. The only problem with that scenario is that Bowden has very little to give New York. "Bowden is trying to sell the Mets on a John Patterson for Lastings Milledge deal, which the Mets have flatly refused." New York does have interest in Patterson, Jon Rauch and New Jersey's Jason Bergmann, but certainly not for..   Continue Reading

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Sarge to the Angels

The Angels appear to have signed Gary Matthews Jr. to a 5 year, $50 million deal. I recognize that this is a new market, that the teams have tons of money, that free agents are getting paid more than they would've been last year. But I'm sorry, this is completely ridiculous. Matthews has had one good season in his career. Of course, that was last year, and it was great, so he positioned himself well for the market. But the dude's 32, he'd never been much above average before, he put up his good offensive numbers in a major hitter's..   Continue Reading

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Free Agent Class Ranks 2006

This isn't a major concern for most teams, (especially in the current market) but sandwich picks and other compensation in the rule 4 (amateur) draft are determined by a cockamamie formula developed by the Elias Sports Bureau. Teams that lose a Type A free agent are compensated with two draft picks. Teams that lose a Type B free agent get one pick in return. The other particulars, along with the entire list of this year's FA Class Rankings, can be found here. The entire list of Elias rankings (everybody, not just FAs) can be seen here. (The formula takes into..   Continue Reading

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MLB Trade Rumors: Phillies Win Carlos Lee Sweepstakes?

A source has indicated the Phillies have come to a tentative agreement with Carlos Lee. This is all I know...   Continue Reading

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Carlos Lee Sweepstakes

The Houston Chronicle provides the latest update on the chase for Carlos Lee. It suggests that Tim Purpura could ultimately decide to give El Caballo an Aramis Ramirez-type contract-5 years, $73 million. Right now, the deal the Astros have offered Lee is believed to be 5 years for $60 million. The Chron has a source saying that an AL team (gotta be the Orioles) has floated a $70M/5 deal. It sounds like the Phillies haven't made an offer; maybe Pat Gillick will realize that signing Lee just to replace Pat Burrell would be a bizarre waste of time. As it..   Continue Reading

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Tuesday tidbits

Nothing in the news that is too breathtaking today, but there have been enough things worthy of mention that I thought I'd throw them all into one thread. Here's a fun trade possibility: the Red Sox are interested in Chad Cordero (uh, who wouldn't be?) and may be dangling Wily Mo Pena, whom Jim Bowden is known to...how should I put this?...really like. Bowden hasn't acquired a toolsy outfielder for a couple of weeks now, so if the Sox found a way to sweeten the deal, perhaps Trader Jim would take the bait. The Yankees have been quiet lately, but..   Continue Reading

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Morsels to munch on

Which teams were the streakiest in baseball last year? Sal Baxamusa posted a nice statistical article over at The Hardball Times looking at offensive consistency in MLB using the Weibull distribution model. It couldn't have been the Soriano sweepstakes winners, could it? Think the MVP should have gone to Pujols and not Howard? Jim Baker at Baseball Prospectus (subscription that you should have is required) continues the fan's ongoing amazement over the NL MVP voting this year. Some of the questions he raised were how McCann's 54.8 VORP didn't even garner him one vote; how Freddy Sanchez received five votes..   Continue Reading

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Juan Pierre: $45M/5

Insanity. $9M for Pierre is a stretch: he's not a great defender, he hasn't posted an OBP above .330 in two years, and he isn't even a particularly high-percentage basestealer. As I mentioned earlier, Kenny Lofton had a better 2006. But, in this market, $9M a year for a leadoff hitter isn't too crazy-Pierre might well be better than, say, Gary Matthews Jr. But...five years? It would certainly appear that Matthews is going to get the money he's after. Dave Roberts's agent probably just upped his demands, too. Even Lofton ought to get either a two-year deal or a rich..   Continue Reading

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Mets and Marlins trade minor league arms

