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« Twins Lock Up Cuddyer, Morneau | Main | Johan Santana Rumors »
Erik Bedard Rumors
The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec was able to get in touch with Erik Bedard this evening. Bedard's quotes paint a story of his team not attempting to sign him to an extension. He says how there are a lot more talks about trading him than signing him. He accuses the Orioles of "playing it both ways." Bedard is certain about one thing - he has no desire to be part of a rebuilding effort.
Andy MacPhail says Bedard's agent suggested a one-year deal and denied the Orioles' multiyear overtures. MacPhail's version sounds more accurate, given that Bedard's agent acknowledged the Orioles' "conceptual" talks about signing him through 2010.
Zrebiec thinks a deal could happen with the Mariners next week, of course centered around Adam Jones. The Orioles covet Chris Tillman and Carlos Triunfel as well, though Triunfel may be untouchable.
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Let's get it done Bavasi!
I'm just as tired of all this BS...as I am of all the Santana crap going back and forth!
The Santana/Bedard thing this entire offseason, has REALLY been the root cause of one of the worse offseasons in the history of MLB!
Next in line is to get Cincy to pay for 1/2 of Griffey's salary, AND the 2009 buyout, and let him play RF for 1 yr in Seattle before DHing the rest of his career @ Safeco!
Bedard & the Griffey addition would really set Seattle up to give the Angels a run for their money in 2008!
Posted by: DRWheelock | January 25, 2008 at 10:05 PM
What would the M's have to offer for Griffey and have the Reds eat half of his contract?
Posted by: Barroid_Bonds | January 25, 2008 at 10:15 PM
Not much. Maybe a single A prospect!
Posted by: DRWheelock | January 25, 2008 at 10:17 PM
Actually, I'm totally expecting Griffey to stay put for 2008, and then Cincy to buyout his 2009 option...which is for $4M. I just don't see them willing to pay Griffey $16M in 2009!
I totally expect Griffey to finish his career in Seattle, especially after his interview @ Safeco after the Cincy/Seattle series last year.
He stated "he owes it to the Seattle fans to retire a Mariner". He also implied that he would do whatever it takes to retire a Mariner.
I'd put money on Griffey signing with Seattle in 2009, after Cincy's buyout, and signing for approx $6M/year. He's got SO MUCH deferred money coming for the next 15-20 years from Cincy as it is!
Griffey for $6M/year as a power LHB DH @ Safeco? Heck, I wouldn't even worry about Griffey's Hammy for that price!
Posted by: DRWheelock | January 25, 2008 at 10:24 PM
Let's 1st get Bedard!!!
Posted by: DRWheelock | January 25, 2008 at 10:31 PM
though the possibility of the reds buying out his contract and griffey ending up a mariner next year are better than 50% one should not be surprised if the reds use that final year of his contract . if the reds buy out his contract at 4 mill then they would have to go out and get another left handed hitting OF with power . that would cost the reds 12 mill or more a year .thats the same price they would have to pay for griffey at 16 mill . if the reds don't bring dunn back they will no doubt need that left handed slugger in 2009 . if the reds don't make the playoffs in 2008 they will have to go even further to try to contend in 2009 and losing both griffey and dunn in 2009 would kill those chances . if the money saved on dunn goes toward a front line starter (which at this day and age might get you a #2 pitcher at 14 or 15 mill a year )it may be cheaper and easier to have griffey back one year in 2009 rather than trying to compete with the redsox , yankees , and mets who may all be looking for a good RF next year . if i was the reds and i was set on not bringing dunn back in 2009 , i would take griffey's option to compete .
Posted by: wj | January 25, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Yeah with that low ball offer he would want to stay in Cincy. He well want something around 10M I'm guessing
Posted by: Barroid_Bonds | January 25, 2008 at 10:53 PM
to this day i can not understand the dislike for dunn by reds fans . the hrs, rbis , and the walks are everything you want in a #4 or 5 hitter even with his strikeouts .if i was the gm of the reds i would be hated by all reds fans because i would signed dunn a 5 year 60 million dollar deal , moved him to first , moved hamilton to leftfield , and used votto(?) to trade to the orioles for beddard . then i could let griffey walk in 2009 just to sign a cheap replacement for 8 million . the staff would be set and the roster would be set for a few years down the road . IMO
Posted by: wj | January 25, 2008 at 11:02 PM
I don't wanna be part of a rebuilding project either Bedard. But I hope he lands in a good team far away from the AL East and stays there.
