A few tidbits of note from what may be one of the more competitive and intriguing divisions in baseball in 2011 …
- White Sox slugger Adam Dunn suspects that his now-infamous war of words with then-Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi in 2008 hurt his value on the free-agent market that offseason, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. Dunn, of course, was traded from the Reds to the Diamondbacks in a post-deadline deal in 2008 and signed a modest two-year deal with the Nationals in the subsequent offseason. He reportedly was unwilling to be a full-time DH then, but when he hit free agency this offseason after two productive years in Washington, he had no such qualms, signing a nice four-year, $56MM deal with the South Siders.
- Indians right-hander Jason Knapp could "rocket up" next year's prospects lists if he's healthy this year and continues to polish up his raw talents, writes Jim Callis of Baseball America. It feels like a lifetime ago that the Indians acquired Knapp from the Phillies in the Cliff Lee deal, and it looks like Knapp may be Cleveland's last hope of salvaging a player with big upside from that swap. As Callis notes, Knapp has logged only 40 innings since the Tribe acquired him in 2009 due to injuries, but he's still only 21.
- Twins reliever Joe Nathan, recovering from Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2010, will have to prove that he's his old self before he returns to closing duty, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. “I don’t make any decisions until the end of spring training," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told Passan. "If [Nathan] comes back and throws like he did two years ago, he’ll probably be our closer." Of course, the Twins have a nice insurance policy in Matt Capps should Nathan not be ready. The Twins acquired Capps in a midseason trade last year and avoided arbitration with him this offseason, settling on a 2011 salary of $7.15MM.
why would dunn’s value have been hurt?? The only reputation hurt in that little incident was JP’s .
I could only imagine that Dunn thought that the little spat they had would make him seem like a tough person to get along with when it came to the front office. I can definitely see why he would think that because often times the full details of things like that aren’t released which means a lot gets left to the imagination.
Well there was also that whole worldwide economic meltdown that occurred right before he hit free agency.
Well I’m sure we could blame Riccardi for that one too.
Implications of the Vernon Wells signing?
-wtk
wow it seems like most of the returns from Cliff Lee deals aren’t panning out at all, even the trade mariners to texas had an issue (not regarding talent, but umm “rape” issues), and the potential deal with the yankees had 2B with an ankle issue. I just find that interesting.
Jason Knapp is Cleveland’s “last hope” in the Cliff Lee deal? Really, Dan? Not giving it much time are you. It may seem like a lifetime ago but Lee was only traded a year and half ago. Three of the four guys are already up with the big club and Carrasco is slated for the rotation this year after just being brought up last year. A little perspective, please.
Oh I know you didn’t reply to my post, but if that’s the case then I’ll admit my mistake. I don’t follow the Indians, and didn’t know the progress of their Cliff Lee haul, but point stands to certain degree to the other Lee deals. But they are irrelevant to this post now…
Either that or Dan doesn’t know what he’s talking about. 3 of the 4 minor league players Cleveland got from Philly are up in the majors already.
I don’t understand why Carlos Carrasco gets no love. Compare his numbers to Kyle Drabek whom all the sports writers fawn over. Knapp and Carrasco could turn out to be #1 and 2 in the Indian’s rotation. That’s not a good return for Lee?
I just don’t think Dan followed up. He saw the article on Knapp, couldn’t think of anyone else Cleveland got off the top of his head, and made his comment. That’s some good sportwriting.
Not with carmona in the rotation
Carl Everett Doesn’t Believe in Dinosars….