Casey Blake Rumors

Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Torre, Wang, Wright

A night without baseball just doesn't feel right... ESPN's Buster Olney wonders if the "legal wrangling" caused by the McCourts' divorce could affect the Dodgers attempt to land a No. 1 starter this offseason. Within the same piece, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus notes that the prospects traded in deals for Casey Blake and George Sherrill have thinned out LA's system, meaning they might not have the ammo to pull off a major trade. Meanwhile, Phil Wood of MASNsports.com writes that a source told him they believe Joe Torre will manage the Dodgers for years to come. "When push comes...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Full Count Video: Dodgers, DeRosa, Cubs, Managers, General Managers

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive right on in... Southpaws Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw are likely to start the first two games of the playoffs for the Dodgers, but Kershaw must recover from his dislocated non-throwing shoulder first. The back-to-back lefties would be a big advantage if LA played the lefthanded hitter heavy Phillies. Rosenthal also mentions that the Cardinals, despite being so righty heavy, have the second lowest team OPS (.675) against lefthanded pitchers in the National League. Hiroki Kuroda would likely start game three for the Dodgers, followed by...   Continue Reading

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Gammons' Latest: Iglesias, Magglio, Valentine

In his latest blog post at ESPN, Peter Gammons writes that the NL West has quietly become very competitive thanks to three California pitcher's parks that make it such a pitching dominated division. Through the help of scouts and team executives, he points out all the great young talent in the division, highlighted by the likes of Ubaldo Jimenez, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Pablo Sandoval, Troy Tulowitzki, and Mark Reynolds. Here's a roundup of Gammons' rumors... Gammons jokes that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti "could be arrested for shoplifting," because in the last two seasons...   Continue Reading

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Wigginton Too Pricey For Twins?

According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: The Twins like Ty Wigginton but believe he's looking for a bigger contract than the three-year, $17.5 million deal the Los Angeles Dodgers gave Casey Blake. So the Twins have had little to no dialogue with Wigginton's agent, Dan Lozano. I had Wigginton pegged for two years and $12MM or so, but he is four years younger than Blake and outhit him in 2008 (though he had 172 fewer plate appearances and was largely aided by Minute Maid Park). If Wiggy can really get a better contract than Blake, it would've made...   Continue Reading

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Dodgers Sign Casey Blake

8:55pm: There's also a club option for a fourth year. 7:51pm: Tony Jackson says it's $17.5MM over three years for Blake. TUESDAY, 12:28pm: ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Dodgers have reached an agreement with Blake for three years and slightly more than $17.1MM. The Twins apparently offered two years, $14MM. He adds that Mark Loretta's deal is for one year and $1.25MM. MONDAY, 11:09pm: Jackson has Colletti saying there's no agreement in place, and they'll meet again with Blake's agent Tuesday. Ken Rosenthal says a three-year, $17MM deal is close. 9:47pm: Jayson Stark says the Dodgers are inching toward a...   Continue Reading

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Manny, Lowe, Blake Decline Arb Offers

11:31pm: Type A free agents Manny Ramirez and Derek Lowe also declined arbitration, according to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News. The Dodgers will get two picks for each if they sign elsewhere. 10:32pm: According to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, Type B free agent Casey Blake turned down the Dodgers' offer of arbitration as expected. The Dodgers stand to gain a draft pick if he signs elsewhere. Blake received a few two-year offers but aims for three.   Continue Reading

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Stark's Latest: Dye, Greinke, Teixeira

Jayson Stark's Winter Meetings preview is up; let's take a look. Stark sees "just about zero chance" the Padres trade Jake Peavy at the Meetings. The Cubs will need at least a few weeks to settle their ownership situation before they can make a trade and take on his contract. Plus, a Stark source says it makes sense for the Padres to wait until the top free agent starters are off the board. The Braves, Reds, Royals, Rays, and possibly Mets have shown interest in Jermaine Dye. Dye played for the Royals from 1997-2001 before he was traded for Neifi...   Continue Reading

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Thin Market for Furcal

3:07pm: There's a great debate going on in the comments about whether the Twins could swoop in and make an offer to Furcal now that they've pulled out of negotiations with Casey Blake. I do wonder if word that the A's and Furcal couldn't come to terms precipitated the sudden split between the Twins and Blake. Certainly, Tim saw a good fit between the Twins and Furcal back in October, and Furcal is four years younger than Blake -- but still, I think Furcal's monetary demands are pretty steep. No official Twins-Furcal rumors yet, but if anything comes in in...   Continue Reading

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Stark's Latest: Burnett, Cantu, Lowe, Furcal

Jayson Stark's got a heaping helping of hot stove updates in his most recent blog post at ESPN.com. The Braves' most recent offer makes them the frontrunners for A.J. Burnett, says Stark. We're still waiting for another team to come close to the Yankees' offer for C.C. Sabathia. Stark suggests Sabathia may make up his mind by next week. He also says there's "increasing buzz about the Yankees' interest in Ben Sheets." The White Sox appear to have expressed some interest in Jorge Cantu. Stark doesn't think the Phillies stand a very good chance of signing Derek Lowe. Only the...   Continue Reading

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Dodgers Starting With Infield

More from Ken Rosenthal. The FOX hot stove guru says the Dodgers plan to sort out their infield before worrying about starting pitching. They can use Blake DeWitt at second or third, but that still leaves them two infielders short. Casey Blake is the obvious free agent fit at the hot corner; maybe the Dodgers will stretch and give him that third year. If they miss out on Blake they could always go for Joe Crede. It doesn't sound like Ned Colletti plans to sign any of the top three free agent shortstops, while talks have stalled for Jack Wilson....   Continue Reading

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