The Mets traded Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom, both RHPs, to Florida for Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick, both LHPs. Here's a link; apparently the announcement is coming at 6pm EST. Vargas is the most MLB-ready of the bunch: he had a nifty half-season in 2005, but wasn't able to repeat in '06. He'll provide rotation insurance for New York of the Oliver Perez variety. Owens is probably the guy with the biggest potential impact: in 40 Double-A innings, he struck out seventy-four. He's got some control problems, too, but adjusting for park and translating his stats to MLB numbers,..   Continue Reading

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LaRue traded to the Royals

According to Baseball Digest Daily's newsletter (not yet online), Jason LaRue (and, I would guess, some portion of his $5.2 million salary for 2007) are headed to Kansas City for a minor leaguer to be named. The Royals had been in the market for a catcher, and this means they won't have to sign Gregg Zaun to the three-year deal he's after. LaRue had a disastrous off-year in 2006, hitting below .200 in limited duty. (Hit below .200 with a couple of good catchers on the roster, and you will always find yourself in limited duty! Unless you're Brad Ausmus.)..   Continue Reading

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Pierre to the Dodgers?

Rosenthal says Juan Pierre is about to sign with the Dodgers. Oddly enough, it probably won't result in an improvement from last year: Kenny Lofton had a very nice season in LA, outperforming Pierre in just about every category except for steals. The Dodgers do need at least one more outfielder, as only Andre Ethier is much of a certainty, but this is an awfully expensive way to plug that gap. Rosenthal doesn't mention money, but a couple of days ago, a report surfaced that the Giants had offered Pierre $30M for 3 years. That's awful high if you think..   Continue Reading

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Garciaparra About to Sign

The Dodgers now have a first (or third) baseman for the next couple of years. Nomar Garciaparra agreed to come back to L.A. for two more years. There have been no monetary details in the articles I've seen, but since Nomar made $8.5M with incentives last year, I have to imagine he's making more than that in each year of this deal. Maybe $10-11M per year? Seems like his value should be in the Frank Thomas range; maybe a little higher since the risk of career-ending injury isn't so high. With Bill Mueller's retirement, that would seem to open up..   Continue Reading

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Pirates Not Interested in LaRoche?

Bucco Blog is reporting this morning that the Pirates and Braves talked about a trade that would have sent Adam LaRoche to the Pirates. Evidently, all that David Littlefield was willing to ante up was John Grabow and Nate McLouth and the Braves passed. By Jak   Continue Reading

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Thoughts On The Soriano Deal

Hi everyone, Tim here. I thought I would check in briefly on this little contract that the Cubs have extended to Mr. Soriano. I just can't resist. The wedding yesterday was perfect; we're jetting off to Cancun on Tuesday. I am a lucky man. The lovely Mrs. Dierkes is all tuckered out after the big weekend, so here are some random thoughts. 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..   Continue Reading

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Frank Catalanotto signs with Rangers

Three years for $13 million. Not crazy in this market, not crazy at all. The key to Catalanotto is that he is just about worthless versus lefties. He managed a great .300/.376/.439 in 432 ABs last year for Toronto, but he was savagely platooned: only 38 of those ABs were against lefties. That's smart of John Gibbons: only about 10% of Cat's ABs in the last six years have been against southpaws, and he's scratched out a .243/.327/.346 line vs. LHP in that time. With those splits, Catalanotto would be a nice platoon partner for Nelson Cruz, but that still..   Continue Reading

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Gotham Baseball: Rockies Want Milledge?