Posted by: XD23 | January 25, 2008 at 11:09 PM
then again , what do i know ? i wanted the cubs to sign ivan rodriguez at the beginning of 2003 . it's not like ivan helped the marlins surge to the playoffs in 2003 , helped kill the cubs in the playoffs , and win the world series . i rod probably had nothing to contribute to any of that . just think , ivan approached the cubs before the marlins even thought about signing him .
Posted by: wj | January 25, 2008 at 11:11 PM
a bashing story in the baltimore sun of Bedard this morning, as witnessed by a similar Tejada before he was dealt. The O's control the media which could mean a deal is close
Posted by: CourageousO | January 26, 2008 at 10:14 AM
wj,
I'm a Reds fan who can't stand Dunn and it all boils down to his attitude. The guy either can't or won't do everything necessary to be an elite player. He's content to do his thing and collect his increasingly large check.
He's totally one dimensional and won't work on his defense in the outfield, let alone first. The Reds wanted desperately to put him there two years ago and he was beyond awful. He doesn't really hit #4 because of Jr. in the 3 so I wouldn't really call him a cleanup guy. I know his numbers are impressive, and he did show a little more willingness to hit the other way last year. But this is a guy who went more than an entire season without a sac fly!
He's a DH in the wrong league. Texeira money, my a$$. Texeira plays defense too, and can hit lefties.
From everything you hear from Votto, Bruce and Phillips, they are guys working hard to improve their craft. Those are the guys I want the Reds to hitch the wagon to for the next few years.
If Jr. hits like he did last year, the $12 mil difference over the opt out is money well spent. There's no doubt he enjoyed the reception he got in Seattle last year, but the M's would have to make it worth the Reds while to trade. The Reds are not in salary dump mode so they're not going to just give him away.
Especially with the uncertainty of Dunn's longterm future.
I loved the Hamilton story as much as anyone, but who knows what he's going to be longterm. They traded from a position of strength to hopefully shore up a weakness. Votto's younger and more dependable, though he might not have the ceiling. It's a smart move by Krivsky, although not a popular one.
Posted by: bweav44 | January 26, 2008 at 01:33 PM
First off, the Reds don't need to replace the left-handed bat of Griffey if they trade him, they all ready have Votto, Bruce, and Dunn. If anything they've been too lopsided through their line-up. They would be better served to add a right-handed power bat anyways because the righties they have are not middle of the order hitters. That's why they've filled the whole the last couple years with the likes of Aurilia, Gonzalez, and Encarnacion.
As far as the re-signing of Dunn, he's already making 14MM, so in what realm of insanity would he sign for 12MM a year for 5 years to play 1B?! He'll go for 5 years at 15-16MM a season. He knows that his power is of value to a lot of teams and we only have to look at Carlos Lee's contract to get a feel for what he'll charge on his next contract! Keep in mind that the benefits for Lee is that he doesn't strikeout as much (significant difference), but they do have similar range deficiencies. Figure Dunn's Ks, lower average, and less stolen bases cost him 2-3MM a season, then Lee's 18MM/yr. is a good comparison.
The Hamilton trade was a poor one in my opinion. Volquez was not the arm to get back in a trade for a guy that young and talented. He may have been suffering through injuries, but I would wager that these injuries are to be blamed on the medical staff and the trainers, not the players in total. I think a new trainers and medical staff would keep Hamilton healthy, see Jose Guillen in 2007 with the M's and we have the best medical staff and trainers in baseball. I would have traded Freel for Volquez or nothing at all. Freel is an extra piece that doesn't fit in the Reds puzzle, now or ever. If he did, they would've made a place for him as anything more than a 4th outfielder and utility infielder.
Votto is younger, but he is not more reliable than Hamilton and he actually has a much higher ceiling than Josh does, which is why he is thrown into any and all trade talks! He is a legitimate presence at 1B for the next 10 years and needs to be protected for the Reds to improve. Dunn moving to 1B does nothing for the Reds long term as anyone they would replace him with in LF would be a lesser player than Votto.
I would say the best thing they could've done in this situation would have been to trade Adam Dunn to a team for a solid #2 or #3 with less than 2 years of major league experience and a couple young players not quite household names yet! The goal is to trade young players that have value to other teams, but are still not known to the bulk of the fan base. Jeff Bagwell for instance was drafted by the Red Sox, but no one knows it and they don't get scrutinized for the trade because he was so young, but the Astros knew what they were getting.
I'm thinking a better trade for the Reds would've been to trade Dunn to the Dodgers for Chad Billingsley, Andre Ethier, and a prospect.
