Bill Bavasi Rumors
GM Trade Histories: AL West
Brendan Bianowicz has one more big update to our GM Trade History Series. Check out the AL West spreadsheets below for GM information on trades, free agent signings, and more.
- Texas Rangers - Jon Daniels
- Seattle Mariners - Bill Bavasi and Jack Zduriencik
- Oakland Athletics - Billy Beane
- Los Angeles Angels - Tony Reagins
Odds and Ends: Mariners, Jeter, Penny
Links for Wednesday...
- With the top three free agent closers off the market, the Brewers maintain interest in Trevor Hoffman.
- The Orioles' Mark Hendrickson signing is official - he gets $1.5MM plus incentives.
- McCovey Chronicles evaluates some corner infield options for the Giants.
- Geoff Baker asks whether Bill Bavasi will be vindicated at all if the Mariners contend in 2009.
- Japanese pitcher Takateru Iyono is aiming to sign with an MLB club. Also, Taiwanese pitcher Fu-Te Ni has an offer from an East Coast team.
- All of Jeff Passan's Hot Stove Daily pieces are good reads. Here's his Marlins one.
- Murray Chass questions the oft-cited "$88.5MM coming off the books" figure for the Yankees.
- Bob Klapisch asks: how does the Mark Teixeira signing affect Derek Jeter's future with the Yankees?
- Buster Olney says the D'Backs "took a serious run" at Brad Penny before he signed with Boston.
Reds Hire Bill Bavasi
The Reds just put out a press release to announce the hiring of former Angels and Mariners GM Bill Bavasi. Bavasi will serve as a special assistant to Walt Jocketty.
The Mariners fired Bavasi on June 17th. He had a track record of questionable personnel moves for the Ms.
Odds and Ends: Fujikawa, Inge, Haren, Jacque
Today's collection of links...
- SI.com's Jon Heyman does not believe Omar Minaya's job is in jeopardy.
- New blog to check out: NPB Tracker. Patrick's goal is to provide a reliable source of information on Japanese leagues to an American audience. He's already got a name for us to watch: reliever Kyuji Fujikawa. He'd like to be posted, but that's up to the Hanshin Tigers.
- Brandon Inge is up for full-time catching in '09, even if it's not his preference.
- The D'Backs discussed an extension with Dan Haren, but talks broke off. They could rekindle. He's signed cheaply through 2010 already.
- The Tigers would've been interested in Barry Bonds if they didn't have Gary Sheffield, according to Jim Leyland.
- Jacque Jones has cleared waivers but hasn't decided whether to accept a minor league assignment from the Marlins.
- RotoAuthority looks at Chase Headley from a fantasy perspective.
- Pretty interesting comments from Bill Bavasi on Erik Bedard. Watch video of Bavasi's press conference here.
Bill Bavasi Fired
4:30pm: Darrin Beene chronicled all of Bavasi's transactions - check it out here.
2:10pm: The Mariners fired Bill Bavasi today. According to the press release, "Vice President/Associate General Manager Lee Pelekoudas will take over as the interim General Manager." Pelekoudas will be a candidate in the team's permanent GM search.
I'm not going to list off Bavasi's mistakes here; we all know he did a poor job. Looking forward, you have to wonder if Pelekoudas will be more willing to trade Erik Bedard than Bavasi would've been. He could also move quickly to release Richie Sexson. Geoff Baker believes a housecleaning is much more likely now.
Bill Bavasi's Job Secure
Yesterday, Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said the team had no discussions about bringing in a new GM or manager. For now, Bill Bavasi and John McLaren's jobs are secure despite the team owning the worst record in baseball. John Hickey says Bavasi will explore the trade market but doesn't expect much. Reds beat writer Hal McCoy again made the point yesterday that Ken Griffey Jr. won't be dealt.
A summary of Bavasi's offseason moves:
- Selected R.A. Dickey in the Rule 5 draft.
- Sent Ben Broussard to Texas for Tug Hulett.
- Signed Carlos Silva to a four-year deal.
- Signed Miguel Cairo, Chris Reitsma, Arthur Rhodes, Horacio Ramirez, Greg Norton, and Brad Wilkerson.
- Traded Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler for Erik Bedard.
The much-criticized Silva signing looked fine in April, terrible in May. Bedard's injury and ineffectiveness couldn't have been predicted. Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Batista weren't supposed to be this bad. Aside from a slow start by Kenji Johjima, the hitters have played to expectations.
The player most likely to be traded a month or two from now is Raul Ibanez. He's earning $5.5MM this year, his last before free agency.
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