One oif the more interesting things I heard in this week's follow up calls after the GM Meetings was the Colorado Rockies' interest in Lastings Milledge. Though I keep hearing from those inside and outside of the team's inner circle that Milledge is still a player they expect to blossom in New York, I can't help but think that the Mets are focused on moving forward...without Lastings. Another very interesting tidbit was a rumor of the Tigers and Reds talking Adam Dun   Continue Reading

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Go nuts, folks

Alfonso Soriano. Eight years. $135 million. Chicago Cubs. Rosenthal has the scoop, though he doesn't explicitly say that the Cubs are going to give him that money, just that that's what he's after. As a Brewers fan, I'm thrilled that Hendry is blowing his wad on Sori. Could be a great Cubs offense for a couple of years, but that can't leave a whole lot to patch other holes. UPDATE: It's a little more official, and a little more expensive. By Jeff Sackman   Continue Reading

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Speier and Stanton close to finding new homes

The big news this morning is that the Angels are close to a four-year deal with Justin Speier, who is very possibly the best reliever on the market this year. Tim predicted that Speier would get a three-year deal worth $17M-my guess is that the money per year is right, just with that extra year, for a total of $21-$22M or so. Speier was a possible closer for many teams, so it's something of a surprise that the team that ponied up for him already has a great closer and a solid setup man in Frankie Rodriguez and Scot Shields...   Continue Reading

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Pujols Arrested for Crack Possession

I can't resist.. Pujols was arrested for crack possession in New Jerey Thursday. Smiling Jak   Continue Reading

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Assorted updates: Alou, Hudson, Garland, Okajima

Earlier today, we found a report that Moises Alou was about to sign with the Mets. Now Rosenthal is saying that it could be a two-year deal. With Carlos Gomez right behind Lastings Milledge, putting two established vets in the outfield through 2008 would seem to make Milledge expendable. Yesterday, Phil Rogers speculated that Mark Buehrle could be headed to Texas. Rosenthal says it's Jon Garland, and hints (as Rogers did) that John Danks and Brian Anderson could be part of the package, especially if the deal gets bigger. And, Buster Olney is reporting chatter about Tim Hudson heading to..   Continue Reading

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Alex Gonzlez about to sign with Cinci

Three years, $14 million for Alex Gonzalez, via Gammons. Depending on what you think of A-Gon's defense, that might be a good deal. Gonzalez doesn't get a love of love from traditional statheads since his career OBP is a mere .292, but the bar is pretty low for shortstops. He'll be 30 next year, so there's no reason to expect a major fall-off; Baseball Prospectus has his wins above replacement (WARP) at 3.2, 3.5, and 2.7 in the last three years. If you figure he's good for 3 wins, that's less than $2M per win-a great, great deal in this..   Continue Reading

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What Kenny Williams isn't doing

The White Sox rumors have been fast and furious the last few days: here come the denials. Kenny Williams isn't: talking about dealing Freddy Garcia for Ervin Santana negotiating with Alex Gonzalez's agent likely to sign Dave Roberts In other words, Phil Rogers needs to make up some new stuff. By Jeff Sackman   Continue Reading

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Angels Pursuing Andruw Jones Trade?

According to Halos Heaven, the Braves hope to send Andruw Jones to the Angels for Ervin Santana and Nick Adenhart. Of course, Andruw would have to be amenable to this deal to make it work. Baseball Prospectus's Kevin Goldstein wrote, "Adenhart has come all the way back from Tommy John surgery to establish himself as one of the top righthanders in the minors." Among right-handed starters, Goldstein ranked Adenhart behind only Homer Bailey and Philip Hughes. Meanwhile, the L.A. Times (subscription required) says the Angels have made an offer to Alfonso Soriano and have interest in J.D. Drew. Mike DiGiovanna..   Continue Reading

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Moises Alou to the Mets?

It's in Spanish, but this article seems to suggest the Mets and Moises Alou are close to deal that includes an $8 million salary for 2007. I can't tell whether it's a one-year deal or it's a multi-year deal that isn't fully reported. By Jeff Sackman   Continue Reading

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Kei Igawa Has Been Posted

Rotoworld lists the potential suitors for Kei Igawa as the "Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, Mets, Cubs and Indians." They rule out the Red Sox and Mariners, though this Tacoma News-Tribune article says the M's are "likely" to bid. That same article predicts that the posting fee will be about "two-thirds less" than Daisuke Matsuzaka's $51.1M: $17M. That seems high for a guy who David Wright isn't convinced has MLB-quality stuff. Personally, I wouldn't want my team spending more than $10M for his rights, but with all those teams involved, $17M seems plausible. UPDATE: An alert e-mailer points out this..   Continue Reading

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Michael Barrett On The Block?

