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Odds and Ends: LaRoche, Bradley, Burnett

By Tim Dierkes [September 15, 2008 at 7:20pm CST]

Digging into today's random links...

Joel Sherman looks at what went wrong for the Yankees this year. Did they fall too in love with their farm system?
At least six teams have called the Pirates about third baseman Andy LaRoche in recent weeks. If LaRoche pans out and Pedro Alvarez comes aboard, the Bucs could have a surplus at some point.
Craig Harris examines the rise of D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes.
Eddie Bajek updated the Elias rankings for the AL 1B/OF/DH category. They're fluctuating wildly. Eddie also did catchers for both leagues; Ivan Rodriguez is headed into Type B territory. Gregg Zaun lost Type B status.
Mike Hindman conducted a roundtable asking what kind of contract the Rangers should offer Milton Bradley.
29 teams passed on Rays reliever Grant Balfour last spring. Now he has a 1.62 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 50 innings. Balfour's been through a lot.
Joe McDonald and Sean McAdam don't see the Red Sox signing A.J. Burnett (or any big-name free agent starter).
Padres CEO Sandy Alderson scoffed at the idea of a $40MM payroll for '09. I never heard that figure tossed around; Buster Olney suggested the $50MM range.
Maury Brown heard a rumor that Thomas Ricketts won the bid for the Cubs.

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Comments

Three of the six Andy LaRoche teams are probably the A's, Twins, and White Sox. Just my guess.

If there's one trade that's either going to elevate Byrnes to "godly" status or sink him, its the Haren trade. If Anderson, Carter, and Cunningham become everyday MLB players and Eveland and Smith continue as quality 4/5 starters, this could look ugly. If any of those players become stars, oh no.

Posted by: melonis rex | September 15, 2008 at 08:12 PM

Being a Brewers fan, I got to see Balfour pitch firsthand when they claimed him off waivers at the end of 2007. Let's just say he sucked. That's putting it nicely. I'm glad to see he turned it around though.

Posted by: keehno | September 15, 2008 at 08:12 PM

"Three of the six Andy LaRoche teams are probably the A's, Twins, and White Sox. Just my guess."

I like that guess. I do think the White Sox might be a bit too much pressure for him. I think he needs a less pressure packed place to develop, and both the A's and Twins are that. Perhaps too he could go to the O's if they find a way to move Mora, or even if they find a way to move Roberts and put LaRoche at 2B.

Posted by: AA | September 15, 2008 at 10:29 PM

I'm a little puzzled by the Balfour comment. Of course everyone passed on him because his stats prior to this season were those of a AAAA middle reliever. He was pretty awful, and it's not like the Rays "saw through his performance" or something... they picked up a guy who they thought could mop up and add a little depth to what used to be the worst bullpen in baseball last year. They got LUCKY, and if you ask me, so did Balfour when they decided to sign him.

Anyway, I hope for his sake he keeps it up since I like seeing guys succeed who have put in the time even beyond the point where most people would have walked away. Props to Balfour... he's earned it.

Posted by: FineHamAbounds | September 15, 2008 at 11:28 PM

$40 million definitely was tossed around for the Padres' payroll next year. There was a link on here to the story in the Union Tribune with that rumor. It's kind of funny to read through the comments and see people taking the rumor as gospel truth.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/08/padres-to-slash.html

Posted by: genericpadsfan | September 16, 2008 at 01:11 PM

I have a feeling that the pads leaked the $40 mil number so that the $50 mil number won't seam as bad... still a $25 mil cut in payroll...but hey I dont think they can be any worse next year!

Posted by: Steve | September 16, 2008 at 01:19 PM

genericpadsfan ????
aren't all padres fans - just by association - essentially 'generic' !!!

Posted by: crash | September 16, 2008 at 01:25 PM

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