Grant Balfour Rumors

Odds and Ends: Gammons, Kawakami, Buck

Links for Monday... Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik admitted to have a conversation with Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent, but wouldn't reveal anything else. One of Matthew Cerrone's readers dug up a Primera Hora article saying the Mets have been scouting free agent reliever Fernando Cabrera. Bob Klapisch looks at Pedro Martinez's four-year, $53MM deal and asks: was it worth it? Rays Index notes that Grant Balfour will use WBC participation as a bargaining chip in contract negotiations (he's eligible for arbitration). Marc Hulet of Baseball Analysts looks at top hitters for the Rule 5 draft. Fire Brand of the American League...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: LaRoche, Bradley, Burnett

Digging into today's random links... Joel Sherman looks at what went wrong for the Yankees this year. Did they fall too in love with their farm system? At least six teams have called the Pirates about third baseman Andy LaRoche in recent weeks. If LaRoche pans out and Pedro Alvarez comes aboard, the Bucs could have a surplus at some point. Craig Harris examines the rise of D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes. Eddie Bajek updated the Elias rankings for the AL 1B/OF/DH category. They're fluctuating wildly. Eddie also did catchers for both leagues; Ivan Rodriguez is headed into Type B territory....   Continue Reading

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Percival Return Will Cause Roster Crunch

MLB.com's Bill Chastain writes of an impending Rays roster crunch. Closer Troy Percival can come off the DL Friday. Percival's replacement, Grant Balfour, doesn't deserve a demotion. He's out of options, and the Rays would have to sneak him through waivers to get him back to Triple A. Balfour did clear waivers in April. Given his situation and success this year, perhaps we can add Balfour to our Reliever Market list. The Rays acquired Balfour from the Brewers for Seth McClung last July. He's endured all kinds of injury problems but seems on track in '08. DRays Bay suggests keeping...   Continue Reading

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Odds And Ends: Eaton, Balfour, McAnulty

Couple of minor notes for this Friday afternoon: Paul McAnulty, who is out of options, is going to make the Padres 25-man roster. With Scott Hairston filling in for injured Jim Edmonds in center, McAnulty could get a fair share of playing time in left. The other candidate for playing time is Jody Gerut. It appears the Rays have decided on their final bullpen spot, giving the job to Scott Dohmann. The loser in this deal is Grant Balfour, who is out of options. The Australian reliever has some promise, and I would imagine will be claimed on waivers. Not...   Continue Reading

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Devil Rays Swap Seth McClung For Grant Balfour

Drays Bay broke the story tonight: the Devil Rays sent Seth McClung to Milwaukee for Grant Balfour. A change of scenery isn't a bad idea for either player. McClung gets a lot of attention for his ability to light up the radar gun. The Devil Rays were wishcasting him as their closer as recently as last year. The problem for a while now has been his ridiculously bad control. He's 26 now. Let's see what Mike Maddux can do with him. Or at least what Stan Kyles can do with him. Balfour has spent a ton of time under the..   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Andruw, Lidge, Gwynn Jr.

Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up at FOXSports for your viewing pleasure. Rosenthal believes that despite Andruw Jones's lousy May and June, he'll still cash in this winter as the best available center fielder. He'll still provide more offense than Torii Hunter in the long run. The Nationals are still asking for the moon in trade talks. If Jim Bowden does start acting reasonable, Dmitri Young, Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, and Ryan Church could be dealt. Word via Bill Ladson of MLB.com is that only the Braves have inquired on Young. Brad Lidge is expected to remain..   Continue Reading

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