Doug Brocail Rumors

Astros Sign Doug Brocail

According to a press release, the Astros signed Doug Brocail to a one-year deal today. He'll get $2.5MM plus incentives in '09 and there's a club option for $2.85MM plus incentives for '10 with a $250K buyout. The Astros declined Brocail's $3.25MM '09 option in October and did not offer him arbitration yesterday. Brocail, 41, posted a 3.93 ERA in 68.2 innings this year. His strikeout rate was up significantly from '07. He struggled in July and August, but pitched well in September.   Continue Reading

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Astros Decline To Offer Arb To Wolf, Brocail, Loretta

MLB.com's Alyson Footer makes it official - the Astros did not offer arbitration to Type B free agents Randy Wolf and Mark Loretta or Type A free agent Doug Brocail. The Astros still hope to re-sign Brocail. Just like the Cubs with Kerry Wood and the D'Backs with Adam Dunn, Wolf is a quality player who was not offered arbitration due to payroll concerns. Richard Justice figures it may have come down to Wolf or Jose Valverde for the Astros, and they chose Valverde. Another note in Justice's post - the Astros had their eye on Jose Ceda before he...   Continue Reading

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Astros Rumors: Wolf, Brocail, Ross

Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle has the latest on the Astros: Astros GM Ed Wade said that he's had to slow down negotiations with free agent lefty Randy Wolf because he's unsure how much payroll he's working with. Negotiations are on hold at least until next week, but the Astros would still like to sign Wolf to a multi-year deal. The Astros still hope to bring back reliever Doug Brocail, but they haven't negotiated with his agent in over a week. Wade said he'll try to address the team's catching needs via trades or free agency. Houston is interested...   Continue Reading

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No Agreement Yet For Moyer

12:01pm: David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News says everyone expects the Phils to re-sign Moyer. He says not to read into the Lowe/Burnett inquiries; the team has inquired on more than 25 free agents. MLB.com's Ken Mandel names six of them: Doug Brocail, Russ Springer, Raul Ibanez, Rocco Baldelli, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Nick Punto. 10:16am: According to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies are still talking to free agent pitcher Jamie Moyer but don't have an agreement yet. Moyer apparently wants a multiyear deal. The Phils recently contacted Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett to hedge their...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Wade, Crisp, Holliday

Links for Thursday... New commenters are signing up every day as MLB Trade Rumors grows. Before commenting, be sure to read our policy. If you ever see someone violating the policy just send me an email and I'll take care of it. If you receive an email from noreply@mlbrumors.com talking about some kind of newsletter, that has nothing to do with me or MLB Trade Rumors. We have a daily email of our latest posts, and that comes from dierkes@gmail.com. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald wonders if Kerry Wood might accept an offer of arbitration from the Cubs. Hal...   Continue Reading

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Stark's Latest: Abreu, Arroyo, Hudson

ESPN's Jayson Stark is back with a look at needs and plans for all 30 teams. I highly recommend you read the article, but here are a few highlights. He's also got a fresh blog post here. The Phillies are eyeing Doug Brocail and Russ Springer. The Mets like Bobby Abreu, but not his three year, $45MM asking price. The Reds are quietly listening on Bronson Arroyo, and the Rangers may be interested. Contrary to previous reports, Stark believes the Mets' first order of business is getting a starting pitcher. Here's a new one - the Marlins are interested in...   Continue Reading

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Wolf Will Test Market

THURSDAY: Wolf told KRIV-TV in Houston last night that he's flattered by the Astros' efforts, but he plans to test the market. His main goal is playing for a winning team, and he says his urge to play on the West Coast is overstated. Astros GM Ed Wade says he'll look at alternatives starting Friday. WEDNESDAY, 5:30pm: The Astros also made an offer to reliever Doug Brocail. His agent says about a dozen teams have inquired, the Red Sox among them. The Astros would also like to re-sign Mark Loretta, but conversations have not yet begun. 1:46pm: According to Brian...   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Inquire On Lowe

According to Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox have inquired on free agent starter on Derek Lowe. Scott Boras even gave them one of his infamous books hyping the 35 year-old righty. Massarotti figures the Red Sox consider Lowe a safer bet than A.J. Burnett or Ben Sheets. Massarotti adds that the Red Sox are looking for groundballing strike throwers in terms of bullpen additions. He wonders if Doug Brocail or Brandon Lyon could work. I noticed that Brian Shouse, Todd Coffey, Dennys Reyes, and Jeremy Affeldt also fit the profile, for what it's worth.   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Burrell, Atkins, Ohmura

Links for Monday... Even after signing LaTroy Hawkins, the Astros would like to re-sign Doug Brocail. They already chose a $250K buyout over his $3.25MM option. Further complicating matters, Brocail is a Type A free agent. The Royals signed pitcher Brandon Duckworth and then outrighted him to Triple A. Yahoo's Jeff Passan ranks all the free agents, from C.C. Sabathia at #1 to Vance Wilson at #183. The Giants seem likely to hit the free agent market for a reliever. Pat Burrell hasn't heard from the Phillies yet. John Brattain battles Scott Boras on his Manny Ramirez claims. Aaron Gleeman...   Continue Reading

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Rockies Rumors: Holliday, Taveras, Atkins

