Hisanori Takahashi Rumors

Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Overbay, Nady, Holliday

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 15, 2009 at 12:33pm CDT]

Some links for your Tuesday morning…

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says there's no guarantee the Dodgers will spend the money they saved in the Juan Pierre deal.
Newsday's David Lennon says Omar Minaya had plans to speak with John Lackey today and concludes that the pitcher wasn't interested in joining the Mets.
ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says there's speculation that the Jays will deal Lyle Overbay now that they're set to obtain Brett Wallace.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Red Sox are looking at righty outfielders such as Xavier Nady to contribute in a utility role.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff doesn't expect the Yankees to commit to another nine-figure salary and sign Matt Holliday, especially since they need pitching.
Rob Neyer of ESPN.com says the $130MM or so the Cardinals have apparently offered Holliday is "too much risk for too many years."
The Marlins signed Clay Hensley to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The 30-year-old righty didn't pitch in the majors last year.
Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Marlins, who will watch Aroldis Chapman throw, have "legit" interest in the 21-year-old lefty.
Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston points out that the Red Sox have tons of cash, even if they like to downplay their wealth.
Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe likes the Lackey signing for the Red Sox.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Kelvim Escobar will pitch in front of teams this week in Venezuela. We know the Mets recently offered him a minor league deal.
Lots of people have said the Brewers are a threat to sign Mark Mulder. GM Doug Melvin confirmed on 1250 WSSP in Milwaukee that he thinks the Brewers are the "frontrunners" to sign the lefty (Hat Tip: MLB.com's Adam McCalvy).
Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner says the Mariners could use a player like Luke Scott.
Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun wonders how seroiusly the Orioles are interested in Japanese pitcher Hisanori Takahashi. The O's met with his agents at the Winter Meetings.
Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News says the Yankees are glad to see Roy Halladay leave the AL East. I'm sure Yankees fans agree.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Yanks would be comfortable playing Melky Cabrera in left and using Johnny Damon as the primary DH.
The A's sent three people to watch Aroldis Chapman throw in Houston, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Odds & Ends: Matsui, Cardinals, Arb Offers

By Tim Dierkes [November 30, 2009 at 2:02pm CDT]

Links for Monday…

MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wonders if Bobby Crosby could be a match for the Rangers as a utility infielder.
MLB.com's Mychael Urban has an update on free agent lefty Mark Mulder.
Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes Tim Lincecum's possible 2010 salary, and predicts the pitcher might submit $16.8MM against the Giants' $8MM figure.
ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Hideki Matsui's marketability is not a factor for the Yankees.
Alex Speier of WEEI examines the chances of Roy Halladay remaining a workhorse over the next several seasons.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch doesn't see geography as a big factor for Matt Holliday. Meanwhile, Bernie Miklasz of the P-D doesn't understand Albert Pujols' reasoning as to why he needs to wait to discuss an extension.
MLB.com's Brian McTaggart asks readers to predict the Astros' arbitration decisions for free agents. Jose Valverde and LaTroy Hawkins are tough calls in that it makes sense but we're not sure if the Astros will. We'll have predictions on all Type A/B free agents later today.
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains why he feels only Felipe Lopez will get an arbitration offer from the Brewers.
MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Marlins are leaning against offering arbitration to Type B free agents Kiko Calero and Nick Johnson. Calero might be worth it.
Jon Weisman of Dodgers Thoughts says the Dodgers' arbitration decisions won't necessarily be influenced by the McCourts' divorce.
Staying with this theme, FanGraphs' Dave Cameron looks at the factors that should influence a team's arbitration-offer decision.
Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports look at the market for Miguel Tejada.
Morosi suggests ten teams that should talk to the Tigers about Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Edwin Jackson.
Jacob Jackson of Athletics Nation has a detailed offseason plan for the A's.
Righty Miguel Batista told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he has a few contenders interested in his services.
Notes from NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman: the Orioles are eyeing pitcher Hisanori Takahashi, and Hideki Okajima would like a contract extension (he's under team control through 2012 as an arbitration-eligible player).
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the fates of Jeff Karstens, Robinzon Diaz, and Justin Thomas will be decided today.
Elmer Dessens doesn't have a contract with the Mets quite yet, writes Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News.

Odds & Ends: Indians, Takahashi, Hernandez

By Zach Links [November 22, 2009 at 8:48pm CDT]

Some Sunday night links:

In his latest mailbag, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the Indians are in the hunt for a first baseman that hits right-handed, in the event that Matt LaPorta isn't healthy by Opening Day.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along the news that the San Francisco Giants are "showing mild interest" in Hisanori Takahashi, via Twitter. Earlier this week, the 34-year-old reliever made it known that he wants to make the jump to MLB.
Padres closer Heath Bell says that former GM Kevin Towers was never able to spend the way he wanted to and was "kind of a puppet", according to Kevin Tomase of the Boston Herald. Bell also said that he hopes new GM Jed Hoyer has full rein over the club's baseball decisions.
According to a report from MLB.com's Bill Ladson, the odds of Livan Hernandez returning to the club are "less than 50-50." Over the last three years, the 34-year-old pitcher has recorded an ERA of 5.45 whilst eating 568 innings for five different clubs.

Odds & Ends: Yanks, Boras, Greinke, Cards

By Drew Silva [November 18, 2009 at 9:20pm CDT]

A few more items for Wednesday evening…

Chad Jennings of The Journal News thinks the Yankees ought to at least call Toronto about right-handed ace Roy Halladay. "I have no idea what the asking price might be," writes Jennings, "but Halladay is better than [John] Lackey and he’ll surely cost fewer prospects than Felix Hernandez."
As noted by the Boston Globe's Nick Carfado, MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred said Wednesday the revenue sharing figures thrown out by agent Scott Boras during last week's GM meetings "have no basis in reality" and that Boras is living in a "fantasy land."
According to Ryo Shinkawa of NPB Tracker, right-hander Ryota Igarashi and left-hander Hisanori Takahashi filed for international free agency on Wednesday.
Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star expects Zack Greinke to move on once his contract with the Royals is through. "The good news is that the team has Greinke under contract three more years," writes Mellinger. "The bad news is they have a lot of improving to do in that time."
Joe Strauss and Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch took to the radio Wednesday afternoon with a few opinions on the Cardinals' offseason plans. Both feel Matt Holliday is only an average defender and that the Cardinals could be looking to add starting pitching via trade this offseason.

Takahashi Eyeing The Major Leagues

By Mike Axisa [November 17, 2009 at 8:39am CDT]

According to Bobbie Dittmeier of MLB.com, Japanese lefthander Hisanori Takahashi declared free agency on Tuesday, and said he wants to try his luck in the Major Leagues.

"I decided I wanted to try out for the Majors three days ago," Takahashi said, according to sponichi.co.jp. "If I didn't have confidence in myself, I wouldn't have made the decision. I want to go to a team that needs me. I'd be extremely happy if I'm used as a starter."

"It's a dream I have," Takahashi said. "And I'd like to attain that dream. Seeing (Koji) Uehara in the Majors, that made me want to go to the Majors even more. I want to return to the days of being a rookie and take on this new challenge."

A former teammate of Uehara and Hideki Matsui, the 34-year-old Takahashi had a 2.94 ERA in 25 games last year, striking out 126 in 144 innings. He has spent his entire career with the Yomiuri Giants, and owns a career 3.70 ERA with 7.25 K/9.

Reliever Ryota Igarashi has already made it known that he plans to pursue a career in the big leagues next year.