Another trade possibility for Dunn could've been the Royals with a request for Brian Bannister, Mark Teahen, and a prospect.
The Griffey deal would take something like Wladimir Balentien, Tony Butler, and Jose Vidro, with no money transfering hands. Vidro is due 8.5MM I believe and the Nationals are going to eat 2MM of that, so it would be 6.5MM going to the Reds to offset the 13MM minus deferred money for Griffey. Vidro would amount a platoon 1B/2B/3B with lots of pinch-hitting for pitchers, he would still get 300 or so ABs.
Posted by: BaseballGuru | January 26, 2008 at 04:00 PM
Good points Guru.
Volquez, I'm hoping, actually becomes a part of another deal for a better pitcher. The fact that the Rangers of all teams were willing to deal him scares me. My money's still on Blanton.
I too, think the Reds should and almost have to trade Dunn this year. They tried last year before the break hard, but couldn't make a match happen. Asking too much, I don't know, but I don't blame them. In the AL, for a team like the Angels with a bunch of righties, he do damage. Ownership heard at least what they had to pick up the option, but I still think this is a make or break first half for Dunn.
Good call on the Lee comparison. I'd love a one for one swap. The Texeira comparison just pisses me off. That, and people insisting he go to first. Tried that, he sucks. I read one NL personnel guy say he would be by far the worst in the league.
I personally think he'll be traded, and have my eye on the....yeah this is gonna sound nuts...the Twins. Krivsky knows them, they have pitching, and need offense no matter what side he swings from. I hope they keep Santana and stay in the race at least until the break.
I just don't see Jr. going anywhere. They owe him money for the next fifty years, so they might as well get some butts in seats for him. Right field did wonders for him, and he's still solid no matter what a lot of hater fans think.
I'm glad to see someone outside SW Ohio have something good to say about Votto. I've been following him for three years, and when I saw him hit that opposite field jack off Bucholz in the Futures Game I said...holy $hit this guys going to be good.
The Reds are up and coming, I really think. Just not quite in 08.
Posted by: bweav44 | January 26, 2008 at 09:36 PM
"I'm thinking a better trade for the Reds would've been to trade Dunn to the Dodgers for Chad Billingsley, Andre Ethier, and a prospect."
I am not sure if the Dodgers would even give up Ethier and a prospect for Dunn. They might, but the thought of throwing Billingsley on top of that is laughable to me. I wouldnt think that the Dodgers would even consider trading Bill straight up for Dunn.
Posted by: nrmax88 | January 27, 2008 at 12:11 AM
Its true the Twins need a bat but they wont trade for someone like Dunn. They dont need a $15 M per year guy. With the extensions of Morneau/Cuddyer they don't have the money for anyone but Santana.
Posted by: Bleacher_Buddha | January 27, 2008 at 01:06 AM
nrmax88, I don't normally call people out, but to say that my trade proposal for the Dodgers is laughable only shows your ignorance.
The only young pieces that they consider untouchable in L.A. are Jonathon Broxton, Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, and maybe Andy LaRoche. Chad Billingsley and Andre Ethier became expendable when they aquired Andruw Jones and Hiroki Kuroda.
In addition to Jones, they all ready have Juan Pierre and Matt Kemp, so bringing in Adam Dunn would force them to move two outfielders or ship out one outfielder and do a 3 or 4 man rotation between the corner outfield spots and 1B. Last season their lack of offense was the reason they missed the playoffs. We'll hit the three biggest offensive problems and go from there: One, their catcher was their best overall offensive threat, which means the success of the team falls on the shoulders of the guy that plays the most demanding position on the field. Two, their most prolific power hitter was an aging Jeff Kent who managed to beat out the catcher with all of 20 HRs. Third, everyone except Loney, Furcal, and Pierre are right-handed hitters and Ethier doesn't start in front of the current three outfielders of Pierre, Jones, and Kemp. Fourth and finally, their starting position players are all over-the-hill washouts (see Kent and Garciaparra), rediculously young (Kemp, Loney, Martin), or are non-impact players (Furcal, Pierre, and the jury is still out on Jones). While they have plenty of talent and Dunn isn't known for his leadership skills, there is one thing that he does bring to the table! He is the most consistent hitters in baseball. You know EXACTLY what you are going to get out of him every year and he never disappoints! When you have a team of young players who will be riding an emotional roller coaster the first few years of their career, it helps to have a player that gives you the same thing every season. The less variables that exist the more stable a team becomes at winning!