4:54pm: More Rockies chatter from Troy Renck. The Rockies intend to sort out the Holliday/Atkins trade situations before moving on to other concerns such as the bullpen. They do like the idea of bringing Jeremy Affeldt back, though. Renck has the Twins and Indians kicking the tires on Atkins, while Tracy Ringolsby believes Michael Cuddyer could be a fit for Colorado. 11:18am: The latest Rockies buzz... Buster Olney says the Rockies are very motivated to move Matt Holliday. Olney wonders if the Rox might end up taking a bit less than expected for him. Troy Renck says various execs see...   Continue Reading

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Astros Rumors: Wolf, Hawkins, Hampton

MLB.com's Alyson Footer has the latest Astros buzz. Astros GM Ed Wade will meet with Randy Wolf's agents tomorrow, but doesn't expect an agreement to be reached before the exclusive negotiating period ends. Wolf will test the open market, and the Mets are already known to be interested. Talks are ongoing with the agents for Doug Brocail and LaTroy Hawkins. Brocail is a Type A free agent, and the Astros already declined a $3.25MM option on him. Wade met with Mike Hampton's agent recently. Hampton could return to Houston on an incentive-laden contract. Wade is on the lookout for a...   Continue Reading

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Astros Decline Brocail's Option

According to Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros declined Doug Brocail's $3.25MM option for 2009. The Astros are concerned about Brocail's ailing shoulder. However, they'd like to re-sign him at a lower rate. Brocail seemingly profiles as a Type A free agent, though he might accept arbitration if the Astros offer it. He was disappointed by their decision on his option though. Brocail, 41, posted a 3.93 ERA in 68.2 innings. His strikeout rate was up significantly from '07. He struggled in July and August, but pitched well in September.   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Pavano, Dunn, Brocail, Washburn

Random links for the day... Joel Sherman notes that Carl Pavano has a chance to help his own cause if he can be mildly useful in September. Pavano will be a free agent after the season when the Yankees buy out his $13MM option. The Reds will free up about $30MM in payroll, and Walt Jocketty plans to be active. Ben Bolch notes that the Dodgers could've blocked the D'Backs' waiver claim of Adam Dunn. Bolch cites the risk that caused the Dodgers to pass - Dunn's salary and their outfield logjam. But as readers of this site have pointed...   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Eyeing Relief Options

12:51pm: MLB.com's Jim Molony says Brocail, Geary, and Jose Valverde aren't going anywhere since the Astros are actually looking to add to their 'pen. 11:21am: ESPN's Peter Gammons says the Red Sox have been discussing Doug Brocail with the Astros. 9:57am: Boston's top priority at the trade deadline seems to be relief help, if anything. They were linked to several relievers this morning. Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal says the Sox "are interested again and expect expect to get back to the Royals on Ron Mahay." Mahay is generally believed to be unavailable. Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald...   Continue Reading

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Inexplicably Aggressive Astros

11:40pm: Nick Cafardo suggests Doug Brocail might be the reliever the Red Sox are eyeing. 11:03pm: Footer says the Red Sox are more likely interested in Geoff Geary than Miguel Tejada. She doesn't expect Geary to be traded, since as she previously noted the Astros are looking to acquire a reliever. 8:47pm: No one is quite sure why, but the Astros are still acting like buyers. The latest example comes from ESPN's Buster Olney, who says Ed Wade is looking for a "high profile, experienced reliever." MLB.com's Alyson Footer concurs, but her sources put the chance of a deal around...   Continue Reading

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Today's Arbitration Decisions

The decision whether to offer your own free agent arbitration can affect your team in two ways: you may end up retaining a player you didn't want, or you may score a draft pick or two as compensation. With that in mind let's run down the rumors regarding some Type A and B free agents. The Red Sox plan on offering arbitration to Type B Eric Gagne. Worst case scenario, they hang onto him for one more year. Best case, they get a sandwich pick. The Astros have to decide on Trever Miller and Mark Loretta. Both are Type Bs,..   Continue Reading

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Astros Sign Doug Brocail

Fox 26 Sports out of Houston is reporting that the Astros have agreed to a contract with free agent reliever Doug Brocail. Terms are unknown; but an announcement is expected Tuesday. Brocail turns 40 in May. He pitched for the Astros in 1995-96 before his inclusion in a huge multiplayer deal with the Tigers. He had a nice 2007 for the Padres with a 3.05 ERA in 76 innings. However his strikeout rate was quite low at 5.05 per nine innings. He seems likely to fill the seventh inning role for Houston. I am OK with the move for one..   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Eckstein, Lowell

Ah yes, the odds and ends post, where I cobble together the day's random links. The Rangers have mild interest Scott Podsednik. Pods had two separate stints in the Rangers organization but never reached the bigs with them. The Big Lead has an interesting interview with Yahoo baseball guy Jeff Passan, wherein a run-in with Jose Lima is recounted. Passan also takes on Fire Joe Morgan a bit. Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog is hearing that Kosuke Fukudome is looking for three years and $30MM. Sounds fair. The Angels are considering signing David Eckstein and/or Darin Erstad, for some reason. Bob..   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Rolen, Silva, Capps

Here are some hot stove links to digest this evening. The New York Post's Joel Sherman runs down some third base options for the Yankees. He feels that Scott Rolen, Bill Hall, Freddy Sanchez, and a few others might be reasonable options. Bernie Miklasz says there's no indication any team is truly interested in Rolen, though Randy Youngman suggests the Angels may look at him. Youngman also believes the Halos have slight interest in Carlos Silva, if he can be had at less than $10MM annually. Not bloody likely. Jon Paul Morosi thinks the Tigers could go after the Pirates'..   Continue Reading

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