August 2007

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Rays Mulling Plans For Pena, Baldelli

We'll start with the positive vibes: the Rays unearthed Carlos Pena from the free talent pool this year, and he's got a decent shot at besting the franchise home record of 34 (held jointly by Jose Canseco and Aubrey Huff). He could also top Canseco's team-best .563 SLG from 1999. Pena, a Scott Boras client, is making just $800,000 this year. Talk about bang for your buck. He'll have about four years of big league service time after this season, meaning he's under team control and could go to arbitration. He's set to reach free agency after the 2009 season,..   Continue Reading

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Garner/Purpura Fired

UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal confirms the firing of both Garner and Purpura. Cecil Cooper will take over for the rest of the season. 790 AM The Sports Animal is reporting that the Astros have fired manager Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura, with a press conference coming up. Purpura and Garner pretty much received a vote of confidence from Drayton McLane back in May, but their tenures have come to a short end. Purpura was hired on November 1, 2004 and Garner on the following day. Garner had taken over from Jimy Williams as interim manager in July of that year   Continue Reading

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Cardinals Face Decisions On Relievers

It seemed Jason Isringhausen's career was in jeopardy less than a year ago, but he's fully returned to form and re-established himself as a successful closer. He's been ridiculously hard to hit this year, allowing a career-best 4.85 hits per nine innings. The Cardinals hold a very reasonable $8MM club option for 2008, with a $1.25MM buyout attached. So there's no doubt Izzy will be donning Cardinal red once again next year. He'll probably reach his 300th save, too. The Cardinals may do that one better, though, giving him a contract to cover 2008-09 as they did Jim Edmonds. I..   Continue Reading

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Phillies Interested In Carlos Silva

Carlos Silva came up through the Phillies' farm system, switching to relief for his big league debut. He remained an innings-eating reliever throughout his Phillies tenure, though his hittable, low strikeout style was not suited to the pen. In December of '03 the Phils sent Silva and Nick Punto over to the Twins for Eric Milton. The following season he racked up 14 wins as a starter. His pinpoint control has made him a very credible back-rotation guy, aside from a rough '06. Joining Silva in the under-30 starting pitcher free agent class will be Jason Jennings, Joe Kennedy, Byung-Hyun..   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest Videos: Hunter, Piazza

A couple of Ken Rosenthal new videos - Inside Pitch and Full Count - are up at FOXSports.com. Here's a summary of the rumor-related stuff. Rosenthal says Torii Hunter rejected a four-year, $56MM offer from the Twins. However, Hunter said today that he received no such offer. The Twins approached him about a contract extension, but he'll wait until the winter to negotiate. At any rate, Rosenthal believes Hunter will end up in the $18MM per year territory occupied by comparables Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells. Mike Piazza could be an option for the Tigers if Gary Sheffield's shoulder problems..   Continue Reading

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Royals Considering Re-Signing Sweeney

The Royals are considering re-signing designated hitter and former face of the franchise Mike Sweeney for 2008. Sweeney, one of baseball's nice guys, had this to say: "I think this team is going to turn into a winning team real soon, and I definitely want to be here when it happens. Next year, rather than being tagged with being the $11 million man, I’ll be the guy who is getting $11 over the minimum." If his back will allow it, Sweeney might try to play another couple of seasons in hopes of reaching the playoffs as a Royal. He tried..   Continue Reading

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Odds And Ends

Here's a random smattering of links and rumors for your enjoyment. Joba Chamberlain's slider gives a whole new meaning to the term "unhittable." There's informed speculation that the player to be named later going to Detroit in the Craig Monroe deal will be Clay Rapada. A source tells me the Braves have had internal discussions about trading Edgar Renteria in the offseason and giving the shortstop job to Yunel Escobar. The Cardinals, Tigers, and A's could be interested. Word on the street is that the Diamondbacks plan on re-signing first baseman/pinch-hitter Tony Clark for 2008. He's a good clubhouse guy..   Continue Reading

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Bob Wickman DFA'd By Braves

Wondering where all the posts have been lately? Like many in Illinois, my power has been out for a couple of days. I'm back in business, trying to catch up. We'll start with Bob Wickman. He's been designated for assignment. Sometime during the next ten days, he'll be traded or claimed off waivers. The move was brought about both by Wickman's mediocre pitching and attitude towards pitching in non-save situations. This year, his control slipped and has luck on hits allowed ran out simultaneously. The result? Too many baserunners for a late-inning reliever. My guess is that the 38 year-old..   Continue Reading

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Dodgers To Sign David Wells

UPDATE: Dan Graziano's source says Wells is close to signing with the Dodgers. Back on Monday, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe broke down the David Wells situation. At the time of his writing Wells seemed likely to retire. The sticking point is $1.13MM in incentives Boomer could've earned with San Diego - he wants his new team to pay up. Four clubs inquired, with the Rockies and Dodgers confirmed. When Ken Rosenthal wrote on the topic that same day, he said the Rockies would pass. The Mark Redman signing probably puts the nail in that coffin. Breaking down the..   Continue Reading

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The Early Days Of MLBTR

A couple of days ago I wrote about the origin of MLBTR. Today let's discuss the first several months of the site. I started off as a kind of wannabe Gammons with questionable journalism skills/methods. I wanted to break rumors, signings, and trades. I have to admit I emailed a few radio and newspaper personalities, received inside info from them, and posted it with attribution but without asking permission. Yikes. That was a long time ago though. I also invited strangers to email me with rumors, using mostly just my better judgment deciding whether the source was legit. Even a..   Continue Reading

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