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Odds and Ends: Holliday, Takahashi, Lincecum

By Tim Dierkes [November 12, 2008 at 4:00pm CST]

Links for Wednesday...

Richard Justice says the Astros should offer Andy Pettitte $7-8MM to come back.
Joe Christensen doesn't see Huston Street landing in Minnesota.
Larry Beinfest dismissed a "cyberspace rumor" that the Marlins are planning a run at Manny Ramirez.
Gordon Wittenmyer says the Cubs could fit both Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster into the payroll, and that the Peavy situation will be resolved first.
Today is the deadline for MLB.com's Free Agent Frenzy. You have until 4pm CST to submit your picks for 15 free agents. Here are my predictions from November 3rd...I would change the Furcal and Sheets ones for starters.
Who had the Matt Holliday scoop? SI.com's Jon Heyman broke the story, while Yahoo's Tim Brown was the first to name the players involved.
Holliday figures to be a three to six month rental for the A's. Over at FanGraphs, Dave Cameron takes a closer look at Carlos Gonzalez and Greg Smith. ESPN's Keith Law says the Rockies received a "fair return" for Holliday.
Athletics Nation suggests the A's sign Derek Lowe.
Ken Davidoff looks at the Yankees' seesawing philosophy.
Japanese southpaw Ken Takahashi intends to sign with an MLB club, and the Mets may be interested. Nikkan Sports says the Cubs, Padres, and Giants are also in on him.
River Ave. Blues looks ahead to Derek Jeter's next contract.
Andrew Baggarly reminds us that Tim Lincecum intends to go year to year.
ESPN's Buster Olney talked to one GM who expects "a whole lot of bargains" in late January, given the nation's economy.
Rany Jazayerli didn't like the Royals' acquisition of Mike Jacobs, but doesn't think it's the end of the world.
Braves GM Frank Wren on Jeff Francoeur: "We haven’t talked about him at all. It’s not to say that we wouldn’t."

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Comments

who cares about who came out with the holliday trade first. does who ever came out with it first get some money? or am i missing something

Posted by: allstarlineup | November 12, 2008 at 12:07 PM

I hope Hendry passes on Ken Takahashi. He's 39 and those numbers were unimpressive in Japan. We don't need a spot taken just to be Kosuke's buddy.

Posted by: studio179 | November 12, 2008 at 12:12 PM

Tim, what are you going to do until the free agency craziness officially starts? I'd recommend a tall glass of whiskey.

Posted by: Scottsdale01 | November 12, 2008 at 12:14 PM

The Yankees seesawing philosophy haha

At least someone points out the complete reversal in the front office approach.

Gotta nix that youth movement if you can't win a WS.

Posted by: Kenan and Kel | November 12, 2008 at 12:18 PM

"who cares about who came out with the holliday trade first. does who ever came out with it first get some money? or am i missing something"

Give credit where credit is due. The person who breaks a story gets more "street-cred" as a journalist which helps that individual out in to break further stories etc.

Posted by: mford | November 12, 2008 at 12:38 PM

With regard to who was first to get the Holliday trade story, it should be pointed out that consumers of news have been repeatedly polled on the subject and it just doesn't matter who got there first.

By the time the vast majority of people hear about a story, it's all over the place and being first doesn't matter, except to other reporters.

Posted by: nostocksjustbonds | November 12, 2008 at 12:57 PM

Jeter is going to turn into the second coming of Craig Biggio.

Posted by: cwilli | November 12, 2008 at 01:03 PM

On the Holliday trade, I actually think it wasn't a bad move for the A's.

How it works out remains to be seen but...

If they hit Cust 3rd as DH with Holliday 4th behind him, then both could have solid years.

Cust obviously strikes out a ton, but from a #3 hitter that is better then hitting into double-plays.

However, Cust also gets on base with the best of them which would mean Holliday could post big numbers hitting behind him.

Not to mention, with Holliday behind Cust, Cust should see a solid dose of fastballs that he can take out of the park.

If this works out the A's might have a solid 3-4 combo.

Posted by: baxter4218 | November 12, 2008 at 01:11 PM

Jeter is just another bloated contract given by the yankees. After 2010, id give him 3yrs 24mm to play 2B, hes clearly not a SS anymore...hasnt been the past 4-5 years. can you say overrated?

