David Wells Rumors

Crasnick On Remaining Free Agents

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick examines the status of nine free agents: Sammy Sosa, Kenny Lofton, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Cirillo, Royce Clayton, Steve Finley, Freddy Garcia, David Wells, and Damian Miller. Lofton is likely to find a job; he's healthy and played reasonably well last year. The Cubs still might be a fit. Seems that Garcia probably won't reach a big league mound until September; auditioning for teams may take place in July. Miller received calls from the Yankees and Padres, but he's still taking a Brewers or nothing stance.   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Griffey, Baek, German, Wells

Here's today's link collection. Hal McCoy seems fairly certain that Ken Griffey Jr. will play out the season with the Reds. Dejan Kovacevic has heard that the Pirates are torn between Pedro Alvarez and Tim Beckham at #2. Cha Seung Baek has been DFA'd, and this time he might be claimed. He could have a career as a fifth starter somewhere. John Brattain explains why he feels teams are colluding against Barry Bonds. The Rangers DFA'd reliever Franklyn German; Evan Grant explains why. The Indians claimed reliever Oneli Perez from the White Sox. Baseball America says the six-fingered pitcher has...   Continue Reading

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Odds And Ends: Benitez, David Wells, Delgado

And for my first trick: My very first Odds and Ends. The Toronto Star's aptly named Blue Jays blog reports the team placed Vernon Wells on the 15-day DL, and they expect him to be out six to eight weeks after fracturing his left wrist during Friday night's game. The Jay's also placed reliever Jeremy Accardo on the 15-day DL with a strained right forearm. As replacements, the Jays will call up infielder Joe Inglett and veteran hurler Armando Benitez. With Wells out, do the Jays re-enter the Barry Bonds speculation market? David Wells in Pinstripes? No deal says Joe...   Continue Reading

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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Wells, Griffey, Olney, Tavarez, Edmonds

A lot of links today, so let's get to what is being said about some trade and signing possibilities in the Blogosphere... The Darth Boss George Brigade wants Hank Steinbrenner to sign David Wells to prove that Hank is indeed his father's son. River Ave. Blues says the Yankees are too smart to sign Wells and then goes on to list about 87 pitchers that should be given a shot in the Highlanders' rotation before Wells. Redlegs Rant feels that Ken Griffey Jr. is behind the recent stories that speculate on him being traded. Mariners Central speculates on some of...   Continue Reading

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David Wells A Possibility For Yankees?

Mike Puma of the New York Post has comments from free agent lefty David Wells and Hank Steinbrenner indicating a third tour with the Yankees is possible. Boomer's interest is obvious, while Steinbrenner seems intrigued. Before Brian Cashman gets involved and discussions occur, the Yankees will see how Darrell Rasner and Kei Igawa fare. Wells had some choice words for Joe Torre, so don't expect him back in L.A. How does Wells stack up with Rasner and Igawa, according to Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projection system? Wells - 4.80 Igawa - 5.15 Rasner - 5.24 Not much of a difference in...   Continue Reading

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Gammons' Latest: Crisp, Piazza, Wells

ESPN's Peter Gammons has a new blog post up. Peter Angelos might put the kibosh on any Brian Roberts trade. The Red Sox apparently wouldn't mind shipping Coco Crisp to the Cubs for Sean Gallagher and another prospect. The Sox might hope Crisp is the Cubs' backup plan to Roberts. Gammons says Tommy Lasorda suggested the Dodgers consider Mike Piazza as a backup catcher; they are not interested. It would've been fun to see Piazza finish his career in L.A. Another free agent, David Wells, "hasn't gotten a sniff from any team." It's only April 23rd, so desperation hasn't quite...   Continue Reading

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Stark's Latest: Bonds, Howard, Vargas

ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new Rumblings and Grumblings up; let's take a look. Stark surveyed execs from three teams about why Barry Bonds remains unemployed. They provided the answers you'd expect, and collusion isn't one of them. One of the team officials believes a major injury to one of the 14 DHs could very well result in a Bonds signing. Related note: Gary Sheffield just tore a tendon in his finger. Meanwhile, Joel Sherman speculates that Bonds would be a nice match with the Blue Jays. There are signs that Ryan Howard wants an unprecedented contract - he won't...   Continue Reading

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Angels In Need Of Another Arm?

