Links for Monday…
- FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi spoke to one executive who thinks the lack of open 40-man roster spots is inhibiting trades. There are only 28 open spots across the league, and more than half of the teams are maxed out.
- Chad Gaudin said he considered "a couple" of other teams before deciding to rejoin the A's, reports MLB.com's Jane Lee.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock reminds us that the Padres will have to remove someone from their 40-man roster before Opening Day to make room for Matt Stairs.
- The Rangers have a scout on hand to watch Mike Lowell play third base tonight, tweets ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes. This deal has to get done eventually, right?
- The Braves were concerned the Marlins would take Jason Heyward at #12 in the 2007 draft, writes Yahoo's Jeff Passan.
- Yu Darvish hinted for the first time that he might be willing to come to MLB, says Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. Newman passes along a Sponichi report in which Darvish said, "Well, I’m planning on climbing the ladder, step by step," when asked about moving to MLB one day. Newman notes that Darvish isn't close to free agency, so the Nippon Ham Fighters would have to post him.
- SI's Jon Heyman writes that the Mariners and Jarrod Washburn "are believed to remain apart on the dollars for a new deal."
- Brian Cashman and Johnny Damon met in person for the first time since Damon left the Yankees, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- MLB.com's Peter Gammons names six clubs that might be better than you think.
Washburn: I used to make $5m per year. That was great.
SEA: Yeah. I was reading the CBA the other day and came across a figure a lot closer to $400K. So how about, say, $400K?
Washburn: Yeah, $5m. Did I tell you about that call from the Twins? It was great. They’re all “Come pitch for us” and I’m all “No, not enough money.”
SEA: Sounds terrific. So, $400K then?
Washburn: I’ll get back to you…
I THINK I AM NOT AS SMART AS I WAS BEFORE I READ THIS
Hard to drop below zero.
CrisE has it more or less nailed, but they’re gonna have to toss Washburn some sort of a bone.
thats crazy how the marlins could of had heyward and then stanton in the same draft!!! wow what could of been huh…
every other team that picked ahead of the braves in that draft are thinking the same thing
Maybe except the Rays (David Price) and Orioles (Matt Wieters)
stanton was picked in the second round… nearly every team is kicking themselves for that one too…
And if the Padres had a crystal ball in 2004 they could have drafted Justin Verlander, Dustin Pedroia, Adam Lind, Lou Marson, and Mark Lowe in the first five rounds. I never understand the hindsight articles of “this team could have had…” because the draft for lack of a better word is a crapshoot. 13 teams could have had Heyward… likewise 25 teams could be saying “damn, why didn’t we spend the money to get Porcello.”
the mets say that almost every draft…
the padres knew all those players were high potential talent but the front office wouldn’t dish the money.
In defense of some, Dustin Pedroia more or less flew under the radar. The reason he wasn’t first round was because a lot of scouts thought he’d never hit at a major league level. The point is even with perfect scouting and the intent to draft the best available players, it’s still a guessing/gambling game. You can spend top dollar on players who’ll never pan out ($3.1M signing bonus to Bush) and you can give a guy like Pujols a $60k.
yeah you’re right the draft needs a slot cap and not just recommendations
How about the Royals passing on…
Ryan Braun
Denard Span
Jason Heyward
Albert Pujols
Evan Longoria
Carl Crawford
Brett Anderson
Nick Markakis
Andre Ethier
Gordon Beckham
Jonathan Papelbon
Matt Kemp
Yunel Escobar
Domonic Brown
Jeremy Hellickson
Tony Gwynn
and more…
Every team has passed on tons of players but the reality of that is how teams never know what they will get. This situation refers to the competition in the NL East and how it’s so obvious that the Braves go for hometown players. Since that’s the case I don’t understand why the Marlins, Nationals, Mets (well…), and Phillies don’t try to stop that by getting the kids from Georgia. Obviously they’ve had success more times than not with Wainwright, Heyward, and Francoeur.
The draft is particullary special because you never can figure out who will be a bust or not. Hec, Clay Condery was picked in the 94th round and Kyle Sleeth was picked 4th overall. I did a blog on how the 2008 draft 2nd round impacted Major League Baseball already.
In some seasons there are great drafts (1985, 2005, and 2008) whereas the 2006 draft wasn’t the best.