Posted by: clarknaddison | November 12, 2008 at 02:26 PM

Jack Cust hit for some obscene numbers in the minors year after year. What keeps a guy like that in the minors for so long? So far so good for his major league career as he has a career 131 OPS+.

Posted by: Teetz | November 12, 2008 at 02:26 PM

"Jack Cust hit for some obscene numbers in the minors year after year. What keeps a guy like that in the minors for so long?"

He was shuffled from organization to organization until the A's picked him up in 2007.

Although he did have a small stint in Oakland's minor league organization in 2005, then got shuffled elsewhere, and then was picked up by the A's again. I honestly don't know.

Freely available talent.

Posted by: melonis rex | November 12, 2008 at 03:10 PM

Cust's biggest problem has been his fielding. He was with the Diamondbacks for a brief stint to start, but his fielding kept him in a PH role only.

He moved to the Orioles, but again, they wanted an OF and Cust proved too clumsy for that role.

He went to the A's, then to the Padres. With the Padres, same thing again with no defense to his name, Cust had no chance in the NL.

A's picked him back up for nothing and finally slotted him into more of a DH only role.

(keep in mind, while all of this was going on, full time DH's had not yet hit the popular level created by David Ortiz...Jim Thome was still in the NL too)

Seeing that a DH only could help, Beane picked Cust back up.

When Cust had Frank Thomas in the lineup with him this past season, it was his most productive, so I think with the addition of Holliday, Cust stands a chance to really improve next year.

Plus, Holliday takes over in LF which means Cust doesn't need to pretend to try and play LF every once in a while like he did last year.

Posted by: baxter4218 | November 12, 2008 at 03:25 PM

cust is a flawed player w/ no position...but as a cheap DH that you dont have to hit #3-5 he's fine...just dont let him be the offense centerpiece which he's had to do for A's

Posted by: arly2380 | November 12, 2008 at 03:28 PM

"After 2010, id give him 3yrs 24mm to play 2B"

I'm not sure I could stomach him at 2B. Given that his arm is his best asset defensively, he'd be better used in the OF.

Posted by: Not Joe Morgan | November 12, 2008 at 04:15 PM

"I'm not sure I could stomach him at 2B. Given that his arm is his best asset defensively, he'd be better used in the OF."

Wonder if he could handle CF, i dont think his bat would justify a corner spot.

Posted by: clarknaddison | November 12, 2008 at 05:01 PM

Pettitte won't sign for $7 or $8m in Houston. No way.

Posted by: bjsguess | November 12, 2008 at 05:30 PM

I have a question. Not a regular viewer of A's games but just looking at their rotation; how in the world can they consider themselves serious contenders with Duch and a bunch of unproven arms? W/o smith they don't have a player with anywhere near 200 innings last year and Duch is their win leader with 10. Does this mean the A's are going to be serious contenders for FA arms this winter?

Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | November 12, 2008 at 08:10 PM

Just kind of another odd and end for the Giants. Giants GM was talking with Bob Howry's agent, not a rumor but speculation. What in the world would the Giants want with Howry?

heres the link by the way: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/05/SPPT13UPOQ.DTL

Posted by: ChiCubs12 | November 12, 2008 at 08:47 PM

@YanksFanSince78

A's can't think of themselves as a serious contender due to the exact fact that you've mentioned. The only decent pitching they have is Duchscherer and even then it's iffy because of his health concerns. Duchscherer even when healthy and a great run last season, I pencil him in as a solid #3 starter with great command of his stuff. So, they are about a 2 impact pitchers and a hitter away from being serious contenders. However I doubt they'll hit big on the FA as Beane & Co always try to get most out of what they have. I personally could go with Duke and Eveland starting (that's your #3 and #4), but with three other unproven/half proven (gio, gallagher, braden)starters? No. That line up is perfectly fine for a rebuilding team, which really what the A's are right now, but not as contenders.

Posted by: 510hope | November 12, 2008 at 10:47 PM

Lincecum is open to signing a contract after all.

http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_10968466

Posted by: kdub | November 13, 2008 at 04:05 PM

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Odds and Ends: Holliday, Takahashi, Lincecum

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