At the end of his most recent column Ken Rosenthal posits a nightmare scenario for the Angles, going back to 2001 when the Mariners cracked out to a 20-4 start to seize the AL West crown before May Day. With John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar on the shelf for at least 4-6 weeks, should the Angels be concerned going into 2008? Is a move to pick up an extra starter in order? The team is looking at filling 14-16 starts. With a surplus of outfielders the Angels are certainly in position to make a move. They could opt for a...   Continue Reading

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Perrotto's Latest: Giles, Crisp, Wells

John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus has some hot stove tidbits to consider in his Sunday column. Perrotto notes that Jeff Baker's success this spring for the Rockies could lead to a trade of Marcus Giles. Baker is hitting .316/.350/.579 in a 19 AB sample. Giles is at .385/.500/.615 in 13 ABs (yes, it seems silly to be talking about these stats). Giles hasn't hit much since '05, so I doubt he'd bring anything in return. Perrotto says the Padres are "considering trying to trade for Coco Crisp." However, Tom Krasovic wrote on Friday that the Padres pursuing Crisp was doubtful...   Continue Reading

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David Wells Denied By Cardinals

David Wells' agent, Gregg Clifton, reached out to the Cardinals recently to see if his client could assist them with their early season rotation uncertainty. It's been said that Boomer, 44, is looking to make about 20 starts this year. He earned $3MM in '07. Derrick Goold says the Cardinals prefer their in-house options over Wells. What does PECOTA have to say about this? David Wells - 4.55 ERA Anthony Reyes - 4.32 ERA Brad Thompson - 4.29 ERA Todd Wellemeyer - 4.39 ERA Seems the Cardinals are on track with this one. I'm sure they'd be ecstatic to get...   Continue Reading

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Cards Eyeing Weaver, Colon

With the price of free agent starting pitching dropping by the day and Matt Clement looking questionable, it's only natural that the Cardinals would explore the market. Indeed, John Mozeliak is looking at Jeff Weaver and Bartolo Colon. Seems that Impacto Deportivo may have been misinformed on the whole Colon-to-Chicago thing. Weaver seems the smarter option for a team looking for healthy innings. If nothing else, Weaver can provide that. Something tells me he's not getting $8MM this time around. His most recent success was in St. Louis, so maybe Dave Duncan can guide him to a league average season....   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Kendall, Crisp, Gagne

I'm back in the swing of things, kind of. We're still living out of boxes, but I've got a laptop and I'm digging into all the rumors I missed. Joe did a great job the last couple of days. Be sure to visit his Yankees blog, River Ave. Blues. On to today's random rumors... I'm hearing that Jason Kendall could be a fallback for the Mets if they can't pry Ramon Hernandez loose from the Orioles. The Blue Jays have about $4MM to spend, and J.P. Ricciardi likes the idea of Michael Barrett splitting time behind the plate with Gregg...   Continue Reading

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Boston Globe Trade Rumors

Aside from the aforementioned Roger Clemens tidbit, Nick Cafardo's recent Boston Globe column is packed with interesting info. A brief summary follows. Cafardo believes the Red Sox will add one more reliever and then sort out the closer situation in spring. The Cordero, Lidge, and Gonzalez talks didn't go anywhere. The idea of returning to Jon Papelbon, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense and isn't out of the question. Failing that, Julian Tavarez could be the favorite. Shaky alternatives (Brendan Donnelly, Mike Timlin, Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen) abound. A source told Cafardo that Matt Clement wants to..   Continue Reading

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D'Backs Interested In Mulder, David Wells