Here's an interesting tidbit buried in a Giants notes column: the Cubs "reportedly are open to the idea of trading catcher Michael Barrett for pitching help." I can't imagine they'll part with Barrett cheaply, but does that mean they are willing to go with Henry Blanco and, say, Geovany Soto behind the plate? One thing is for sure: there isn't much available on the free-agent market. I suppose that if Barrett brought a decent return, a Mike Piazza-Blanco offense-defense platoon might make some sense for the Cubs; beyond that, the options are a bunch of guys who will cost more..   Continue Reading

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Starting Pitching in NYC

Here's the latest on the Tom Glavine front: the man says he's 50-50 between the Mets and the Braves. The Braves would have a hard time matching the Mets probable $24M/2y offer unless they dropped some salary in a trade (like some of these possibilities), so it may come down to how much of a hometown discount Glavine is willing to give Atlanta. Across town, there's the possibility that Scott Proctor will enter camp as a starter. Proctor was great in his first full year out of the pen, but the Yankees starting corps still has plenty of holes. No..   Continue Reading

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The Giants Really Want a Centerfielder

And you know, if I had just given Steve Finley 429 at-bats, I would too! Apparently the Giants have offered identical 3-year, $30M deals to Juan Pierre and Gary Matthews Jr. Both would appear to be a little young to fit in to the Giants clubhouse, but then again, so is Kevin Frandsen, and they haven't buried him yet. $10M per year seems to be the market value for Matthews right now, which-to me, anyway-is complete insanity. It's true that Matthews had a fantastic season in Arlington-.313/.371/.495, to be precise-but it's also true that he was 31, and his career..   Continue Reading

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Tim Getting Married? Oh my..

Tim invited me to post a few comments while he is off on his honeymoon. I suppose my first post should be titled "Why, Tim?" but I'll leave that alone. Instead, I'll throw you a few general tidbits today so you have some reading material over the weekend. The Rockies and Marlins have had some interest in acquiring Chris Duffy from the Pirates but word out of Pittsburgh is, Duffy isn't available. I posted a new article at Bucco Blog: Marginal $/Marginal Wins: 1999 - 2006 which tends to show the front office efficiency of MLB teams over the last..   Continue Reading

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Kenny Williams, Dealmaker

Either Ken Williams is keeping busy at the GM meetings, or the reporters covering the Sox have very fertile imaginations. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in between. In addition to the Andruw Jones deal I mentioned in the previous post, here's a roundup of possible White Sox moves: Chris De Luca reports on a possible Freddy Garcia / Ervin Santana swap. Oddly enough, his sources say that the "package" would be built around Santana. Garcia might be a better pitcher right now, but just barely: last year, Garcia was worth 15 win shares, while Santana was worth 13. Santana's..   Continue Reading

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Braves Rumors

Talking Chop has a nice roundup of trade talks that the Braves could be exploring. First, the White Sox are interested in Andruw Jones. That seems like a longshot because Andruw has a no-trade and the White Sox hate Scott Boras, but who knows, maybe an extension would get that done. Trading for Jones would make Brian Anderson expendable, and Anderson seems to me like Bobby Cox's kind of player-young, great defense, could improve at the plate. Maybe Anderson and one of Chicago's starters would get that deal done. Second, the Rangers could be looking at Braves pitching. The Rangers..   Continue Reading

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Two Year Offer For Drew?

Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News has overheard a few possible offers to free agents. He says that J.D. Drew is "expected to sign a two-year, $30 million deal with Boston." It makes sense for the Sox to pay an extra $2MM or so annually to keep the years down on this deal. Meanwhile, in a separate article, Larry LaRue writes, "Boston has offered J.D. Drew a huge contract - and Lou Piniella's Cubs have matched it." Ringolsby also notes that the Giants made a pair of three-year, $30MM offers: one to Juan Pierre and one to Gary Matthews..   Continue Reading

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J.D. Drew Set To Sign With Red Sox?

Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote a blurb this morning in the notes of his column: "Multiple sources say they are set to sign free-agent outfielder J.D. Drew, the Phillies' old amigo, for a 4-year, $48 million deal." Not sure what to make of that one. I could see such an offer going out, but I expect Drew to relax and wait at least a few weeks before signing. Maybe let one of the other big bats get signed first. Ken Rosenthal and his sources see the Red Sox, Cubs, and Astros as the main suitors. And while..   Continue Reading

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Tier 2 Starting Pitchers

Jason Jennings certainly isn't a free agent, but he may be the best starter available through trade. Let's take a look at how he stacks up against some of the other "Tier 2" guys being bandied about by half the clubs in baseball. Stats are from 2006 except for Randy Wolf, for whom I used '05. Strikeouts per nine innings: Ted Lilly - 7.93 Gil Meche - 7.52 Vicente Padilla - 7.02 Randy Wolf - 6.86 Jason Jennings - 6.03 Jeff Weaver - 5.60 Jeff Suppan - 4.93 Miguel Batista - 4.80 Woody Williams - 4.46 Lilly, Meche, and Padilla..   Continue Reading

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Jays Considering Barajas, Mulder

Here are notes from the blog of Paul Hoynes, Indians beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. These were posted yesterday. Hoynes says the Blue Jays are talking to Rod Barajas and have some interest in Mark Mulder. Even if they signed both, the Jays would still need to come up with a shortstop and one decent starter. The Tribe is expected to bid on lefty Kei Igawa, who will be posted next week. If they win, the Indians, like the White Sox, would be six deep in their starting rotation. A good kind of problem   Continue Reading

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3/15 Offered To Alex Gonzalez

Free agent shortstop and defensive whiz Alex Gonzalez has received a three year, $15MM offer from an unknown club. Nick Cafardo's sources indicate that the teams may be the White Sox or Reds. Though not mentioned in the post, another possibility could include the Royals   Continue Reading

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Much Ado About Manny

Buster Olney refers to Manny Ramirez's commitment thusly: "Three years and $42 million because in the end, Ramirez, who has a full no-trade clause in his contract, will probably want a year added to the end of his current deal to make this happen. And the Red Sox will probably eat some of his salary - but not nearly as much as would have been required to make a trade happen even two months ago." A host of teams would not balk at that relatively short-term commitment. And you can be damn sure Manny would far exceed 3/42 on the..   Continue Reading

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Yankees Rumor Roundup

Too many Cub rumors for you, eh? Let's round up all the Yankee-related happenings in one convenient post. Carl Pavano: the Rockies would have him, but only at the price of $12-13MM for 2007-08. According to the New York Post, the Yankees will hold off on this one but could revisit it. Back in '04, Pavano ranked 15th in the NL with a groundball percentage of 48.2. Hard to believe Carl once threw 222 innings in a season. Ah, contract years. A-Rod: talk of his out clause was strong enough to bring a statement out of him. He said all..   Continue Reading

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Astros Offer Deals to Lee and Soriano

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros have offered multi-year deals to Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee. Houston has been viewed by many as the frontrunner for El Caballo, but I hadn't heard anything about their interest in Soriano. The article also notes that the Astros "are in serious discussions" with Woody Williams. I suppose if they aren't counting on getting Roger Clemens back for another year, they may feel the need to add a different 40 year old in the rotation. By Jeff Sackman   Continue Reading

