Links from around the majors, as Manny Ramirez takes on one of his former teams and the regular season draws one day closer…
- Doug Davis, who will throw for teams in Arizona on Thursday, is “getting a lot of interest,” agent Steve Canter told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. Canter declined to list interested teams, but GM Doug Melvin says we shouldn’t expect a reunion with the Brewers.
- Daric Barton switched agents to Dan Lozano, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law (on Twitter). Brian Wilson, Kurt Suzuki, Brett Wallace and Jason Repko recently did the same. To keep up to date on each agency's client list, check out our new Agency Database.
- UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole sits atop Law's revised list of top 2011 draft prospects. For more on Cole and other top draft eligible amateurs, check out our Draft Prospect Q&A series.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs is surprised that more teams aren’t interested in Kevin Slowey, who has proven himself as a back-of-the-rotation starter.
I don’t see why the yankees don’t do what it takes to get this guy. Have things changed or do they still think that one of Colon, Garcia or Mitre will be a viable starter in that rotation?? I think all three are gonna get SHELLED every fifth game.
Colon has been money for them all spring.
It’s spring training. Would you be comfortable having him in your teams rotation?? I wouldn’t!! I’d be freakin out.
Slowey stats this spring > Colon’s stats oh and Slowey is super young and under team control through 2014 but yeah stick with the revival of old man colon.
so we should give up prospects for a pitcher who’d probably get shelled having to pitch regularly in yankees stadium than a stopgap for 1 year who’s only job is to keep us in the game? I’d rather pass on slowey see how far colon takes us if good year great and find someone next offseason, or w.e. slowey isn’t the answer.
btw don’t make a comment about how spring training doesn’t show how good a pitcher is, but then right after state how the guy you like is having a better spring training…just saying
The Twins should trade Slowey for prospects/ relievers, put Baker in the #5 spot until mid-April to open a space up for Gibson (so his free agency is delayed a year). Baker then becomes a long-relief guy, and Gibson can adjust to major league hitting.
(applauding you for posting the obvious.)
that’s what they are doing.
Yes. Please draft Cole, Pirates.
That’s the only team of the top 3 whom I wish success upon.
I also don’t understand the apparent lack of interest in Slowey. Granted, he doesn’t strike out a lot of hitters, but he almost never issues a walk and other than a bit of an issue with the long ball I can’t see much to fault here. Seems like a very solid option for a lot of teams in the #5 rotation spot.
I would say that there is a good amount of interest until the Twins tell them what they’re looking for in return…that’s when there becomes a problem.
Excellent point. The Twins do have a reputation for being difficult to deal with and a tad unreasonable. Then again, how many teams ever make it through a season with their regular rotation getting much more than 80% of its scheduled starts? Slowey certainly provides some quality insurance there.
I can understand why they would want more than his value though. Baker and Blackburn are coming back from injuries, Gibson might not take on MLB hitters well and we won’t see him until May anyway (most likely), and other than Slowey the next guys that would have to step up if there was an injury to the rotation are Manship, Perkins, and Swarzak…not really a good backup plan.
Deals I hope they would be pursuing (reasonable or not):
-Slowey and a low-level prospect to Pirates for Joel Hanrahan.
-Slowey to Marlins for Leo Nunez.
-Slowey to Yankees for Joba Chamberlain.
Says who? The Twins may have a reputation for not making a lot of trades, preferring to draft and promote together with a second tier free agent here and there. Rather than being “difficult to deal with”, they are an organization often cited as one of the best and have a reputation for doing things the right way given the size of their market. They are usually ranked at or near the top of “best run organizations”.
As for “tad unreasonable”, that seems to come from fans of a few teams who expect the Twins and other smaller or mid-market teams to accept in trade whatever package they deem “fair” or “reasonable”. All MLB general managers tend to be a “tad unreasonable” when other GM’s try to acquire their talent for less then what they think is a “reasonable” return.