Something broken, something old. According to the Arizona Republic, the D'Backs have made an offer to free agent Mark Mulder. Additionally, they may try to coax David Wells out of retirement. At this point, Wells on a one-year deal for less than $10MM sounds reasonable. This ain't 2005 anymore. Boomer turns 44 in May, but he might be able to provide 180 league average innings. His pinpoint control isn't going anywhere. Mulder could actually prefer a one-year deal, as a way of maximizing his earnings. Whatever the offer was, it did not include incentives. What would it take - $7MM..   Continue Reading

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Trade To Padres Likely For David Wells

As you well know, the Padres are the frontrunners to acquire David Wells by midnight tonight. The name that's been bandied about is catcher George Kottaras. Keep an eye on tonight's 7:05 contest between the Portland Beavers and the Fresno Grizzlies to see whether Kottaras starts for the Beavers. If not, he's probably the guy. He went 0 for 4 last night. According to the Boston Globe, the Dodgers could have Wells if they would step in with one of Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, or James Loney. Here's the tricky part. Based on info from a Steve Phillips article a..   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Ask For Matt Kemp In David Wells Deal

According to both the Boston Herald and the Los Angeles Daily News, the Red Sox have asked for 21 year-old outfielder Matt Kemp in exchange for David Wells. Tony Jackson of the L.A. paper actually suggests that the Red Sox requested a package of prospects including Kemp. As in, more than just Kemp. Jackson states that the request "probably makes the deal impossible unless Boston general manager Theo Epstein reduces his asking price." That's an understatement. Six years of Matt Kemp for a month or two of David Wells? That'd be even worse than two or three months of an..   Continue Reading

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Red Sox May Trade David Wells

Buster Olney has the word: the Red Sox are shopping southpaw David Wells. The 43 year-old has a deserved reputation as a big game pitcher, and any contender would love to have him. Olney speculates that the Mets, Twins, D'Backs, Padres, Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals, A's, and Reds could get involved. I suppose the White Sox, Giants, or even the Marlins could be interested as well. Did you know Florida is just two games out of the wild card? UPDATE: Padres, Dodgers, and Cards are frontrunners according to Nick Cafardo   Continue Reading

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Olney: Waiver Trade Candidates

In case you missed it, Buster Olney posted a list of players who have passed through waivers and can be traded to any team before Thursday's deadline. Here's the list: David Wells Shawn Chacon Jae Seo Sidney Ponson Bruce Chen Jeromy Burnitz Jeff Conine Jay Payton Bobby Kielty Reggie Sanders Luis Matos Jay Gibbons Geoff Jenkins Gabe Kapler There are some truly awful players on that list. But there are also some solid guys who are there simply because they make too much money for what they've done this year. Wells and Gibbons are the two names that jump out..   Continue Reading

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WEEI's Tejada Rumor Making Rounds

The Dennis and Callahan Show on WEEI 850 in Boston broke out an improbable-sounding trade rumor this morning. Here's the idea: Dodgers send: Derek Lowe, Hee Seop Choi Red Sox send: David Wells, Alex Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester, Tony Graffanino Orioles send: Miguel Tejada, Luis Matos Dodgers receive: Wells, Graffanino, Matos Red Sox receive: Tejada, Choi Orioles receive: Lowe, Gonzalez, Youkilis, Lester In my humble opinion, there's about zero chance of a deal like this going down. Then why am I posting about it? For one thing, I've received a host of emails about the possibility. So it seems..   Continue Reading

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Mets Interested In Wells?

Spoke with my Mets guy this morning. He had plenty of info to pass along. First, he said that any recent rumors going around are "bogus." Plenty of other websites have added to that sentiment. He also mentioned that Minaya wants to add a starter. That's fairly well known, but he also said that the Mets may try to make a move on David Wells if nothing better comes along before spring training. It's the first I'd heard of that. He said the Mets are convinced that Anderson Hernandez is the answer at second base for 2006, and that Jeff..   Continue Reading

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