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Cardinals Tidbits

Several good items from Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Scott Spiezio is resigned to a 2-year deal. Jocketty's focus seems to be on pitching at the moment: talking about Vincente Padilla, Adam Eaton, and Kip Wells, and trying to bring Jeff Weaver back. Also looking for a Mark Mulder-like rotation filler-a nice thought, but I would think that a pre-FA starter would be incredibly pricey in this market. Luis Gonzalez and Julio Lugo are unlikely. By Jeff Sackman   Continue Reading

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A's Considering Bonds

Now that Frank Thomas is out of the picture, the A's need a DH again. It's no surprise that Barry Bonds would be a good fit-after all, the A's need to find somebody to replace Thomas's production, and there aren't many options out there to do that. Billy Beane has been chatting with Bonds's agent, so it would appear that the A's have no objection to taking on Bonds's baggage. Certainly they managed just fine with their share of "problem" guys last year. As Lew Wolff points out in the linked article, though, Bonds may out of the A's price..   Continue Reading

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About These Radio Reports...

Hi everyone, Tim here. I've been out today preparing for my wedding, but popped in just now to see some rumor-related confusion. As you know, Jeff Sackmann is covering this site for me while I'm gone for the next week or so. Jeff's done a fine job so far and has posted informative info. However, it appears that today some false radio reports made their way onto the site. I'm not sure exactly how it all happened, as Jeff was going on the word of some trusted friends. In my experience it's pretty easy for a rumor to get lost..   Continue Reading

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Chicago Crosstown Deal

First the first time since the infamous Garland/Karchner deal, the Chicago teams got together on a trade. The Cubs sent relievers David Aardsma and Carlos Vasquez to the White Sox for Neal Cotts. Cotts, 27 next season, has had one good season out of three. In 2005 he upped his groundball percentage a bit and displayed fantastic hit and home run prevention. Here is a downright frightening picture of Aardsma   Continue Reading

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Blue Jays Close With Frank Thomas

Jerry Crasnick has some good info for ESPN: the Blue Jays are "closing in on a deal" with designated hitter Frank Thomas. It seems that a two-year deal is in the works. As Thomas's excellent comeback season wound down, it seemed apparent that he would leave the A's. If Gary Sheffield commands a two-year, $28MM extension, Thomas should be good for two years and at least $20MM. The Blue Jays have a ton of needs, but plenty of free cash   Continue Reading

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Padres Interested In Bonds

Ken Rosenthal just keeps churnin' 'em out, and I keep passin' 'em along. This is a good one: the Padres are interested in Barry Bonds for left field. In 493 plate appearances Bonds had the best OBP in baseball this year at .454. While one might think PETCO could diminish Bonds's power, Bill James says otherwise in his latest handbook. After bringing in the fences a little bit, PETCO played very differently for left-handed power hitters in 2006. While left-handed HRs were deflated by 38% over 2004-05, they were inflated by 51% in 2006. I think Bonds would do just..   Continue Reading

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Phils Sign Wes Helms

Yet another third baseman is off the market, as the Phillies acted quickly today to sign Wes Helms to a two-year deal with a club option for the third. Ken Rosenthal scooped another one. Helms is guaranteed $5.5MM for 2007-08. Helms will be 31 next season. He was a full-timer for the Brewers in '03, hitting .261/.330/.450 in 476 ABs. He's faced a disproportionate amount of lefties in his career, as he hits them significantly better. Helms probably can't hit as well as the average NL 3B (.826 OPS). Defensively, he's got a strong arm but his footwork doesn't impress   Continue Reading

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O's Close On Jamie Walker

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Orioles are close to signing southpaw reliever Jamie Walker to a three-year, $10MM pact. Walker has been solid since coming to the Tigers in 2002. Should the Orioles close the deal, the White Sox and Tigers will have to look elsewhere for top-notch lefty relievers. Alan Embree, Steve Kline, Darren Oliver, and Mike Stanton may be the best options. Here's my 2007 Team Outlook for Baltimore. They'll probably add more relief help, a starter, and some 1B/LF types. They snagged one possibility today. The O's would have to increase payroll past $80MM to make it..   Continue Reading