Please stop bringing up “The Royals missed Albert Pujols.” It is an absolutely awful argument when you consider he was drafted in the 13th round. As for Carl Crawford, he was the first pick of the second round, you could say a lot of teams missed that golden opportunity. And hell, even if you could go back in time and change everything, some players thrive under different coaches
You are right. But I was really trying to make my point about the Marlins and the rest of the NL East.
To be fair on the Royals drafting Pujols slight, Albert was from a Kansas City High School and a Kansas City Junior College, they probably could have looked into him better than anyone else. The draft is such a huge luck game though, look at Tommy Hanson in the 22nd round, or even Mike Piazza in the 62nd round, sometimes you get a Tommy Hanson late, sometimes you get a Kris Benson early.
If he was drafted early then I’d buy the arguement. But again, 13th round for the guy who is on pace to be considered one of the best of the best.
Anyone who thought the Rockies weren’t good needs to have their head examined.
hmm I wonder what caused darvish to change his mind on the MLB.
probably seeking greener grounds.
He’ll be a Kansas City Royal!
what’s the deal with you thinking everyone will be a royal?? is there some joke i’m missing??!
Gammons may have something by mentioning the Reds in his teams to watch out for.
I’ve had the chance to watch them a few times in Spring Training and they have impressed me.
Top contender? of course not…but they are better than I gave them credit for just a few months ago.
“Top contender? of course not”
They are certainly a contender.
The Reds now remind me of the Detroit Lions of the early 2000’s. Every analyst in the pre-season kept saying how good they were going to be and that they were going to be serious contenders. I’m not buying it. Their rotation does not scare me one bit, especially with Volquez hurt. Outside of Votto and Rolen, their offense is as inconsistent as they come, and Votto has seemed to always find a way to get hurt. With Dusty at the helm, you know he will let those veterans stay out there no matter how bad they are swinging the bat or pitching in late inning situations.
Suppan for Lowell??
Rangers and Lowell = Brewers and Mark Mulder 2.0?
Am I crazy to think that Washburn to Seattle isn’t going to serve it’s purpose unless it’s done real soon, like tomorrow. The idea is to have some proven pitching in their rotation yet signing Washburn on or after Opening Day seems to me to be self-defeating as he most likely won’t be ready until after Lee is ready to return…
Just a thought.
Jeff Suppan – Proving since 2007 that “innings eaters”, “proven veterans” and “knowing how to win” are all bullshit. Milwaukee got a 29-34 record with an era near 5 during the first three years of his overpriced contract when they could have brought up their best minor leaguer every year and probably gotten better production. Suppan’s contract is the product of another time but that doesn’t negate the fact that it’s simply ridiculous.
I don’t know, can it really get too far past $50-60 mil? The Red Sox ended up spending over $100 mil to get six years of Dice-K, and I imagine they’d take that back if they could.
Are you referring to all the zeros after it’s converted to Yen?
Darvish is off to a bad start this season. 0-1 2.40 ERA but does have 24 K in 15 IP
If that’s a bad start I hate to know what Sydney Ponson’s numbers are considered.
While I agree that the Red Sox paid well above market value for Dice K’s production, I’m not convinced that they would take the deal back if they could. I’m not sure how much Boston media you get, but in his first two years Dice-K was constantly praised for how much revenue he was able to generate due to new Japanese interest in the Red Sox. Some even credit Dice-K’s signing with landing Okajuma and Tazawa. Without knowing exactly how much Dice-K has brought in dollar wise from the Japanese/Asian markets, it’s hard to make a definitive call. But, his value to the Red Sox likely transcends his disappointing MLB career thus far.
Given Dice-K’s relatively poor showing in the sates, I would be surprised if the Japanese would get as excited about the club that might sign Darvish. I suspect that organizations will be wary of Dice-K’s price tag vs. production when they consider bringing another superstar Japanese pitcher to their club. In the foreseeable future, I can’t imagine a team posting $50 million for a Japanese pitcher of any kind, but that’s just me.
“Given Dice-K’s relatively poor showing in the sates.”
I know’s he had his problems, but is a 37-21 record and 4.00 ERA really a poor showing? Not to mention some solid post-season stats including a crucial World Series win in 2007. I guess if you think of him as having a $100 million contract then it’s a poor showing. But, like you mentioned, the cost of that contract has likely already been recouped in extra revenue and in the way it put Boston on the map big time in the Asian baseball world.