For pitching, the Dodgers have the biggest glut of starters in the league! They have 8 starters that are all more than capable of performing. The list includes Jason Schmidt, Brad Penny, Hiroki Kuroda, Chad Billingsley, Derek Lowe, Esteban Loaiza, Eric Stults, Hong-Chih Kuo, and they also have the wildcard of Clayton Kershaw, who is ready to make his appearance in the major leagues at some point this season!
If the Dodgers made the trade, their roster would look like this...
Starting Lineup
(S) Rafael Furcal SS
(R) Russell Martin C
(R) Matt Kemp RF
(L) Adam Dunn LF
(R) Andruw Jones CF
(R) Jeff Kent 2B
(L) James Loney 1B
(R) Nomar Garciaparra 3B
Bench
(R) Gary Bennett C
(L) Juan Pierre OF
(S) Tony Abreu INF
(R) Andy LaRoche 1B/3B/OF
(R) Jason Repko OF
Starters
Brad Penny - RHP
Derek Lowe - RHP
Jason Schmidt - RHP
Hiroki Kuroda - RHP
Clayton Kershaw - LHP
Bullpen
Takashi Saito - CL
Jonathon Broxton - SU
Scott Proctor - SU
Joe Beimel - Lefty
Yhency Brazoban - MR
DJ Houlton - MR/LR
Eric Stults - LR/2nd Lefty
I have a hard time believing that Billingsley and Ethier make it a better rotation/lineup and I bet the Dodgers GM would agree!
By the way, 40 HR hitters are as rare in the major leagues as pitching aces, so they have a little bit more trade value! Dunn is also still under 30 meaning he retains most of the trade value placed on the younger MLB players! Side note, Dunn also hasn't been injured except for in 2003, besides that year he has played uninjured in the last of 5 out of 6 seasons. This is fairly remarkable considering the number of injuries that occur in Cincinnati! Sure it's all hypothetical, but what evidence do you have to counter my defense of my statement?!?!
Posted by: BaseballGuru | January 27, 2008 at 04:49 AM
There was actually four points, but I was on a roll and didn't want to stop to correct myself. By the way, I'm not say that 40 HR guys have more trade value than pitchers, just that they have more trade value than say a guy like Dunn who strikes out 20 less times and only hits 25-30 HRs every season!
Look at Dunn's stat page and you'll see the most consistent numbers by any offensive player in the league. He may not have the BEST numbers, but they are the most CONSISTENT year-to-year! Over the last four years he has deviated less than 14 RBIs season by season, his OBP is a rediculous .001 difference from one year to the next, minus 2006, and all his other stats are exactly the same like 40 HRs in all of the last 3 seasons.
Posted by: BaseballGuru | January 27, 2008 at 04:57 AM
The big issue I've had with Dunn statistically is a lack of rbi production though.
Yes, he's a 100 run, 100 rbi guy, and yes I realize batting average and rbi's are two of the worst indicators of a guys ability. However, a guy who perennially hits 40 homeruns yet has a career high of just over 100 rbi's is kind of sad. Like I said earlier, he went more than a year without a sac fly. That's sad.
If the Twins don't sign Santana, anyone think they wouldn't sign an impact bat?
Posted by: bweav44 | January 27, 2008 at 12:06 PM
To answer your question about the Twins... I don't see them signing an impact bat off the free agent market anytime in the next few years! I think they'll extend out the rest of their core players to lock them in significantly below market value. Next off-season they will probably sign Young to a 5 or 6 year deal if he stays healthy, Mauer will get extended by another 4-years and my guess is that they feel they have a good enough line-up to compete and that pitching is the only thing worth paying premium price for, they would be right.
I understand your misgivings about the RBI total, but in all fairness, he has rarely been a 3 or 4 hole hitter and definitely not with a guy like Phillips hitting before him. In my previous comment above, I talked about their clean-up hitters the last couple seasons and that's partly to blame. Between the HRs that Phillips and Griffey hit, they cleared the bases 60 plus times, other times there just wasn't anyone on base, and the biggest point of all is that the more RBIs everyone else drives in, the less that are left for the rest of the lineup. I think it is less to do with his ability to drive in runs and more to do with the lineup he's in. Maybe with the break out year of Phillips and the solid season Griffey had, he'll finally be able to relax and let it come to him! I think in the next couple years, he'll make the jump to a 125 RBI guy, whether in Cincinnati or somewhere else.
Posted by: BaseballGuru | January 27, 2008 at 04:41 PM