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Mussina Back With Yankees

Looks like Mike Mussina has agreed to a 2-year, $22.5 million contract with the Yankees. No big surprise here: there was never much talk that he could've been going elsewhere. That gives the Yankees a projected rotation of Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson, Mussina, and some combination of free agents (Gil Meche? a White Sox starter via trade?) and Carl Pavano, Humberto Sanchez, Darrell Rasner, and Jeff Karstens. And, of course, the possibility of Philip Hughes. By Jeff Sackman   Continue Reading

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More Matsuzaka

No hot rumors here, but I wanted to point everyone toward my latest article on The Hardball Times about Daisuke Matsuzaka. One of the things I looked at was the impact that the Red Sox bid could have on the free-agent market, particularly Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt. It's interesting that the team that won the bidding wasn't one of those that was strongly going after Zito-in other words, the Red Sox set a staggeringly high market price for an ace pitcher, but by winning the bid, didn't shrink the market for Barry. I also noticed that the high-end starting..   Continue Reading

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Mets Acquire Ben Johnson

The Mets and Padres made an interesting trade today, with the Pads sending outfielder Ben Johnson and reliever Jon Adkins to New York for relievers Heath Bell and Royce Ring. Johnson, 25, is a possible platoon candidate in the outfield for the Mets in 2007. He can play all three outfield positions and is a good athlete, featuring power and speed. While he mashed during his first stint in Triple A in '05, he didn't impress at the same level this year. Back in 2002, Johnson was the Padres' second choice for a prospect in the Carlos Hernandez trade after..   Continue Reading

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Cubs Looking At Meche

According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio 1000, the Cubs have inked backup catcher Henry Blanco to a two-year, $5MM deal. Gil Meche could be the next player the team signs. I like Jim Hendry's aggression...but is Larry Rothschild really the guy who's going to fix Meche? While I have you - Cubs fans may want to check out my Mark DeRosa projection over at AllCubs.com   Continue Reading

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Which Pitcher Do You Prefer?

Here's a fun exercise over at Bucco Blog: looking at just these graphs, with no research, which pitcher would you prefer and what premium would you pay him compared to the other two? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments and Jake will reveal the pitchers later on   Continue Reading

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Lugo A Center Field Option?

For teams looking for a player via free agency who can serve as both a center fielder and leadoff man, there are four options. You can sign Kenny Lofton, Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Pierre, or Dave Roberts. But if you're not into aging speedsters, the OBP/defense-challenged, or the guy coming off a career year, you can get a little creative. Aside from a huge commitment to J.D. Drew, who might or might not hold up in center field, you could ask Julio Lugo to be your center fielder. That's an option the Cubs are considering if they fail to sign..   Continue Reading

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2007 Free Agent Market: Third Basemen

With the Cubs signing both Mark DeRosa and Aramis Ramirez, and the D-Rays winning the rights to Akinori Iwamura, the free agent market for third basemen is shrinking. Check it out. There are basically six viable candidates, and that's if we include questionable third base defenders like Garciaparra, Huff, Hillenbrand, Rich Aurilia, and Helms. The demand for Mike Lowell, Morgan Ensberg, and Joe Crede should be strong   Continue Reading

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2007 Colorado Rockies

Time to break down the Rockies for 2007. Many thanks to the fine Rockies blog Purple Row, a helpful resource. Dan O'Dowd's contract obligations: C - Chris Iannetta - $0.38MM C - Yorvit Torrealba - $1MM 1B - Todd Helton - $16.6MM 2B - Kaz Matsui - $1.5MM SS - Troy Tulowitzki - $0.38MM 3B - Garrett Atkins - $0.38MM IF - Jamey Carroll - $0.7MM IF - Clint Barmes - $0.38MM LF - Matt Holliday - $0.7MM CF - RF - Brad Hawpe - $0.38MM OF - Cory Sullivan - $0.38MM/Jeff Baker - $0.38MM SP - Jason Jennings -..   Continue Reading

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